Our next Bison Spotlight is Cari Cyr, a member of the Class of 2021. Cari is a commuter student from Tolland, Connecticut, and is double majoring in Sport Management and Hospitality Management. Here on The Hill, Cari is a Student Ambassador and a member of the Emerging Leaders Program. One of her favorite things to do on campus is to help various departments plan events. Most recently, she worked with the Office of Veteran & Military Services where she attended numerous meetings to help plan the Veteran’s Day Reception and the 22 Lap Fundraiser. She also helped with day-of execution for set-up and breakdown of the reception as well as gathering participants to sign up for the 22 Lap Fundraiser. Outside of Nichols, Cari co-created a 501(c)(3) non-profit dog rescue based out of Connecticut, where she is the Fundraising Coordinator. She is responsible for planning fundraisers and social events to raise money for the organization. In her free time, she also loves photography. She mainly takes pictures for family and friends, such as seasonal photoshoots or functions and events. Her favorite pictures to take are of dogs! A fun fact about Cari is that she has a twin brother named Noah!
Cari is currently interning at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, as an Event Day Athletic Marketing Intern. She assists the Marketing Department for athletics in the execution of events that bring brand awareness to fans and enhance their experience on the day of the event. During a normal day in her internship, Cari sets up and staffs marketing tables with team promotional materials at home game days, selects contestants and runs on-field/court/ice promotions on game day for football, basketball, and hockey, provides fans with exceptional customer service and facilitates memorable experiences, and assists with various game-day operation tasks at home football games, including coordinating on-field appearances and recognitions, ensuring a safe environment in the kids zone, and distributing materials to the VIP press box.
Cari describes her favorite part of her internship: “My favorite part about my internship is enhancing fan experiences, especially for kids. A distinct memory I have from my internship was during the first men’s hockey game I had the responsibility of selecting a contestant around the age of 7-12, to participate in an on-ice promotion during half-time. I profiled the stands and found a boy wearing a Youth Crusader Ice Hockey jersey sitting with his mom. I went to introduce myself and explained to them the promotion and asked if the boy would want to participate. Nathaniel, the boy, excitedly agreed to participate and was beyond thankful I chose him. I brought him on the ice for the promotion and he won: he was so proud! Following the event, he thanked me numerous times, asked for a hug, and shook my hand. After I brought him back to his mother, I found out they come to every home game and that Nathaniel had always wanted to go on the ice and his dream is to be on the Crusaders hockey team. The fact I made such a profound experience for this fan, with such a small gesture, warmed my heart and made me realize I want to pursue fan engagement to continue creating memorable experiences for fans.”
Cari is certainly learning a lot from her internship, and her biggest takeaway is flexibility is key: “My biggest takeaway and therefore advice I would give to others is to be flexible. Having the responsibility of selecting contestants for numerous on-field/court/ice promotions is not always that easy. Sometimes fans do not want to participate, not to mention, finding the right age demographic for each promotion as well as selecting contestants under tight time restrictions proves to be challenging. But being able to think efficiently on my feet while under pressure, is crucial for the successful execution of the promotion. This mentality can be applied to almost any internship or job as not everything always goes as planned, but being able to form a new plan to successfully execute the goal reflects positively on you as an intern or employee.”
We would like to thank Cari for taking the time to share this with us. The CPDC team wishes you the best of luck in your future endeavors!
