Appropedia:Communications volunteers

Responsibilities: Outreach, crafting publicity material, social media.
Work basis: Part time, virtual internship.
Intern's location: Anywhere in the world with an internet connection. (If you happen to be located close to one of our directors, admins or partners, we can arrange face-to-face meetings.)
Length of internship: 15 weeks at a minimum of 4 hours per week, or 7 months at min 8 hours per week. Other arrangements can be accommodated.
Benefits: See below.

If you're studying Communications, or wanting to break into the field, and you're passionate about solutions for positive change in the world, then this could be the opportunity for you. Appropedia is looking for interns. Your role will be to help Appropedia communicate and engage with people who would want to know about this project but don't know yet (or don't understand it), as well as communicate with and strengthen our existing community. With your mentor you will choose an area of focus, but will also gain experience with other roles.

Stages[edit | edit source]

The first stage lasts for two weeks, and counts as a "mini internship" if done on its own.

Second and third stage projects or tasks are chosen after completing the first stage.

Benefits to the intern[edit | edit source]

You'll gain valuable experience in:

Marketing
Social media
Online community management (an increasingly important role)
The non-profit and development sectors

We've have some experience in this work, and are active in social media (e.g. our Twitter account, as we've taken our message out there. We're happy to share with you what we've learned, but we're also happy to learn from you and with you.

You'll make contacts in the sustainability and development fields, especially in academia.

Impact[edit | edit source]

You'll be helping the development community and those working for sustainability to be more effective.

If you're like us and passionate about making a difference by empowering people, you'll find yourself inspired, helping you do better work and learn better.

Role[edit | edit source]

Outreach, crafting publicity material, social media.

help Appropedia communicate and engage with people who would want to know about this project but don't know yet (or don't understand it), as well as communicate with and strengthen our existing community.

The work will involve a mixture of interviewing, contacting and publicity. You can work part-time, and you'll have a lot of flexibility in how you work, but you'll have guidance always available.

How it works[edit | edit source]

This is a virtual internship - you'll be working with people who might be on the other side of the world, but with email, chat and VOIP, that's not such a challenge these days. You can work from anywhere in the world with internet access.

That requires you to manage your time, organize yourself and get things done. An online internship gives a lot of flexibility, but it isn't for everyone.

You'll be working mainly with one mentor, but are free to work with others in the Appropedia Foundation and Appropedia community as appropriate.

Here is a proposal for how the Appropedia community supports communications interns:

Together with the intern, we make a list of goals and tasks
This will include some people and institutions and people to contact, but give a lot of flexibility
A simple and easy way of reporting the essentials
Being an unpaid position (at this stage), we don't expect a full-time or even part time job;
The choice of tasks should therefore focus on some of the most critical and strategic tasks, out of the many tasks that could be chosen;
The choice also depends on the skills and likes of the intern.
Provide feedback where appropriate, especially as requested.

Requirements[edit | edit source]

The applicant will have:

A willingness to try things and to reach out to a lot of people, through email, forums and possibly other methods.

You'll need to take initiative, experiment and report on what's working and what isn't. We have a high respect for failure with enthusiasm, which is often the basis for future success, and even more often the basis for very valuable learning.

That requires you to manage your time, organize yourself and get things done. An online internship gives a lot of flexibility, but it isn't for everyone.

You may be a student, or simply an interested person wanting to explore the field.

Apply[edit | edit source]

If you want to apply or if you have a question, email chriswaterguyappropediaorg or kathynativiappropediaorg, or leave a message at User talk:Chriswaterguy.