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Summer Internship Series: Travis Filicky

June 21, 2016

Summer Internship Series: Travis Filicky

Travis Filicky

Strategic Communication Major, Public Affairs Intern with the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel

I am fortunate to have found an internship that offers both professional experience and insights I can use as a consumer. I am a public affairs intern with the Office of The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, and in addition to learning professional communication skills, I have learned about my electric, natural gas and water utility services.

If you have read your utility bill recently, you may have heard of us. The OCC is your residential utility advocate. The Consumers’ Counsel is an attorney appointed by the OCC Governing Board to represent Ohioans paying utility bills. The office has a team of attorneys that represent Ohioans in cases involving complaints, rates and other issues before Ohio’s utility regulators. The public affairs department manages public relations, outreach and even the OCC’s Twitter account.

As an off-campus resident, I am familiar with potential pitfalls for students and first-time renters: pushy energy marketers, excessive submetering charges and deceptive scams. My first task was to read through the OCC’s outreach and educational materials. Within a few weeks, I would understand these sometimes familiar and sometimes complicated utility issues, and I would begin finding new ways to educate Ohioans.

Everything I do is intended to educate Ohioans. I track legislation at the Statehouse for bills that could have implications on utility consumers. I build databases of media contacts for the agency spokesperson. I have visited the Statehouse and Governor’s office on official agency business. It is all done so the OCC can send a message to consumers about the bills they are paying and the service they deserve.

I have spent a lot of time writing facts sheets, webpages, newsletter articles and even tweets in language that is useful for consumers. For this position, my media writing class has proven to be the most useful course I have taken in my communication studies. But from my media class I have grown, as I have learned valuable editing advice from my manager and worked with him to improve my writing.

Something I was eager to write about was submetering of electric and water services. I had the opportunity to work with an analyst at the OCC to write talking points about submetering for an investigative report by Brooks Jarosz at FOX 28 / ABC 6.

Going forward, I hope to work on a campus outreach plan that shares the OCC’s resources with students moving off-campus or recent graduates.

I am excited to be working for a consumer advocate, and I hope to remain an advocate for other people in the way the School of Communication has prepared me as a public relations professional.

Meet all of the 2016 summer intern bloggers and read about their experiences.