tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54431568416078541252024-03-19T02:33:51.851-07:00Marketing Team blogUniversity of Bedfordshirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08811962779861932040noreply@blogger.comBlogger236125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-378967359623128302019-04-01T05:43:00.005-07:002019-04-01T05:43:59.789-07:00We've moved.....Hello all<br />
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A quick note - this site is now inactive. If you'd like to keep up with what's happening in and around the University's Central Marketing team, <a href="http://uobmarketing.home.blog/">click through to our new platform</a>.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-26689939207564561982019-02-21T01:36:00.005-08:002019-02-21T01:37:49.337-08:00A silk purse from a sow’s ear<br />
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In the last month or so, I’ve attended a couple of
conferences. I was pleased, on both occasions, to deputise for other
colleagues in MARC, and hope I didn't cause too much collateral damage, what
with my reticence, cynicism, monkey boots and too many layers of clothing.</div>
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The conferences I attended:</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The Future of Student Recruitment, by the IDP
Connect folk (the new name for the WhatUni and CUG), in the wonderful garden
area at the Barbican</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><a href="https://www.ucas.com/events/annual-conference-teachers-and-advisers-2019-335601">UCAS’ Teachers and Advisors Fair</a>, in the rather
grand and gilded surroundings of The Principal Hotel in Manchester.</span></li>
</ul>
<b><i><u>Go me, RIGHT?</u></i></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kingo in conference</i></td></tr>
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Well sort of. Yes. And no. I was a shoe in for Marketing in
the first instance and for Recruitment in the second. Both disciplines are,
in honesty, beyond me. Yes, I’m one of the old hands in MAR, but I’d struggle to get sell a fully plumbed in water cooler in a desert. My expertise,
such as it is, is in Market Research. Which despite and almost because of its bad press, requires scruples and a level- or at worst a pretence - of even-handedness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I had to represent this. Our blurb for the UCAS conference. I mainly achieved it through staring into the middle distance.</i></td></tr>
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The UCAS event had some interesting and (for me) relevant
sessions. It was also really enlightening to hear about teachers and advisors’
perspectives. And guess what? They’re not happy about unconditional offers. Can’t
blame them. If you aren’t ‘up on’ the thorny issue,<b> where have
you been?</b> Here’s <a href="https://in.beds.ac.uk/blog-home/2019/january/conditional-or-unconditional-that-is-the-question!">a Bob-piece on our response to the practice</a> and how we’re
dipping our toes in the filthy pond of despair.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The UCAS event was a two day affair. Sadly, our allowance
for meals didn’t stretch to the £60 asking price for the UCAS dinner, so I
slummed it for dinner round the student quarter around Oxford Road. Two conversations
struck me. Nothing to do with HE, but the first (point 1 below) definitely from a party
connected, presumably to either Manchester or Manchester Metropolitan
University:</div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">A table of people were wondering what kind of
monster would eat crumpets without butter or spread. Can see their point. They
were referring to a mutual colleague who indulged in such fantastic behaviour. A
monster. “Off his head half the time,” one of the group observed;</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">In a different establishment, in a room dedicated,
rather perplexingly, to Jack Daniels, a group of three people discussed the
likelihood of being sent to prison for a driving violation if the offender
already has six points on their licence. Wasn’t a discussion I wanted to get
into.</span></li>
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I’m going to try and bring some more meaningful feedback to
the MAR team. Some of it will almost certainly appear in <a href="https://in.beds.ac.uk/marc/research/market-intelligence">my intranet feedback page</a>. Shout if you’re interested, in the meantime.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So anyway, I'm off to see The Sleaford Mods at the 100 Club in London this evening. I often post a clip of music at the music at the end of my pieces, but The Sleaford Mods are big on swearing, and not so big on tunes. Instead, here's a beautiful piece of British 60s jazz, by the Rendell Carr Quintet. Check out that Coltrane-esque soprano. These guys were on top of their game. I missed out on a recent repressing of their much sought for albums and feel sad about it. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-64141124905479832822019-01-17T09:32:00.001-08:002019-01-17T09:32:35.657-08:00Falling Ninjaas it just me, or did anyone else get back from Christmas with a head full of cheese and Baileys? Anyone else stare at programmes and apps and think "I know this; I can do this," before getting up and walking away from the keyboard as if it's some kind of alien being?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhUzAqU3qx9UHCFZibgGjCinInVSZsho3Gt51EEAe58kYaMN6U6h4t00wRrOUyQobavOuLOejJdWm2WnH8ER-gYA79iuhnz0G15fAIWGMSiaZOl0RVsUr7EVWRPUJFHWodzdBYqzfWnYO/s1600/naked+lunch+keyboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhUzAqU3qx9UHCFZibgGjCinInVSZsho3Gt51EEAe58kYaMN6U6h4t00wRrOUyQobavOuLOejJdWm2WnH8ER-gYA79iuhnz0G15fAIWGMSiaZOl0RVsUr7EVWRPUJFHWodzdBYqzfWnYO/s320/naked+lunch+keyboard.jpg" width="320" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Looks like there was a power surge over Christmas. <br />The bloody keyboard's eaten the bloody box and monitor. <b><u>Again</u></b>.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Still, I'm back in and on it. Calmly scything through emails from fanciful agencies telling me how they can revolutionise the way I work. Models, promises, webinars. Like I need any more models, promises and webinars. I'm also noticing bits of tape and tinsel which have seen in as many new years as I have. They need to come down. I need to think of a few new year's resolutions.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">New year's resolutions - a Liszt</span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvgYlQqA1zLdnVt-o4jHWOXJxH4VkOvSVCHc98g4XHhyliEh-vUgLSABE9z69I0EMin0H9qLZaZHc-UB9yzJBw-J1afdOUfG99NRXdyLJRuAzDiOATbJwfuw_HPsMxLY8eVtk0mXaV35s/s1600/liszt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvgYlQqA1zLdnVt-o4jHWOXJxH4VkOvSVCHc98g4XHhyliEh-vUgLSABE9z69I0EMin0H9qLZaZHc-UB9yzJBw-J1afdOUfG99NRXdyLJRuAzDiOATbJwfuw_HPsMxLY8eVtk0mXaV35s/s1600/liszt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>Frans Liszt</i></span></td></tr>
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The new year brings new resolutions, like bad colds bring on chesty coughs and 'snuffles'. In bloggeeee style, and in a desperate attempt to <i>GET SOME HITS</i>, here is a LIST of the ten things I'm going to achieve in the forthcoming calendar year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdwIcTuIbeZlqjwNeEYrvkH6itwWhCmxshNCH9PzZ5BAkFoyTffccZ_9oKhaCpTpaMaFBSSQakWGcO_qibGeEFbFC2eutty9hyb1QC8b2rlUDczpScERCRHj-ZO0YFpE2h6PhsqnhOVZC/s1600/KXu.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="335" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdwIcTuIbeZlqjwNeEYrvkH6itwWhCmxshNCH9PzZ5BAkFoyTffccZ_9oKhaCpTpaMaFBSSQakWGcO_qibGeEFbFC2eutty9hyb1QC8b2rlUDczpScERCRHj-ZO0YFpE2h6PhsqnhOVZC/s200/KXu.gif" width="200" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>HECOS - a sensible response</i></td></tr>
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<ol>
<li>Make sense of politics. The sensible thing - a complete removal of the political set - won't happen. I've had about a year avoiding news. I've made contact with Luton's Deputy Mayor, who's a lovely chap. I'm going to re-engage. Probably;</li>
<li>Work out why it is, exactly, that applicants, enquirers and students aren't engaging as much with our surveys as they used to. Because they're not;</li>
<li>Brush up and prepare for <a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/innovation/hecos">HECOS</a>. It's upon us, unless Brexit's done for it. I know, full well, that there are implementation guides and common aggregations hierarchies to get my head around. Which I will do, at some point. Honest;</li>
<li>Remind myself there are over 2,200 HECOS codes. And for 600 of these "the JACS3 term could map equally well to a range of HECoS terms".</li>
<li>Think about this point. 600 codes. Revisit point 3. Decide the best course of action with HECoS is to keep my head <b>BURIED IN THE SAND</b>;</li>
<li>Keep a better grasp and grip on what's happening in the sector. People sniff at my loyalty to the <i>Times Higher</i>, but I sometimes surprise myself with how brutally informed I can sound after a few days' submersion in either the <i>THE </i>or <a href="https://wonkhe.com/">WonkHE</a>;</li>
<li>Try not become even more appalled at the marketisation of the sector and all the BS it's brought upon us;</li>
<li>Get out more often. Staff development budgets have crawled under a rock, but it's good to occasionally get out of the silos which limited resources and constant initiatives tend to keep us buried in. Talking to colleagues and sharing problems isn't always acceptable. It depends on the problem and who you're talking to. But it can help..</li>
<li>Continue to sneer at mindfulness and Millenials. Not Millenials themselves, you understand, but the whole compartmentalisation, labelling and lazy dismissal of younger folk.</li>
<li>Listen to more jazz.</li>
</ol>
Wow! Making lists really helps. Remember me at the beginning of the blog, all self-pitying and confused? Just look at me now, ready and fired up. FOR ACTION.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3CjqHte284ioNrqb0ieiUWWwQtE8_ucReW985kpW2TtjX6m-ESt7_3fqPE0izVPCD3NdZqsNgM5rZu3dxEzSuqqEp94O3SDHbvwCjGenN31m-0V0xBkk0RHsQSz2Pp9ohV5Zh1QpZkLZj/s1600/ak+in+conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1037" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3CjqHte284ioNrqb0ieiUWWwQtE8_ucReW985kpW2TtjX6m-ESt7_3fqPE0izVPCD3NdZqsNgM5rZu3dxEzSuqqEp94O3SDHbvwCjGenN31m-0V0xBkk0RHsQSz2Pp9ohV5Zh1QpZkLZj/s320/ak+in+conference.jpg" width="320" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pivoting the heck out of some Excel</i></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-49969040690906208832019-01-02T13:43:00.000-08:002019-01-02T07:31:37.827-08:00Everyday's a school day<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Happy New Year everyone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As I've been tasked with the first blog post of the year, I'd like to start how I always start, with a little inspiration for us all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I know a lot of people set resolutions around this time, so let me add another to your list...try and learn something new.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Learning at work</u></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXVLu3x8jpsLbQZS3b0LJAismlYGRAOWFaX2YL3Rahyphenhyphen1dQprzsxAif0BFwxzHvTqYQnJMMbhoThEnREVynPNCvO8pDe6tbLn2cAXbAz8h6-cvKpZkT_3F6iFitnIv_FnF0mx4E7V5BbI/s1600/7gPD.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="480" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXVLu3x8jpsLbQZS3b0LJAismlYGRAOWFaX2YL3Rahyphenhyphen1dQprzsxAif0BFwxzHvTqYQnJMMbhoThEnREVynPNCvO8pDe6tbLn2cAXbAz8h6-cvKpZkT_3F6iFitnIv_FnF0mx4E7V5BbI/s200/7gPD.gif" width="200" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Everyone can teach you something. </b>Yes we're all constantly learning things as we work, but have you ever consciously made the effort to talk to someone who has a different skill set to you and learn something from them? I cannot recommend it enough. If your work roles cross over in any way or you need their help with a task, ask to sit beside them while they do it, instead of just getting them to do it without you. You'll learn a little of their job, they might learn a little of yours, and <b>KAPOW!</b> You're a smidgen smarter than you were at the start of the day. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Knowledge has no hierarchy.</b> I must confess, I really struggle with people who aren't willing to learn new things just because it might be coming from a person that they deem to be 'below' them. Maybe in age, in position, in experience, but does it actually matter? Knowledge is knowledge, no matter who it's coming from. We all have our areas of expertise, and if someone's willing to share theirs with you, take it! Likewise, if you're doing the teaching, remember to be patient and unassuming. Skills shared within a team will only make you more able as a whole, so there's no point in trying to catch people out! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Be more curious.</b> I'm fully aware that this isn't always possible (due to time constraints and workload etc) but I'd encourage you to try and do more than just 'learn'. For example, I recently had some training in Google Analytics (thanks Pete!) so that I can go in and have a look at the media inventory we have running across digital platforms. Now I could have just logged in, got the data I needed and called it a day. Instead, I committed an hour to looking through as much of the site as I could manage, filtering data in and out, looking for nuances and shortcuts, experimenting with data that didn't even really concern me- just so I could know as much about it as possible. Now I can make observations of my own, plus I can keep up with others when they're talking about it, which is always a plus! Essentially what I'm saying is...don't just take what you need from something new and move on. Try and study and experiment with it if you can, you'll only benefit from doing so. </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Learning at home</u></b></span></div>
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<ul>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZY_0vMJFo_xUh9Sk4qyo856YpvRFc2x-zBVvGhzo8nGvXTXYEARkiAJBaPjNoY9b9eAQ0wzscYp9cnLbgaUdOEbzyqw0j2VtjoLQgJTxlrNye1J7j8tJpxtxtPNHf9exXGBHIBIdrfMs/s1600/74o0.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZY_0vMJFo_xUh9Sk4qyo856YpvRFc2x-zBVvGhzo8nGvXTXYEARkiAJBaPjNoY9b9eAQ0wzscYp9cnLbgaUdOEbzyqw0j2VtjoLQgJTxlrNye1J7j8tJpxtxtPNHf9exXGBHIBIdrfMs/s200/74o0.gif" width="200" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>It's only a waste of time if you let it be. </b>I appreciate we're all busy and spending time learning something new might seem like time wasted, so why not learn something that could help you at work? If there are any programs/activities it would benefit you to have a grasp on for your job, why not have a go at home? No one watching, no one to point out mistakes, it's kind of the perfect scenario. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Develop your interests. </b>Be selfish and learn something that's only worthwhile for you! It's your time after all. I know that natural talent can come into play in these sorts of things, but I truly believe that you can achieve almost anything through learning. Want to be a photographer? Okay so you might not have an eye for framing like a professional might have, but get yourself a good camera, learn all of it's settings by heart, watch some YouTube tutorials about lighting and leading lines, and I know you'll have some pretty good photos to show for it all at the end. Or want to be a singer? If you can hold a tune (that's the natural talent part!), you can teach your voice to be more supple and reach higher/lower notes. Plus you could always try to learn some harmonies (again, YouTube is great if you can't read music), because quite frankly, I've never heard of someone NOT being impressed by a harmony. And boom! Now you've gotten even better at something you already love! Winning. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Brain training. </b>Even if you don't have anything you're interested in or want to develop, you can still learn. Why not try to memorize all the countries in Europe? Or the American states? They're bound to come up in a pub quiz at some point! Learning in any capacity, I think, is good for you. You're constantly exercising your brain and it's capabilities, plus learning can train the mind to be more receptive and creative. That's all good stuff, right? </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So there you are. A little inspiration for your 2019! And if you ever decide to learn something new and need a little help or support, let me know, I'm always looking for something else to dive into! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Until next time.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Over and out. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Ellie Kinghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00759377078632521115noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-23322868216999456142018-12-14T04:29:00.001-08:002018-12-14T08:16:09.129-08:00All I want for Christmas is segmentation<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Hello Uni chums. Everyone ok?</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Looking forward to the break? Looking forward to consigning the Christmas jumper to the back of the cupboard and returning to more sensible work clothes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eCB4ZeJNSTTZeGnQ0xl43quGAr92NM8Wyt7qC9uaxTkrFJOeF_9Iua3Jx2atlZTGMjUhrOP4nVUi3wzpviEcmaEEB2redrxV6XpLjcuS8jMPbwbuWHyFSaP6S7EJcgL3OsjNAAAvLEqP/s1600/ak+in+conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1037" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eCB4ZeJNSTTZeGnQ0xl43quGAr92NM8Wyt7qC9uaxTkrFJOeF_9Iua3Jx2atlZTGMjUhrOP4nVUi3wzpviEcmaEEB2redrxV6XpLjcuS8jMPbwbuWHyFSaP6S7EJcgL3OsjNAAAvLEqP/s320/ak+in+conference.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>AK relaxin' in civvies</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />As some of you may know, MARC's Market Research team is 'deep in' segmentation at the moment. Or what, at least, we're calling segmentation. Others will call it 'profiling with a bit of fancy analysis on the side'.<br />
<br />
For some, segmentation is a process which takes years and involve a 20 minute attitudinal survey which a large proportion (and certainly the majority of the Uni's students) need to answer. It's the right way; the bells and whistles way. The way we could consider, and other unis could consider, if only people didn't have so many other things to do, and students not quite so many damned surveys to fill in.<br />
<br />
Someone may recently have written <a href="https://uobmarketing.blogspot.com/2018/11/death-by-survey.html">a recent post all about how it's so hard to engage students in the recent past</a>. It's not easy.<br />
<br />
So, before we can run off into the sunset with the Rolls Royce 20 min, 600 response attitudinal survey which will generate a stack of data others can consider and use as the starting point of "proper segmentation", we'll take whatever we can from wherever we can. Good old geo-demographic data. Like instant noodles; quick, dirty and nourishing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>What's going on then?</i></b><br />
<br />
Essentially, we're working to be more smart in the way we target visits - both from Recruitment and faculties - and communications to potential students. Targetting. You don't, after all, go into a caff and expect the owner to throw several plates of food at you at once, without thinking or asking what you as the customer might want to eat. Do you?<br />
<br />
If you want more info on segmentation, let me know. The process we're looking at is "cheap and cheerful" and - relatively speaking - "speedy". Though of course, these things are all relative.<br />
<br />
Segmentation is my number one priority. Definitely. Still, in the last two weeks, it's been unseated by urgent requests for data looking at PG fees and the market potential in the Middle East. The applicant survey's also been brought up and I'm now knee deep in that, while trying to fight a rearguard action against looking at the market potential from the former Soviet Republics and the End of Cycle report, which in typical UCAS fashion, is EXTENSIVELY reported.<br />
<br />
Yeh, I know right? If someone made a film of my professional life, I'd be played by Lee Majors, no problem.<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G6Rkds-dLW8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G6Rkds-dLW8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Lee - if you're reading this, you've got my number. Seriously; let's chat.<br />
<br />
In other news, we had our Christmas dinner yesterday. It was great. You should have come. It was in Harpenden. We lowered the tone. Here are some of things which happened.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsG4Hb13o0orpa6Fq312McUFUydx7L6PCPZfCmh_Rr3vAHDaU2bN3bsXWn0aLFgoPoTTZpfKjh7Zhg3iqjrvxspRxhMlvsWm3cO_V_6TXKn7dpbuWWNxu4tZUvS4MSdsEov8-0KG2iH-l/s1600/infinite+drinks.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsG4Hb13o0orpa6Fq312McUFUydx7L6PCPZfCmh_Rr3vAHDaU2bN3bsXWn0aLFgoPoTTZpfKjh7Zhg3iqjrvxspRxhMlvsWm3cO_V_6TXKn7dpbuWWNxu4tZUvS4MSdsEov8-0KG2iH-l/s400/infinite+drinks.gif" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Party mode</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-v-_kBc9vpZi1dsZRDtFjui1Rrbcqy-AqxyeIpegHawpGEipTVclwhIh6DsPKyOO-On1TRM1VJzUztuOS14fEOR_zJ-rZp8exs94nRzogU4UrS7EeX4XL9CPmEmLvHj32SJmvd2-WtBnl/s320/48378618_264983197527719_1174982084431708160_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Loading the Powerpoint UoB 'review of the year</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="463" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct-Oa54a1I0E1tZlBRMBay9JCg96R2iQYB8ryTw95hmnv7_8BcrbX1almqEYxxc2XdHiesIS_HYQVrkVjQ7QysqapEMr_PIwfSM6F5hNSSqlSyLuBugujZyBtKDlNbIiQT3dq2xgNSquu/s400/48386394_2109915649054941_2328075589593858048_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="192" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Candy Man</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct-Oa54a1I0E1tZlBRMBay9JCg96R2iQYB8ryTw95hmnv7_8BcrbX1almqEYxxc2XdHiesIS_HYQVrkVjQ7QysqapEMr_PIwfSM6F5hNSSqlSyLuBugujZyBtKDlNbIiQT3dq2xgNSquu/s1600/48386394_2109915649054941_2328075589593858048_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjct-Oa54a1I0E1tZlBRMBay9JCg96R2iQYB8ryTw95hmnv7_8BcrbX1almqEYxxc2XdHiesIS_HYQVrkVjQ7QysqapEMr_PIwfSM6F5hNSSqlSyLuBugujZyBtKDlNbIiQT3dq2xgNSquu/s1600/48386394_2109915649054941_2328075589593858048_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJkHA8VUsTFj5JyWPEvwXQn_ElbCiYPeFFazB39fXD5PXqyDfGEECpSPF_tMrBJWpHm52H7kwKKBc-2Uv1ZW60G0v0UAfyodX_nwMkDMaKnwP_Z7gIrVhEvBoIP1t5_zEPPeak1AxLmJz/s1600/48358166_586591555123778_3110350281368403968_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="1356" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJkHA8VUsTFj5JyWPEvwXQn_ElbCiYPeFFazB39fXD5PXqyDfGEECpSPF_tMrBJWpHm52H7kwKKBc-2Uv1ZW60G0v0UAfyodX_nwMkDMaKnwP_Z7gIrVhEvBoIP1t5_zEPPeak1AxLmJz/s320/48358166_586591555123778_3110350281368403968_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I think the beer's off</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmMp6sGRBWM3C4zxQmM3nQccPw_4gemsnfTV_mCrN7DNsyVguTDEWTm4hS8x79qoGAcdTAijP49lASvtW0mLTsq2SQZkvtv1xJD0sbEpjd4KTU8dNrmsKvzHeQpzs7nlJLFKxGddo5dpS/s1600/5VuZ.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmMp6sGRBWM3C4zxQmM3nQccPw_4gemsnfTV_mCrN7DNsyVguTDEWTm4hS8x79qoGAcdTAijP49lASvtW0mLTsq2SQZkvtv1xJD0sbEpjd4KTU8dNrmsKvzHeQpzs7nlJLFKxGddo5dpS/s1600/5VuZ.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>David Fryer</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiu1FALRD2xKg4RNLHQBQRrTG5Suo-s8sJUPanPjAntqS5Y9c3k0oamieyOQSRqampg3qHBWBH1HVrQ054nwnZ5smtfjSc0M2UL2yaB_bMX6QCNgAEp6WD5Yi3Ei3RSt-z_E_jV8wpV7sr/s1600/48356730_305784946727865_7334757299124174848_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="463" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiu1FALRD2xKg4RNLHQBQRrTG5Suo-s8sJUPanPjAntqS5Y9c3k0oamieyOQSRqampg3qHBWBH1HVrQ054nwnZ5smtfjSc0M2UL2yaB_bMX6QCNgAEp6WD5Yi3Ei3RSt-z_E_jV8wpV7sr/s320/48356730_305784946727865_7334757299124174848_n.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Class"</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjnr_Rutc39u_Pwq9Ea3DF6j8I82m7BS1EDytwFPI6VTv8h6ffwni-WlN_I505grZ60moi7IzfGyUtga4ocoPOaogHsFQjGS5DesJrjLb-t8Jo47uzTQV-bq6O6mAwPNyLgwLsIuRTL1E/s1600/48260315_281444505741713_667300057938132992_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjnr_Rutc39u_Pwq9Ea3DF6j8I82m7BS1EDytwFPI6VTv8h6ffwni-WlN_I505grZ60moi7IzfGyUtga4ocoPOaogHsFQjGS5DesJrjLb-t8Jo47uzTQV-bq6O6mAwPNyLgwLsIuRTL1E/s640/48260315_281444505741713_667300057938132992_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Twin Peaks/weird pudding (to left of phone)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-35881773203629341322018-12-05T05:24:00.001-08:002018-12-05T05:37:19.804-08:00Tips for video production if you have no idea what you’re doing <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyone who knows me professionally knows that writing is my
passion and one of the few things I’m good at. But sometimes I wonder if anyone
is actually reading the press releases, blog posts or features that I put
together.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of my objectives for the coming year is to include more
rich content in everything I do. So over the past few months, I’ve been filming
and putting together short videos for the staff newsletter, press releases and social
media using Adobe Premiere Pro.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before I go any further, I need to point out that I am a complete
novice when it comes to video production. Everything I’ve learnt has been down
to trial and error. So I thought I would share a few tips for anyone who wants
to produce videos but doesn’t know where to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’d also like to give a shout-out to Michael Hann, who has
joined the Communications Team as maternity cover. We have worked as a team –
Michael has gathered excellent footage which I have then turned into videos. Without
his help, this whole process would have been a lot harder, so thank you
Michael! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You don’t need
expensive equipment</b></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXw36UTEIwW6lGVQctNHxO92fGBkrgx-rHjoB-AV4Mr06__FlhwlKp_u_iyBM3eXUydRXqVHzx7psek1qOhFHzaFcuo5owXuxZtXxQTFyy9X6qGcBoQSWFFCuKHMennkzQPaeDYYnIm_T/s1600/Tripod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="408" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXw36UTEIwW6lGVQctNHxO92fGBkrgx-rHjoB-AV4Mr06__FlhwlKp_u_iyBM3eXUydRXqVHzx7psek1qOhFHzaFcuo5owXuxZtXxQTFyy9X6qGcBoQSWFFCuKHMennkzQPaeDYYnIm_T/s320/Tripod.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the kit we use - you can buy it <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N7I1S21/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">here</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We don’t use a fancy camera – just an iPad. The tech available on smart
devices like iPads and iPhones nowadays means you don’t need to spend a fortune
on cameras. We recently purchased some equipment, like a tripod which is
designed to hold smart devices and a mic, which all cost about £25 from Amazon.
You don’t need to spend a fortune.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You don’t need to
produce an Oscar-winner</b><br />
People don’t except Spielberg standard videos, unless they have paid a company
to make it of course! Don’t worry too much if your first videos are a bit rough
around the edges – at least you’re trying! Also, you’ll find that the more
videos you make, the better they will become. You’ll get the knack for what
works (and what doesn’t) and the process will get quicker and slicker.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Less is not more!</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZtJ7AxQutP_Bx2KZVP209n2ri6NtjfEJsviXxef7dscarGWHA0jRMoCTTU90y9vCvtSORQrNhrZqWOiLj4470uSGpvKmKo5udXS6bYYRACZwi7XG8H9tdpD-eAoVPq3S_J5k8ZSxfHac/s1600/editing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="810" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZtJ7AxQutP_Bx2KZVP209n2ri6NtjfEJsviXxef7dscarGWHA0jRMoCTTU90y9vCvtSORQrNhrZqWOiLj4470uSGpvKmKo5udXS6bYYRACZwi7XG8H9tdpD-eAoVPq3S_J5k8ZSxfHac/s320/editing.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When gathering footage for your video, get as many different bits of footage
from as many angles as you can. That way when it comes to editing you’ll have
lots of footage to choose from. Remember you can’t add what you don’t have, but
you can always cut what is already there. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When in doubt, YouTube
it! <br />
</b>YouTube is full of short tutorials on how to do anything and everything in
Premiere Pro. So take advantage of this free resource if you are not sure how
to achieve something with your video, like adding a fade or adjusting the volume
of the audio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Below are some examples of what I’ve produced over the last
few months. Like I said, I am no expert, but I am proud of what I’ve made and I’m
looking forward to making more!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vnqg24NNyU4" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ScEt4Afu-7A" width="560"></iframe></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06958358201378641712noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-64722104970090173172018-11-30T03:17:00.003-08:002018-11-30T03:17:31.195-08:00Death by surveySTOP PRESS. UCAS are stepping up consultancy and looking to improve insight. And drum up business, no doubt. In a nod to the dangers of survey fatigue, UCAS have, however declared in the process of improving insight and making money, no applicant would be surveyed more than seven times.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Seven </b>times.</span><br />
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Then there's Youthsight's <i>Higher Expectations </i>survey. And The Student Room's <i>Options</i>. Then there's the <i>National Clearing Survey</i>. There will be international barometers, open day surveys for every institution applied to - Beds included - then the Accepters (hoorah!) or Decliners (sniff...) surveys. And Buzzfeeds, paid surveys, forms which feel like surveys, forms which are designed not to feel like surveys etc.<br />
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All this before people choose whether or not they're going to enrol, when they'll be duly served by Welcome and New Student surveys.<br />
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Little wonder that surveys across many institutions are becoming less and less effective, as participation rates shrink and survey fatigued subjects either limp or sprint through forms, with their brains and emotions engaged purely on the carrotty incentive attached as a reward for completion. Surveying student views is incredibly important. The problem we face is that by the time we have students, the human beings have been asked so many questions that they're punch drunk.<br />
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For my own part, as a member of University staff, there's Beds Stars. A way for individuals to highlight other individuals who have provided exceptional collegiate support. I'm not surveyed anything like as much as students are, but I feel weary about Beds Stars. A begrudging degree of guilt and responsibility will push me towards filling in a few nominations, particularly because the Uni is full of excellent, friendly and helpful people. Many of us are, after all, stars, regardless of whether or not we're nominated. Surely. We deserve credit, but the Stars thing's a little arbitrary. Too important to lay on people who may not be especially informed about the starry qualities of people they're <b><i>not </i></b>nominating.<br />
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What if I deserve a nomination, but I work in a more isolated area, or the people I work with are less likely to fill in or even to have heard of the scheme?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Filling in some survey or other</i></td></tr>
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<br />Beds Stars feels a tiny bit like the Brexit referendum - individuals won't and can't know the bigger picture and may be confused or duped by propaganda. Beds Stars feels even more like market research, to be fair, in as much as it's a kind of answer for a kind of unanswerable problem. Fine as far as it goes, but not the be all and end all.<br />
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All that said, I hope to be nominated this year.<br />
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There's no place on Beds Stars to nominate teams. Which is a shame. Shouldn't we be thinking more of effective, silo-busting, friendly and co-operative teams? Or is this just a pipe dream of some busted guy who remembers when we talked rather than emailed, served tea from thee olde Clipper ships in china cups and weren't all beholden to fake celebration on social media?<br />
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Anyway, my partner's off this weekend, so I'll mainly be watching jazz in a Luton club, rock and roll in a Luton pub and steam trains and football in Bury, Greater Manchester.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-6138763966788874972018-10-12T09:03:00.000-07:002018-10-14T09:03:52.643-07:00My year in MARC...<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;">Where do I start?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;">Well it’s been a very interesting year, with lots of personal development problem solving and I think successes.
When I started we were just at the tail end of clearing 2017, most of which was over my head if I’m honest. Sara was on her own managing most of the activities and doing a great job. I didn’t want to burden her with too many questions so tried to give her space to begin with, eventually I ended up bombarding her with questions which continued for the last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;">Ellie joined us not long after and the focus was really about knitting the team together. We worked hard on the Feb starts campaign which was a great success exceeding our target of 50 students registered by 100. It was evident to me from an early stage that I had a great team with a really good mix of skills, most importantly we all got along and respected each other.
I also inherited some great plans which were already in place and huge credit goes to Sarah for working so hard to enable me to take over what was clearly a well-run ship. This enabled me to soak up the role and tasks and really hit the ground running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: normal;">The other key project was the 2019 UG Prospectus which was in its initial phase when I joined. This was something I personally relished as a project. Those that know me well will know I’m all about graphic design, functionality and InDesign. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel with this project but I did see some key areas I believed we could build on, course openers and title design to name a few. This would be a project that I would start - and ironically this week we have had our first focus group for the 2020 Prospectus - and end on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The market has been and is still in a difficult position with competition higher than ever and students having more opportunities to trade up. Andy has been a go to for me and has really helped to break down how things are looking and where they might be going. (Not to mention a constant proof reader, soundboard and fellow movie buff). With all this in mind we decided to stupidly or maybe ingenuously design the clearing campaign in-house. This ended up being a well received project that the the team are immensely proud of as well as fatigued with. Seriously though it was an amazing task and everyone in and outside of the team really pulled together to achieve this. This enabled us to understand the process on a deeper level, be more flexible with the late deadlines and also be fully brought in to the concept. A special thanks to Beverley for actually allowing me to work on this and to Sara and Ellie who had to constantly put up with my crazy idea's. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway I could go into loads of detail about the last year but it really wouldn't be that interesting to those outside of MARC. What I will say is that it's been a fun year, I have learnt loads about marketing being a manager and more about the University. I have made loads of new friends and I really do owe it all to my wonderful team who have been the main reason I have loved working here.</span><br />
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<br />David Fryerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08015748487625902370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-69553703634703282322018-09-11T08:38:00.000-07:002018-09-11T08:39:38.979-07:00Catching up and "clearing out"<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sorry, we've been busy. </span></b><br />
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Hence no blog entries of late. No one has time. No one can find time. Those that do find time write in silly, short sentences.<br />
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Clearing does that. It's been tough going for the sector, although it feels like people are keeping institutional cards close to institutional chests. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/aug/28/alevel-season-pushing-universities-towards-insolvency">See what they make of it</a> in <i>The Guardian</i>. For me, this piece has a ring of truth to it and for my money, and for what it's worth, the newly formed Office for Students need to start pulling their collective finger out and start acting on behalf of the students and work out exactly which sector behaviours benefit who exactly.<br />
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For what it's worth, I would suggest that much in this and recent cycles has been dictated by market forces. Applicants haven't been taken on a journey so much as frogmarched and bombarded by skillfully crafted, expensive marketing, unconditional offers and daft incentives.<br />
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Still, the world continues to spin like a drunk on a fairground ride and day follows night follows day. Clearing will soon be over and I'm off on holiday next week. It's going to be great. I've got my reading all sorted. If you're interested, I'll report back on that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Putting the finishing touches to this year's holiday reading list </i></td></tr>
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In the mean time, here's what's going on in Marketing and Communications:<br />
<ul>
<li>We're looking at the Clearing "reject by default" date and hoping it might throw up some last gasp opportunities;</li>
<li>There are a few communications pieces pending, although attention has dropped off;</li>
<li>We're full pelt on our Annual Campaign now and looking to bolster and pump out our support and STEM messages, deciding where and where not to place our ads;</li>
<li>Open days are being pushed;</li>
<li>Market research - I've just completed updating projections for our new STEM courses and working through providing data for colleagues preparing for Periodic Reviews. (If you're interested, <a href="https://in.beds.ac.uk/marc/research/periodic-review">here's the sort of thing</a> I can help with). I'm going to try and get some more invites out for the applicant surveys. We'll see how <i>that </i>goes - I'm off on Friday as well as next week</li>
<li>This blog; there's some loose talk about 'killing it' and/or replacing it with a podcast. Podcast indeed;</li>
<li>I've sold out and accidentally caused a staff room to appear and somehow be squeezed into the PG Centre.</li>
</ul>
Anyway, that's all from me. If anyone's off to see Dylan Moran in <a href="https://www.myartprints.co.uk/kunst/hieronymus_bosch/thm_bal40978-2.jpg">St Albans</a> on Thursday, I'll see you there. Dylan Moran seems a level headed chap.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-15410713502464164522018-08-08T03:09:00.000-07:002018-08-21T07:47:52.047-07:00All tarted up for ClearingClearing. Yes, Clearing. <i>That</i>. From where you are, it might feel like "that time of year", though various parts of MAR are already "on it" ready to fight the annual rearguard with our finely honed collateral. Clearing, I suspect, will take on its familiar air of desperation masquerading as opportunity. Or should that be the other way round? Either or both ways, business as usual.<br />
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Or is it? This year, you <i>could </i>say, is more of the same. However, shifts in the market seem to have conspired against the Uni:<br />
<ul>
<li>lower numbers of 18 year olds;</li>
<li>apprenticeships still being talked about and anticipated (leading to late engagement in the recruitment process), though not fully understood by some in the sector, let alone the students;</li>
<li>greater levels of offer making by medium and higher tariff HEIs, some of whom have lowered their tariffs; </li>
<li>much wider use and <a href="https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2018/07/26/6289/">abuse of unconditional offers</a>;</li>
<li>more vigorous marketing by a wider selection of HEIs, with institutions coming in earlier and wielding what appear to be higher spends and shinier incentives (e.g. <a href="https://www.northampton.ac.uk/study/benefits-of-studying-with-us/">Northampton laptops</a> and Bucks New's new <a href="https://bucks.ac.uk/applying-to-bucks/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/financial-support,-bursaries-and-scholarships/bursaries">Clearing Access bursaries</a>).</li>
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Mood music from UCAS and others continues to encourage applicants to pursue aspirational choices, without a thought of whether Russell Group and - forgive the vernacular - "posh" unis are right for everybody. While choice and opportunities are abundant for students, universities are focussed on the bottom line and, as a result, becoming less touch-feely and more hard nosed in their approach.<br />
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All a far cry from what feels like the old, pastoral days of Clearing, but which - <a href="https://uobmarketing.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-rookies-opinion-on-clearing.html">as Ellie pointed out last week</a> - was only a few years ago. New Clearing has HEIs of all stripes and colours snarling and promising and focussing their attention on students who don't have the same level of impartial advice in schools. I would suggest that this state of affairs gives a far greater likelihood of hasty, hypnotised entrants entering academic worlds which may feel more hectic and, potentially more – well – <i>"academic"</i> than they had hoped.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">University marketing 2020?</span></i></div>
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We owe it to potential students and to each other to make sure we give people the best information and the best opportunity we can. Most students, one hopes, will have a fulfilling life changing experience; most who come to Bedfordshire will also acquire life changing debts. Manageable, justifiable - arguably. But certainly nothing most sane people would blithely rush to embrace.</div>
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What will I be doing this year? I'm getting out of the office and will need to brush up on my phone manner. The continually stretching gap between initiatives/day-to-day departmental operation and resource has seen me drafted into manning phones in the PG Centre for the first couple of days of Clearing this year. I'm half looking forward/half dreading it. Talking to people on the telephone rather than fighting fires on email will be interesting and quite a departure from the blinkered monster that is email.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The author sends an email</i></span></div>
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Phones, eh? Many colleagues will still have them on their desks. Take a look. It's that funny black wedge with the handset with coily lead coming out of it. Remember? A device enabling people in remote locations to talk to each other. But <b><u>not</u></b> on the internet.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>When telephones were bad....</i></span></div>
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This telephone thing was debunked in the second half of the last century, but really comes into its own in Clearing, when people from different backgrounds and frames of reference need to talk and really understand each other, rather than just shouting directives. Could there be a wider use for it in the normal working week, I wonder?</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>When telephones were good....</i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-55817721272006199182018-08-03T03:00:00.001-07:002018-08-06T01:25:09.564-07:00A rookie's opinion on Clearing<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the newest member of the team, I’ve been asked to do a
couple of blog posts on Clearing, as:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) I haven’t experienced working one at
the Uni yet, and </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) because I’ve most recently been through the uni process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I was in Year 13 the word 'Clearing' was whispered in hushed tones behind closed doors. Nobody wanted to have to go through Clearing. I'm surmising, but I think these are the reasons why:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1)</b> Clearing symbolised failure. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Going
through Clearing usually meant you hadn’t gotten the grades you were expecting,
so was seen as a huge ‘I messed up’ sign above your head<span style="font-size: 11pt;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>2)</b> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Clearing equalled panic. We all had visions of hundreds
of students fighting over limited university places. (Whether this was strictly
true I have no idea, but the thought was enough to scare us all senseless).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><b>3)</b> </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not every university was in Clearing, so if your
first choice was one of those institutions and you didn’t quite make the cut,
you’d usually end up ‘downgrading’.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><b>4)</b> </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The uncertainty of it all. The assumption was
that you’d end up going to a university you hadn’t looked around, staying in
accommodation you hadn’t picked, and doing a course that might not have
ultimately been your first choice.</span> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNBoIBDV25ybgoC003PvoDuUaw2oSMqQR63Yu4fnlmOI-bGcIm4lTYU2ao4CjcTUOJroFwKzvmBLBJ9mA6H25Sfu5AItrsLiMiGzO_Cf7JAqve6KCbbu50xaJejd-LT5cQ4j5NzfyhVY/s1600/8d829ec69df2baeefb562091ed777195--happy-puppy-puppy-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="736" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNBoIBDV25ybgoC003PvoDuUaw2oSMqQR63Yu4fnlmOI-bGcIm4lTYU2ao4CjcTUOJroFwKzvmBLBJ9mA6H25Sfu5AItrsLiMiGzO_Cf7JAqve6KCbbu50xaJejd-LT5cQ4j5NzfyhVY/s320/8d829ec69df2baeefb562091ed777195--happy-puppy-puppy-love.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have absolutely no relevant pictures for this blog post, so here is a happy doggo instead!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">Five or six (I’m getting old, no need to remind me) years
on, and Clearing is a whole different ball game. Let me try and explain in
response to the points above. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1)</b> <span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clearing doesn’t mean failure. We’ve interviewed
students recently who went through Clearing because they did <u>better</u> than
expected in their A-Levels, and decided that they did in fact want to come to university
after all. Clearing can also be just a sign of someone indecisive, changing
their mind, or having their circumstances change. And that’s not failure at
all, that’s just life</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><b>2) </b></span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">I can’t speak from experience yet (having not
worked through Clearing), but what I can assume is that there’s no need to
panic. Clearing lasts an awful lot longer than it previously has, so even
though ringing on the first day will probably give you the best options, you could also ring a week later and still be offered a place. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><b>3)</b> </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Almost <u>every</u> university in the country has
courses in Clearing this year. Including the likes of Oxford and Cambridge. So you could probably even upgrade if you wanted.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><b>4)</b> </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">I think the uncertainty is still there, if I’m
honest. But most universities run campus tours and visits for those people who
have come through clearing, or have ‘virtual tour’ options on their websites so
you can get an idea of where you’ll be studying. A chance to email or speak to the
academics running your course is also a possibility, so you can ask any
questions you may have. And guaranteed accommodation for first year students
means you’ll be exactly where you need to be to meet new people and make potential
friends for life.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hope this cute bunny makes you feel less panicked about Clearing, it's certainly working for me.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So there you have it. After some
consideration, I’ve decided most of the changes to Clearing are due to the
sector, rather than changes to the process itself. It sort of feels like the weight
of Clearing has been reversed. Whereas the panic used to fall on students, with
universities not caring as much because the intake was quite slight for them,
now Clearing is a </span><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">MASSIVE DEAL</b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> for uni’s. Students can get pretty much whatever
they want while universities are stressing over filling places. It’s a slightly
unwelcome role reversal for us, but one that benefits our millennial’s, so that
must be kind of a good thing, right? They are the future, after all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over and out.</span><br />
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Ellie Kinghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00759377078632521115noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-27662751821284112202018-07-19T08:29:00.000-07:002018-07-19T08:29:01.822-07:00Conferences and awaydaysLast week was Staff Conference week. This week, our departmental awayday.<br />
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First, our staff conference. Thankfully, unlike every other conference, delegates aren't bombed with lanyards, bags, gimmicks and other rubbish made from materials destined for landfill. No doubt we're helping the planet. Unofficially, I suspect budgets don't extend to such trinkets. Nor should they. I have a cupboard at home, full of promotional guff. I want the space back, though I'm terrified it'll choke guillemots and poison oceans.<br />
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<b><i>Guillemots? Here's our honorary Doc John Hegley, of this parish, to explain:</i></b><br />
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Anyway. Here are some random nuggets from the day:<br />
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<li>The free lunch packs went down a storm. For some reason, I didn't get one;</li>
<li>I was, however, happy recipient of two bags of Minstrels and a packet of Twiglets thanks to the excellent efforts of colleagues;</li>
<li>I also enjoyed, though was slightly perplexed by the debate about "Marmite flavour" Twiglets;</li>
<li>As if there is any other flavour. I know there was some tampering with a Worcester Sauce variant, but that, surely, was just a try out....</li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Groucho - they're messing the flavours up again</i></td></tr>
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The sessions - those I attended - were fine. Special mention to <a href="https://www.beds.ac.uk/research-ref/iasr/staff/john-pitts">John Pitts</a>' gang culture talk, which was <u>excellent</u>. And for Ibraham, <a href="https://uobmarketing.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-year-as-intern.html">last week's blogger</a> and VCO intern, who facilitated some good debate after showing a video TED talk, featuring an American chap with a headset, extolling the virtues of chaos over comfort when it comes to self deveopment.<br />
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I'm not sure about TEDs. Condensing intelligence into rhetorical models and arguments is a useful skill, but I like to take my time and see all sides. As I say, Ibraham was excellent. But nothing in the video I saw convinced me. I left with two thoughts; first, that the debate had been great. Second, I'm sure I've been here before, sitting with a comp coffee, in my workplace, being told to embrace jeopardy. I'm not sure I've got time for all that any more.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Me and Jeopardy? Sure. We go back...</i></td></tr>
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<br />Yesterday, we had our MARC awayday. Or MAR awayday. We lost the 'C'. Name change tbc and pending and all that. This awayday was hands on and operational. In some ways, it's a shame the Uni's strategists and TEDs don't get along to these events, though they'd probably get in the way, hogg the biscuits and, err, change the dynamic.<br />
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UCAS analysis was aired, though there seemed more value in reflecting, catching breath and pondering the reduction in the size of the team. There are about 30 of us in MARC, from around 60 four or five years ago. The awayday gave us 30 time to reflect, get real and talk about such stuff and not be given a kind of stock response about silos or smarter working.<br />
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Departmental awaydays seem more real and visceral somehow. And to the point. By nature, it's bottom up rather than top down. There's no talk about comfort zones or jeopardy; no blue sky thinking or horizon scanning. The flip charts have pictures rather than bullets. They're less jargony and more impactful. Even if impactful isn't really a word.<br />
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Then we had a barby, educational activity and bingo. Not exactly work stuff, but an invaluable time to reconnect with each other as humans. With Clearing just round the corner, this 'getting on' and understanding how people might work and react is important.<br />
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Anyway, these are my views. Of course, conferences and awaydays are neither the same thing, nor polar opposites. They shouldn't be compared, one versus the other. But then this is my blog. I've leave with an analogy; awaydays feel more like punk rock or free jazz; expressive, bumpy noise, with some heart and creativity, compared to many conferences I've been to, which feel more akin to orchestras playing nursery rhymes in a great big echo chamber.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-87436307822175701862018-07-11T07:58:00.004-07:002018-07-24T08:35:11.788-07:00A year as an intern<br />
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What is it like being an intern at the University of Bedfordshire for a year? You get to travel to Mauritius! How many interns can say that?</div>
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It has been an amazingly packed and enlightening year for me. I have learned a lot, got to meet great colleagues that I learned from and shared fun moments with.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I will walk you through my journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For The first 3 months, I was settling down, gaining access to finance tools, online platforms and knowing where everything is located. Did you know that the MARC team has promotional material dating back to 2003-2005? I sure did enjoy watching those it was like travelling back in time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have mainly worked in 3 main areas Policy, Events and Communications. Along that I have been a team leader for a Go Global trip an initiative at the university whereby our students get to travel to our university partner countries such as China, Mauritius, India and Dubai to prepare them for a global world and to enhance their employability. </div>
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I have been involved in the preparation ofthe Annual Staff Conference that has great speakers and professional development for staff. In addition, I mapped out our operational goals to the strategic goals of the university, among a couple of other things.</div>
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I will dive deeper into my 3 main areas of work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Policy is a collection of actions/initiatives that contribute to a goal often long-term with most efficient use of resources. In other words Policy is strategy! In the policy area I assisted with calls for evidence by the government to inform governmental policy, background research on opportunities/challenges and conducted surveys and focus groups.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Events side of things is assisting in the whole process of the event from planning to setting up, running of the event and post evaluation of the event. I enjoy events work, I get to meet new people and get to know what they do when hosting university events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Events that I have been part of are our Beds Talks series an excellent and informative series of events showcasing and sharing our university research to the community, Vice Chancellor Public Policy Lecture series that discuss current and hot policy matters followed with questions from the audience and of course our Staff Summer and Christmas parties.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As for Communications, I help out with design work, updating website, creating the news week, helping with digital signage, managing the noticeboard inbox, and helping out with staff surveys. I enjoy Communication work it allows us to showcase and communicate the amazing work that colleagues at the University of Bedfordshire do. Projects I have been involved with in this role were Beds Stars awards and the staff benefit page update.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So that’s what it’s like to be an intern for a year at the University of Bedfordshire, a wonderful opportunity that I am grateful I got the chance to have.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Onwards and upwards!</div>
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Ibraham Eidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09040790422498846776noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-62752827859424618792018-07-04T08:18:00.000-07:002018-07-04T08:19:00.819-07:00UCAS Exhibitions and Open Days <br />
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So last week we hosted the UCAS higher education exhibition at
our Bedford campus. For anyone that hasn’t heard of this event before, it’s our
biggest recruitment event in the year. Located at our Bedford campus, we host
many other universities and higher education institutions on campus, and are
visited by approximately 10,000 students from schools and colleges within the
region.<br />
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This year I was one of the staff working on the University
of Bedfordshire stand. Over the course of two days I spoke to many students
about the various courses that we offer, provided information about our
accommodation and transport links, and was asked by a couple of students what
was the best thing about Bedfordshire (to which I replied “<b><a href="https://www.beds.ac.uk/help-and-advice/go-global" target="_blank">Go Global</a></b> – I wish
my university offered something like that when I was a student!). <o:p></o:p></div>
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There were a couple of questions however that have really stuck
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<b>What exactly am I meant to be doing here?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Excellent question! Stupidly I assume every year (well, this
is the third year I’ve worked at the UCAS exhibition), that students will come
into the exhibition with a plan of action, but not all students know exactly
what they want to do at this point – I certainly didn’t. So for those students
who don’t know what, or where, they want to study, or even if they want to go
to university, it’s a chance to attend subject talks, which will give you an
insight into what you may learn from a degree in that area, and where it could
lead you. It also gives you a chance to speak to universities and find out a
little more about them. Even if you’re not sure what you want to study at this
point you may be able to find out what universities offer placement years,
internships, scholarships, and opportunities to work abroad, to name just a
few, which may influence your final decision.</div>
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<b>I don’t need to attend an Open Day now do I?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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At the exhibition I invited many students to come along to
our next Open Day and a couple asked why they needed to, if they’d spoken to us
at the fair – another excellent question! Although the UCAS exhibition is a
great way to gather information, you will probably end up speaking to many
universities and institutions, and you may feel like you have been overloaded
with information. I would recommend using the UCAS exhibitions as a starting
point – speak to as many universities as possible and, from this, choose your
favourite universities and book to attend an Open Day at those institutions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At an Open Day you’ll be able to take a tour of the campus,
which will help you to really get a feel for the university. You’ll also be
able to meet current students and hear about their experiences, and find out
exactly what that university offers in terms of extra-curricular activities, career
support, internship opportunities and facilities etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Gtg-3ydz3MFg7w8nPa9b1RnwSbZZZO_zEV85F9kRQQLtUEtldEWWn0diLwJavEqyPeCClkFFToaWhGLJ8uq87lVT-tkJIT_ECqrGgeicVHdclazEq6Dz_u5wj5DIFV-tRC-IfhD3U4f_/s1600/July+-+blog+post+-+photobooth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="880" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Gtg-3ydz3MFg7w8nPa9b1RnwSbZZZO_zEV85F9kRQQLtUEtldEWWn0diLwJavEqyPeCClkFFToaWhGLJ8uq87lVT-tkJIT_ECqrGgeicVHdclazEq6Dz_u5wj5DIFV-tRC-IfhD3U4f_/s200/July+-+blog+post+-+photobooth.jpg" width="182" /></a>At the exhibitions the stands are typically run by someone
from the Recruitment team. At an Open Day you’ll have the opportunity to speak
to academics from your chosen department – the people that you’ll be dealing
with on a day-to-day basis if you chose to study at that institution – and they’ll
be able to talk in detail about your subject and how it is taught at that
institution.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And finally, I can't talk about Open Days and UCAS exhibitions without talking about the freebies! Most institutions will at least have some free pens which you can stock up on. And if you do attend our UCAS exhibition next year make sure you grab your friends and visit our photobooth. </div>
University of Bedfordshirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08811962779861932040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-6501229827457529322018-06-29T01:14:00.000-07:002018-06-29T01:15:26.318-07:00Stands, stares and stairs; UCAS Birmingham Fair 25-26 June 2018This week, reflections on the <a href="https://www.ucas.com/node/308306/view/exhibit">Birmingham UCAS Fair</a> at the NEC and the coming together of year 12 students, teachers and reps from most of the country's HE providers.<br />
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The UCAS Fair is probably the first meaningful chance for sixth form and college students to get up close and inspect a number of universities gathered under the same roof. A chance to form early, concrete opinions. This year, we were given the huge fillip of having our logo featured in the programme.<b><i> Imagine. </i></b>The good studes of the Black Country were also treated to me and Pete on the stand. He 'web man'; me 'spreadsheet man'. Pete's taller and more animated than; we probably complemented each other quite well.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hotel livin'; the </i><i>Ibis, NEC</i></td></tr>
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Leaving the office also gave me another chance for hotel livin' and some pseudo market research (see <a href="https://uobmarketing.blogspot.com/2018/06/escaping-asylum.html">my last escapade</a>). And the chance to pinch and repurpose a few stand and prospectus ideas. Here area a few take away points:<br />
<ul>
<li>Some of the stands looked tired. Ours included. We didn't stick out, but our roll up banners and materials are more 'Blue Nun' than 'Chateau Neuf'. Still, see point below.</li>
<li>Cardiff Met, Northampton and others have bust budgets on stands which have more mood lighting, soft furnishing and gizmoic mod cons than my house could ever hope to have. I wonder, however, how much of a lasting impact this splurge will have (see 'corporate' below). I'm not sure I would have been <i>that </i>impressed. Are the year 12's? (Again, see 'corporate' below). And lavish sets might be pleasing on the eye, but you won't catch many of the Russell Group going for these histrionics. Not this year, anyway.</li>
<li>Everything here is <b>so </b>corporate. Numbers, tickets, brochures, fonts, carpets, pricey catering, gimmicks and giveaways. Polo shirts with embroidered uni logos. Which is as well; no one has the time or would want to drift round yurts, freak zones and hip hang outs. And yes, while attempts to get in with the kids could back fire, might there be mileage in going 'off page'? Could non-corporate stand out? Pete bigged up our arts' degree show - could our A&D folk bring anything which might shake attendees out of the torpor of bags for life and having the living heck scanned out of their barcodes?</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pete in action</i></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>Hertfordshire's stand was bold. An expansive white background, with nothing on it except some black block text encouraging people to 'write their own future'. Something like that. Clever perhaps, but kind of barren looking. Hope they did ok, but not <b><i>too </i></b>ok.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Herts stand is unveiled!</i></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>Otherwise, lots of floor vinyls, boxes and lots of places teaching contemporary music. Whatever that is, and whatever that involves. And Birmingham City Uni all over the place.</li>
<li>Nursing is always the most popular course. I developed a joke for Midwifery students* which sunk and struck by the popularity of Engineering. I'd recently read about the stuttering pace of the <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/women-in-engineering/">Women in Engineering</a> initiative, although it seems alive and well in the NEC. I respect Engineers. Compasses and calipers make me giddy - the closest I get to bridge building is bodged DIY and vague recollections of stuff like Swarfega and Engineers' Blue from school. </li>
<li>That's right, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer%27s_blue">Engineers' Blue</a>. Let's move on.</li>
<li>My selling powers are weak. I will engage if there's something I believe in - or at least understand - and people are interested. Art & Design or English Lit courses? No problem. Law? Fine. An LLB is an LLB is an LLB. I guess. But Automotive and Mechanical Engineering? Waving promises of a building opening in 2019 only goes so far. If STEM action groups, steering boards, advisory panels and what not could chuck Marketing a bone, that'd be nice. Of the many established and reputed STEM providers already out there; <a href="https://www.herts.ac.uk/about-us/news/2018/june/new-formula-student-2018-racing-car-unveiled">Herts have got a racing car</a>; Anglia Ruskin their own <a href="https://www.construction.morgansindall.com/case-study/science-centre-anglia-ruskin-university">new Science Centre</a> and, as I say, some of the stands here probably cost more than our library. It's going to take a lot more than a battered UCAS fair stand, the stretched resources in Marketing and Digital Marketing, 'spreadsheet guy' and a few video screens on campus to sell our brand new portfolio. Ta. </li>
</ul>
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At events like these, it's important to present as strong a picture of the Uni as possible. The most important prompt I gave to students was to visit different universities and see what's going on at different places, regardless of the fluffy marketing and communications and the dry, barely plausible, rarely referenced stats online (not many students are too bothered by the NSS, let alone TEF). I gave this advice somewhat forcibly, with my earnest face; there's still a job to get us even on a list of HEIs for people to consider.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My earnest face</i></td></tr>
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I suspect that UCAS Conferences don't play the starring role in making people's minds up, but they form a very key early impression. After all, where would Luke Skywalker be know if that funny lil' R2D2 robot man hadn't played that video of Princess Leia banging on about Obi Wan Kenobi being "her only hope"?<br />
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<i>* The Midwifery joke? Well, alright.</i><br />
<i>Convention attendee - 'Excuse me, do you do Midwifery?'</i><br />
<i>Spreadsheet man - 'Yes; that's a course we ... </i><b>deliver</b><i>.'</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i>
<i>I should maybe have gone for 'yes, that's a course which really delivers,' but I struggle with my own job, let alone any aspirations in the field of comedy</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-20223121622269504682018-06-12T06:12:00.001-07:002018-06-12T08:30:51.637-07:00Escaping the Atrium<i>A write up of a recent trip, pushing out and exploring a world beyond conditional formatting on Excel and poorly executed SQL queries....</i><br />
<br />
The Atrium's a funny place. It's home for those bits and pieces of "Professional Services" which most people avoid. HR, IT, Finance, Facilities, Marketing, Admissions and the UK Recruitment team. <i>Those </i>sorts of people. And, more recently, a group of academics who "must have said something" and have been banished to the south east corner of the building. Listen carefully, and you can hear them, powering up SPSS and trying to tap distress signals through the malfunctioning heating system.....<br />
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While the wheels of power turn, shiny buildings take shape and teaching and learning goes on across Park St, life in The Atrium can feel disembodied and not very university-like. The place where crates hang out, looking menacing, and mismatched furniture comes to die.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Atrium - 'come see us sometime'</i></td></tr>
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It's nice to get out and about every now and again. Some time earlier this year, I was asked to facilitate a forum at the University's recent <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-bedfordshire-teachers-advisers-conference-tickets-39609990548#">Teachers and Advisers Conference</a>. This took place last Wednesday and was a treat, even if I missed most of the catering. My own fault; I was getting this fantastic picture taken by a proper photographer:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Do you want fries with that?"</i></td></tr>
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The session - where such diverse institutions as Vandyke Upper to Central Beds College to Hitchin Boys School were represented - enabled me to perform a covert piece of market research and to listen into the thoughts and concerns of those present. Given that everyone had signed up for a "forum", and, therefore, a meeting of minds and exchange of ideas, I saw my role very much in terms of just nudging things along and throwing in the odd question bomb or two. Such as:<br />
<i><br /></i>
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<i>"What pressures do young people face if/when they're thinking about university?"</i></div>
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- and -</div>
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<i>"How can schools and universities help?"</i></div>
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After a series of breakouts, the first issue to generate heat was finance:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>debt aversion - potential students need to understand repayment terms;</li>
<li>more communication around bursaries is needed;</li>
<li>maintenance - some won't attend if none available, creating another 'squeezed middle'; i.e. households with incomes more than £25k pa, but who don't have the level of income which would support their kids through unis;</li>
<li>party people - those along for a ride and who don't see themselves as ever earning enough to start paying back.</li>
</ul>
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There was some discussion and one or two points of departure for people in the group. Certainly, year on year, the Save our Student quantitative survey gives some graphic stats. For the 2017 results from more than 2300 students, <a href="https://www.savethestudent.org/money/surveys/students-and-money-infographic-2017.html">click here</a>.<br />
<br />
A more pronounced and unified response was given to unconditional offers, which were picked up on throughout the day. They're not popular with schools, let me tell you. <a href="https://uobmarketing.blogspot.com/2018/02/9-reasons-unconditional-offers-are-bad.html">I've blogged about unconditional offers before</a> and explained why I think U offers aren't great.<br />
<br />
Still, I don't have to deal with the fallout. Teachers and advisers do. We were told how unconditional offers lead in a proportion of students dropping attendance and grades. The group recognised universities' needed to maximise income, but those who have been more profligate at dishing out offers came in for <b><u>heavy scorn</u></b>. Nottingham Trent and Lincoln were mentioned in despatches.<br />
<br />
The third main area of concern was mental health. No surprise, although very sobering to hear about anxiety, self-harming and communication issues among people at a key, challenging moment in their personal developments. Again, recently published statistics, this time from the Institute for Public Policy Research, quantify some of the issues (for example a six-fold increase in cases of declared mental health conditions in 2015 vs 2006 and record numbers of student suicides and a 20% increase in the number of students dropping out and suffering mental health conditions. For more detail,see the <a href="https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/not-by-degrees">IPPR website</a>).<br />
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All in all, a valuable day spent out of the office. I've just had and will have very different excursions this week, to the London School of Commerce. By which time, I'll probably be gagging for the reassuring comfort of my two screens, Microsoft Powerpoint and my tea/soup drawer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Market research; back to "business as usual"</i></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-76513846194009383452018-05-24T07:18:00.002-07:002018-10-09T07:06:06.052-07:00Putting yourself back together when the black dog comes knocking...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last week was <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week" target="_blank">Mental Health Awareness Week</a>, which inspired
me to revisit the below blog. I actually wrote it a few weeks ago but I
questioned whether I should publish it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last week saw thousands of people open up about their
experiences with mental health, and it’s really good to see how things have
changed over the years and that people feel more comfortable being more open
and honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here’s my two cents
worth…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few months ago, I was really struggling with my mental
health but thanks to the support of friends, family and colleagues, things are
looking up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This horrible dark shadow infected every part of my life – my family,
my relationships and my work. As someone who always strives to work hard and be
the best press officer I can be, seeing my work slip was devastating. So I got
medical assistance and told my boss – two of the hardest things I’ve ever done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mental health will affect one in four of us at some point in
their lives, so I’ve jotted down a few points to consider if you‘re a PR
professional (or indeed anyone) struggling with your mental well-being in the
workplace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is entirely based on my own experience and I’m not a
medical professional of any sort – this is meant to offer food for thought and
a bit of support to anyone who may need it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tell your colleagues<br />
</b>When I told my colleagues what was going on, I was surprised to discover how
many of them had had similar issues themselves. Initially I was terrified they would
think less of me, but everyone was very supportive and together we looked at
ways to make my working life easier. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shout if you’re
struggling<br />
</b>For me, the worst thing about mental ill-health is that there are no
physical symptoms, unless you count uncontrollable weeping for no reason. There’s
no limbs hanging off, no horrible cough, no nasty rash - you look just as you
always did. This can make it hard for colleagues to know if you are struggling,
unless you tell them. The hardest thing for me was opening up about what I was feeling
and whether I needed to work from home for a day or two, but once it was out in
the open, it all started to feel OK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When someone tells you they are struggling, don't be the person on the right!</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talk to your GP –
when YOU’RE ready</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a tricky one. I didn’t ask for medical help for a long time, but
something clicked one day and I went – I’m so glad I did. This is probably
something anyone dealing with a mental health issue should do, but it’s
something you have to be ready for. No-one can force you to go until you’re
ready. If you’re not ready, don’t worry, but when you are, just go – it can be
the first step to getting better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Be kind to yourself<br />
</b>I found this very difficult. Not only did I feel like I had no right to
feel the way I did, I also felt I had let everyone down by letting it get as
far as it did before I sought help. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but you
can’t spend your time wishing you had done anything differently. Imagine if
your friend told you they were depressed or anxious, you would immediately
rally around to support them and offer kind words of encouragement and hope.
Try and do the same for yourself. Don’t beat yourself up – you’re only human.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And finally, always remember....</span></div>
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<script async="" src="https://tenor.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06958358201378641712noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-73221045698128906822018-05-10T08:24:00.003-07:002018-05-15T01:51:05.430-07:00Review of Post-18 Education and Funding<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Part of my role as Events and Policy Assistant, I get to work on policy matters regarding Higher Education sector with our Policy Advisor. About 3 months ago the government launched a review of Post-18 Education and Funding. Subsequently, an independent panel has been formed to inform the review's work and the panel has issued a call for evidence to inform its work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The review was launched on 21/03 and closed last week 2/05.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I enjoy policy work, a democratic evidence backed way of influencing rules and regulations of the government. The interesting thing is that everyone can provide evidence to the regular call for evidence by various departments of the government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For instance, at the moment the Department of Education has issued a call for evidence for "evidence on issues connected with elective home education". I wonder how would I have turned out to be if I was homeschooled? Perhaps the next Stephen Hawking, haha.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nonetheless, going back to the subject of the review, the University and Student Union have collaborated on this submission and jointly worked on it. The key take away </span>are<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the below 5 recommendations:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Do not fundamentally overhaul the university funding system by cutting university income or introducing differential fees. Policy should continue to be driven by the objective of expanding high-quality post-18 education that meets the country’s skills needs and offers students the best possible experience. This requires sustainable funding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Our students make clear that the greatest challenge for them is the cost of living. There should be a fundamental reform of the student maintenance system, which should include the introduction of a “living loan” sufficient to cover the cost of living and the restoration of non-repayable maintenance grants for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. The student loan system must be fair, and therefore should be designed so students incur no real rate of interest on their student loan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. There has been a significant decline in mature, part-time and nursing students, and intervention is needed to address this. The review panel must fully review the needs of these students in particular, and the University would be happy to support this process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Prospective students must have a choice and be able to access all the information they need to make informed decisions about their post-18 education. Both the Government and Universities have an important role to play in achieving this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, we wait and see what will the outcome of the review be, a trim around the edges or a complete overhaul as promised?</span><br />
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Ibraham Eidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09040790422498846776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-10025758023561560922018-04-27T07:39:00.003-07:002018-04-27T07:58:07.411-07:00Do Influencers #AD's actually work?<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Personally, I find it really difficult to write about things I don't have an opinion on. This week I think people expected me to talk about the clearing campaign photography we've had done, but honestly... I don't have anything groundbreaking to say about it. Yes it was busy and slightly chaotic, but the experience was great and the photos are looking amazing, and exactly what we'll need to pull off our new idea. So what more is there to say? Job done. I <u>will</u> treat you to a couple of BTS shots though, just so you feel included in the mayhem...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What I wanted to talk about instead</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is something that us 'marketeers' hear about a lot... and that's <i>digital influencers</i>. Basically, asking people who have a lot of followers in the digital space to promote your products/services to their audiences. While we've been choosing the inventory for our clearing campaign, social influencers has been a topic of conversation, and today I wanted to look into it in a bit more detail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1) Is it actually effective?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you look at the stats, yes it works. A lot of media agencies will tell you it's the only truly effective way to market to students or Gen Z nowadays. In fact, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/digital/emarketer-worldwide-instagram-users/">Activate by Bloglovin's</a> research has found that 67% of marketers think influencer marketing campaigns helped them reach a more targeted audience, which leads to better overall results. And why wouldn't it? To the younger audience it's essentially like being recommended a product or service from a friend, and what could be more convincing than that? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>2) When DOES it work?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let me preface this with... I watch a lot of YouTube. And I've seen my fair share of influencer ads. From personal experience (and I imagine it to be the same amongst some), sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The best brand work I've seen through digital creators has definitely always been the longer campaigns. If I see a creator post one #ad for a brand and then never speak about them again, I'm not believing a word they're saying. But when influencers and brands have lasting relationships it has more value to the audience. Plus it's got to be a <b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">partnership that makes sense.</b> (I cannot emphasise this enough). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For example: Liza Koshy works out everyday, and posts Instagram stories/Snapchats about it regularly. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Liza Koshy also happens to have 15 million subscribers and 15.6 million Instagram followers.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> So Nike approached her. Makes sense, right? A match made in heaven. And then </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XlB1bTvDHo" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this</a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> happened. 20 MILLION VIEWS?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I actually enjoyed sitting through what was essentially 8 minutes of advertising! As well as that, she created her own pair of shoes with Nike, plus they got her to host a whole bunch of panel events with athletes - both of which built value and trust with her audience. But credit where credit due, the advert only worked because it was still 100% Liza. Full of puns, double entendre, physical comedy, and most importantly... complete transparency. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>3) When does it NOT work?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When influencers promote something that you wouldn't associate them with. Or when it's forced, sounds rehearsed, or when the creator hasn't been organic. Just today I saw a vlogger promoting the DVD release of Maze Runner: The Death Cure on his channel and on Instagram. But I never saw him go and see the film in the first place, plus I've been watching him for a year and I've never even seen him set foot in a movie theatre, so why am I going to trust him to recommend me this? So fake! Yeah I</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> watch YouTube, but I'm not dumb. (Wait, was that an oxymoron?). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wrong partnerships are the curse of the digital space. It would be like us asking a creator who attends another university to make a sponsored video about us. Who on earth is going to believe that? Getting your target audience to listen doesn't work if you don't have the right thing to say. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So there you have it. A little insight into how I think marketing with digital influencers works and how it doesn't. Something for us definitely to think about, as it seems that's where a lot of marketing is headed in the future. If you have any thoughts then let me know, YouTube is easily one of my favourite topics of conversation! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until next time. Over and out. </span>Ellie Kinghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00759377078632521115noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-60556459843760409432018-04-20T02:13:00.003-07:002018-04-20T02:13:46.195-07:00A little insight into my week<br />
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has flown by, and what a week it’s been.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBParUmFWp-vbnDSk9CqWwmaeZhvfRLNZ50xXv-9SCvUMWzKbJOvfb59KgZFirjHCpLhQGr-T3Q7EC-N4_IQwR56Av7lxs5g8XWuIC_vX3o5OcC4qwhzqzhUPBAnXv5fglN03Qepuuj5q/s1600/Blog+post+-+April+-+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="398" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBParUmFWp-vbnDSk9CqWwmaeZhvfRLNZ50xXv-9SCvUMWzKbJOvfb59KgZFirjHCpLhQGr-T3Q7EC-N4_IQwR56Av7lxs5g8XWuIC_vX3o5OcC4qwhzqzhUPBAnXv5fglN03Qepuuj5q/s200/Blog+post+-+April+-+3.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Earlier this week some of our media providers came in to
present some of the new media platforms that are available. These are always
really interesting and informative days as the media providers share some of
their market insight with us, as well as their predictions of where the market
may be heading. They then present to us some of the new ways available to
connect with our audience, to help strengthen the University of Bedfordshire
brand awareness and engagement.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The way in which consumers connect with
brands continues to change dramatically, and consumers expect more from brands than they once did.
Because of this we have been focusing on how we can make our messages more
personalised, and some of the options that we were shown will allow us to do exactly
that. I don’t think I can say too much more right now, but keep your eyes
peeled over Clearing to see what we’ve been up to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We also had a meeting with our media agency to discuss how
our campaign has performed over the last year, and to see what’s in store over
Clearing. These meetings provide a good opportunity for us to take the time to
reflect on what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what we can do to improve our
messaging in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have a really exciting Clearing campaign planned this
year, and we’re excited for you all to see it. One aspect at the heart of all of
our campaigns is that we use our own students, rather than models or actors. We
believe that this presents a more accurate representation of Bedfordshire, and
we try to capture video content as well so that prospective students can hear about
our current students experiences. We’ve got our photo-shoots coming up over the
next couple of weeks so I’ve been busy contacting our students this week to see
if they would like to take part in our campaign, trying to ensure that all
subject areas are represented. Although the next couple of weeks will be busy,
I always enjoy meeting our students and learning about their Bedfordshire
experiences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLQjJNOAf9WmobTCRpoDwOYdGblvdvD3ckIBiPhyphenhyphenD6_JVQRAZP9-qEAdAJUmSB5rUE0JgCrtF7IRE5nRwrixnRzAMhi_k5ivMWuvCZ5jJk8dhaVO0EpTfWu-6PC1c5GbqHwfLB34R-vN7/s1600/Blog+post+-+April.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLQjJNOAf9WmobTCRpoDwOYdGblvdvD3ckIBiPhyphenhyphenD6_JVQRAZP9-qEAdAJUmSB5rUE0JgCrtF7IRE5nRwrixnRzAMhi_k5ivMWuvCZ5jJk8dhaVO0EpTfWu-6PC1c5GbqHwfLB34R-vN7/s320/Blog+post+-+April.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not sure I can finish without making a celebratory
comment about the sun finally making an appearance this week can I? It’s been a
little hot in the office the last few days, but we seem to have found the
perfect solution*.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sara<o:p></o:p></div>
<br /><br />
*Other ice lollies are available from retailersUniversity of Bedfordshirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08811962779861932040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-32847862321751495752018-04-12T04:55:00.002-07:002018-04-12T04:55:47.080-07:00Tips for using a professional Twitter account<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Like many people I have a Twitter
account that I use for work purposes. I generally tweet about what I’m up to at
work, what stories and projects I’m working on and just general gubbins about my
working life in the press office at the University of Bedfordshire.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIUDDsOWpLOjbDuKLxjYSM-2_G7cc0hGaTZISTAZ-_NzRl_bouu-6BsEHs_S5OrwDPD_k11XgCu5BbhEYfid-7KxOZ0b0CZH0bc_5jrywiJBvvjyo7r_51ldKbDEJVRE81B2qczfvoXXb/s1600/My-Twitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="1209" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIUDDsOWpLOjbDuKLxjYSM-2_G7cc0hGaTZISTAZ-_NzRl_bouu-6BsEHs_S5OrwDPD_k11XgCu5BbhEYfid-7KxOZ0b0CZH0bc_5jrywiJBvvjyo7r_51ldKbDEJVRE81B2qczfvoXXb/s400/My-Twitter.png" width="400" /></a></div>
I’m not a Twitter by
any means – most of what I know I've learnt on the job and through trial
and error. But if you’re thinking about setting up your own Twitter account
for work and are not sure where to start, here are a few tips to get you going:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<b>Think before you post</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Let’s start at the beginning.
Before you post anything, ask yourself this question – would I want my mum to see this? Or, more importantly, my boss? If the answer is no, it might be
better not to post it</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<b>Ask yourself what you want out of Twitter</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
I post the occasional photo of my
dog, because who wouldn’t want to see this gorgeous face(by the way that’s
Bowen, he’s a six-year-old GSD cross and the love of my life).
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
After a mental Monday, a cuddle with this beautiful boy is just what I need ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/F0IgtlqBrA">pic.twitter.com/F0IgtlqBrA</a></div>
— Caroline Jacobi (@CJacobi16) <a href="https://twitter.com/CJacobi16/status/950444710887415808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Saying that, I rarely mention
anything outside my working life. It’s worth thinking about what you want to
get out of using Twitter in a professional capacity.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Do you want to link up with
journalists? Or connect with fellow PR professionals. Most of these people will
be interested in news about your organisation, but not so interested in photos
of your boozy night outs. It might be an idea to have two accounts, one for
work, one for outside work, just so there’s no cross-over.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<b>Use it or lose it<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
I see so many accounts that
are never used. My heart sinks when I see an account for a department
in the University, and then I see that nothing has gone out from it since 2015.
They just sit in cyberspace looking empty and sad. Get into the habit of
tweeting at least once a day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
<b>Don’t be afraid of images and tag, tag away!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Not only do photos increase
engagement by up to 300%, they have a nifty function where you can tag other
accounts into your tweet, rather than using up your precious word count with
Twitter handles. Tagging also increases engagement and will help you get
noticed. Hashtags have the same effect, though too many can be a bit much - two
of three is a good number.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYJ0uUpT6A-C83-CrPlknmqqOOvRf071bkW1ERBXhfRacA1WSoqleqcjK9gsxYqgYArtURcSBs7Cqg9gwWvigOdO9UZgm0w5LEOcTWDSeZJS2eYtiti1GLY4K5asFwWy0tJSNE0OMvE1i/s1600/Tagging.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="639" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYJ0uUpT6A-C83-CrPlknmqqOOvRf071bkW1ERBXhfRacA1WSoqleqcjK9gsxYqgYArtURcSBs7Cqg9gwWvigOdO9UZgm0w5LEOcTWDSeZJS2eYtiti1GLY4K5asFwWy0tJSNE0OMvE1i/s400/Tagging.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Ignore the trolls</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
Tempting as it is to get into a
Twitter row with an idiot with too much time on their hands – don’t do it. Trolls
thrive on attention and you just end up stoking the fire if you engage with
them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;">
A wise person once said (probably
on a social media platform somewhere): “Arguing with a Twitter troll is like playing
chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are at chess, the pigeon is just
going to knock over the pieces, crap on the board and strut around like it’s won.”<br />
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://imgflip.com/i/288du7"><img src="https://i.imgflip.com/288du7.jpg" title="made at imgflip.com" /></a>
</div>
<br />Just ignore it, and if it gets really
nasty, block them and report them to Twitter and let them deal with it.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<b>If you’re interested, my Twitter handle
is <a href="https://twitter.com/CJacobi16">@CJacobi16</a> – feel free to pop
over and have a look.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06958358201378641712noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-53518464427833400532018-04-04T03:15:00.001-07:002018-04-04T03:40:49.604-07:00Spinning straw into gold at Youth Marketing Strategy LDN 2018<br />
Insta selfies, bunny ear filters and stalls manned by twenty somethings with a skin fade wearing Augmented Reality headsets. Yes that is what I walked into last week when I headed down to Brick Lane in London’s East End to present at Voxburners Youth Marketing Strategy (<a href="http://ymsldn.voxburner.com/">YMS</a>) LDN 2018<br />
<br />
Two days of discussions from organisations on how to engage young people with brands and products. From Snap Chat to Love Island, Google, to well Bedfordshire, there was a range of insight shared from brands across the event. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMdOT-UUSyNynUnnR9Wj38kUyADlQdEfPimfXN3TT0GVRTRHX_tMNj6F3P0n2PqtV-KEuuqVh8x2vzHgOjoCIMUHKFrO-21jXUj_RL9M-viEZYVqD5XeVFvMMDC15KgC06mk1Gsq5a7Yu/s1600/selfieYMS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1002" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMdOT-UUSyNynUnnR9Wj38kUyADlQdEfPimfXN3TT0GVRTRHX_tMNj6F3P0n2PqtV-KEuuqVh8x2vzHgOjoCIMUHKFrO-21jXUj_RL9M-viEZYVqD5XeVFvMMDC15KgC06mk1Gsq5a7Yu/s200/selfieYMS.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
So, I was asked to speak on day one alongside four other universities as part of the higher education strand. It was great for Bedfordshire to be asked to share or story of how we engaged young people into converting their offer with us during clearing into an accept. To be honest the story is a pretty good one and one worth sharing. So here is a quick synopsis. <br />
<br />
As part of our clearing operation we needed to up our game with conversion. Each year we generate thousands of calls to clearing hotline and make thousands of offers, but we often fall down when it comes to converting those offer holders into actually accepting. During Clearing 2017 we pioneered something new. Now it’s not often we get to say we pioneered something, especially one with such impact, so stay with me, it gets good. <br />
<br />
We bought the licence for an app called Bonjoro, it’s a tool that lets you film short personalised videos to an individual and send them via email. We asked our academics to record some to offer holders and send as a follow up to the call they had received where the offer had been made. It sounds simple right? <br />
<br />
The most labour intensive part was actually uploading all the email addresses, which isn’t too bad as I initially thought the worst bit would be getting buy in from the academic to take part. You see quite often academics and marketing don’t mix, unless it is a poster created using clip art and Publisher. With this proposition though they seem to love it, possibly something to do with the personal nature of it and they got to talk, and academics love to talk. <br />
<br />
But here is the good bit, over clearing we sent 672 Bonjoro videos via email to offer holders. Of those 534 recipients opened their emails; that is a 74% open rate! Pretty good conversion right there. <br />
<br />
Of those who opened the videos 316 were watched; that is a 47% watch rate. Of those who watched 288 accepted their offer with us.
<br />
<br />
The cost for a 12 month license was under 5k however, the 288 undergraduate offers that we accepted after receiving a Bonjoro would, after completing a three-year undergraduate degree, have generated £2.5m revenue for the University. No other conversion tool has spun straw into gold the same way as this during clearing. The moral, it is a tool we will be using again. <br />
<br />
It wasn’t just Bedfordshire talking personalisation though, it seemed to be a major theme in many of the brands presenting, and was certainly coming through in all the research presented as something young people want more and more of. <br />
<br />
The rest of my day at the event consisted of learning more about how young people want to be engaged and a big part of this was around authenticity. One of the challenges I have brought back from the event is asking how do we tell the student story without endless amounts of case studies that risk being seen as edited and manipulated? How do we strip back our messaging to begin telling our student success in a raw authentic unedited form, while still being part of a brand? I’ll leave that one there to perhaps pick up on a future blog. <br />
<br />
While we ponder the above, the one thing we can definitely continue
doing is personalising beyond sending an email and inserting name here.
Let’s hope we have a new, exciting, creative tool to present at next
years conference, and in the meantime, here are some of the Bonjoro's
sent during Clearing 2017. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dznlql5vvSCxxqzUNaCGL6zE6bGuOz7FXLFZrpfyi2yIO4i1aOOL3s8qZpdADPyP_g0RTnf1C8y21O4UodIDw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />Peter Simpson-Leek - Digital Marketing Manager http://www.blogger.com/profile/02169796116054213860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-37733282540294389592018-03-29T02:01:00.000-07:002018-03-29T02:11:02.610-07:00What to ask for when you ask for market research<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Right, so I didn’t read the leave calendar properly and have
had to take a load of leave time for the end of the year, rather than lose it. My fault.
Or “my bad” as the kids probably don’t say anymore. I had something prepared,
but it’ll have to wait until next time. Here’s a filler; a rather rushed but
hopefully useful guide to what’s useful for me when you ask for market research
from MARC.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Precise needs</b> – Aims and objectives. Right? Stuff we teach
on a huge proportion of our courses, but which curiously goes AWOL when initiatives
are half baked then chucked around with a clear need for action, but a panicky
feeling of not really knowing what the action should be. Crystallising precise
needs can be useful to you as well as to me. Many requests I have are pleasingly
specific to which I respond, usually with a stunningly presented answer. <a href="https://in.beds.ac.uk/marc/research/requesting-market-research">Here are some clues</a> about what makes a nice, specific request.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you don’t know what you’re after, say so. GO ON; SAY IT. “I’m
not sure what I’m after”. As long as you’re not expecting the moon on a stick,
or a silver bullet, we can work round this. It might be time to ask for a
meeting……<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A meeting</b> – yes, I can be “meeting resistant”. Many
sensible, sane people are. Meetings can, after all, be talking shops better
covered by an email. If you have a very specific course title you want to test,
or need recruitment details from competitors, again, with a set list of
courses, let’s not meet. If there’s any room for misinterpretation, however,
then let’s meet. Or call me. I’m on x 3379. I don’t mind woolly requests.
Really. The work can often be more interesting than number crunching cohorts. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1iN3L4pdo6WdQngAZtnSemnf1SMYIVqDrmRhDcgsIkF1aH0gATsU6I0SiAKJku2s8K04qWCc7F5JtOkhxEXm-2pnRI4yWDmrscyfsCQFaH0DBnULraEFSmZPubd0TT6Q-Nzjh7GXpmtN/s1600/bad-clothing_17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1iN3L4pdo6WdQngAZtnSemnf1SMYIVqDrmRhDcgsIkF1aH0gATsU6I0SiAKJku2s8K04qWCc7F5JtOkhxEXm-2pnRI4yWDmrscyfsCQFaH0DBnULraEFSmZPubd0TT6Q-Nzjh7GXpmtN/s320/bad-clothing_17.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Me and fashion parted in the mid 1970s</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p><b>Background </b>– always helpful. Often covered in meetings,
though not always at other times.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Remember, I’m a man with limitations. I know
nothing about Fashion, Criminology, Computing, HRM, Forensics, Sport Therapy,
Civil Engineering or Marketing. You know far more about your subject area than
me. You may have come from a different institution which may do things better
or differently to us. The latter far more likely than the former, obviously. Sharing
background is, however, a two way street. Look at all this stuff <a href="https://in.beds.ac.uk/marc/research/market-intelligence">on the intranet</a>, for example……<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A deadline.</b> I have other work. I do not sit around twiddling
my thumbs waiting for stuff to come in. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
do not have a team; I have spreadsheets. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When giving a deadline, try and think of a date. You know; DD/MM/YYYY. That kind of thing. It might be fun and edgy to
say it, but “as soon as possible” is not a deadline. “As soon as possible” =</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>“put
my request at the top of your list;</li>
<li>I don’t want to hear/care what else you’re
working on;</li>
<li>my work is more important than anything else you’re
doing right now;</li>
<li>I am more important than the rest of those people you’re
working with”.</li>
</ul>
Right, ok. I know “as soon as possible” isn’t
this really, and that it's more ‘light touch’ bribery. I’m only human and, therefore susceptible
to bribes and other forms of flattery and bullying. But please, tell me when you need your work done. If it’s for a meeting, let me know it’s
for a meeting and let me know how long you’d like to digest whatever I can
produce before this meeting.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyU_yFG5m9GJCr_MZL1z5Qva-y04PLKShj23Tf-lSAh0eJKf7aT3vmxq8p_TLGtcAxV-E4bBymf5XA-CQ2pDl2gOnWiq48u7mY8S6tOf5CWwV0DOnpMYc6sZiAtja_d-NAvCIdpl3C9lQ8/s1600/cat-deadline-is-coming-animated-gif.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="468" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyU_yFG5m9GJCr_MZL1z5Qva-y04PLKShj23Tf-lSAh0eJKf7aT3vmxq8p_TLGtcAxV-E4bBymf5XA-CQ2pDl2gOnWiq48u7mY8S6tOf5CWwV0DOnpMYc6sZiAtja_d-NAvCIdpl3C9lQ8/s320/cat-deadline-is-coming-animated-gif.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Put a crap deadline into the system; expect crap back</i></td></tr>
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And again, “yesterday” is not a
deadline. “Yesterday” is an admission of failure, on your part. “Yesterday” means
the boat has sailed and you’ve been caught out. It may not be your fault, but I
cannot meet a deadline that’s in the past. Please recalculate and bear in mind
exactly what I’ve said about “as soon as possible”.</div>
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So that’s what would be nice to have
when you ask for market research. I accept and will work to lesser briefs. I often
do. Here’s The Beach Boys to wrap things up. Let’s try and forget they might be Republicans. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638195320228278114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-82116060102917765112018-03-15T09:04:00.000-07:002018-03-15T09:16:05.271-07:00I don't want you to photoshop yourself. Your landscapes, however...<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This blog post is kind of a two for the price of one
situation. Essentially, I went to New York last week and want to talk about it (a
thousand apologies to my colleagues who have heard about it non-stop for the
whole week, I swear this will be the last thing). But I also want to make it
work-related, so I’m going to tie it in with my role as a member of our newly formed Social Media Team. Therefore, drum roll please…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tips and tricks for editing Instagram pictures</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> first time in my life I actually have a decent
camera (the Canon G7X mark ii for those who care), so have been making extra
effort to improve my photography and editing skills. I'm by no means an expert - I only started teaching myself four days ago - but this is what I’ve learnt
so far.</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>Photoshop tricks</u></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TIME</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">S SQUARE, NY. As I've said in the title, I really don't encourage 'photoshopping' yourself in any way. However, I do think that sometimes it's allowed. For example, in the picture below I actually had chocolate on my face *rolls eyes*, but it was a really nice picture other than that, so I figured it was excusable. If you have a similar situation, I suggest the </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spot Healing Brush </i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or the</span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Clone Stamp </i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tools on Photoshop - which are really useful for getting pieces of fluff off your clothing or just smartening up chocolately faces. Be warned though - they are both 'blurring' tools, so if you use them over a large surface area, people will be able to tell. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjzl7isa8uRdHJagmbkNKyTPQueG7bTCpjTtLoFXcPJNLm7K-yElIPtDH6pUEOJwMTPUrh1JaRdprLY7N91w4i0Nb0aWBEOhd-bxUOz-fOwfUATaZrNUUFyeVHRmaFP3PnrSKSjsy3Qk/s1600/7518855968_IMG_0686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjzl7isa8uRdHJagmbkNKyTPQueG7bTCpjTtLoFXcPJNLm7K-yElIPtDH6pUEOJwMTPUrh1JaRdprLY7N91w4i0Nb0aWBEOhd-bxUOz-fOwfUATaZrNUUFyeVHRmaFP3PnrSKSjsy3Qk/s320/7518855968_IMG_0686.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ORIGINAL<br />
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</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJR4lF47QZSe9IWSR6DCjP_vfE9atAnwQn9zXulJGijvSCwldRlTj0SbnwBNmFtunU7mOLEx682VVA_NQbYFQDvTSfU8QIwNbpmy-BTo1yi3VlwAjBOL9TrX5bHJ47VDFwg9ZczwuC8tU/s1600/42DB3696-3F46-43A7-BA2F-E847A452F255F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJR4lF47QZSe9IWSR6DCjP_vfE9atAnwQn9zXulJGijvSCwldRlTj0SbnwBNmFtunU7mOLEx682VVA_NQbYFQDvTSfU8QIwNbpmy-BTo1yi3VlwAjBOL9TrX5bHJ47VDFwg9ZczwuC8tU/s320/42DB3696-3F46-43A7-BA2F-E847A452F255F.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EDITED</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) FINANCIAL DISTRICT, LOWER MANHATTAN, NY. If by accident, like me, you've taken a picture at a really nice time of day - dawn or dusk or during a sunset, for example - it can be nice to enhance that. In the image below a couple of useful techniques have been used. First, to straighten out buildings or other subjects, copy a new layer of your image. Then <i>Ctrl T (Transform)</i> and right click and choose <i>Distort</i>. Then you're free to drag the corners/sides of your image to make them straighter. <i>Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights</i> helps to make any buildings or structures stand out, and <i>Ctrl L</i> will bring up a levels menu that can also brighten or darken any shapes (clouds included!). And lastly, to brighten up skies, you can go to <i>Filter > Camera Raw Filter</i>, which gives you loads of options to bring out different saturations of colours, to make them really stand out! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89r1Zhro2g-m2NKN97OMp-MpWgl6d-yZUEq9-mZBa8uzKSCv8M4VZhgmWTcOlLtvqxpouWNeiMJgiuMLtM3cfZxJQ-cAVx8y2g3oCwkocjpxX812G9yB6aFARpj6ZURezdaARhPc5kAc/s1600/thumb_IMG_0609_1024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89r1Zhro2g-m2NKN97OMp-MpWgl6d-yZUEq9-mZBa8uzKSCv8M4VZhgmWTcOlLtvqxpouWNeiMJgiuMLtM3cfZxJQ-cAVx8y2g3oCwkocjpxX812G9yB6aFARpj6ZURezdaARhPc5kAc/s320/thumb_IMG_0609_1024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ORIGINAL</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTSLWG1rAX_F7umumpW4zZ0PpXaIzoTw6qXPn8_AOGoAn3JQHw2RtTbVdMPhh4sXQMkM8w-qEM5RyuwkbS1kgWA0vD5SKNvFWD-4COohL_DcpicGSS-ZBkelKtpovWtYoj2r1U4hzQA0/s1600/7de1b038-080e-416c-87e3-4cb104441bb8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTSLWG1rAX_F7umumpW4zZ0PpXaIzoTw6qXPn8_AOGoAn3JQHw2RtTbVdMPhh4sXQMkM8w-qEM5RyuwkbS1kgWA0vD5SKNvFWD-4COohL_DcpicGSS-ZBkelKtpovWtYoj2r1U4hzQA0/s320/7de1b038-080e-416c-87e3-4cb104441bb8.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EDITED</td></tr>
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>Image editing apps</u></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you don't have access to Photoshop or just can't be bothered to spend that much time on your pictures, there are some pretty good editing apps available nowadays that can improve your images just as easily. Here are some I've found. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) BROOKLYN BRIDGE, LOOKING BACK ON MANHATTAN, NY. I used an app called <b>Photofox</b> to edit this picture, which I've found is great if you want to give the illusion that your pictures have been taken on old-fashioned camera reel (like the Olympus Penn or OM-1). If colour distortion and fade is your thing, then this is the app for you! It's free and has a wide range of light overlays that can give your images that vintage feel. See below!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFiK2sMpF69zy9tuQUN2G3GC_ZhYzF4-UTtGaNg2IILhL-67MxH0ogkttEFjm4QlySf7uI2Bd5j9L7BHjUB35sV_LWqIPvIQ41DHaK3bw3EJ0F5vugLLU0WpvVdoIppeQ3Ry-2XENdNM/s1600/7518855968_IMG_0630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFiK2sMpF69zy9tuQUN2G3GC_ZhYzF4-UTtGaNg2IILhL-67MxH0ogkttEFjm4QlySf7uI2Bd5j9L7BHjUB35sV_LWqIPvIQ41DHaK3bw3EJ0F5vugLLU0WpvVdoIppeQ3Ry-2XENdNM/s320/7518855968_IMG_0630.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ORIGINAL<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gWoRBYUSp5RFDxkBaXKIWd7H4ki0-ia-hSfkK4ZtGZ5ubJ7eO2-uOMGAyX0iNKwfr9Au5lsOuNBt-iYWjfj3m6L3klsAMd46LgbdysHPJgxa5A0JKRg45PZmydqk6_pW8RsZQdnw5dg/s1600/D91007E4-7E78-4E90-A0FC-2B83D6EA57B2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gWoRBYUSp5RFDxkBaXKIWd7H4ki0-ia-hSfkK4ZtGZ5ubJ7eO2-uOMGAyX0iNKwfr9Au5lsOuNBt-iYWjfj3m6L3klsAMd46LgbdysHPJgxa5A0JKRg45PZmydqk6_pW8RsZQdnw5dg/s320/D91007E4-7E78-4E90-A0FC-2B83D6EA57B2.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EDITED</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) CENTRAL PARK, NY. This is probably my favourite photo editing app to use at the minute, and it's called <b>VSCO</b> (although <b>ColorStory</b> comes in at a close second, check both out). It's no different to the filters that Instagram supply you with, other than it has a whole lot more editing options beyond that, and more colour gradients. The app is free and so are a selection of filters, but for more advanced options you do have to pay unfortunately! I like to use it to brighten my pictures and for landscapes, to give them a rustic feel.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3TEufWn8e83o6Kl2UA-GWFZpLrNkOStA0hE90Sai76TcWpH_sNq0CI-jRWuTAPmajxvPTXadGbXS1AQ0KSc5fzf8GG_CyW6n4MErZrpcHnUitKQbCHC4XvbGkjFMq0uTFwsDC3RldX0/s1600/thumb_IMG_0786_1024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1086" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3TEufWn8e83o6Kl2UA-GWFZpLrNkOStA0hE90Sai76TcWpH_sNq0CI-jRWuTAPmajxvPTXadGbXS1AQ0KSc5fzf8GG_CyW6n4MErZrpcHnUitKQbCHC4XvbGkjFMq0uTFwsDC3RldX0/s320/thumb_IMG_0786_1024.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ORIGINAL</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwoPxUJ6dvouABHfuk1l_rhfxF7fw777nGAl62L44n7EPkICnYlCNCHMD_ZuofP359FbcKHP7kPNwQMe5GU4fCyNTgSrydduGfX5_YWbwHZp_A57IwRlbopsPfub31J0Rl94BAkC5W3c/s1600/B7BC72C0-77F6-4618-BB86-2BA8876A8231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="814" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwoPxUJ6dvouABHfuk1l_rhfxF7fw777nGAl62L44n7EPkICnYlCNCHMD_ZuofP359FbcKHP7kPNwQMe5GU4fCyNTgSrydduGfX5_YWbwHZp_A57IwRlbopsPfub31J0Rl94BAkC5W3c/s320/B7BC72C0-77F6-4618-BB86-2BA8876A8231.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EDITED</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I hope that helps (and simultaneously lets you know what an amazing time I had in the 'big apple'). I use these techniques on my personal Instagram account, but I don't see why I, and the rest of the team, can't start using them on the University Instagram to make our pictures stand out. So get downloading, social team! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hope this is useful, and I'd love to see if anyone tries any of these photo editing options in their own work, so please let me know! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Until next time. Over and out. </span></div>
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<br />Ellie Kinghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00759377078632521115noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5443156841607854125.post-77198168291666440992018-03-09T03:19:00.001-08:002018-03-09T03:19:09.312-08:00An exciting delivery<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5qbax1s20E4ZVSfkuQDLmN0yBK1FjFV_BZ59a7JgK7ZeQ6uitfQSlsW958le9_twgYSM-HsErs7yZGpVChIf0Ih1zeumjPaVFdhnWg5i_4PF67kbF0wKuxnSNlN67q4knQli3-Gt8eKq/s1600/Blog+-+front+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="640" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5qbax1s20E4ZVSfkuQDLmN0yBK1FjFV_BZ59a7JgK7ZeQ6uitfQSlsW958le9_twgYSM-HsErs7yZGpVChIf0Ih1zeumjPaVFdhnWg5i_4PF67kbF0wKuxnSNlN67q4knQli3-Gt8eKq/s200/Blog+-+front+cover.jpg" width="170" /></a>This week we received our printed 2019 undergraduate
prospectus. The team laugh at me for getting excited at this, but I love holding
the prospectus in my hands, and seeing all the hard work from the previous
months come together as a final product.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What people may not realise is that we start thinking about
design concepts and layouts in the summer, start organising photo-shoots in
September, and collating and writing copy in October, so when we receive the
finished product, it’s a culmination of over six months of hard work. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This year we made the decision to move some of the content
previously <o:p></o:p></div>
located in the back section of the prospectus to the front, so
prospective students have more information about things like the Students’
Union, student support, and accommodation initially. We also spent a lot of
time changing the layout of our course openers. In previous years the openers
had been quite busy, with multiple photos and blocks of text with coloured
backgrounds. This year we’ve focused on one main image, and tried to incorporate
some white space to make the pages more appealing, and easier to read. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyF0GcT0ElXX9mo3aokoponR5MkrNbo5F7dwqa06rlCxH5VL6o6fWwZXggvZwDyRFtZ7Q0u81KB48A-IOJTGrQjFF_naQoChF7nqaOkVpzbE13HjzI5-Ndff6DvA9GiwXqSGZRtUxmDkA5/s1600/Blog+-+nursing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="572" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyF0GcT0ElXX9mo3aokoponR5MkrNbo5F7dwqa06rlCxH5VL6o6fWwZXggvZwDyRFtZ7Q0u81KB48A-IOJTGrQjFF_naQoChF7nqaOkVpzbE13HjzI5-Ndff6DvA9GiwXqSGZRtUxmDkA5/s200/Blog+-+nursing.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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The new simulation labs opened in Luton last year, and we
were lucky enough to be able to sneak into a couple of sessions and take some
photos of the fantastic, new nursing facilities. We were also able to update
most of the profiles for this year’s prospectus. We often liaise with
academics, asking them to recommend some students, and try to feature at least
one student from each subject area, so prospective students can hear first-hand
what it’s like to study at Bedfordshire. I’m in the process of contacting
postgraduate students to feature in the 2019 PG prospectus at the moment, so if
you’re a PG student that would like to feature in one of our prospectuses please get in touch!</div>
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My task for today is to send a couple of boxes of the new
prospectus to all of our reception desks around campus. They should be available
from next week, so if you see one please pick one up and let us know your
thoughts!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sara<o:p></o:p></div>
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Marketing Officer<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />University of Bedfordshirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08811962779861932040noreply@blogger.com3