3. The Idea
The Intern Cloud was devised in order to solve a problem: that
interns feel they could develop faster within their internships.
We believed that by providing a variety of other tasks to interns,
they would be able to explore new skills and demonstrate them to
potential employers.
If these tasks were submitted by NGOs requiring help in the fields in
which the interns were working, the interns could gain more
experience while providing a valuable resource to charitable
causes.
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4. Initiation
After research into various online platforms, the Intern Cloud was
launched on the Ning platform at the end of January 2011.
The initial participants consisted of three NGOs: Breaking the Ice,
the betterplace lab, The Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance.
A total of three interns were recruited from the Berlin-based
branding agency Musiol Munzinger Sasserath, from the
communications agency Red Onion, also in Berlin, and from
Serviceplan PR, headquartered in Munich.
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6. Early Thoughts
A fascinating element of early meetings was to hear how different
participants thought the Intern Cloud could benefit them, and listen
to their suggestions for ensuring its success.
Nina Reicke and Timo Rang of MMS were very keen on the
potential for the Intern Cloud to give interns experience with their
own clients.
Eva Klausenberg of Serviceplan was excited about testing interns
through the projects uploaded, and using employees at Serviceplan
as consultants.
Those from the NGOs sought to employ the interns’ understanding
of social media and marketing, while allowing them to develop their
research and language skills.
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7. Results
Seven projects were uploaded by the participating NGOs. These
ranged from short tasks taking no longer than ten minutes each, to
deeper research which could take up to 100 hours.
While five more interns joined in the following months, only two
tasks werecompleted by the end of the pilot phase in early April.
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10. EVALUATION: Problems
Time
• The reason for the lack of activity seems largely to have been
that the interns involved did not have enough time.
• Eva of Serviceplan stated that their interns ‘have a pretty tough
schedule’, and that internal organization would be required to
free them up to work on Intern Cloud projects.
• She believes that this might pose a common problem across
media and communications agencies.
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11. EVALUATION: Problems
The Platform
• Torsten Sewing, from the NGO Breaking The Ice, found that the
Ning platform was faulty. He was unable to receive updates from
the site.
• He believes that the platform may need to be designed from
scratch in order to enable greater functionality and up-scaling.
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12. EVALUATION: Problems
Language
• Language probably played a role in slowing the pace of
interaction on the site.
• While the pilot took place in Germany, and the majority of the
interns were native German speakers, the project manager
posted updates and encouragement in English. A number of the
projects were also posted in English.
• Most of the interns who participated can speak and write English
very well. Nonetheless, a perceived pressure to operate in a
foreign language can act as an obstruction to action.
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13. EVALUATION: Solutions
More Interns
• A solution to the problem of limited time may be to increase the
number of interns within the Intern Cloud. This would increase
the chance that an intern would be available to complete a
project on the site.
• More interns would also develop social interaction. Social
interaction was identified by the MMS interns in an early
evaluation as an important attraction to the Intern Cloud.
• Eva Klausenberg has suggested publicising the Intern Cloud in
industry magazines in order to attract more diverse media
agencies and their interns. Tasks that require specific skills could
then be matched to interns working in corresponding fields.
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14. EVALUATION: Solutions
More Support
• Eva also called for more support within organizations, with staff
suggesting tasks from the Intern Cloud for their interns to
undertake, and acting as consultants throughout the projects.
• Evidence from other online volunteering and crowdsourcing
websites has shown that participants often require persuasion
and incentives to continue to work.
• Employing a person to act as a site moderator and to encourage
the site users, preferably in their native language, should
increase the use of the platform.
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15. EVALUATION: Strengths
The foundations of the Intern Cloud
• The community of the Intern Cloud have been interviewed and selected
by various media agencies, ensuring a high level of quality participation.
• Interns are generally well educated and capable of performing a variety
of tasks involving the internet and research.
• Interns are embedded within agencies where professionals can help
them to develop their skills through tasks set by NGOs.
• Sites such as Sparked.com and Catchafire.org demonstrate a need
among NGOs for volunteers who have experience in the media.
• Career development is a strong incentive within the intern community.
• Interns are of a common age, with broadly common interests and aims.
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16. EVALUATION: Improvements
Building on the strengths of the Intern Cloud
A number of possible developments and improvements to the Intern Cloud
were identified in an early meeting with the interns from MMS. These
included:
• Links to the interns’ CVs, or to their profiles on LinkedIn and Xing.
• Profiles that include information about the interns’ skills and experience,
so that they can be invited to take part in projects that might interest
them.
• A feedback system that allows interns to be awarded points for good
work and their skills to be rated within specific categories.
• Developing the Intern Cloud as a social network for interns, allowing
them to alert each other to jobs, and review internships they have done.
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17. EVALUATION: Improvements
Building on the pilot
Following further research and the conclusion of the pilot, it is clear that the
the Intern Cloud would also benefit from the following improvements:
Encouraging representatives from NGOs to participate by writing blog
posts detailing their work.
Professionals within media agencies offering career advice and
seminars.
A transition to another platform with more functionality, and which has
the potential for up-scaling.
Employing an individual to encourage interaction within the site.
A collaborative ‘project of the week’ in which interns are encouraged to
work together to complete a task for an NGO.
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18. EVALUATION: Future Developments
Questions and Considerations
• Should the Intern Cloud develop as a series of locally-based
‘chapters’?
– This might have the effect of encouraging off-line interaction and
more online collaboration.
– It would also allow for face-to-face meetings between interns and
their NGO clients.
– It may, however, slow the development of the Intern Cloud by
obstructing the flow of ideas.
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19. EVALUATION: Future Developments
Questions and Considerations
• How social should the Intern Cloud become?
– The aim of the Intern Cloud is to allow interns to gain experience
while helping NGOs. Social networking, while increasing the use of
the site, might detract from this focus and lead the site into criticism.
– Encouraging social interaction, however, may also increase
collaboration and improve the work produced for the NGOs.
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20. EVALUATION: Future Developments
Questions and Considerations
• Would an increase in competition or incentives be advisable?
– Competition has advantages and disadvantages. While it may
increase interaction on the site and the incentive to complete
projects, it may provoke a negative reaction among some interns.
– Offering material incentives may detract from the altruistic nature of
the site.
– However, encouraging NGOs and media agencies to rate the
interns’ work would have the effect of maintaining the quality of the
work done.
– Higher ratings might encourage NGOs to upload more important
and interesting tasks, thereby allowing the interns to gain more
experience.
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21. EVALUATION: Future Developments
How could the Intern Cloud develop?
• The Intern Cloud could be used as a job marketplace for
agencies to hire high quality individuals who have been tested
through a number of different projects.
• The Intern Cloud could be monetized by selling direct marketing
opportunities to advertisers.
• The Intern Cloud could form an element of CSR initiatives for
various agencies, as both their employees and interns are able
to contribute.
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