National Building Museum
Available Spring 2011 Internships
Education
Assist with the development of and participate in youth and family programs, developing interactive, outreach
programs, and adult programs.
programs, and adult programs.
Family Programs Internship

Spring 2011
Valuing its role as an informal learning environment and cultures community partner, the Museum ahs a history of
offering numerous large- scale family festivals for learners of all ages to enjoy. The Museum celebrates the building
arts with the Washington, DC community by offering hands-on activities, demonstrations, and performances at the
following festivals: Festival of the Building Arts, Discovery Engineering Family Day, and National Cherry Blossom
Festival Family Day.

Responsibilities:
Curriculum Development
• Research Japanese design activities for children.
• Create three hands on activities (with a design focus) to serve thousands of families at National Cherry Blossom Festival.
• Create appropriate instructions and signage for these activities.
• Test the curriculum and help the Family Programs Coordinator train volunteers to facilitate these activities.
• Work with the Family Programs Coordinator to evaluate the success of these activities after the festival.

Project Management
• Order and organize all of the supplies needed for three activities at the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
• Work with the Family Programs Coordinator and Volunteer Manager to recruit and train volunteers to
successfully lead family visitors through these activities.
• Create an appropriate work timeline to complete the prepping of all supplies and instructional posters.
• Work with the Family Programs Coordinator to manage the NBM activity area on the day of the event.
• Begin to understand project management at a festival by working at the Discover Engineering Family Day
by helping supervise our teen volunteer's activity station.
• Assist Family Programs Coordinator in marketing both Discovery Engineering Family Day and National
Cherry Blossom Festival to local community organizations.
• Assist with pre-Engineering Family Day activities as needed in collaboration with Discovery Theatre.

Qualifications:
• Required: an interest in Early Childhood education and family learning; Preferred: Degree or pursuing a
degree in education of museum studies.
• Enthusiasm for working with a diverse group of families and visitors.
• Exceptional organization skills.
• Experience with MS Office applications. Experience with design software such as Photoshop and
InDesign a plus.

Exhibitions
Assist Museum curators with exhibition research and development. Responsibilities include database and
spreadsheet management; independent research at the Library of Congress, local libraries, and museums and
archives; inquiries to museums and historical societies regarding collections; image scanning; and administrative
assistance with loan requests, reproductions and permissions, and correspondence.
Exhibitions Archive Internship

Spring 2010
The Museum is seeking an intern with an interest and background in archival management and/or library science to
assist in the organization of institutional records. The project will focus primarily on the records pertaining to the
Museum’s exhibitions over the past 30 years. The intern will work closely with the Exhibitions Assistant to develop an
efficient system for the existing records and a plan for records to come.

Responsibilities:
• Identify, classify, organize, and store records
• Evaluate significance of records and recommend a system for culling them
• Develop a records management policy intended to standardize filing, protecting, and retrieving records in the
future

Qualifications:
• BA required. Pursuing an advanced degree in Archives and Records Management and/or Library Science
preferred.
• Experience working with institutional records preferred.
• Ability to take directions and work with minimal supervision.

Marketing and Communications

The Marketing and Communications department at the National Building Museum is responsible for promoting the
Museum's mission to the general public. Some of the department’s main responsibilities are management of all
printed materials, oversight of the Museum's web site and on line strategy, press outreach, and brand management.
Marketing and Communication internships provide the opportunity for hands-on work in a busy marketing department
and the chance to manage your own projects, from start to finish.


Marketing and Communications: Web, Social Media, and Video Internship
Spring 2011
A main component of this internship will be working with the Museum's Convio system, a content management
system used to manage the Museum's website.

Responsibilities
• Post regular updates to National Building Museum constituents via social media accounts
• Assist with tracking and maintaining statistics for Museum social media interactions and other website analytics
• Assist with other Marketing & Communication department activities, such editing web and print content, promoting

Museum exhibitions and programs online, etc.
Requirements
• Strong knowledge of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Foursquare
• Familiarity with analytics applications, such as Google Analytics
• Some knowledge of Final Cut Pro video editing software is a plus

Marketing and Communications: Public Relations and Marketing Internship Spring 2011

The Museum is seeking an intern with interest in learning more about marketing and public relations in a Museum
environment. This internship will focus on press outreach and marketing for the Museum’s exhibitions, public
programming, and Museum shop. A large component of the internship is dedicated to working with Cision to create
targeted and effective press lists. The Marketing and Communications department wants it interns to have an
experience that is both rewarding and substantive and works to find projects that its interns can manage on their own.
Responsibilities:

•Conduct press research though Cision to develop press lists and keep all existing press lists up-to-date
•Work with staff on writing press releases
•Research advertising opportunities
•Assist with press clip management
•Assist with social media projects
•Various office management projects.

Qualifications:
•Pursuing a degree in Marketing, Communications, Museum Studies, or related subjects.
•Prior experience with web 2.0 technology preferred
•The minimum time commitment is two eight hour days.


Marketing and Communications: Graphic Design Internship Spring 2011

The designers in the National Building Museum’s Marketing and Communications Department create
brochures, postcards, posters, exhibition graphics, web graphics, advertisements, and publications for the
various departments within the Museum. The designers works closely with internal clients to create high quality
creative design solutions that fit within the Museum’s established brand and style guidelines and
meet project needs.
The National Building Museum is seeking an intern to work with the Museum’s designers to create designs
for various print and web materials. The intern will work closely with the Senior Graphic Designer on
production techniques, specifications, and coordination as well as design archiving. The internship provides
the opportunity for hands on design work across a variety of media in addition to mentoring in the museum
field.

Responsibilities:
oDesign web graphics within the National Building Museum brand guidelines.
oDesign print pieces such as postcards, flyers, and posters as well as web graphics within the National Building Museum brand.
oUpdate electronic and physical file archive of design projects.
oAssist with production coordination.

Qualifications:
oAt least two years of progress on a degree in graphic design.
oExperience using Adobe Creative Suite (Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator).
oKnowledge of print design and web design.
oAvailable during the week
oStrong communication skills.
oAbility to work well in a team environment.
oKnowledge of architecture, construction, design, engineering, or the built environment a plus.

Preferred Characteristics of a Graphic Design Intern:
_ Creativity.
_ Problem Solving.
_ Open mindedness.
Please provide a sample portfolio of work with the Internship application.

Museum Shop
Assist management and operation staff to conduct analytical review of the Museum Shops performance.
The National Building Museum intends to leverage its existing Museum Shop operations to raise the national profile
of the Museum and to enhance the visitor's experience. The Museum Shop seeks to undertake a business process
re-engineering of its operations in order to attain additional growth in sales. The Museum Shop intends to evaluate,
the operational performance, merchandise assortment, store layout and design, marketing, work force structure and
management to identify specific and obtainable goals to provide the Museum with a greater return on this investment.
The National Building Museum, Museum Shop has been recognized nationally by the Washington Post; Niche
Magazine, US Local Business Association, and the National Geographic Intelligent Traveler as one of the
best museum stores in the region. The Museum Shop plays an integral role in the success of the Museum mission
and has become a destination location for visitors from around the world.
Museum Shop Internship
Spring 2011

Responsibilities
• Design financial analytical report.
• Assist with the development for merchandising strategies and sales analysis;
• Update electronic database.
• Analysis financial data, marketing programs and sales strategies.
Qualifications
• At least two years of progress on a degree in business or museum management with prior experience in
retail a plus.
• Experience using Excel worksheet and/or access data software programs.
• Knowledge of print design and web design.
• Available Monday-Friday during museum operation hours.
• Strong communications skills.
• Ability to work well in a team environment.
• Knowledge of architecture, constructions, design, engineering or the built environment a plus.

Visitor Services
Assist with development and implementation of Museum tours. Research and assist writing tour scripts for the
museum's docent program. You can also explore a different side of museums by assisting our museum operations
department during events, programs, and festivals.
Volunteer and Tour Internship
The National Building Museum’s Volunteer and Tour program is a diverse and active program with over 200
volunteers and serves over 10,000 visitors with tours. The intern reports directly to the Volunteer Manager and is
responsible for assisting with the tour program. The Tour intern primary responsibility to assist with marketing the
museum’s Group Tour Program. Assists with planning the volunteer appreciation party

Specific Responsibilities and Functions
• Manage group tours operations; such as
o Calling group to confirm their visit and payment
o Following group tour visits with a Thank you letter and evaluation form
o Assist with recruit and market tours
• Assist with planning volunteer appreciation party

Commitment:

 20 hours/per week

 Monday – Friday; some weekends (flexible on days)

 Estimated Start Date Required: January 2011
General Qualification Requirements
.Ability to take direction and work with minimal supervision.
Ability to communicate effectively with others.
Knowledge of basic Microsoft Word products is important.
Creative.
Prior experience with web 2.0 technology, in particular Convio, preferred, but not required
Benefits
National Building Museum internships are unpaid. College or university credit (based on school's requirements) may
be given. Museum interns receive complimentary Museum membership (includes subscription to Blueprints quarterly
e-journal, the Calendar of Events, invitations to exhibition openings, and a discount in the Museum Shop), and free
admission to public programs. Weekly enrichment programs are organized for summer interns.
How to Apply
Internships are open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Applicants should have a strong interest in the
subject areas covered by the National Building Museum's mission and in museum work in general.
Internship application deadlines are as follows:
Spring internships (January through May): DEADLINE December 15
Prospective interns are required to complete the Intern application form available at www.nbm.org. In addition, the
following items are required for consideration. Final decisions will not be made until the supporting information is
received:

A recent writing sample (at least two pages)
An interview (in person or over the phone)
Two letters of recommendation from professors
Your most recent official academic transcript