From the glossy admissions packets to the exciting first year orientation, SMPA students are continually told that their school is only five blocks from the White House. Well, it turns out they weren’t exaggerating. I had the incredible opportunity to walk those five blocks each morning as a spring intern in the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy.
Over the last decade, the Office of Digital Strategy has been one of the fastest growing offices in the White House. It uses digital platforms to amplify the President’s message and engage with citizens around the country. This includes authoring blogs on WhiteHouse.gov, managing the White House social media accounts, creating videos and graphics, sending the White House newsletter and mass emails, designing webpages, and gathering feedback from Americans through online petitions, webforms, and surveys.
And on top of that, its innovative team continues to harness new ways to engage with citizens and get the President’s message to even more Americans.
As a new member of this fast-paced team, I was put right to work. Each morning I formatted and drafted the White House daily newsletter, known as the Daily Snapshot. This mass email included the top stories from the White House blog, intriguing photos and videos, a quote of the day, the President and Vice President’s daily schedule, and an engagement aspect that asked citizens to share their thoughts on a specific policy issue. I also had the opportunity to suggest subject lines, test different lines, and track engagement with each aspect of the newsletter.
Beyond working on the newsletter, I also had the unique opportunity to author blog posts each week that covered both policy issues and the day-to-day happenings at 1600 Penn. This included writing about the impact of the President’s trade deal on small businesses and the success of the Affordable Care Act, covering the President’s launch of new initiatives including Precision Medicine and two free years of community college, and authoring human interest pieces on events such as the Easter Egg Roll, a royal visit, and a night of gospel music.
Arguably one the most rewarding experiences of the internship was seeing the White House time and time again engage with real, everyday Americans.
For example, while the President was traveling to the Everglades to celebrate Earth Day, the Office of Digital Strategy was busy asking Americans what outdoor spot they’d fight to protect from the impacts of climate change. Citizens from every part of the country tweeted their answer at the White House, responded on the White House Facebook page, and thousands filled out a webform—even attaching a photo. But the office didn’t stop there. They re-tweeted many of the answers that they received, featured a variety in a blog post, and even took the time to email dozens of those who shared.
This digitally savvy team truly cares about the responses they receive and works tirelessly to ensure a two-way street of communication between the White House and Americans. As technology becomes an even greater part of our daily lives, the Office of Digital strategy is a citizen’s best bet to stay both informed about and engaged with the White House.
The internship was definitely a rewarding one and stands out as one of the most meaningful experiences that I’ve had while at SMPA. I found myself learning new digital skills each week while strengthening my writing. From basic HTML to constructing clear and concise messages, I was able to turn to many of the skills that SMPA classes had equipped me with. Thank you to the exceptional team in Digital Strategy for an unforgettable semester at the White House.