My name is Danni and I am a summer intern at Rock the Vote. Seven of us from Duke University’s civic engagement program, called DukeEngage, got the incredible opportunity to work with the amazing people at RTV this summer. We’re all so excited to be part of a greater effort to engage young people in the political process. This summer, I hope to provide a glimpse into the workings of the interns at the RTV office.
I’m a rising junior at Duke studying political science, economics, and Chinese. During my internship, I’ll be working with Jason on the digital side of RTV. So far, I’ve been searching the web for the blogs you guys read, whether it is politics, entertainment, news, or fashion. We’re hoping to eventually partner with each of them to get our online voter registration tool on their sites in preparation for this year’s midterm election. If you’ve got a blog you love to read, we want to hear about it!
Rachel is another Duke intern. She is a rising junior studying public policy with concentrations in environmental science and journalism. She was particularly drawn to RTV because she finds their voting registration tactics innovative and effective: by aligning entertainment with politics, RTV builds the initial bridge towards a lifelong path of political participation. Like many of you, Rachel is a pop culture junkie: she tunes into E! News while staying updated on Washington politics. She works with Maegan in Communications.
Last Thursday, Rachel and I went to the #140 Conference along with Tom our Communications Fellow. Where we saw Maegan, our Communications Director speak. In class, it’s considered rude and sometimes we’re even not allowed to be on our laptops during class. Apparently, it’s totally normal to do so at this conference. Everyone was typing away on the laptops and mobile devices, but here’s the thing, they weren’t being rude, so many people were taking notes and tweeting about the conference (although I’m sure there were some people checking their work email) that I saw the interaction that was taking place at this conference.
Stay tuned to hear about Jenn’s weekend trip to Ohio with Rob, Rock the Vote’s Ohio State Coordinator and the work her fellow Field interns Joe and Lauren have been doing
Other fun to be had included corn hole tournaments, video game demos, and plenty of vendors and activities catering to the kids. Adults were well taken care of too, with the help of USMC volunteers pouring beer all weekend. Columbus never misses an opportunity to show off her food skills, and this was no exception. From stone-baked pizzas to Belgian waffles, Park Street gave festival food a good name.
