Students listen to a panel of communications professionals during the Nov. 15 Career Kickstart event, “Break Through the Noise: Get the Internship.”

Thursday, January 17, 2013: What I Wish I Knew Before Graduating

5-6:30 p.m.
CMU 126
RSVP: vsprang@uw.edu

Hindsight is always 20/20. The closer you get to graduating and taking those first steps into the real world, the more important it is to remember that everything – from the clothes you buy to your bedtime – will change. In our “What I Wish I Knew Before Graduating” event, you will hear from industry professionals who have been there and can offer up some of the advice they wish they had gotten before they graduated.

Speakers

Stacy Kowalchuk serves as the Social Media Manager at Trupanion, a pet insurance company located in Ballard. At Trupanion, Stacy leads social media strategy, development and implementation across all social channels. In Stacy’s day-to-day work, she runs promotions, monitors the industry for brand conversations, provides online customer support, maintains the company blog and assists with SEO and content development. You can connect with Stacy on Twitter @stacybean.

At 206inc, Angela Schonberg serves as an Associate Manager where she continues to bring her enthusiasm for traditional and digital communications strategy to a number of brands such as Coca-Cola, Toyota and Chase. She particularly excels in gaining positive exposure for big brands in regional markets across the country, and is constantly on the lookout for new ways for brands to interact with consumers using social media. You can connect with Angela on Twitter @AngelaSchonberg.

A native of Seattle, Karla Clark began her career as a talk show producer and on-air entertainment personality for the ABC affiliate, KOMO AM 1000. After leaving KOMO, she kept her hand in broadcast as on-air talent for KCTS 9 television pledge drives. Karla later served as the Communications Strategic Advisor with Seattle Public Utilities responsible for internal and external communications. An avid basketball fan, her love for the game eventually led her to a position as a game night Media Relations/Stats team supervisor with the Seattle Sonics Basketball Team. After helping a friend with publicity for a local play, Karla realized her entrepreneurial spirit and KC Media Strategies was born, a boutique media, publicity and special events company. Through KCMS, Karla successfully developed strategic publicity campaigns and events for non-profit organizations, theatrical productions and local films. Currently, Karla serves as a Moderator/Presenter for Microsoft’s Envisioning Lab where she delivers engaging presentations and interactive tours about future technology to VIP guests, top level decision makers, executives, foreign dignitaries, local and national government officials, schools and Microsoft partners from various industries worldwide.

Thank you for the opportunity to attend the communication internship seminar, last March, which had an Alaska Airlines Magazine editor in attendance. Because of the interview at this seminar, I have been accepted as an intern and will be starting November 19. Thank you for your efforts to help students.

- Rose Marie Gai

L-R Stacy Kowalchuk, Karla Clark, Angela Schonberg, Kadee Grey, Priya Frank
Board members Kadee Gray and Priya Frank recruited friends from Trupanion, Microsoft, and 206inc for a great Career Kickstart session