I have been an Apple fanatic ever since my mom bought me a copy of the Times magazine when Steve Jobs passed away. I was soon spending hours in my bed watching recordings of Steve's keynotes and staying inside on beautiful summer days to watch live streams of Apple's developer conferences. Needless to say, working at Apple was always a dream, and I was beyond ecstatic when I was accepted into Apple's Summer 2020 Internship Program as a Public Relations Intern.

Unfortunately, because of COVID, I had to work virtually as opposed to being on-the-ground with the PR team at Apple Park. However, I was continually impressed and touched by my team's insistence on making me feel like a valued member of the team despite these circumstances, and I still was able to learn a remarkable amount about Apple's PR strategies and how Apple integrates its brand into every piece of messaging it puts out.

I can only say a limited amount about what I worked on, but these were my main focuses:

• ​Coordinated a cross-functional marketing effort across 7 global markets highlighting major iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur software features announced at Apple’s annual WWDC conference, ensuring international markets maintained brand-aligned messaging while localizing focal points to each country’s interests

• Developed messaging strategy and consumer-facing positioning for a significant Final Cut Pro software update that enhanced remote workflows and sped up editing for content creators

• Managed scheduling and product shipping logistics for a major Mac product launch moment, collaborating with PR managers on messaging strategy, organizing the journalist seeding schedule, and supporting day-of launch activities and press briefings

• Prepared PR leads for macOS press briefings by summarizing the past commentary and attitudes of major tech journalists

• Made recommendations on PR strategy to team leadership by analyzing daily Mac press coverage and evaluating its alignment to our product positioning goals

• Created reports for PR leadership evaluating the response to Apple's macOS Big Sur redesign, transition to Apple silicon, and other critical events