Intern Spotlight 2020 Highlights

During the last five weeks of the Digital Summer Clinic, we launched an Instagram Live series, Intern Spotlight, to highlight the unique experiences of 9 interns.

Check out the highlights of each episode below: 

WEEK ONE: MADISON KARP

2020 Western Michigan University Graduate | Marketing

Madison learned many things during her time in the Digital Summer Clinic and at LoanSense that have impacted her career goals. She worked on affiliate marketing, content creation, video production, and email campaigns which helped her build skills that will help her in the future. Madison even noted that because of this internship her LinkedIn has gained so much traffic!

Click here to watch her episode!

WEEK TWO: SAMANTHA MCGRATH & ARIC BIRD 

2020 Western Michigan University Graduate | Food and Consumer Packaged Goods Marketing

During her internship, Samantha McGrath worked for BSchool Travel as a Digital Media Specialist designing, building, and maintaining there social media presence against KPIs. The weekly all-hands meetings were helpful for Samantha because she was inspired by listening to the journeys of industry professionals starting off in many different areas and ending up in unique careers. 

Click here to watch her episode!

2020 Eastern Michigan University Graduate | Public Relations

Aric worked for AuraLab creating content to market their app Breathscape. His favorite part of the Clinic was being able to work with the mentoring team. In his episode, he mentioned how working with Jamie Ward, Eric Wortman, and Bud Gibson has been extremely helpful for professional development. 

Click here to watch his episode!

WEEK THREE: BLAKE ZACK & KYLIE GILLIGAN 

2020 Eastern Michigan University Graduate | Communication & Marketing

Blake spent his time in the internship creating all types of content for Phoenix Performance Partners on their social media platforms. He has a passion for sports and sports marketing/consulting, so he reached out to Eric Wortman, a Clinic mentor, for help and advice. He noted that working with the mentor team has been one of his favorite experiences so far!

Click here to watch his episode!

Eastern Michigan Univesity Senior 2021 | Public Relations

After graduating from Washtenaw Community College, Kylie started public relations courses at Eastern Michigan University. During her internship with ProjectSynergy, she has learned so much about content creation and key messaging for their website. Kylie's job as a Podcast Writer for the Eastern Echo, EMU's on-campus newspaper, has always helped her in her internship when she had to interview clients for testimonials. 

Click here to watch her episode! 

WEEK FOUR: GABBY GIANNUZZI-PAUL & KEVIN HILLMAN

2020 Eastern Michigan University Graduate | Marketing

Gabby spent her internship working for Passive Bolt & Shepherd Lock, but also engaging in all the professional development activities that Clinic has us engage in.  In her episode, she gave some great advice on how to approach expanding your network on LinkedIn by reaching out to industry professionals. Gabby suggests doing some research on the person you are trying to connect with, find a common interest and lead with that. 

Click here to watch her episode! 

2020 Eastern Michigan University Graduate | Public Relations

During his time in the Clinic, Kevin spent his time interning at TechStak, a tech-focused matchmaking service that connects businesses to vetted technology providers in IT, cybersecurity, digital marketing, and more. His favorite experience in the Clinic was growing his LinkedIn network by finding, connecting, and learning from industry professionals. 

Click here to watch his episode!

WEEK FIVE: TIARRA STALLINGS & JONATHAN CHUANG

Eastern Michigan University Junior 2022 | Marketing 

Tiarra spent her time in the Digital Summer Clinic doing customer relationship management projects for Perisense. Before this internship, Tiarra did not have a lot of experience working with CRM databases and learned so much by utilizing Hubspot. Her favorite project was embedding a customized chatbox feature using a javascript code, which will help Perisense communicate live with their customers. 

Click here to watch her episode!

University of Michigan Junior 2022 | Software Engineering 

Jonathan worked with LeaseMagnets, which was founded by a fellow U of M student, during his in the Digital Summer Clinic. He described that this experience allowed him to find his voice and grow confident, but also allowed him to learn valuable skills that he was able to apply in his personal projects.

Click here to watch his episode!

Optimize Your Google Ads (Non-profits and Start-ups) - Digital Live with Kayla Henneman

This is Kayla Henneman, a Google Ads guru!

Kayla Henneman was our guest on Digital Live (every Thursday at 6pm on our Facebook page)! She gave us 5 tips to optimize Google Ads for start-ups and non-profit organizations. We discussed much more than just that in the interview, so make sure to watch the full video below.

Digital Live with Kayla Henneman

Digital Live with Kayla Henneman

Posted by Center for Digital Engagement on Thursday, July 23, 2020.

I'm only going to list 2 out of 5 tips from interview (read the rest on Kayla's blog or watch the interview above).

Kayla's Background

Kayla Henneman graduated in April 2020 with a degree in Marketing from Eastern Michigan University. She is a digital marketing intern at AdAdapted, a company that uses consumer grocery shopping data to provide insights to consumer packaged goods brands. In her time at EMU, she took Bud Gibson's class on Google Ads, which gave her hands-on experience on managing ads for a non-profit organization.

Tips to Optimize Google Ads for Non-profits and Start-ups

• Choose Your Landing Page Wisely - Google's Smart Campaigns use whatever landing page you choose as the basis for the search terms associated with your ad. It's also important to make the best first impression you can on people who click on your ad.
• Product Description/Business Category=Your Keywords - Speaking of how Google determines your search terms, this is another really important factor. Choose carefully to get the search terms you want and make sure they match your landing page.
• Read the other 3 tips on Kayla's blog!

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Connect with Kayla:

• LinkedIn
• Website

Design Principles & Tips - Digital Live with Jordan Prisby

This is Jordan Prisby, a design and video creator.

Jordan Prisby was our first guest on Digital Live (every Thursday at 6pm on our Facebook page)! She gave us a great look into some of the principles of design and video editing. These tips are very actionable and simple for those of us who may not have a lot of design experience.

Digital Live with Jordan Prisby

Digital Live with Jordan Prisby

Posted by Center for Digital Engagement on Thursday, July 16, 2020.

I've summarized the main points of the interview below, but it is also entertaining to watch!

Jordan's Background

Jordan Prisby is a Media Arts and Studies major at Wayne State University. She is a digital marketing specialist at AuraLabs, a company that created an app that claims to “change your life through deep breathing.” As if she wasn’t busy enough, just last month, Jordan began as a video editing coach at Microsoft. I asked Jordan to be a part of our first digital live because I read her blog post about design and think she has a lot to teach us.

Jordan won a competition in her design class for this design. It was put on a T-Shirt that she wore in the interview.

Design & Video Editing Tip for Beginners

• Negative Space - Use to reinforce the concepts in your design and make certain elements pop.
• Storytelling - Show, don't tell. Show the character in your video doing something rather than explain it. It helps people feel like they've experienced what you're showing them.
• Picture yourself as your audience - Put out things that you would personally find engaging and interesting.
• Just do it - Don't make content creation an elaborate process. Just make something with the equipment and software you have available.

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Connect with Jordan:

• LinkedIn
• Portfolio
• YouTube
• Instagram @psdesigns_art

How to Avoid Zoom Bombing

Zoom bombing: Maybe you have heard this term but aren’t really sure what it means. Zoom bombing occurs when individuals enter a Zoom meeting for no other reason than to wreak havoc. Due to the nature of Zoom, where all you need to join a meeting, for the most part, is the meeting ID number, some people try to get into meetings by typing in random numbers until they find one that works. Once these people get into a meeting they are as disruptive as possible by sharing inappropriate images or by just being rude and vulgar. What motivates them to do this? Perhaps we will never know, but, there are a few things we can do to mitigate the problems that they may cause.

Randomize the Meeting ID

When setting up a meeting, you have a choice to use your own zoom ID number (which never changes) or to generate a random one. The most secure option is to go with the random one every time. First, it is harder for someone to guess a number that changes from meeting to meeting, and also if your personal number gets leaked out to undesirable people this offers an additional layer of protection.

Using a Meeting Password

This probably would not apply for a meeting meant to be open to a large number of the public, but anything more private should require some sort of a password. This can be enabled when sending meeting invites and it would be a wise move to send the password out either via a different email or other means of communication to help mitigate any sort of unwanted individuals receiving the meeting information and password at the same time.

Use the Waiting Room

When the meeting host enables the waiting room feature, each incoming meeting participant is placed into a separate space and has to wait for the host to let them into the meeting. If someone is not supposed to be there the host can just not let them in, as simple as that.

Limit the Capabilities of Participants

When setting up the meeting, hosts have the capability to disable the video for all participants besides the host. This will eliminate the possibility of anyone in the meeting displaying inappropriate content. Once the meeting has started hosts also have the ability to determine who has permission to share their screens and they can also mute the microphones for all meeting participants as well.

Sometimes, people can be unpredictable, but now that you are aware of the tools in place to help, you can protect your meetings and stay on task. So let’s get back to work!

Lighting Options that Won't Break the Bank

     In our last post, we discussed a little bit about video conferencing. One of the most important aspects of video conferencing, or even for just making videos, is the ability to be seen, and that means having adequate lighting. Probably the most common mistake, when working from home through a camera, is using a room’s overhead lighting. This sort of lighting is really not intended for any kind of videography. It can wash out certain parts of your face, create odd shadows that make viewing difficult, or it might even not be bright enough for your camera. So, what is someone who is now working from home to do? Of course, there is the option to purchase professional-grade lighting systems and use them at home, but we are here to discuss some free options by using things that you probably already have available.

Utilize Natural lighting

     The Sun is probably the best light source for video making. Within your house, position yourself near an open window. Sunlight registers wonderfully with most digital cameras and has a way of eliminating much of the need for other light sources. Ideally, you would want the light shining directly on your face, meaning that you would position your computer directly in front of the window. If that is not possible, having an open window to your left or right can work well as long as you have another light source to fill out shadows caused by this. The most important aspect though is to ensure that there are no light sources behind you. If there are, your face will be effectively hidden from the camera.

Eliminating Shadows

     If you have a window to your side, you will also likely have shadows on parts of your face and on your background. There are two very easy steps to help eliminate these shadows. First, you will need an additional light source that can be moved around. A shop light with a clamp or even a desk lamp that can be positioned on a shelf could work well. The important thing is that it focuses the light in one direction. From there, find a spot on the opposite side of you from the open window and adjust its positioning until it gets rid of the unwanted shadows on your face and body. Finally, there is a really easy way to break up those shadows on your background. All you have to do is to create some separation from whatever is behind you. Instead of sitting with your back to a wall, see if you can increase that to a few feet and see how that helps the frame of the shot.


     No matter what options you choose, the important thing is that you do what works best for your situation. Personally, I have two desk lamps sitting on my bookshelf, but whatever works, works!

Zoom Tips for Beginners

How do we continue to communicate and remain productive while working from home? Well, the answer is with a lot of emails, messages, and video conferencing. If you are unfamiliar with instant conferencing, there are a lot of programs out there that get the job done. Here at the Center for Digital Engagement (CDE), we use Zoom.


Zoom allows for digital meetings that enable users to join with both video and audio. It is a really simple platform that is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android operating systems, so just about anyone can use it. For the most part, the controls and layout are remarkably the same no matter which platform you are using, with minor exceptions for mobile versions.


There are two different tiers of the Zoom platform, Zoom Basic and Zoom Pro, that offer various features based on your needs. Zoom Basic, is a free version that meets the needs of many users. Zoom Basic offers unlimited meetings with up to 100 other users for a duration of 40 minutes and unlimited minutes for one to one meetings. If the meeting has to go over that, you would be required to start a new meeting. The paid version, Zoom Pro, offers services such as unlimited group meeting minutes and custom personal meeting IDs.


Once you have the app downloaded and have decided on your tier, it is really easy to start or schedule a meeting. At the CDE we schedule them regularly and send the calendar invitations over Google Calendar so that the link to join is easily accessible. Otherwise, you would need the unique 10 digit meeting code to access it at the right time. Every scheduled meeting has a distinct meeting code.


Once you start getting to know the program, adjusting the settings and sending invites tends to be really intuitive, although, be aware that at times a double click may be necessary when it seems that only a single click should be used


We will do another post about some additional features of Zoom in the near future. In the meantime, if you are looking for some helpful shortcuts within the program, check out our info-graphic!

The Digital Summer Clinic : What is all the Buzz About?

                The 2020 Digital Summer Clinic is almost here and there are many potential interns who are excited for it to get underway.  We’re happy to be able to offer the Clinic, even under the current state of quarantine.  Depending on prevailing conditions in June, we’re prepared to run the clinic either remotely or in person.

                Over the course of this internship, students and recent grads will be paired up with 24 separate startups in the tech industry.  These students will be assigned to the startup that needs their specific skills and they will be put to work, gaining real experience in the process.  Interns could be creating content, crafting blog posts or videos, running ad campaigns, or assisting in programming. All of them will see the real fruits of their labors over the course of 9 weeks.

                In addition to the experience that interns get, there are so many other pay outs as well.  First and foremost, this is a paid internship at over $15 per hour.  On top of that, one of the main focuses of the clinic is professional development.  All of our interns walk away with certifications that will aid them in their future careers and with a much more established network of connections that will pay out in dividends.  But one of the most valuable aspects are the mentoring sessions.  On a weekly basis, interns will get together to present professionally on the projects that they have been working on and what results they are seeing.  On top of that, every week, experts are brought in to speak regarding their fields and what the newest developments are. Interns are afforded the opportunity to pick their brains on where the future lies for all involved.

                No matter which way you look at it, the Digital Summer Clinic is a recipe for success and a good call for any young professional.  Apply today at https://digitalsummer.clinic and get your career kicked off in the right direction!