Events and Communications Intern | Irwin Seating Company
May – Aug. 2025 | Walker, MI
In three months, I ran Irwin's internal communications and events program for 500+ employees across two locations, mostly on my own, turning a blank page into a printed newsletter in days, a guest list into a full night at the ballpark, and a season's work into a company-wide event honoring 35 employees.
500+ employees reached across newsletters, monitors, and events
35 employees honored across 5 milestone tiers (5–40 years) at the Service Awards
2 full editions of the "Irwin Insider" newsletter, written and designed end to end
2 company locations (Grand Rapids + Altamont) coordinated on every program
Irwin Seating Company manufactures seating for arenas, stadiums, and theaters, with seats in places like The Palace Theatre and Rogers Arena, but its 500+ employees across two locations needed their own story told well too. I joined as Events and Communications Intern under Irwin's Employee Experience and Communications Lead for a summer internship, and instead of one project, I ended up running three at once: the company's first enterprise newsletter, a company-wide employee recognition event, and the day-to-day internal communications (digital signage, food trucks, seasonal observances, the Gear & Gifting program) that kept 500+ people across two states in the loop.
The Role
Building the Newsletter from Scratch
Enterprise newsletter
Irwin didn't have a company-wide newsletter before this internship. I wrote, designed, and produced the "Irwin Insider" end to end, including content planning, writing, layout, and shipped two full editions (June and July/August 2025) under real production deadlines. Take a look at both editions below.
Each issue followed the same structure: a themed cover and welcome letter, an employee or family human-interest feature, a company-wide new-hires roundup, a travel or culture feature, a "Health & Wellness" section, and a reader feedback page that helped refine the format each issue. The June issue recapped "Project Irwin," a company-wide update from several department leaders, alongside the launch of the summer Hydration Challenge, a Threshermans Tractor Parade visit to the Altamont facility, and Altamont's first Farmers Market Day. The July/August issue covered Intern Volunteer Day, an employee family feature, a Truist Park savings story, a "Vancouver Canucks: Innovation on Ice" feature tying Irwin's seating work to an NHL arena, and a roundup of 11 new hires across IT, Marketing, Finance, Drafting, Manufacturing, Engineering, Accounting, and Supply Chain, split between Grand Rapids and Altamont.
The Health & Wellness section in both issues did real logistical work, not just cheerleading: it scheduled Health Risk Assessments at both locations with two different point-of-contact nurses, promoted on-site wellness events (blood pressure checks, a Versiti blood drive, farmers markets, weekly "Irwin Walks"), and explained the wellness-points incentive program. I also folded in operational updates, like the Fruit Ridge bridge construction affecting the Grand Rapids commute. That meant turning a facilities announcement into plain-language copy employees could actually use.
A Night at the Ballpark for 35 Honorees: Service Awards Event Coordination
The main event of my internship was the 2025 Service Awards at the West Michigan Whitecaps Ballpark, honoring 35 employees across both Grand Rapids and Altamont, spanning five tenure milestones (5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 years), with the longest-tenured honorees having been with Irwin since the mid-1980s. I managed the event end to end: venue setup, catering, A/V, a timed run-of-show (5:30 PM social hour, 6:30 PM national anthem, 6:35 PM awards presentation, 7:00 PM dinner), task checklists, and on-site logistics.
Beyond logistics, I built a majority of the event's content. I wrote and designed a "X Years Ago" retrospective, pairing each milestone year (1975 through 2020) with matching pop-culture and Irwin company-history moments, like the year Irwin shipped its first Spectrum Recliner orders or renovated Madison Square Garden. I also designed a milestone gift program built around a point system ("Baseballs," one per five years of service, up to ten at the 50-year mark). I was given a set budget for each honoree's gift and experience options, and built the menu (sports tickets, golf, spa days, cooking classes, park memberships) by picking things that fit that budget and that employees would actually use and enjoy. I also put together a second presentation recapping past company events and a custom "Ballpark Bingo" bonding game with two ways to win and prizes at checkout. The week before the event, I assembled certificates, plaques, and gifts for every honoree, built welcome/gift bags with tickets and parking info, tracked RSVPs through an email intake form, and ran day-of guest registration.
Keeping Two Locations in the Loop:
Digital Signage & Internal Content
Between newsletter issues, I designed and produced a rotating slate of digital signage for break-room and lobby monitors at both locations. That included seasonal and civic content: a Memorial Day observance with flag-raising ceremonies at two on-site locations and a t-shirt sale benefiting a local veterans' charity, community-partnership content for a Farmers Market featuring a local farm that provides jobs to people with disabilities, and recurring food-truck promotions (I coordinated at least three different vendors over the summer, sourcing them from across West Michigan, handling day-of logistics, and writing the advance and day-before email announcements that drove turnout).
I also produced wellness and safety content for the monitors: a summer Hydration Challenge with weekly winners tracked by ounce totals, a heat-safety graphic translating OSHA-style heat-illness guidance (hydration cues, heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke warning signs, emergency response steps) into a scannable employee-facing format, and created a "Sun Safety" video for internal distribution. I designed and promoted a Men's Health Month webinar in partnership with Irwin's on-site health provider, and kept a running construction-alert series (Fruit Ridge Ave. ramp closures) updated as the timeline shifted.
Revamping the Gear & Gifting Program:
Merchandise & Inventory Management
I also took on Irwin's employee Gear & Gifting program, sourcing new branded-merchandise concepts and coordinating directly with outside vendors to balance budget, brand guidelines, and employee preferences. That meant building and maintaining inventory-tracking systems across two physical storage locations (a filing cabinet system and a large storage cage) to prevent overstock and catch shortages before they became a problem, then assembling and distributing branded gear and gift packages for employee milestones and company events. I also fielded a company-wide survey through Qualtrics to gather direct employee input on future merchandise.
Planning the Interns’ Own Day:
Intern Bonding Event
Outside the employee-facing programs, I planned and ran a full-day volunteer event for Irwin's intern cohort: researching Grand Rapids-area volunteer opportunities, presenting options to leadership, and running an intern vote that selected Kids' Food Basket farm. From there I coordinated the volunteer-site schedule, a group lunch, carpooling, and every intern's individual schedule, and wrote all the pre-event communications to both interns and leadership. The event was later featured in the Irwin Insider employee newsletter, with a write-up and photos I took at the event.
500+ employees reached through the newsletter and internal comms channels
By The Numbers
Channel Growth over Eight Months
2 full newsletter editions written, designed, and shipped
35 employees honored across 5 tenure milestones at the Service Awards
2 company locations (Grand Rapids + Altamont) coordinated on every recurring program
Let’s build something people actually show up for.
I spent a summer running a newsletter, a company-wide event, a merchandise program, and a rotating content slate at once, across two offices, without missing a beat. Got a project that needs that kind of range? Get in touch.