Adelaide University Internships - Bethany Sweet

Welcome Bethany!

Bethany Sweet joined our Media and Communications Team for her University of Adelaide ABLE Internship for Marketing on July 29 for Semester 2, 2025 - 1 October 2025.

She is completing a 150-hour internship on-site at the Connecting Up Office, working 15 hours a week for about 10 weeks around her university classes: (2 days x 7.5 hours each). Bethany Sweet's portfolio of media articles can be found >> here. 

Total 150 | Joined 29 July 2025 | Last Check-In 1 October 2025 

Personal Biography 

Bethany is currently in her second year of her double degree studying a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing and a Bachelor of Laws. She is developing strong analytical, communication and digital marketing skills. Throughout her academic journey, she has participated in projects that have expanded her understanding of consumer behaviour and branding. She has also previously volunteered in retail with the Red Cross, where she developed strong interpersonal, teamwork, and customer service skills.

While interning with the SAcommunity Media and Communications Team, Bethany hopes to gain real-world experience by applying the knowledge she has acquired at university. She is also looking forward to expanding her professional network and developing her skills in digital marketing, content creation, and writing. Her commitment to learning new things can be seen through her moving beyond her comfort zone and taking on different projects.

Bethany aims to pursue a career where she can combine her interests in law and marketing to create ethical and impactful campaigns. Her passion is driven by a strong interest in values-based, community-focused work, using digital marketing to connect with audiences and foster meaningful relationships between brands and consumers. 

Interns Bethany Sweet and Glanice Tan

SAcommunity Community Services Storytelling Project

Screenshot of the Country Show article collated by Interns Bethany Sweet and Glanice Tan

 

SA Country Shows List 

While searching for events taking place in November, I came across several country shows scheduled between Sep–Nov 2025 and Feb–Aug 2026. As I began adding these events to my calendar, I noticed that several of the event organisers information needed updating or listing on the SAcommunity website. 

This then led to the creation of the SA Country Shows List blog post, a comprehensive compilation of over 40 events taking place over the next year. For each event, I gathered information on dates, ticket pricing, and event organisers.  In collaboration with Glanice Tan, I also contacted every single organisation to inform them about the blog post and ask if they would be willing to provide additional information for a personalised article and provide current information for their SAcommunity listing or to create an SAcommunity listing. 

Screenshot of Melrose Show Facebook post analytics

During this process, I also created social media posts based on the information provided by these organizations, which were shared across various SAcommunity social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn). These posts contained a condensed version of the information collated in the article, making it more digestible for viewers. These posts then linked back to the original blog post and the SA Country Shows List to provide more detailed information for interested readers. The picture above displays the analytics for the Facebook post created for the Melrose Show, which performed well!

Articles written in collaboration with these organisations include: Uraidla and Summertown Country Show, Kimba Show,  Eudunda Show, and the Melrose Show.

Work Experience - Internal and External Events, Connections and Networks 

Volunteers and interns are encouraged to attend monthly SAcommunity and Connecting Up Team meetings, as well as quarterly all-staff Infoxchange Town Hall meetings to understand more about the organisation as a whole. In addition to reading about projects and news through the staff-wide communication channels Viva Engage (previously known as Yammer) and the weekly CEO Update from David Spriggs, and participating in Lunch and Learn educational sessions, and network meetings to connect with staff and other volunteers.

Relevant meetings and training sessions Bethany has attended include:

Infoxchange All Staff Town Hall Meeting

Infoxchange Let's Talk Webinar - AI Learning Community (Lunch & Learn)

The webinar discussed the new AI Nonprofit Learning Community, a community uplift project that creates a space for organizations within the Asia-Pacific region to develop and share knowledge regarding AI and its usage. The community creates a space where organizations can connect with like-minded peers, share their journeys, access nonprofit AI training, and seek consulting with AI experts.

The webinar gave me a better understanding of the role that Infoxchange plays within the digital technology sector. It also helped me appreciate the power of digital content and AI for nonprofits, and how creating a space where they can use their data and leverage AI can make a meaningful impact.

Ram discussed the ongoing initiatve to improve the teams documentation and communication. I also received  an overview of the different applications the support team maanges and the type of issues they resolve. This was followed by an array of interesting statistics detailing the volume and nature of the support tickets the team handles. They also spoke about future plans for the support team, including streamlining processes and integrating AI.

This webinar opened my eyes to the depth of Infoxchange and the wide range of teams within the organisation. It highlighted the scale behind the Client and Case Management platform but also how the team is supporting its success.

Let's Talk Webinar | Let's Talk Webinar | GenAI at Work: Transforming Customer and Employee Experiences in IT Services (Lunch & Learn)

 

Let's Talk Webinar | Let's Talk Webinar | GenAI at Work: Transforming Customer and Employee Experiences in IT Services  - 2 September 2025 

Bethany had the opportunity to attend the IX Let's Talk Webinar regarding their Customer Service and Employee Experinces intergration with new AI, held 2 September 2025. During this session, I had the opportunity to hear from Brian "Koodge" Parker, ITS IT Support Specialist at Infoxchange, Madonnah Webb, Head of Information Technology Services at Infoxchange and Alison Ramsay, Chief Technology Officer at Infoxchange about the work being done within the ITS teams intergreation of AI to improve help desk efficiency. 

Koodge began by providing an overview of the setup and training of the AI agent. The team then discussed future strategies for improving the AI agent, including refining the prompts provided, updating knowledge bases, and leveraging internally developed frameworks to enhance context and task specification. Lastly, the team shared their long-term vision to transform the customer and employee experience at Infoxchange.

This webinar provided a great introduction to how Infoxchange handles customer service requests and their plans to improve autonomy and efficiency. It highlighted how Ai can be useful in improving established systems.

 

Connecting Up monthly meeting with the Head of Connecting Up Pankaj Chhalotre, Customer Support Officer Samantha Whillas, Volunteers Stathis Avramis, Rex Porter and Joe Xuanqiao Zhang, Account Manager Eric Jenkins, Volunteer Yong Kheng Beh, Customer Support Officer Julia Koh, Marketing Coordinator Chloe Le, Interns Bethany Sweet and Glanice Tan with Senior Web Developers James Newport and Cameron Brown (online) 09 September 2025

 

Connecting Up monthly meetings - 9 September 2025

Bethany attended the monthly Connecting Up meeting held on September 9, 2025.  I found it insightful to listen to the work all of the different teams were doing, as it allowed me to understand more about the organisation as a whole. It was also a great opportunity to hear from Senior Web Developers James Newport and Cameron Brown's insight to the updates that are being worked on the enchance the SAcommunity directory site, during this it was also good to hear from Volunteer Yong Kheng Beh and Stathis Avramis regarding the SAcommunity website rebuild.

 

Data Catalyst Network (DCN)

 

The Data Catalyst Network, is a cross-sector collaboration created to enable not-for-profit organisations working to support children, families and communities to use data more effectively to shape services and achieve their outcomes and generate new insights to better disrupt cycles of disadvantage.

 

Data Catalyst Network Meetings are held monthly and volunteers and interns are invited to attend to understand how nearly 70 organisations are working with data from the not-for-profit community sector alongside academics, government bodies, and business professionals.

 

Co-designing Safe and Inclusive Data Practices for AI and Beyond 

 

DCN August WORKSHOP: Co-designing Safe and Inclusive Data Practices for AI and Beyond -  31 August 2025

On 31 August 2025, I was given the opportunity to attend an interactive Data Catalyst Network Workshop called "Co-designing Safe and Inclusive Data Practises for AI and Beyond'. This workshop was lead by Mosiac Lab and Mel Jacobsen, an experienced co-design facilitator who works across all levels of government, NFPs, and community groups. During this session attendees learnt and discussed NFP can create safe practices data practises when using AI.

 

During the webinar, Mosiac Lab discussed severalconcepts around how NFPs interact with data and how AI is changing the way data is being managed. They also encouraged particpiants to consider furture topics for discussion points. After, participants were split into breakout rooms to discuss safe data practises. This was eye-opening to me as, I has athe oppurtunity to interact with various stakeholders from external organisations as wells as from an different of teams within Infoxchange.

 

This webinar was valuable to me as a member of the Media Team, where I don’t often have the opportunity to interact with data in the way the Data Catalyst Network described. I found it especially beneficial to connect with a variety of people and gain their perspectives on how AI can be used safely with data.

 

Chatbots as new evaluation data sources

 

DCN September WORKSHOP: Chatbots as new evaluation data sources -  17 September 2025

 

On 19 September 2025, I was given the opportunity to attend an interactive Data Catalyst Network Workshop called "Chatbots as new evalutaion data sources'. This workshop was lead by Dotahn Caspi, Digital Manager at the Alcohol and Drug Foundation and Dr Skye McPhie. During this session attendees had the opporuntity to hear about the Alcohol and Drug Foundation's process for devloping their AI-powered chatbot 'Dib', including the barriers, ethical frameworks and management of data. 

 

During this presentaion Dotan discussed the measures taken to ensure user anonymity and data privacy in converations users had with Dib. He then went onto explain how Dib was developed the classification of conversation data, the use of AI for topic and subtopic extraction, and the application of these insights to improve website and social media content. Dr Skye McPhie then introduced a new research project in partnership with the National Drug Research Institute.

 

I found it interesting as it really highlighted the intersection of technology, ethics, and real-world impact. The fact that they prioritize user anonymity and data privacy in such a sensitive area like alcohol and drug use is crucial.

 Australian Digital Inclusion Alliance (ADIA)

The Australian Digital Inclusion Alliance (ADIA) is a shared initiative with over 500 business, government, academic and community organisations working together to accelerate action on digital inclusion. ADIA is supported by Infoxchange, Google, Telstra and TasNetworks. Volunteers and Interns have the opportunity to attend these stakeholder meetings.

Australian Digital Inclusion Alliance (ADIA) -  AI and the Community Sector  - 1 October 2025 (Live)

The recent ADIA October Meetup explored the use and development of AI within the not-for-profit sector, with a focus on ensuring its responsible application. Sophie Souchon, Digital Transformation Manager at Infoxchange, was the first panelist. She spoke about the AI Learning Community and how not-for-profits can harness AI effectively. Sophie also shared several examples of AI use within the sector and highlighted how Infoxchange can support organizations through training and strategic guidance. Beth Worral, Responsible AI Manager,  at the National AI Centre discussed the status of AI take-up and key tools for safe and responbile use, Ali Akbari, Director of AI Practice at the Gradient Institute then joined the other panelist for a discussion on AI within non-profit organisations. This webinar was insightful as it outline key resources available to not-for-profits that allow them to easily navigate AI. 

Image: Sam LLoyd, Portfolio Marketing and Brand Experience Lead, Connecting Up and Intern Bethany Sweet

Mentor Meeting 

Mentor meetings are an opportunity for mentees to select a member of the Infoxchange staff for a session in which they can explore educational and career options, obtain advice on professional growth, and gain perspectives on pathways and connections. Bethany chose Sam Lloyd, Portfolio Marketing and Brand Experience Lead at Connecting Up as her mentor for the mentor meeting held 12 August 2025 to discover more about his pathway to employment, his current role, and his advice regarding success strategies at work.

Key Takeaways: 

• Career Growth Mindset: Sam highlighted that the marketing industry is constantly evolving, therefore it's important to remain open-minded, curious, and willing to take opportunities as they arise. He suggested not becoming “married” to a single career path and being open to exploring various roles within the marketing field. He shared that he initially started in copywriting but eventually transitioned into brand management within his current role.
• Industry Awareness: Sam noted out that while it's important to stay informed about industry changes, it's equally crucial to remain flexible and open-minded about where different paths might lead. He stated that you can't truly know if you’ll enjoy a specific area of marketing until you try it. He used generative AI as an example, highlighting that the industry will likely need to adapt, as AI could soon start replacing copywriters.
• Handling Failure: Sam explained that failure is a natural part of the work process and shouldn’t be viewed as a setback, but rather as an opportunity to learn and refine skills. He also emphasized the importance of reflecting on your successes to build positive frameworks for future efforts. While marketing involves predictive work, Sam noted that outcomes are never certain, so it’s crucial to adapt based on the results you receive.
• How to create a lasting brand identity: Sam explained that a brand exists in the mind of the consumer; it’s personal and shaped by their experience. He shared that brand assets, such as logos and colors, represent the brand but do not constitute the brand itself. He highlighted the importance of understanding customer needs and preferences, noting that effective communication creates positive brand associations.
• Understanding the human element to creating content: Sam discussed how the human element and the ability to guide and direct AI-generated content are irreplaceable. He explained that while AI can be a valuable tool for creating content, it still requires human input to ensure the content is engaging for consumers and aligns with the brand's voice. Sam also highlighted that generative AI may pose future challenges, such as content being trained on itself, which could lead to a decline in content quality.
• Critical skills for a future in marketing: Sam explained the importance of becoming famailiar with generative AI tools, and their capacbilites. He also stated that while AI can assist in content creation, it still requires human input to ensure the content is compelling. Sam emphasized the importance of mastering key marketing principles. such as the four P's (Product, Price, Place and Promotion), and the marketing funnel. He stated that while other's may try to suggest alternatives, these principles have remained unchanged for many years and are fundamental to being a sucessful marketer. 

Overall, I found her meeting with Sam to be valuable. Hearing about his career path and past experiences helped her connect her theoretical knowledge of marketing to real-world applications. Sam’s perspective on maintaining a growth mindset reassured me that it’s okay not to have everything figured out and that embracing every opportunity that comes my way is part of the journey.

Connecting Up Training 

Intern Bethany Sweet reaching out to organisation for story research

 

Telephone Techniques

I have also undertaken the telephone techniques as an essential part of my internship to be able to effectively communicate with organisations in order to help share their stories. An assortment of Council and Collection scripts were explained to me, as they are used as a guide when contacting organisations. These scripts were helpful in providing a starting point for structured conversations, ensuring I introduced myself and the purpose of the call clearly and was ctively listening to capture accurate details.. The training also helped me prepare to ask open-ended questions and how to maintain conversations when learning more about what the organisation does and offers or infomation about upcoming events.

 

Screenshot of Content Impressions from SAcommunity Facebook & Instagram 

 

Introduction to Meta Business Suite and Linkedin

With access to Meta Business Suite for the SAcommunity accounts, I am able to view the overall statistics on how many people have interacted with the posts I have created regarding various events on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. This allows more insight on the article that I've created and the engagement numbers that it has received so far. Further, it displays what events may be popular among members of the community. 

 

 

Screenshot of Linkedin Analytics

Many other stories with social media posts (Facebook, Instagram and, Linkedin) have also been looked at such as the South Australian Country Shows List, Festival of Flowers, Military History and Civilian History Day, Uraidla and Summertown Country Show and the Kimba Show.

 

Screenshot of Landing Page Views for Festival of Flowers article written by Intern Bethany Sweet

 

Introduction to Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that helps track and report website traffic, providing valuable insights into user behavior and engagement. With access to Google Analytics for the SAcommunity website, I am able to view the overall statistics on how many people have visited the link to Fesitval of Flowers article from the SAcommunity site and the Facebook post. This allows more insight on the article that I've created and the engagement numbers that it has received so far.

 

Screenshot of Campaign Monitor Training Videos 

 

Introduction to Campaign Monitor

During this process, I thought it would be beneficial to familiarize myself with the various aspects of Campaign Monitor through their training modules—short clips that introduced the different features they offer. I found these videos interesting as they covered tools I would have never thought of in relation to email marketing.I also feel that these videos have better prepared me to understand the necessary tools for creating and monitoring how campaigns perform.

Screenshot of November eNewsletter import into Campaign Monitor

 

As part of preparing the November newsletter for SAcommunity, I had the opportunity to become familiar with Campaign Monitor, a tool that helps businesses create and send emails, manage their contacts, and monitor email marketing reports. I had the chance to import my November eNewletter into the program and set it up to be sent. 

 

Screenshot of Canva Training

Digital Training & Development 

Volunteers and interns have access to the Connecting Up Digital Learning Platform, which offers live and recorded webinars, workshops, and webcons led by subject-matter experts on various technology topics relevant to the not-for-profit sector. Through this, Bethany gained an understanding of of media in not-for-profit organisations from informative webinars and workshops, alongside her onsite training. Bethany's interests in digital marketing and social media were the primary focus of the course she had chosen as apart of her intern schedule. 

Bethany selected, summarized, and evaluated relevant training sessions to explore how they could enhance her internship experience:

Digital Marketing: Foundations & what's coming up hosted by Sophie Souchon

A large part of the session focused on the Digital Marketing Capability Framework, a tool designed to help nonprofits evaluate their current digital marketing performance. The framework is divided into four categories, enabling organizations to assess their existing efforts and understand what steps are needed to advance to the next level. This approach is valuable for identifying weaknesses within a digital marketing strategy and highlighting areas where nonprofit professionals can strengthen their media skills and apply theory to support informed, strategic decision-making.

This webinar allowed me to understand how vital it is for nonprofits to apporach digital marketing with a holistic perspective. I learnt how to can analyse her postion within different streams of digital marketing, such as websites and social media. This knowledge enables improvements in visibility to potential consumers. The webinar provided me with a base level understanding of digital marketing principles. 

CARE'ing about AI and ethics hosted by Lauren Thompson 

Lauren guided participants through the importance of using AI ethically, emphasizing the CARE framework as a tool for evaluating when and how to use AI in the workplace. Throughout the session, she explored common scenarios where AI might be used and applied the CARE framework to assess whether its use was appropriate, and if so, how to ensure it is used ethically.

This webinar allowed me to understand how to use AI in a way that is ethical, through following the CARE framework  This knowledge enables me to make more informed, responsible decisions that support transparency and build trust with consumers. It provided a baseline understanding of AI and how it can be utlised to streamline the completion work tasks. 

AI Image & Video Generation for Non-Profits: Tools and Tactics That Work hosted by Kyle Behrend 

The webinar introduced a variety of AI tools, including Midjourney, Ideogram, and Kling. He showed how to generate these images, and how acessible the platforms are for non-profits. Kyle also demonstrated how Canva can be a powerful tool for editing images, especially since AI-generated content sometimes has issues like misspelled words. He showed how to edit text and merge images to create a more impactful campaign. Finally, Kyle discussed how ChatGPT can be used to analyze the psychological impact of campaigns, helping to understand consumer behavior and refine messaging.

The webinar provided valuable insights into how AI generative tools can be used to create engaging content. It showed me how to leverage these tools and apply the knowledge I gained as a guide when I need to create content under tight deadlines.

LinkedIn - Tips & tricks for individuals and not-for-profit organisations hosted by Mathan Allington

Mathan began by introducing LinkedIn and explaining its value not only for individuals but also for NFPs and other organisations. He then discussed how to make your page stand out compared to others, highlighting LinkedIn’s focus and best practices. Furthermore, he talked about organisation and company pages—how they can be useful for curating information about your business and sharing updates.

This webinar was extremely useful to me, as I am new to LinkedIn. Learning all these techniques and tricks to optimise my profile was rewarding. I now feel more prepared and confident to use my own page and also to contribute to organisation/company pages.

During the webinar Juan Pablo introduced the  "OUTCOMERS" framework, which is a guide for creating social media content. The key compenents included the Objective, User or Target Audience, Themes or Content Pillars, Channels, Occurrence or Frequency, Measurement & Analytics, Expenditure or Budget, Roadmap or Timeline, and Support Assets & Responsibilities. He then dicussed how the framework is useful and displays examples and provided the auidence the chance to utilise the framework themselves. 

This experience gave me a much stronger understanding of how to use both AI tools and the concept of the  "OUTCOMERS" framework to create effective marketing campaigns for any organization. It allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of AI , its risks and the importance of making statergic decisions.

AI as a Strategic Thought Partner - Smarter Decisions with AI hosted by Kyle Behrend 

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to complete my internship with Connecting Up, Infoxchange. I have truly appreciated the warm and supportive environment, and I have learnt so much professionally and personally. Your guidance, encouragement and trust has given me the confidence to grow my skills and prepare for the next steps in my career. I am beyond thankful for the time and knowledge you have shared with me.”
~Bethany Sweet 1 October 2025