Megan Cleworth: Assistant Account Executive in High Point, NC

Trone Brand Energy revolves around The Firefly Effect: the harnessing of a brand’s energy to align individuals around brand stories and spread that energy across today’s culture. I was lucky enough to have joined the TBE team, an Ad Age Small Agency of the Year: Southeast Region award recipient, at a time of significant investment in new digital and social media resources, allowing me the chance to continue to expand my knowledge of creative communications in the digital sphere. I serve as an AE within the retail team (though our team is quickly expanding and will soon need a new name to represent our growing variety of clients), largely focused on the accounts of a craft beer distributor and a local bank, while also working with clients that come into the agency on a project-by-project basis in need of branding work or digital expertise.

I was presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity and just couldn't pass up the adventure. Spending time in almost every one of the contiguous United States and every nook and cranny of New Zealand provided me with a wealth of knowledge that you just can't find in an office. Not to mention a pretty extensive collection of stories (and terribly cheesy tourist trap magnets).

As a member of the account services team at a small full service advertising and public relations agency, I gained extensive industry experience and was able to showcase my ability to excel in a variety of roles. Working with major agency clients such as Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission, and Window World, my recurring responsibilities included developing campaign decks and marketing reports, creating and presenting client presentations, creating press releases and promoting their placement, and managing social media accounts. Through continual demonstration of my enthusiasm for the digital world, I also created the opportunity to initiate and lead the agency's first SEO and PPC campaigns.

At Max, I saw the benefits of interning at a small agency firsthand, as my responsibilities were essentially those of an entry-level employee, rather than a coffee delivery service. I supported the team in the creation and execution of campaigns for various client accounts, performed research on current trends and explored opportunities to continue to institute more refreshing means of advertising, especially those in the digital market. My superiors quickly began to take notice of my writing abilities and sense of humor, soon asking me to serve as a content writer for the company blog. I was given free reign over the subject matter, sharing my thoughts on all things new, unique, thought-provoking and/or hilarious in the advertising world and engaging in ongoing conversations with readers.

The goal of Rank 'em, a college town startup and "cheat-sheet for music discovery," is to create the ultimate music catalog by compiling the song preferences of true fans. With an advertising budget of basically nothing at all, I focused my efforts around various social media platforms, working to spread the word about goRankem organically. While also serving as a user liaison and making regular contact with the membership base, I took on the voice of the brand, initiating conversation with all the music lovers I could find through Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and band and genre-specific forums. I spent hours upon hours on HootSuite and it showed. We saw a significant increase in traffic to the site directly correlated with my social media-related activity.