Several communication studies majors from the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences recently spent time working side by side with executives from a variety of media companies. The undergraduate students attended the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) 2012 Market and Conference, held at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Jan. 23–25.
The annual NATPE meeting features talks, panels, presentations, and other interactive events. The conference also offers select students the unique opportunity to serve as “interns” for the duration of the conference. The students shadow NATPE members and assist attendees with a variety of tasks, acquiring hands-on experience while networking with industry professionals.
This year’s student interns from the college included Alek Culpepper, Jerilyn De Los Rios, Stacy Gaspard (also a double major in theatre), Danielle Suhr, and Phillip Williams. Maximillen Ouelhadj, who served as an intern at last year’s conference, earned a position as room producer assistant this year.
Chetachi Egwu, Ph.D., assistant professor in the college, also attended, serving as a faculty adviser.
Only 30 students were selected to shadow professionals at the conference. Among the companies represented at NATPE 2012 were NBC Universal, Lionsgate, Starz, the Walt Disney Company, Yahoo!, and YouTube.
