It’s crazy that I’m almost done with my internship at ABT. I have really enjoyed getting to work with the staff and learn more about the functions of arts organizations both by listening to speakers in our weekly intern meetings and by working in the development department. Throughout the semester I have had the chance to work on a wide range of projects and events varying from spending four days cleaning out the development closet and working backstage just before the Fall Gala performance.
Weirdly, one of my favorite experiences was actually cleaning out the development closet. Although it seems kind of tedious and frustrating (which at times it was) it offered a really cool chance to look at the history of the company. We had to go through boxes and files to find what we could get rid of but in the process we found a old playbills, materials from past events, membership information and old thank you letters for donations. At also felt really good when we finished because even though it seems pretty insignificant in the grander scheme of things, something that simple can make life a lot easier for everyone in the department which, I hope helps them succeed more in the future.
Honestly that’s how I felt about a lot of the projects I worked on at ABT. I spent a lot of time processing and recording tickets sold through the Patron Services department and spent several weeks working on data analysis from the past Met seasons. Even though it can feel tedious, it is important and useful to make sure major donors have good seats to the shows that they want to see and to understand what ballets people want to see and who is actually buying tickets. I really appreciated being able to contribute to ABT even if it was in a small way.
Katherine Baldwin
Patron Services Intern
Fall 2018
abtinterns 
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