Yijun Gui
Yijun (Iris) Gui
General Communication
The Georgia Games Commission
What was the most exciting thing about your role?
The most exciting thing about my role is how I also took in charge of our organizational website. Even though I was recruited for a graphic designer, I started off as a web developer because I was the only person who knew coding. Through out the summer, I oversaw all the website-related activities, including updating information/paper registration form/results on each sports page, creating and posting graphical banner on the index page, etc. I was responsible for making sure the content on the pages are accurate, up-to-date, legal and easy to find. With all the knowledges I have in website design, I have also redesigned the website a bit to make it more user friendly and prettier.
Describe the most meaningful experience you had as an intern.
I was in charge of designing marketing E-blast for the Georgia Games but E-campaign was an absolute new thing to me and none of the people in the office had any experience with HTML email. So I got everything done on my own. It was a learning from doing process. I started off by coding the email on my own from a prototype when I had a hard time testing the email because emails were rendered differently than the website. So I did a bunch of research and looked through tutorials to look for solutions and finally, I figured out a most efficient way to do it and my works received high praise from the boss. The emails had an average open rate of 31% and click-through rate of 10% which was much higher than the performance of emails he sent out in previous years. I also made a schedule to keep myself on track so I could get the emails to every week.
How did you apply your Liberal Arts-skills to your internship position?
My proficiency strategic thinking and a more flexible, adaptable mindset helped me do my design work more goal oriented and effective. For example, I generated and executed innovative ideas of Email Blasts, which included branding, subject lines, content design, graphics, images and offers resulting in an average open rate of 31% and click-through rate of 10%.
How has your internship prepared you for your career?
My time as a graphic design and website coordinator with the Georgia Games has fully prepared me for a career in marketing and designing. The Georgia Games is an unfunded state government agency and an organization that completely relies on the interns to run every event from the ground up. As the only graphic design and website coordinator, I initiated the design of Email Blast and collaborated with all 20+ event coordinators to develop artworks for 30+ sporting events, implementing the marketing and PR effort.