This post originally appeared on Butchershop Creative.
Every year, San Francisco Design Week creates a theme to express the current culture of design and creativity in business. This year’s theme is Start Here. We were inspired by it and wanted to go big. We interpreted Start Here as Help People. So we began thinking of a new way to help people that makes sense in today’s world of creative industries, where the old internship model may not be the best solution.
So we created something new and officially launched the World’s Greatest Internship at our San Francisco Design Week open studio tour. With hundreds of people in attendance, we shared the details of the program: 2 lucky interns will be selected to participate in a 6-month internship, in 6 different cities around the world (1 city per month), at a combination of 6 different agencies/companies.
Most companies pride themselves on culture that attracts great talent. We do too. A good internship can make all the difference in the world. As our CEO, Trevor Hubbard said, “the value of this program comes from giving interns the chance to experience the span of the creative services business.”
We’re working with our partner AUFI, who connects businesses to a network of the world’s best independent creative agencies, to help us align with other organizations who equally value helping people and investing in the future by creating opportunities. We’re excited to have Base, located in Brussels, on board. And we’re looking forward to conversations with a music company in Sweden that rhymes with modify, as well as one of Australia’s premiere agencies.
This program is meant to celebrate a global community, connection, and diversity of experience and culture. It’s an internship for the creative-idea thinker and maker. It’s not just for designers, it’s for anyone interested in all that goes into thinking of great ideas and making them come to life.
Today, businesses are placing greater emphasis on culture and it’s obvious that great culture attracts exceptional talent — that’s clear as I look around our office. But it takes more than an amazing culture. Companies need to focus on nurturing a global and connected community.
Creatively solving complex problems is a human characteristic, and is not something that should be isolated to individual groups or disciplines. We need universal dialogue, cross pollination of ideas, and new perspectives with unconventional solutions driven by a fearless urgency.
The World’s Greatest Internship is rethinking the internship experience and what it means to help people explore the tenets of creativity in business. We hope in the same way we were inspired to help people, others are inspired to be a catalyst for change, and think of a better way to help people.
If you are interested in applying to the program you can learn more on worldsgreatestinternship.co and follow the journey @worldsgreatestinternship.
If you are an agency interested in participating as a partner, or if you are a company and would like to support the program through sponsorship, please contact Ian Ernzer.