By: Chelsea Platt '13
Chris Donato’s journey to obtain an education began at Siena and has taken him to NBC studios in New York City, and most recently, South Africa.
To supplement his minor in Broadcast and Society, Donato applied for an internship at NBC in the NBC News/MSNBC Ad Sales Research department for summer 2012.
He was selected out of approximately 15,000 applicants for the job. His daily responsibilities included reviewing surveys to prove brand effectiveness, designing presentations for the sales team to use when meeting with clients and creating and distributing weekly news ratings reports for sales executives.
“I had a lot of great experiences while working in 30 Rockefeller Plaza,” said Donato. “I got to interact with Al Sharpton, Hoda Ktob and was a VIP at the Chris Brown TODAY show concert last summer.”
Donato was involved with the NBC Campus2Careers office, which catered to student interns by organizing events throughout the semester that encouraged interaction with high-level company leaders such as NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke and NBC News Senior Vice President Alex Wallace.
In addition, Donato was selected to be a member of the Pilot Program, an initiative where 25 interns were split into groups of five and each team created their own television program. The teams then met with senior executives from Bravo and Style Network to develop their show’s business plan. The competition concluded with each group pitching their show and plan to a group of NBC executives.
Donato has moved on from the Big Apple to the University of Cape Town in South Africa this semester. As an American studies major, he was committed to finding a study abroad location for the Spring 2013 semester that would allow him to see the United States from a new angle.
The skills he learned as an NBC intern are proving to be useful in the writing, editing and media courses he is taking.
“This will afford him the opportunity to work on technical skills but also to do so with a new eye and to develop new sensibilities,” said Br. Brian Belanger O.F.M., Ph.D., director of international programs at Siena. “He will be able to examine issues of race and economic development that will dovetail perfectly with his major.”
The next stop for Donato after graduation should be an interesting one as his resume spans around the world.
