5/28/19
Today was the first day with my work experience program and myself, as well as the other students working at SAS, started our day off by meeting with two Human Resources representatives who had coordinated our work experience at SAS. After meeting them downstairs in the lobby, we went upstairs in building A to a conference room to listen to a general introduction about SAS and what it does throughout the world. We learned a lot in the presentation about the Data for Good programs which use SAS analytics and software to solve modern day problems in the real world. We also learned about how SAS was founded, some perks of being an employee there, and about the tradition of M&Ms being served every Wednesday. After our introduction meeting, we went and had lunch in the building A cafeteria, The Terrace. There was a wide selection of food ranging from sushi to pasta to salads, however, most of us decided to still get pizza. I am sure we will all venture out and try other foods as the two weeks pass. As we ate lunch, we met with some of the HR interns and other employees working there who talked to us about life at SAS and their journeys that led them to SAS. We learned about how the majority of interns and workers actually come from North Carolina State University because the company is widely publicized at the university. After lunch, we watched a few more videos about SAS and then split up to meet with the people that we were shadowing. I shadowed someone who works in Marketing and Communications in building U. She started off our meeting by introducing herself and a little bit of what she does at SAS before bringing us around the floor to meet a lot of the people that she worked with. We met lots of designers, copy editors, writers, and more who all worked in that particular marketing branch of the company. After the introductions, we looked at some information packets that had been recently produced as well as started to look at a packet that they were in the process of producing. We were able to offer up suggestions as to how to make the packets better and give information about what would resonate the most with specific audiences. After this, we were able to ask lots of questions about marketing in general and specific ones about what they do in the company. Overall it was a great day, and I am excited tomorrow to meet more people that are involved in the marketing process
.