As seen in the spring 2024 Ivy magazine.
In under 30 seconds, Cameron Bristow can list the host and musical guest for each of the 19 Saturday Night Live (SNL) shows he has attended. This Ivy College of Business senior, who aims for a marketing career in the entertainment industry, is a huge fan of pop culture, comedy, and live performance. He is also disciplined. For 15 of those SNL shows, he’s camped out in front of the iconic 30 Rock building in New York City, New York, to score standby tickets. For one show, however, he actually won a ticket lottery, but only after trying for six years.
That enthusiasm and drive have served this marketing and management major well. He’s secured enviable internships, served as an Honors Program ambassador, and been selected as a teaching assistant.
“Everything Cameron has accomplished is because he did not let the fear of failure hold him back. If there was an opportunity that would lead to the next opportunity, he went after it without reservation,” said Susan Fleming, an assistant teaching professor of marketing.
While his first big internship wasn’t in the entertainment field, it did have a connection to stars: NASA, where he interned in 2022. Working remotely, Bristow had opportunities to do publicity work with public relations pros and astronauts. Bristow’s grandparents are from the Houston, Texas area, and he had often visited the Johnson Space Center as a child.
“I thought I wanted to be an astronaut, but science was not my thing,” he said. “But being able to work at NASA was so cool. I never thought that was something that would happen.”
In 2023, he had an internship working in public relations support at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. He worked in a big green office building behind the ‘it’s a small world’ ride. During the lunch break, he would sometimes go over to ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.’
His current internship is with NBCUniversal. It’s a remote production technology gig, which finds Bristow developing marketing materials to promote NBC’s Peacock streaming services across various platforms.
As a teaching assistant in Fleming’s applied marketing class, Bristow sees his role as “helping out the next generation of marketing students.” His team in class competitions is undefeated.
“Cameron has selflessly shared his time and talents with my classes – telling his story and sharing his internship journey with younger students, and coaching more senior students on how to craft a compelling strategy and communicate value to clients. I consider him a go-to resource,” Fleming said.
While Bristow had a clear sense of his career goals early on, he said opportunities provided by Ivy developed his skills and shaped him as a professional.
“I was planning on a marketing major since high school and the different programs at Iowa State made the most sense,” he said. “I’ve had great hands-on experiences, and the faculty and staff have been so supportive in helping me go after my dreams.”
July 17, 2024
Top: Cameron Bristow speaks with Marketing 495 students after final presentation. Left/middle: Marketing 495 student coaches celebrate after final presentations: (left to right) Trevor Owen, Cameron Bristow, Susan Fleming, assistant teaching professor of marketing; and Reese Cox.
