Running Head: EXPERIENTIAL PAPER

Experiential Paper
Ian Cherkes
COMM 46092
Dr. Rozell Duncan
Kent State University
August 7, 2016

EXPERIENTIAL PAPER

Competent communication is the most significant foundational factor in any

organization. Organizational communication depends on the competency of the communicator
to the receiver. According to West and Turner (2007), Not all meaning is shared, and others do
not always know what people mean. In these situations we must be able to explain, repeat, and
clarify (P. 7). The highest form of competent communication is problem solving. This is
indeed the goal of organizational communication; to make everyone understand their
responsibility and how best to be successful within that organization. My internship with
Launch Local, Inc. (LLI) provided me with many experiences to utilize my communication skills
to solve problems.
My first week at LLI consisted of getting familiar with the environment of the company.
I was given an overview of each department and their functions. LLI is a sports and
entertainment marketing firm that provides promotional campaigns for various businesses in
Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania at no cost to the client. Many businesses spend
excessive amounts of money on marketing materials that do not get efficiently used. LLI allows
these businesses to compensate for part of their marketing costs by creating discounted ticket
packages, vouchers, and coupons for the local community.
Staff arrives at the office at 7:00 a.m. every morning to motivate, strategize, and reflect
on ongoing experiences they have had. After the meetings Linda Barton, owner and CEO of
LLI, delegates responsibilities for the day and goes over logistics for the sales team called the
Brand Ambassadors. The Human Resources Manager, Patty Scruci, introduced me to the
mapping and tracking system along with call center, administrative duties. After that I was
introduced to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite by Scott Barton, the graphic design manager. Lastly I

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went into the field with Nik Horniacek, a Campaign Leader, to observe how the Brand
Ambassadors operate. My first day exposed me to a large amount of information to say the least.
As I learned about the culture and departments of LLI, such as mapping and tracking
territory, human resources, graphic design, and sales, I was largely using interpersonal
communication skills, which is the foundation of Uncertainty Reduction Theory (West & Turner,
2007). My level of comfort was much higher after actually experiencing what type of work I
would be doing at LLI. There is an energetic and ambitious environment which made me happy
to be interning with people who shared the same perspective as me in a business setting.
One of the most rewarding parts of LLI is the opportunity to get promoted into
management and possibly open your own office. Linda spends a great deal of her time building
relationships with the people who work for her. She firmly believes that by making the
individual stronger through training and positive reinforcement, everyone will be that much more
successful. Her style of management is heavily grounded in Human Relations Theory; the belief
that people desire to be part of a supportive team that facilitates development and growth
(Lamberton, 2014).
In accordance with Lindas approach to growth and development through Human
Relations Theory, she continuously utilizes ideas from the top tiers of Maslows Hierarchy of
Needs to motivate her employees. Building a strong sense of purpose and self-esteem is her goal
during morning meetings. Her final goal in developing an employee was to help them reach their
fullest potential. An employee who reaches their fullest potential has met the needs of selfactualization, which Maslow describes as the highest status of the human species (Goble, 1970).
My time working behind the scenes in the human resources department was not the most
pleasurable experience while at LLI. The majority of the time in the office doing administrative

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duties involved calling and answering follow-up calls to and from potential employees who had
submitted their resume. I was introduced to using Applicant Stream, a software program that is
very detailed in organizing contact information, resumes, and interview schedules. What I
realized most during my human resources training was that the study of organizational
communication starts before the new employee begins work. How organizational members are
recruited, selected, and rejected is an important process to understand (Modaff et. al, 2012).
Although I didnt enjoy this part of the job very much, I did learn and acquire valuable skills in
short interviewing and professionalism along with what qualities to look for in a potential
candidate.
I enjoyed my time working in the graphic design center much more than the human
resources department. It was challenging at first because I had to learn to use CorelDRAW
Graphics Suite, which in my opinion has a more difficult learning curve than using Adobe. This
was the most creative part of my time at LLI. I was able to help design t-shirts for multiple
minor league sports teams, brochures for the internship program, and multiple business cards for
the Brand Ambassadors. I can now say that I have experience using Adobe In Design and
Illustrator as well as CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.
A great deal of my time at LLI was spent in the field as a Brand Ambassador. This
particular position was the greatest challenge I faced during the internship. The job consisted of
business to business marketing and sales. If you think you have been in an uncomfortable
situation in the workplace, your first day in the field at LLI will most definitely compete with it.
Business to business sales requires a person to engage a large number of people per day, on an
impulsive basis. You are selling yourself to strangers, some of which are very nice people, and

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some not so nice. If you talk to over 100 different strangers in a day you can imagine that there
will be a sea of nos. It inherently comes with the territory.
The level of discomfort that people experience while starting out in the field at LLI is
relative to Cognitive Dissonance Theory. This is where you have to use your communication
skills to problem-solve in order to be a successful Brand Ambassador. The reason that
experiencing this type of dissonance is so crucial in developing as a Brand Ambassador is due to
the discomfort being caused by dissonance that motivates change (West & Turner, 2007). One
has to communicate on an interpersonal level in order to reduce dissonance and achieve
consonance. If you are in the field and struggling, dissonance will be the aversive state that will
motivate you to alter your behavior to create measurable effects (West & Turner, 2007). Over
time I achieved that form of consonance through my discomfort caused by dissonance and
became confident as well as productive as a Brand Ambassador.
Once I had proven that I was competent enough to have success in the field as a Brand
Ambassador Linda gave me leadership responsibilities. She assigned me to lead the New Castle,
Pennsylvania campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates Fan Appreciation Program. This presented
more dissonance at first as I now was in charge of scouting territory, making decisions, and
being highly self-motivated, even more than before. The task of leading a campaign is initially
most challenging when taking someone out on a Day of Observation as LLI calls it. Training
and developing someone to be successful in the field takes an optimistic attitude, strong work
ethic, professionalism, and understanding of your position of authority. You have to lead by
example to raise a person to the highest level of self-actualization through self-motivation.
There cannot be any communication gaps from leader to sub-ordinate when setting and
achieving goals.

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Another leadership role in training and development came through creating material and
presenting it to the staff. First I made a power point presentation for no cost restaurant
branding. The goal of the presentation was to create a promotional presentation that explains
exactly what LLI can provide for businesses in the restaurant industry. The presentation is
valuable to reach potential clients in the restaurant industry, leading to securing future accounts.
It can also be made into a promotional catalog that can be shared with businesses that LLI may
not have the opportunity to conduct a full presentation with. I gave the presentation during a
morning meeting in front of the staff and it went very well. One of the campaign leaders
requested I email him the presentation immediately.
The next piece of training material I created was a Total People Contacted (TPC) sheet.
Brand Ambassadors are instructed to fill out a TPC sheet while in the field in order to evaluate
their performance based on work ethic and strategy. It is broken down by each hour in the field
with numbers one through five representing different levels of impact reached in regards to each
pitch presented. Each person a Brand Ambassador encounters is recorded. If they mark a one it
represents contact but no presentation of the product. A number two represents a full
presentation of the pitch. A number three represents presentation of the pitch and closing on the
potential customer. Number four represents a sale, and number five represents multiple sales to
one buyer.
I presented the material during a morning meeting. The presentation had a significant
impact on the staff because it provided insight into why it is so important to visualize work ethic
and productivity in order to learn from weaknesses and improve in those corresponding areas.
Everyone at LLI is familiar with a TPC sheet, yet may not understand the value of its reflective

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learning process. I was able to reach my audience and motivate them to improve their work ethic
and set higher goals.
While I continued working in the field as a Brand Ambassador I wrote press releases for
the LLI website which also are shared on social media. The first release covers LLIs
partnership with The Mahoning Valley Scrappers in raising awareness for the team through their
annual Fan Appreciation Package. The article touches on who The Mahoning Scrappers are,
upcoming events, discounted tickets through the Fan Appreciation Package, and how LLI
reaches out to the local community to raise awareness and increase their home field attendance.
The next press release reached out to students for the approaching fall semester internship
program. LLI provides opportunities for many students and is willing to synthesize ideas with
them in order to provide the most well suited learning experience possible based on the students
needs. The release covers what philosophies LLI uses to provide local businesses with no cost
solutions to marketing approaches, opportunities within the company, and the overall internship
program. The article is to be released mid-August onto the LLI website.
My opportunities in leadership were my most valuable learning experiences at LLI. I am
grateful to have worked with a company that develops its employees into the most successful
representatives they can be. LLI understands that contributing to the success of the group can be
facilitated by any member of the organization when an opportunity for leadership arises (Modaff
et. al, 2012).

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References

Goble, F.G. (1970). The Third Force: The Psychology of Abraham Maslow. New York, NY:
Pocket Books.
Lamberton, L.H. (2014). Human Relations: Strategies for Success. (5th ed.) New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Co.
Modaff, D. Butler, J. & DeWine, S. (2012). Organizational communication: Foundation,
Challenges, and misunderstandings. (3rd ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson Publishing Co.
West, R. & Turner, L. (2007). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application.
(3rd ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Co.