Food and Wine Festival Intern, Maine

Any and all interested in culinary event planning and public relations, culinary and agri-tourism are encouraged to apply.

Tweet

The Greater Portland Convention and Visitors’ Bureau is offering an internship opportunity based on the waterfront in Portland, Maine. The position is p/t as an Events and Public Relations intern for Maine’s food and wine festival, Harvest on the Harbor (www.harvestontheharbor.com). You would be working directly with me and two of my colleagues. Any and all interested in culinary event planning and public relations, culinary and agri-tourism are encouraged to apply. Any interested in future career opportunities in Maine’s culinary or agricultural communities will find endless professional connections as a result as their work with the CVB. Portland, Maine boasts the most restaurants per capita of anywhere in the United States. The city’s proximity to both agricultural land and fishing grounds aids in Portland’s overwhelming culinary focus on farm to table cuisine. Harvest on the Harbor is also farm-to-table themed this year. PLEASE NOTE: in order to be eligible you must be 21+ (or turning 21 before October 20th) and must be available to work ASAP through the first week of November.

Please forward to any and all that you think would be interested. Feel free to reply/apply directly to me or to my colleague listed below. Thank you!

Harvest on the Harbor Internship 2011

Employer Information:
Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau
94 Commercial Street, Suite 300
Portland, Maine 04101
(207) 772-4994

Contact Information:
Allison Goddard
Special Events Coordinator
(207) 772-4994 x 231
agoddard@visitportland.com
colleen@visitportland.com

Dates: Summer/Fall 2011 (p/t with increasing hours leading up to event, f/t 2 weeks leading up to event)

Harvest on the Harbor Internship
o    Assist in pre-planning details of Harvest on the Harbor, including registration, contacting sponsors, creating schedules and timelines, and general follow-up as needed.
o    Serve as a contact for any guest, exhibitor, or sponsor who has questions or comments about the event.
o    Follow-up with and manage exhibitors and sponsors who will have a presence at Harvest on the Harbor
o    Actively participate in team meetings and provide insight on short and long term goals, as well as the overall direction of the event.
o    Involvement in proper follow-up, post-event, including thank-you letters, wrap-up notes, media, and surveys.
o    Provide general administrative help to the department
o    Other event duties as they arise

Additional Duties/Opportunities

Food and Wine
o    Gain knowledge about Maine food products, culinary experts, food artisans, farmers, and fishermen
o    Learn about Maine’s wineries, breweries, and distilleries
o    Arrange programming: cooking demonstrations, seminars, contests, celebrity presentations, and formal tasting events

Public Relations and Media
o    Involvement with promoting Harvest on the Harbor through the press, including print publications, websites, television, radio, and blogging/social media
o    Gain an understanding of the critical role that public relations plays in coordinating a major event.

Event Planning
o    Understand the logistics involved in planning and executing a major event: site planning (tents, tables, electrical, communication); local & state regulations (licensing, safety, insurance); ticketing; hiring and coordination of staff and volunteers
o    On-site management of each event (if applicable) to include various duties and responsibilities.

Advertising
o    Assist in strategic planning for media
o    Assist in the creation of advertisements: writing, layout, computer design
o    Edit, update and possibly create printed materials including invitations, brochures, posters, scripts, and overall event description(s)
o    Assist with website design and maintenance
o    Understand how to build a brand

Sales and Sponsorships
o    Learn how sponsorships generate revenue and benefit businesses
o    Assist in the development of promotions and the drafting of contracts
o    Learn about merchandising

Volunteer Coordination
o    Recruit and manage over 200 volunteers needed to perform various duties throughout the three-day event.
o    On-site training of volunteers during the event to include instruction on wine pouring, ticket-taking, greeting, safety and more.
o    Assist in pre-planning details of Harvest on the Harbor including creating schedules and timelines and general follow-up as needed.
o    Actively participate in team meetings and provide insight on short and long term goals, as well as the overall direction of the event.
o    Involvement in proper follow-up post-event including thank-you letters, wrap-up notes, and surveys.
o    Other event duties as they arise

______________________________________________________________________

Perks
o    Ambassador Pass (to experience all that Greater Portland has to offer)
o    Endless networking with high caliber business leaders
o    Attend meeting with decision makers
o    Get real life, multifaceted experiences

Hours: A minimum of 15-20 hours/week (more hours if necessary to fill credit hour requirements) with a larger commitment during the last few weeks before the event.
Salary: Internship is unpaid but experiences and perks are plentiful.

Qualifications: Seeking a goal orientated individual with the ability to work on a schedule and think outside of the box. Applicants must be dependable, outgoing, confident on the phone, a self-starter, enthusiastic and have a strong work ethic. This opportunity will be of special interest to business, communication, media studies, and marketing majors but is open to all.

Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau
Who We Are and What We Do

Mission
The mission of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland is to stimulate the economic vitality of Greater Portland by soliciting and servicing conventions, meetings, groups, and visitors and by promoting Greater Portland as a preferred destination.

Vision
The vision of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Portland is to provide visitors with a quality experience, second to none, by fulfilling the recreational, cultural, social and spiritual expectations of the traveling public.

What Is a Convention and Visitors Bureau?
A Convention and Visitors Bureau is a not-for-profit organization charged with representing a specific destination and enhancing the long-term development of communities through a travel and tourism strategy. A Convention and Visitors Bureau is usually a membership based organization, bringing together businesses that rely on tourism and meetings for revenue. For visitors, a CVB is like a key to the city. As a balanced resource, a CVB can serve as a broker or an official point of contact for convention and meeting planners, tour operators and visitors. CVB staff can assist planners with meeting preparation and encourage business travelers and visitors alike to visit local historic, cultural and recreational sites.

Why is a CVB valuable to a visitor, business traveler or meeting planner?
•    CVBs offer impartial information about a destination’s services and facilities.
•    CVBs save visitors time and energy as they are a “one-stop shop” for local tourism interests.
•    CVBs can provide a full-range of information about a destination.
•    CVBs charge nothing for services.

If CVBs don’t charge for their services, how do they make money?
Convention and Visitors Bureaus do not charge clients (the visitor, business traveler or meeting planner) for services rendered. Instead, like many CVBs, the Greater Portland CVB is funded through membership dues.

Why are meetings and tourism important?
Travel and tourism enhances the quality of life for a local community by providing jobs, increasing tax dollars for improvement of services and infrastructure and attracting facilities like restaurants, shops, festivals, and cultural and sporting venues that cater to both visitors and local residents. Tourism is of the world’s largest service export and largest employer. In the United States, for example, travel and tourism is the third biggest retail sales sector. The industry contributes more than $545 billion annually to the nation’s economy and generates $94 billion in tax revenues (2001 figures). Indeed, travel and tourism is an economic engine and CVBs are the key drivers.

For more information, please visit the Greater Portland Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.visitportland.com

 

Thank you,

Colleen

Colleen Hanlon-Smith
Culinary Coordinator-Harvest on the Harbor
Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau
94 Commercial Street, Suite 300
Portland, ME 04101
P: 207-772-4994 ext. 223
F: 207-874-9043
colleen@visitportland.com
www.harvestontheharbor.com

Twitter: #MaineEATS