Intern Blog

When I was first presented with the opportunity to intern at the LCLC, I was both excited and overwhelmed. As someone who isn’t naturally comfortable in social situations, I felt intimidated by the idea of helping run a conference, no matter what kind of audience it pulled. Luckily, the experience was much more enjoyable than I was expecting while still pushing me out of my comfort zone for that extra bit of experience. Through working with the LCLC, I gained insight into the current literature scene and met all kinds of writers, scholars, and peers, which I can surely say will help me in the future. 

Most of my sessions in the month-and-a-half window between the start of classes and the start of the conference were spent on scheduling and what you might call customer support. Through keeping in contact with attendees by email and filling in information on many of the different speakers, I became quite familiar with the people who would be attending as well as their work before the conference even began. Though this aspect of my job was not especially creative, it was fulfilling to learn so much while steadily building up a complete website for visitors to reference. 

The hands-on work on the actual days of the conference also kept me interested. As I greeted each new or returning face that approached the check-in desk, I got to meet each person that I had been familiarizing myself with through email and the event’s schedule. They would often hang around our lobby area for a bit and chat with fellow attendees, which made listening in on the different conversations happening in the room another perk of working at the desk. I’d recommend the experience to anyone who has even the slightest interest in either literature or even just people in general. You will end up learning a lot through the different interactions you’re sure to have before and during the conference. 

March 29, 2024

By: Allison Van Dyke, LCLC51 Intern

As someone who plans to pursue a career in publishing, I had great experience working as an intern for the LCLC. I heard firsthand about subjects that interested me from professionals within the field, which was amazing. Additionally, Dr. Biberman (who is the director of the conference) was a great help for introductions, and everyone I met was very welcoming and interested in my work as a student. Even after the conference has come to a close, I keep in touch with some people I met through the LCLC. 

My main tasks were to manage the LCLC’s media presence in addition to working with conference attendees, both in advance of the conference and when it was ongoing. Dr. Biberman was happy to let me invent and develop our posts and he was not hesitant about sharing the positive response or compliments my work received. This made the internship very fulfilling for me.

I also took on some of the background work with the conference's planning site, EventSquid. This not only allowed me to familiarize myself with the conference and its attendees, but also with professional software. I learned how to navigate, edit, and manage the website, which was great work experience. I created promotional materials outside of social media. For example, I created a collage for the UofL Monday Memo, as well as flyers for the LCLC Keynotes.

I would highly recommend this experience to other students. The LCLC internship not only allows you to make lasting connections, but it also provides you with a freedom to explore the work that interests and excites you.