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Kelsey Harkness '11
Kelsey Harkness ’11 (Wilton, Conn.) has learned a lot about herself during her internship this summer at Rainbow Media entertainment company in New York City.
“Working in New York has been a great experience that will help me determine where I want to work, and who I want to work for,” says the Harkness, a double major in international affairs and a self-designed major in film and media in politics. “New York City is unlike any city I have ever lived, and I plan to incorporate what I have learned here in my future career decisions.”
Harkness spent the past few months working as a research intern for Rainbow Media’s national cable stations–AMC, IFC, the Sundance Channel, and WE tv.
In addition to documenting viewership of programs and visitors to the stations’ web sites, she worked on two major projects over the summer. She tracked men’s and women’s behaviors, trends, and purchasing habits in general, and in specific areas such as health/beauty aids, consumer packaged goods, and technology.
“This research will help the networks develop market and brand positioning, establish effective advertising for each network in national and local marketplaces, build powerful programming and scheduling strategies, and where applicable, build Nielsen ratings.”
Harkness believes her internship has fit right in with her major and goals.
“I love working with TV companies as I hope to eventually end up in production,” she says. “It’s a great experience getting to know the business side of the media industry, as it is essentially the backbone of the business and is often overlooked.”
Harkness also work as an intern with Tom Kraemer ’86 of Kraemer Inc. marketing communications firm in New York City last summer.She was a member of Lafayette’s Division I women’s lacrosse team and spent two semesters studying abroad in Sydney, Australia, and Seville, Spain.