capeSF Includes Southeast Student Involvement

Enlisting the help of several student interns from Southeast Missouri State University during the planning and execution of capeSF 2010, has created a mutually beneficial relationship for both the festival and the interns. The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, primary sponsor of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival, saw a desire for student involvement in “real” business situations and found a vehicle for tapping into students.

“By encouraging Southeast student involvement, capeSF has not only enabled students to experience hands-on event planning, but through significant participation within the Southeast and Cape Girardeau community, these students’ resumes will really stand out in the crowd of potential job candidates,” says Marla Mills, Executive Director of Old Town Cape and member of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival Committee.

“capeSF headquarters currently has three interns working in the office, eight virtual volunteers working from home, and three student groups that are contributing on special projects. These students include: Brittany Meek, Brittney Ruopp, Angie Herzog, J. Michael Willis, Molly Finch, Chelsea Niswonger, Ashley Autry, Michael Skeens, Kari Young, D. Brand, Rebecca Christain, Crystal Hoke, Coleman Bonze, Caleb Dunn, Rachel Burnett, Kendra Haney, Bailey Reutzel, Joe Groeller, Trevor Morgan, Noland Cook, and Josh Thompson. Not to mention over 20 volunteers will staff the event over the weekend of April 9-11,” says Stephanie Lynch, PR and Marking Director for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and Storytelling Festival Committee Member.

“The Southeast students have been a huge invaluable resource to the festival. The Ad Club, Photo Club and Video Club have been involved with creating flyers and videos for our social networking sites and radio spots for the RAGE 103.7 campus radio station. A handful of professors have even supported their students by taking photos, enlisting their classes to attend the event and sponsoring the festival through their department. We cannot thank them enough and we’re really looking forward to rolling out the materials they created over the next several weeks,” says Lynch.

“This has probably been one of the best projects I’ve ever worked on. I never would have had the opportunity to do something that has real-world results. I feel good about the fact that my work is benefiting the community—and it’s really a lot of fun. We’ve really just had a great time,” says Brittney Ruopp, graduate student in Public Administration at Southeast.

“All I know is that I’m working hard and getting to use my skills. I’m writing press releases, coordinating projects and getting to see how social networking really works for small businesses. I know I can use my experience as an intern at capeSF when I graduate,” says Brittany Meek, a senior in Public Relations at Southeast.

Tickets are now on sale through the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. To purchase tickets and for more information about the festival and the city of Cape Girardeau call the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-777-0068 or visit the website capestorytelling.com. For those tech-savvy Facebook and Twitter fans, search for capeSF.