Golden Expectations
Bradley students interning during NBC’s Olympics coverage
02/12/2014 12:00 PM
By Matt Hawkins
Eighteen Bradley University students are experiencing the Olympics thrill as NBC interns, with six on site in Sochi, Russia, and 12 at NBC Sports Group facilities in Stamford, Conn.
Front-line interns will log video, serve as production assistants and handle hospitality-related duties. Stateside interns will follow sports and edit video.
“This is the kind of thing students dream of, and I am lucky enough to get to experience it,” said junior Dee Moore. “This is the kind of on-the-job experience you can’t get in a classroom.”
Junior Anna Wilks is on the hospitality staff in Sochi, where she’s busy guiding guests and facilitating meet-and-greet events. She’s following in the footsteps of her great-uncle, the late Jack Kelly, who worked much of his life with the Olympics. Kelly worked on two Olympics festivals, consulted two Olympics bids by Houston, Texas, and was a president for the Goodwill Games.
“It’s cool that I get to experience everything he had for past years,” Wilks said. “Hearing his stories, I can add on and tell my stories. It’s cool that I get to go and experience this. He’d tell me stories, so it’s cool to live on his legacy.”
Senior Lee Pikelny is using his experience working for Bradley athletics and the Peoria Rivermen as a video logger in Sochi. He saw the global stage as a prime opportunity for his classmates to showcase the university.
“The Olympics is as global as you’re going to get,” he said. “This is gigantic for Bradley getting its name out there.”
Stamford interns are working at NBC Sports Group’s recently constructed facilities. Moore is learning large-scale production by monitoring and editing clips for NBC’s non-broadcast content generator Highlights Factory. This is experience she values for her future.
“Having this opportunity will hopefully help me in the future as well, not only on my resume, but with the contacts I can make while in Stamford,” she said. “I will have the chance to network with NBC employees as well as students from other schools.”
NBC interviewed 36 applicants in March 2013 before selecting the interns. During the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, 10 Bradley students interned with the broadcast giant for the first time.