Shannon Races to Success with NASCAR Internship

Kelly Shannon never liked NASCAR. She lived 15 minutes from Pocono Raceway and could not tell you what it looked like — or that the cars would be so loud.

Now a senior majoring in business management and minoring in communication studies at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, Shannon landed an internship with Pocono Raceway this summer and wound up spending more time there than anywhere else.

“It’s nothing like I thought it would be,” she said. “You can almost say I’m a fan of the sport now.”

Shannon plays a key role in Pocono Raceway’s marketing and advertising efforts. She is responsible for managing the company’s social media sites, which reach over 200,000 followers. Keeping the company innovative, she launched a Snapchat account for Pocono Raceway this summer.

“People love Snapchat,” she said. “Our Snapchat stories were getting around 200+ views each, just a few short weeks after creating the account.”

Shannon’s responsibilities also include coordinating autograph sessions and attending many events. Through her various roles, she learned, first hand, about the passion people have for a sport she never contemplated before her Pocono Raceway experience.

“The energy at a race is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” she said. “People really love it.”

This internship is an experience that will help her after her graduation from ESU.

“I want to get into the creative side of advertising — who knows, maybe after ESU I’ll wind up back at Pocono Raceway,” she said.

Shannon’s marketing experience did not start at Pocono Raceway. At ESU she is a part of the American Marketing Association Club. The club just started on campus in spring 2015. Now the students are looking to build it up. Being a part of the birth of a club, Shannon learned leadership skills and persistence.

“ESU really helped me with my internship,” she said. “I would not be interning with the Pocono Raceway if it wasn’t for Professor McKenzie.”

Robert McKenzie, Ph.D., professor of communication studies and internship coordinator, was Shannon’s internship supervisor this summer.

“Kelly cultivated such advanced social media skills that she became a desired employee to her supervisor at Pocono Raceway,” he said. “She has really showcased her ESU minor in communication studies brightly to the organization.”

For Shannon, landing this internship also allowed her to reach her goal of graduating from ESU one semester early.

“I’ve always been ambitious and I just want to get stuff done,” she said. “I would not have been able to graduate early without this internship; it’s the best thing that could have happened for me— especially financially.”

In her short stint with Pocono Raceway, Shannon built relationships with the staff as well as the drivers. In her first few weeks there, she went to Dover International Speedway and to Kalahari where she spent the day with Trevor Bayne, a current NASCAR driver. She also participated in a Q&A with Erik Jones, a NASCAR truck driver.

Pocono Raceway will keep Shannon on in a limited capacity while she attends her final semester at ESU.

“We are certain Kelly will do big things in her career,” Kevin Heaney, director of media relations at Pocono Raceway, said.

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