Milton Keynes is 50 and we are celebrating

The University of Bedfordshire as a name covers the institutions two largest campuses, based in Bedford and Luton. Beyond Bedfordshire though, are two further campuses in neighbouring Bucks. Aylesbury, dedicated to nursing and Milton Keynes, currently known as University Campus Milton Keynes (UCMK), and this week the ‘new city’ celebrates its 50th birthday, I know what you are thinking, it’s some diva of a place with an inflated self sense of importance that has a birthday, right?

Through partnerships the University of Bedfordshire has had a presence in Milton Keynes (MK) since 2008, and in 2012 opened its very own campus. Although slightly modest in scale, the campus is pioneering higher education in the city where others have failed. Footnote – as a resident of MK I shall be as all Milton Keyners do, referring to the town as a city, despite it never being granted such status.

I quite enjoy my days working from the MK campus, not least because it is just a five minute drive from my house in the east of the city. Taking up residency there in 2008, it has become my home for nearly nine years, and like they say about marmite, I genuinely think you love it or hate it. I hated it. Back in 2008 moving from the hustle and bustle grit of the West Midlands, I came to MK thinking what the hell is there to do?

I had previously been living in Coventry, home of The Specials, its famous Cathedral and CCFC, MK had a football team they stole from Wimbledon and what else? Funny you ask, you did, I know you are wondering. Home of the code breakers at Bletchley Park, Red Bull Racing, PJ Harvey recorded her 2000 album Stories from the Sea in Linford Manor, Greg Rutherford is often in Nandos at the Hub, the likes of David Bowie, Queen and more recently Foo Fighters graced the stage at the National Bowl, the only place to produce WD40, we have the MK Dons, and the list goes on. So it didn’t take long for me to change that hate it, to love it.

From my journey across the eastside to Central MK where UCMK is situated, it isn’t hard not to fall in love with the place for its sheer landscape alone, MK is 40% green space by the way. Driving across the picturesque Willen Lakes, built to balance out excess water from the river Ouzel and prevent the city from flooding, and heading past the iconic Peace Pagoda, a symbol of the progressive 1960’s era the city was planned in. Then along a grid road, the H5 Portway to be precise, which gets me to my destination without too much of the standard city centre jams most commuters experience.

I don’t have to drive around the city though, on a lovely summers day a cycle along five of the 160 miles of redways will get me where I need to be, Santander bikes are also available to hire with MK being the only city outside of London to proactively encourage residents and visitors alike to commute in this way.

It isn’t just the surroundings as to why I love MK though. No it is the lively under current of culture, live music, festivals, arts and community at is happening everyday, and albeit you sometimes have to seek it out, I can assure you it is there for everyone to enjoy. It is also the economy that makes MK so desirable, one of the fastest growing in the UK and contributes more than nine billion a year to the British economy and the recreational activities, such as the SnoZone, where if you like me, can take out three defenseless amateur snowboarders, while pretending to be as useless as a celebrity on Channels 4’s The Jump.

50 years ago MK was a bit of a punt, it is unique with no town planned like it again, and for those who work, live and study here, it offers a way of life we can all take advantage of. So back to what you are thinking, yes, MK does deserve to have an inflated self sense of importance. Happy birthday Milton Keynes, from all of us at the University of Bedfordshire, here is our gift to you.

Insights from the press officer who couldn't stay away

I should probably start by introducing myself. I’m Caroline Jacobi, the Communications Officer here at the University.

I’ve been in the role for around 6 months but this isn’t my first time working at the University. I first joined in 2011 as Communications Administrator. I was a rookie, a journalism graduate who had struggled for a couple of years to find a ‘proper’ job after graduating – I don’t think I was alone in that struggle. Finding a job, especially a job you love, can be tricky.

One of my favourite shots of the Campus Centre

After a stint in the Communications Team, I moved onto pastures new, a couple of them actually, gaining more skills and knowledge with every new role I took on. But my heart stayed with Bedfordshire, so when I got the chance to return, I couldn’t’ say no. So here I am!

So what are the main changes I’ve noticed since returning? Well, the number of people in the team is probably the biggest one. In 2011 there were 5 of us, now there’s only 3. So as you can imagine, it’s never quiet, but we secretly like it that way. I mean, who wants to sit around all day with nothing to do?

Luton itself has also had a bit of a face lift. Being a local girl, it’s great to see that people are really working hard to make Luton better. The amount of investment in the town is also very exciting and it will be interesting to see how these plans become a reality.

Lovely photo of Luton in the sunshine

The media in Luton has changed somewhat too. BBC Three Counties Radio has moved out of their headquarters on Regent Street to new premises in Dunstable, and we’ve sadly lost one of our newspapers, the Luton on Sunday. But there’s plenty going on to keep the Luton News busy!

While there have been changes over the past couple of years, a few things have stayed the same. The MARC department is still full of talented and dedicated people working hard to recruit students, help students apply for courses and marketing what the University does.

The University is still full of teaching staff passionate about their work. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a couple of them but as time goes by, I want to discover even more and really shine a light on the great work that goes on here.

Graduations are my favourite events to cover

And of course, there’s still students. Lots and lots of students! I’ve come across some great stories already about our students doing all sorts of interesting and exciting things. If you want to keep updated with all our news, visit our news page.

If a picture tells a thousand words, what does a video do?

Sarah De Guzman, Marketing Manager

Keeping on top of the latest
information and content trends

My last blog post was focused on the importance of imagery in marketing work. This post follows a similar theme, but this time highlights the value of video content. With online communities on the rise, as well as a real appetite for quick information, marketers have to evolve their content strategies to make sure they are getting their messages out in the most effective way. Video content is fast becoming the future of content marketing. That is, if it already isn't an expectation of many students.

Here in the Marketing team, we've been working on producing a series of location videos to support our 2017 Conversion campaign which launches next week, following on from the January UCAS deadline. As part of our conversion strategy we send out a series of communications to applicants to help them make an informed choice. But this year, we wanted to build on our work further, by telling stories, and through adopting a 'show don't tell' approach to our communications.

On location in MK

Our work has culminated in the production of two new location videos - one for Milton Keynes, and one for Bedford, as well as some social media teaser edits. It's been a big team effort to bring these videos to fruition in quite a tight time frame. There may be more of a desire for video content, but it definitely requires a lot of planning to make sure the creative output is both of a good quality and most importantly, relevant to our audience: from appointing a video production company, setting the briefs, working with the local town Councils, agreeing the film schedules and timings, all the way through to accompanying the film crew on location, and working on the edits, there's a lot of elements to fit into our working day.

Happy Birthday Milton Keynes!

But why the tight time frame, you may say? Good question! And for that, there are two answers. Firstly, our conversion campaign kicks off from next week - it's a key time in the recruitment cycle to deliver key information to encourage applicants to pick up as one of their top two choices (firm or insurance). Secondly, in order to get the best engagement from our location videos, and specifically our Milton Keynes video, we wanted to release the video to coincide with #MK50 - Milton Keynes' 50th birthday anniversary which is taking place on 23 January. And so being able to seed out the content at the optimum time is almost as important as the content itself.

Multi-channel marketing - the recipe
for success

A key part of producing any new content is considering how to get the content out and seen by the right people, and so a seeding strategy is needed. For anyone who is a regular reader of this blog, or indeed an avid social media user you couldn't help but notice our location campaign last year. It was a great success and even landed us in the top 100 University social media league table for the first time – securing a top 50 position. Social Media forms a key part of our seeding strategy, but in order to be successful, a multi-channel approach is needed. In order to realise the video's full potential and to maximise on engagements, we need to make it as easy as possible for our audience to find it and share it..

Taking inspiration from Sean Bean

For many marketers original video content is starting to dominate their strategies, and it's really not difficult to see why. Videos have the potential to go viral, or if done well, can demonstrate their share-ability, meaning our potential students will spend longer viewing our content, visiting our website and interacting with our brand - all important aspects of building up brand advocacy. Keep your eyes posted on our social media channels: Twitter and Facebook over the coming week's to see our big reveal of video content and the first pieces of what we hope to develop into a longer video content strategy.