Welcoming our Summer 2015 Interns

If you know anything about our intern program, then you know that our interns don’t just make copies and run for coffee (although they are always invited on the Starbucks and Tropical Smoothie Café runs.) We’re proud to offer an environment where interns can learn and grow. We value their opinions and input. Quite frankly, we rely on them to contribute to every project they touch. We start the semester off by setting goals and plan their projects around those goals to ensure that they are able to learn as much as possible.

This summer, we’ve got three new interns joining our team. After having my one-on-one meetings with each of them, I was encouraged to learn that, once again, we’ve hired a group of smart and talented individuals who are going to do great things. Here’s a little bit about each of them.

Cassie Marcantonio

Project Manager Intern

Next year, Cassie will be a senior in the Business program at Kenan Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill. She is studying Marketing and Operations, but also has a completely unrelated minor in Theatrical Costume Design. She joined Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity during her sophomore year and now works as the VP of Professional Activities. Much of her time over the last two years of school has been spent sitting in a boat yelling as a coxswain for the Men’s crew team.

Cassie was drawn to VisionPoint because of the consultative approach.  She loves working with people to help them achieve their goals. She felt that VisionPoint would give her the opportunity to work with many talented professionals to enrich the educational world. During the interview process, she was impressed by the people at VisionPoint. After meeting Diane and Micaiah, VisionPoint became the only company on her list of places to intern. She hoped the vibrant and talented employees would be able to teach her a lot and help her grow in the future.

During her time at VisionPoint, Cassie wants to learn how to work with clients to establish goals, create a strategy to reach those goals, and use resources to execute the strategy. She also wants to learn more about the growing world of digital advertising and get exposure to online tools like Google Analytics and AdWords.

After graduation, Cassie either wants to work at a marketing consulting agency like VisionPoint or put her Costume Design minor to use and work in fashion marketing.
In her free time, Cassie enjoys artistic hobbies like portrait drawing and clothing design. She also enjoys outdoor hobbies like camping and hammocking in her Eno with friends. Cassie’s biggest passion outside of work is coaching her childhood swim team. Go Wave!

Maria Potepalova

Project Manager Intern

Maria moved to Raleigh a year ago from St. Petersburg, where she pursued her Bachelor’s degree in public relations. While studying at St. Petersburg State University (in Russia, not in Florida), she realized that communication is all about practice, so she participated in multiple international communication project competitions in England and Spain and worked in several internships. This experience allowed her to begin her career as a copywriter for a large telecommunications brand in St. Petersburg. Maria is currently in Graduate School at North Carolina State University. As a part of her Graduate career, she worked as a Teaching Assistant and, starting in the fall, she will be teaching Public Speaking classes.

Maria chose VisionPoint because she realized that she performs best working on projects with clients she really cares about. After finishing her first year of the M.S. in Communication Program at NC State, she fell in love with the university culture. She likes the open and caring student-professor relationships and the variety of resources that universities offer here in the U.S. Maria knew she would get an opportunity to put her passion for higher ed to work at VisionPoint.

During her internship, Maria wants to work on developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns, contribute to website development and learn to analyze the results of marketing efforts.

In the future, Maria wants to continue her career in an agency, where she can work hand-in-hand with professionals, be exposed to many projects, and learn how to manage and execute complex initiatives.

In her free time, Maria enjoys traveling. She has visited more than 15 countries in the world and has plans to visit more! She also enjoys dancing. She danced for more than 17 years in a folk ensemble which exposed her to Russian, Spanish, Gypsy, German, Ukrainian, Moldovan, and American dances. More recently, she has enjoyed exploring downtown Raleigh and NC recreational parks. “Go local!”

Emily Berg

Project Manager Intern

Emily is a rising senior at Williams College where she studies math. She spent the last year studying abroad at Oxford University and had the opportunity to learn a lot about the psychology of marketing. Her academic experiences have fueled Emily’s interests in data analytics and consumer behavior, and she is excited that she can combine the two while working at VisionPoint.

Emily was drawn to VisionPoint’s collaborative environment as well as the company’s emphasis on measurable outcomes.

“One top of that,” said Emily, “I was super excited about being part of a small team and having the chance to get plenty of hands-on experience.”

During the next few months at VisionPoint, Emily hopes to gain as much exposure as possible to the different aspects of the company’s process. She is really glad that as a project manager intern she will get to work with the entire VisionPoint team on a variety of projects.

“I’m really enjoying getting to know everyone in the office, and I can’t wait to strengthen those relationships,” said Emily.

When she graduates next year, Emily hopes to work for an organization much like VisionPoint.

Outside of the office, Emily loves playing and watching sports, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. She also admits that she partakes in the occasional Netflix binge.

Stay tuned for updates on what our interns and the rest of the team will be up to this summer. We’ve got a lot going on and we’re excited to have three new VisionPointers to collaborate with this semester. If you’re interested in becoming an intern, check out our Careers page for more information.