FIELD EXPERIENCE The Apparel Industry Board, Inc. InternshipJavon Jackson

WHERE I INTERNED

o From June 16th to July 16th I interned at the Apparel Industry Board, Inc. in Chicago, IL.

o Nestled between two Loyola University Buildings, you will find the AIBI offices inside their retail pop up store ‘ Made in Chicago’

o AIBI is just blocks away from the Magnificent Mile

WHAT IS AIBI? AIBI is an apparel industry that

was designed to help local designers by developing programs to better serve the community as a whole.

The AIBI offices are located in their retail clothing store, Made in Chicago. The store consists of 13 designers all from Chicago and all their clothes are made and manufactured in Chicago as well.

MISSION STATEMENT “The Apparel Industry Board, Inc.

(AIBI), is a delegate agency of the City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development and is the only official organization in Illinois specifically dedicated to the needs of the sewn products industry. AIBI is comprised of the major players in Greater Chicago whose careers and business expertise span all facets of the industry including design, manufacturing, merchandising, sales, retail, marketing and finance. AIBI is here to nurture and support designers based in Chicago and are constantly developing new programs to better serve and promote the industry as a whole.”

THE AIBI TEAM Marsha Brenner

• Executive Director Kevin Sullivan

• Assistant to the Executive Director

Ambar Campos• Project Manager and the

intern supervisor. Francisco Perez

• Operations Manager. Katie Macht

• Intern from NDSU!

INTERN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As an intern my responsibilities included: Social media marketing: I had to create a Facebook events for a number things such as a sample sale for designer Elda de la Rosa, as well as the Speed Networking event and the annual SideWalk sale. I also took photos of different garments to post online in order to highlight designs and get people aware of what is currently in store to purchase.

INTERN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As an intern my responsibilities included: Customer Service: When customers came in I greeted them and if it was their first time in the store, it was my responsibility to explain what designers where in the store, how long the store has been at this particular location, and the great benefits they have if they purchase items in the store.

INTERN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As an intern my responsibilities included: List Management I worked on managing a lot of social lists that the company has. It was important to do it because its how they keep track of who to invite for different events. Lists I managed included the annual Leadership Awards that is put on every year in October. I also managed the list for the annual Fabric and Trim show. I had to check the excel sheet that were created a couple of months ago and make sure all the addresses and titles were correct for each guest.

INTERN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As an intern my responsibilities included: Visual Displays and

Merchandising Every day I would go through the store and “spot check”. That’s where I had to make sure ever designer’s garments had the correct hangers on the racks and that the garments were facing the correct way and arranged in order from color, style, size and make sure each garment was priced correctly. I also had to switch out outfits on mannequins and make sure they were cohesive with the current theme whether that be Fourth of July theme or a floral print theme.

INTERN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As an intern my responsibilities included: Event Planning I assisted in helping get ready for events that would take place after my internship ended. For the SideWalk Sale my responsibilities included gathering over 300 shopping bags, along with store brochures, and marking down hundreds of items that would be sold at the event. I also had to keep track of which designers would be selling at the event and organize all their merchandise they brought in that would be moved to the SideWalk Sale. For the Leadership Award event I assisted with sending out hundreds of invitations and keeping track of the RSVPs.

INTERN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As an intern my responsibilities included: Filing Paper Work I filed A LOT of paper work at AIBI. Whether it be meeting minutes from years ago, going through sales slips, or shredding checks there was always tasks to do regarding paper work.

SPECIAL PROJECT I had the task of rearranging the floor

layout since the company She Beads moved out. With them being out of the store, we had a lot of extra space and it allowed me to give other designers who were clumped together, more space so customers were able to walk around the racks easier.

BEFORE PHOTOS

SPECIAL PROJECT AFTER PHOTOS

LEARNING EXPERIENCES I learned more ways how to use Microsoft Office.

- Mail Merging, Creating Labels Being a Fit Model for the designer Luz Being able to sit in on designer mentoring

sessions with the Executive Director taught me a lot about how to price garments and target markets for lines.

Knowing and understanding what can happen to a company when they don’t know the direction of their designs, when they don’t make sure their products are manufactured correctly and when they don’t understand who their customer is.

- For example Crescendo

PROS & CONS OF THE INTERNSHIP Pros o Living in a different city o Having an internship where I

felt appreciated as an internship

o Being able to apply what I’ve learned in college to the internship

o Working with a team with big personalities

o Getting to do visual displays o Seeing different careers

available in the industry o Dressing up for work! The list goes on and on…

Cons o Not being able to stay

longer to see events executed

o Having the Speed Networking event cancelled

FUN EXPERIENCES IN A NEW CITY Living with random

roommates from around the US!

Visiting Lincoln Park Zoo

Visiting the Bean Taking the Train

everyday to work

FUN EXPERIENCES IN A NEW CITY• Living at the

University Center downtown Chicago

• Going to Navy Pier and Millennium Park

ANY QUESTIONS?