Orsolya Gazsó from Bačka Topola (Topolya), Serbia arrived to Washington this summer and will spend 3 months in the United States. With HIF’s support, the Hungarian American Coalition’s Internship Program will be hosting seven interns in 2017 to provide first-hand experience at various Washington-based institutions. Internship participants are also expected to complete a Coalition research project that enables them to become familiar with the Hungarian-American community.
Orsolya Gazsó
The objective of Orsolya’s internship is to learn about marketing tools for cultural events, theater management, use of social media, grant-seeking techniques, sponsorships etc., as these methods are still in their early stages in Serbia. Once back home, Orsolya will use the skills mastered during her internship to contribute to the cultural development of Topolya and Subotica (Szabadka). As one of the main goals of the Coalition is to protect the cultural heritage of Hungarians throughout the world, supporting Orsolya to gain new experiences and deepen her knowledge in her field of expertise in the US will greatly help this endeavor.
Orsolya will spend one month in New York City gaining experience in theater production, stage and design production, promotional methods for cultural events including exhibits, lectures and conferences. Partners for these trainings are Jenő Brogyanyi and Pam Billig, producers of off-Broadway shows, Blue Medium Consulting, the Hungarian House, the Balassi Institute, the Austrian Cultural Forum, NYC, the American Hungarian Foundation, New Brunswick, NJ, and Ilona Somogyi, set designer, Wallingford CT.
Orsolya will also attend the ITT-OTT conference in August helping the Bocskai Radio with the production of interviews and short film clips. In September, Orsolya will be attending a scout event in Cleveland and become familiar with the operation of the Hungarian Heritage Museum.
In Washington DC, Orsolya will attend fundraising, grant writing and social media management courses at the Foundation Center and with other partnering organizations including Marymount University (Arlington, VA).
“In my home country, Serbia, it is a creative and joyful task to work as a cultural manager, albeit it is full of challenges, because using marketing tools in cultural institutions is still considered unorthodox. The institutes in Vojvodina do not recognize the necessity and importance of these tools, and because of this, sometimes they become their own obstacles in finding a solution to a problem. I would observe with great awe and curiosity, the way that a non-profit organization manages and operates itself, how the employees work together, in a country where these methods are already well established.”
Orsolya Gazsó with Joe Foster, Vice President for University Advancement at Marymount University
Orsolya Gazsó holds a graduate degree in Communications and Media Sciences from the University of Szeged, Hungary. She is originally from a small town in Vojvodina, Serbia called Topolya. Prior to her internship in DC, she worked as a program coordinator and PR manager at Kosztolányi Dezső Theatre in Szabadka, Serbia and she was also the creator and editor of a weekly 30-minute-long Hungarian radio program entitled “Let’s talk” at Radio Novi Sad, in which she interviews everyday heroes and people with interesting professions and achievements in their own fields of interest.
Through assignments to think tanks and non-government organizations, CIP participants learn about the workings of both the U.S. government and the non-profit world. Their experience helps them establish contacts in the U.S. in their chosen field, and motivates them to enter public service in their country of origin.