In February 2010, I began an internship with U.S. Biennial, Inc. in their New York City office. U.S. Biennial, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that produces Prospect New Orleans, an international contemporary art show. I was asked to be the Development Intern to work directly with the Director of Development as well as assist the other staff with their day-to-day duties. The following report includes an overview of the organization, a description of my role as an intern with the organization, my analysis of the administration of the organization, and my recommendations for the organization that I developed over the course of my internship, which concluded in May 2010. In June 2010, I was offered a position as Development Associate, which I accepted.

This report describes the duties and responsibilities involved in a 480-hour marketing and development internship from June to December of 2014 with Southern Rep Theatre. This first-hand research, supplemented by an earlier, shorter period as a box office associate from February to April of 2014, is used to examine the marketing, development, and managerial practices of the company. This examination includes a SWOT analysis, second-hand research into best practices, and recommendations for the company’s future. Southern Rep is a three decade old 501(c)3 not-for-profit professional theatre company based in New Orleans, which places a special emphasis on producing new works by contemporary playwrights.

The purpose of this internship report is to examine the daily activities, organizational structure, and festival planning of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival (TW/NOLF). The report includes my assigned duties and tasks, the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, best business practices, and detailed recommendations for improvement. The internship consisted of 480 hours, working closely with the Director of Literary Programs and Development, J.R. Ramakrishnan. The organization’s main focus during the year is to construct and produce their annual festival. iv

This report documents the internship of Lydia Anne Burgess with Omega Production Resource from August 2014 to March 2015. Omega is one of several event lighting companies operating in Greater New Orleans. Omega’s administrative offices are located in the Alario Center situated just inside of Bayou Segnette Park in Westwego, Louisiana. During her internship, Ms. Burgess worked under the direction of the Operations Director and the company founder and CEO. Among her various responsibilities, Ms. Burgess primarily assisted the CEO and Operations Director with administrative duties such as form creation/modernization, file organization, and scheduling. She also undertook marketing analysis for the company. An overview of Omega and of the internship is provided within this report. Additionally, this report provides an analysis of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (S.W.O.T.), recommendations for the company based on Ms. Burgess’ observations, and an examination of best practices performed by similar companies.

Since its origin in 2005, The NOLA Project has sought to bring innovative and high caliber works of theater to New Orleans audiences. Accustomed to performing in various venues due to lack of a permanent theatre, this nonprofit theater company has taken steps to plant roots in the community in other ways, including educational outreach for youth and the development of a new membership program. The purpose of this report is to document my internship with The NOLA Project from April 2014 through April 2015 and to analyze the effectiveness of the company’s operations. My analysis is based on experiences and insights gleaned from my time spent within the organization, focusing primarily on development tasks. I will evaluate the state of the company by addressing current strengths and weaknesses, as well as identifying possible opportunities and threats. This analysis will in turn serve as the basis for recommendations pertaining to plans for the company’s growth and success through the next decade of operation.

The purposes of this paper are to report on my internship at the National World War II Museum and to analyze the structure and practices in the Entertainment Department through a 480 hour internship. The Museum, located in New Orleans, LA, is a rapidly expanding tourist spot that captures and displays the history of World War II and the surrounding era. Beginning in October of 2013, under the direction of Director of Entertainment Victoria Reed, the position of Entertainment Assistant was filled to fulfill these hours and delve into the world of entertainment through a non-profit corporation. The hours of the internship were completed in January of 2014, but employment continued until August of 2014. This report concentrates on the first 480 hours. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization and department will be considered and compared to best industry practices.

The following report documents the internship performed by Marks Sokolosky-Wixon at The La Pointe – Krebs House and Property (LPK) in Pascagoula, Mississippi from August 18, 2014 to December 12, 2014. Work on this project included working closely with every aspect of the property including: museum development, colonial structure restoration, fund development, marketing, and other facets of a burgeoning non-profit organization. The internship also included working closely with the five-member board of The La Pointe – Krebs Foundation and each of its committee chairmen and members. This report includes an analysis of the methods used by the LPK Foundation of business and management and also includes information regarding the LPK’s history and organizational structure.

In 2008, Prospect New Orleans (Prospect) launched the first internationally contemporary art biennial in the United States with a goal to articulate new discoveries in the world of art with historical and culturally significant surroundings. In its fourth iteration in 2014 and with a new staff borne of past successes and failures, which included near-dissolution from financial difficulty, Prospect.3: Notes for Now (Prospect.3) ambitiously expanded with additional artists, venues, and programs. “Thirty Years of Meaning and Influence - Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy by Robert Farris Thompson” was an international conference that was one of 60 programs produced by Prospect.3 from October 25, 2014 – January 25, 2015. The purpose of this report is to document my internship as Conference Coordinator for the two-day conference and to analyze its purpose in the greater context of the large biennial. For this review, the function of the conference and the institutional effectiveness of the organization are summarized through a SWOT analysis to compare the event results to other similar organizations to determine the best practices to successfully integrate concept, form, management, evaluation and conclusion. This thoughtful examination is used to make recommendations for future Prospect programming to be further strengthened through the research of Best Practices with suggested application.

As one of the requirements to complete a Master of Arts in Arts Administration, this internship report presents a thorough discussion and analysis of my experience as an intern with the New Orleans Opera Association between May 2015 and August 2015. The focus of the internship was production, and the report reflects this emphasis. In addition, the report presents an overview of the organization, a SWOT analysis, and a discussion of best practices with recommendations for the organization’s improvement.

The following internship report is a reflection of my time spent working at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art from February 2 to June 2, 2015. Since gaining a new Executive Director in 2012, the Museum has gone through a period of rapid change, which resulted in a complete overhaul of staff structure during my tenure. This report will outline the structure of the Museum, discuss the factors that led to it changing, and evaluate its sustainability for the Museum moving forward. It will also discuss the marketing and communications mechanisms in place, with a specific focus on social media, and provide recommendations for improvements in these areas.