Internships

Contact
Intern coordinators should contact Tammy Gantt, Marketing Department, 305-625-1311 ext 3406.
Students please work through your teacher/counselors to fax resumes to 305-623-9084 or e-mail to tgantt@calderracecourse.com.

Intern responsibilities
Serve as part of the Welcoming Team and as a Tour Guide to assist the marketing department with promotional events, activities and programs in a customer service based environment. These include giveaways/contests, collateral placement, Family Days, the Junior Jockey Club, festivals, research, public relations functions and other marketing-related programs. These duties will involve coordination with other departments and marketing vendors. Interns have significant interaction with customers. The internship is designed to give applicable marketing experience to students by exposing them to each stage of marketing activities: conceptualization, planning, execution and evaluation.

Ongoing training
We provide a relaxed and fun learning environment so students can learn new skills and enhance their current skills. We start from the basics and progressively give students more opportunities in areas they have an affinity for and enjoy. We also give students a well-rounded internship focusing on the use of skills they have developed in school/college. College interns will have the opportunity to supervise others.

Flexible schedule

We are flexible working with interns on their start and ending dates. We are also flexible with summer schedules, but most of our events and learning experiences occur on weekends and holidays so we encourage interns to be available as much as reasonable. Total number of work hours will vary depending upon intern schedule and based on requirements of student's program to fulfill requirements for class credit hours.

Previous Programs and Participants
University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program Internship
Summer 2008 - David Supple, focus on management and operations
Summer 2007 - Bailey Spaulding, focus on the racehorse

Johnson & Wales University, North Miami campus externship participants
Summer 2008 - Mike Allen, Katie Walker
Spring 2008 - Melissa Brooks - currently employed at Calder
Spring 2007 - Sarah Willers - currently employed as security administration at Calder Race Course
Spring 2006 - Ryan Powers - currently employed with the Florida Panthers professional hockey team
Fall 2005 - William Rivas
Rivas's customer service skills and previous Disney training proved valuable to him on big event days like Festival of the Sun and Florida Million Day. His experiences included escorting a zebra for a winner's circle presentation on Festival day, distributing event schedules while surrounded by a small jungle of playful parrots at Calder's Florida Fair, and making sure all the exotic critters and horses for both events were checked into their proper areas. In addition to his marketing focus with the Twin Spires Club, the mascot program, Junior Jockey Club and promotions, Rivas spent a great deal of time with the Churchill Downs Simulcasting Production staff, learning about the daily production of the live racing program and nightly show that is rebroadcast on Television Games Network (TVG). Rivas came to Calder with no previous horse racing experience, so he learned about the industry in racing-specific areas like the racing office, communications, simulcasting and mutuels departments."
Summer 2004 - Nick Wolf
Summer 2003 - Mike Bozek, Miami Heat professional basketball sales

Commissioner Barbara J. Jordan Summer Youth Initiative Program
2008 - Darrell Gaitor (college), Diamond Ragin
2007 - Melissa Brown
2006 - Gasenia Caraballo
2005 - Marquitta Davis
"This happened to be the best job I've ever had. It was very interesting. The people who I worked with made this a very pleasant experience with their welcoming and generous spirits. I also worked with three other interns who were very nice. I believe that I made some very good connections for future references and I learned a lot by being in a professional atmosphere.For starters, I'd like to say that this job covered many areas. There was always something to be done. For example, in the office I had to type letters, send packages to the mailing lists, edit a web site, view old footage of races, run errands, work with kids, and work with all of the different departments like the switchboard answering phones, Twin Spires Club, customer service and the Turf Club when they had big events like the Handicapping Challenge. This allowed me to enjoy what I do and not to get bored with a daily routine just putting in time. I also had to step outside my box when having to work with the mini horses Thunder & Lightning. I'm very afraid of animals, but I actually washed and bathed a mini horse.The most challenging task was dealing with customers who spoke a different language. It was hard to understand and communicate with them. The key was to have patience and keep a nice attitude even if they didn't in return. Of course, I also like having an office all time myself, as though it were mine!"

Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (AOHT) High School program
MIAMI BEACH SENIOR HIGH - Jaime Velez 2008
MIAMI NORLAND SENIOR HIGH - Megan Mazyck-Mcloud 2008, Ivory Turner 2007, Vonshae Ingraham 2007, Melissa Brown 2007, William Saunders Fall 2005; Nicholas Taylor Summer 2005; Cletandre Thelus Summer 2005; Naomi Webster Summer 2005 (employed part-time at Calder), Erica Callahan Summer 2004, Reynes Fornes Summer 2003 (employed part-time at Calder) and Luis Gonzalez Summer 2003
HOMESTEAD HIGH SCHOOL - Rosabel Jordan Summer 2004
MIAMI SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL - Gabrielle Guillaume 2008, Belkis Perez Fall 2004, Yullyza Bouza Fall 2004 (college and part-time at Calder)
"The Academy of Travel and Tourism high school program, which gives students a chance to work at local attractions. Calder's interns learn customer relationship management via the Twin Spires Club and assist with giveaways, festivals, tailgates, family days, and youth tours, and also help with Calder's miniature mascots, Thunder and Lightning. The program is a win-win situation, allowing students to gain valuable work experience in various departments while Calder gains exposure as an area attraction and is able to utilize the students' skills to assist with many programs."