RECAP: Indyfluence Welcome Event

Welcome, Indyfluence interns! 

After a year of preparation, our 2021 Indyfluence Welcome Event finally took place on Tuesday! Interns were given the warmest of welcomes from some of Indy’s top young professionals—giving interns the chance to hear why they all love living in Indy. 

Our host for the event was none other than Sarah Myer, the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for the Indiana Sports Corp. She introduced the interns to Indyfluence, explaining that this four-week program will give them the opportunity to MEET INDY, LEARN FROM INDY, and GIVE BACK TO INDY. All of our events and content will relate back to those three core pillars. Sarah then explained that the program will host two different types of events: all-intern events and small-group workshops or networking events. She also reminded everyone to follow the Indyfluence social channels because we’ll be publishing new content there every day!

Below is the breakdown she gave of the 2021 Indyfluence program, which should get you up to speed.

ALL-INTERN EVENTS

Tuesday’s Virtual Welcome Event was the first All-Intern Event of the program, where every Indyfluence intern can participate. In the weeks to come, there will be three more opportunities for everyone to come together. The next All-Intern Event will be the Ally4All training on July 1st. During this event, interns will have the chance to learn from Roche’s DEI experts on allyship in the workplace.

Then, on July 14th, Indyfluence will host the Doers and Changemakers Event. This event will feature three different panels of local leaders in the Indianapolis area, including young professionals like our interns! These leaders will share their expert experience and help our interns imagine what their careers could look like here in Indy. 

And finally, this year’s Indyfluence program will conclude with our annual Give Back to Indy Event, which allows our interns to make an impact in our local community. During the Welcome Event, interns were given a chance to vote for which service area they wanted to support this year, and the result was Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion! In the coming weeks, we will select four local organizations that advocate for DEI efforts, and our interns will vote for their favorite organization. Then, the winning organization will receive $14,000 LIVE during our Give Back event!

SMALL GROUP EVENTS

For the small-group events, our three program pillars will each have their own event series, so interns can explore the topics they’re most passionate about. First, the MEET INDY series will offer small-group networking opportunities called Coffee & Convo or Cocktail & Convo. Then, the LEARN FROM INDY pillar will host Workshop Wednesdays. During these workshops, local experts will teach interns about various professional development topics to help prepare them for success when they start their career. And finally, our GIVE BACK TO INDY series will be called Philanthropy Friday. These workshops will focus on service and philanthropy, teaching interns about nonprofit giving and how service is a part of the Indy community’s DNA.

WEEKLY CONTENT

Each week, our Indyfluence social media channels will post new content to help interns MEET, LEARN FROM, and GIVE BACK TO INDY! During the Welcome Event, our interns shared what they were most interested in learning about this summer, and the results were: Indy’s Food Scene, Indy’s Nightlife, and Indy’s Social Events. Get ready to learn more about these three topics through our blogs, the Lexie’s Life in Indy video series, our weekly Weekend With Me and Tuesday Takeovers, AND SO MUCH MORE! 

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

To end the Welcome Event with a bang, we hosted two mini discussion panels that introduced a couple of Indy’s biggest differentiators: our food scene and our parks and trails. 

The first panel included Kendall Lockwood—Owner of Baby’s and The Ball and Biscuit as well as the Founder of soon-to-launch, ready-to-drink cocktail line Adult Spring Break—and Jeffery Burgin, the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advocate for the City of Indianapolis and the Co-Founder of The Eat Factory. Kendall and Jeffrey opened up about the Indy food scene and where they see it going in the next five years! 

The second panel welcomed Ethan Hochstein, Horticulture Manager of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, and Hannah Thomas, Public Information Officer for the City of Indianapolis and former Marketing Coordinator for Indy Parks. These two talked about Indy’s beautiful green spaces, including over 200 parks!

All in all, the Indyfluence Welcome Event showcased true Hoosier Hospitality, welcoming all the interns to Indy! On top of our featured panelists, the event also included several videos of local residents welcoming the interns and sharing their passion for our home. We are all super excited that Indyfluence 2021 has officially commenced, and we can’t wait for the next four weeks as our interns finally MEET INDY, LEARN FROM INDY, and GIVE BACK TO INDY!