Publishing Summer Internship at the World Bank

This prestigious internship is one of a range of opportunities for the students in the postgraduate publishing programmes at Oxford Brookes.  This is what Kay has to say about her experience:

"The World Bank's mission is to reduce global poverty. The Office of the Publisher is just one of the many teams within the organisation that support this mission. The World Bank is a not-for-profit publisher and as a result the 'language' you speak and hear in the halls of this office is very different to what you can expect in any other commercial publishing house. People speak in acronyms here ‘In EXTOP you'll have to use CPJ and ACS for the GFD campaign - and make sure you get the client to agree to it...' It takes a while to get your head around it! They are mission-driven, not profit-driven and their ultimate goal is to see the Bank's wealth of information get into the hands of the people who need it most. One of the strategies to ensure this happens is a country-specific discount policy for distributors, i.e. low income countries get a substantial discount and free shipping.

"My role in the publishing team has been to provide input and manage the processes for the direct marketing of the Bank's flagship publications. I have also been involved with co-ordinating promotion and outreach activities with specific Sub-Saharan book distributors as well as researching potential distributors for underserved communities. This has involved a lot of industry and market research into the Sub-Saharan markets to see where the Bank could enter the markets with specific titles most efficiently. I have learnt so much in the last few weeks at the Bank - about publishing but also about what it's like to work in a mission-driven organisation. The publishing initiative at the Bank is unique to any other organization - the way they deal with authors, suppliers and the end consumer. I have often heard the phrase ‘we're not here to make a profit; we're here to make a change'. That mission-driven culture and positive attitude guides every decision in the publishing effort at the Bank."

It sounds like Kay is having a very rewarding time!

During the summer, students from Brookes are also undertaking international internships at Playbac publishers in Paris, the International Labour Office (ILO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, alongside work experience opportunities in the UK.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 27 Jul 2007 around 12pm

Filed Under #Publishing