Hi there! I’m Bryan Cindea, a senior in the School of Communication at Chapman studying Strategic and Corporate Communication. For my fall 2019 internship, I was lucky enough to join a tight-knit team of individuals whose mission is to keep Orange County a great place to live, work, and do business. Orange County Business Council (OCBC) is the leading voice of Orange County, but don’t just take my word for it. Take it from their 250+ member companies and organizations such as Boeing and The Walt Disney Company. OCBC serves its community of members by hosting annual events informing guests on the current economic state of Orange County and beyond, as well as acting as a liaison for public affairs by advocating for pro-business legislation.

Me and my internship supervisor, Catherine at OCBC in Irvine

My time with OCBC taught me valuable lessons and allowed me to put my skills learned in the classroom to work! In addition to practicing existing skills, I had the pleasure of learning new skills as well. I accomplished this through on-the-job learning with the help of my fellow supportive communications team. My responsibilities varied week by week, and new tasks were added to my plate daily. Working on a tight schedule has taught me how to focus on completing smaller tasks with closer deadlines while still focusing on completing projects with deadlines farther in the future.

One of the most significant ongoing projects was my contribution to the OCBC Indicators e-Newsletter, a biweekly newsletter emailed to business leaders and members to keep them informed on the happenings in the business landscape in Orange County. One of my proudest accomplishments at my internship was taking on the task of creating OCBC’s internal messaging map – an invaluable resource that guides the creation of any and every piece of communication material and provides in-depth synopsis of an organization’s brand and voice. Although a research-heavy and time-consuming project, it was all made possible from my experience in Dr. Hannah Ball’s Message Design I course. Dr. Ball’s class allowed me to take knowledge of communication theory and apply it to my work to achieve the desired outcome. In this class, we were encouraged to “put our message design hats on” (a phrase coined by Dr. Ball), which I will always think about before starting any project! Probably the most beneficial skill I was able to refine through these projects was using Adobe Creative Cloud software to create unique marketing material. In addition to using InDesign and Illustrator at OCBC, I was learning about this software in the classroom with Professor Jason Niedle in Visual Communication Design – a course that taught me how to put on my message design hat when creating graphics. 

Me and my fellow intern, Alice at the office. Alice is the workforce and economic development intern. Working together was an insightful experience as we are from two different areas of study; an opportunity you rarely get in the classroom.

One of the most rewarding experiences I had while with OCBC was the chance to network with business leaders who attended our events. This allowed me to get a foot-in-the-door in the professional world, which, before this opportunity, I only wished I could be a part of. Attending these events gave me the chance to meet many people from various sectors, and effectively demystified the once intimidating experience of speaking with individuals in corporate-level positions. I am so grateful to have been able to network at that level, and I cannot wait to see what opportunities I will have within my reach after my time with OCBC.