What's in a building? Or something OTHER than Clearing

Right, so most universities and a host of other organisations will talk about "state of the art facilites". Hands up - we do, here at the University of Bedfordshire. "State of the art" is almost certainly the cliche of all cliches when it comes to describing estates and facilities, but looking round our (and others') campuses these days, there is some justification for feeling proud of our shiny buildings.

I first set foot on the then University of Luton’s campus as a member of staff in February 2002. I couldn’t believe it. I had thought that the terrible, terrible building in which I was being asked to work had been part of the tests during the interview, The hilariously named “Fairview” House – which still looms uncomfortably in the memories of many colleagues on the payroll – looked for all the world like a low cost location should anyone have wanted to remake The Shining or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in Luton. Sick building disease? Oh yes; even the pot plants threw themselves off the windowsills.

The old SU in Luton. It was horrid.

It was one of a number of weird, awful buildings on the estate. Former colleagues and alumni will shudder recalling:

•  the decrepit Student Union, whose most popular method of entry involved ducking down and squeezing through a missing railing;
• a much fabled, long since disappeared and possibly totally fictitious toilet, specially installed for HRM The Queen when she visited the University of Luton;
•  the eye poppingly daft Ambulance Station, which survived a £10s conversion to briefly become the Uni’s Post Room;
• various portacabins, containers, cupboards and other undesirable places, used for a whole host of daft reasons;
• the old Student Centre, whose undercroft was a favoured place for rats to overeat, get themselves stuck, then die.
  

Sub 2; one of the new Beds SU venues in Luton

Since then, the University of Bedfordshire has emerged and come a long way. Those fond of the monstrous 60s and 70s buildings of old might sneer at what they may see as the clinical ‘airport terminal’ campus feel, or the trendy 'Manhattan loft' feel of the School of Art's new facility in an old textiles warehouse in Luton town centre, while muttering about an over-abundance of cafes and thematic décor.

This is how campuses look these days and students – whether viewed as ‘partners’, ‘customers’, ‘consumers’ etc. - make a hefty commitment to higher education and have a quite justified expectation for universities to match.

And so, we have: the new Gateway building in Bedford, PG Centre in Luton, modern Nursing faciltiies in Aylesbury and Luton, an expanding UCMK (Milton Keynes) campus. And that's even before our brand spanking new library which is due to open its state of the art facilities early next year....

It's a game of Guess Who

By Michelle Ramsumair, Marketing Administrator

It's nice to see what is going on at the campus, but being located off campus we don't get to. So opportunities where we can take a quick wonder round to feel part of the buzz, we head for a meeting there. It amazes me how much we can interact with people but if we were to see them in the street we wouldn't have a clue. I always try to put a face to a voice or name so met with a couple contacts I have been working with when I book directly for media activity for campaigns. That's always a good way to build the relationship, negotiate deals and get to meet new people.

We've never worked with a media agency before so we were not too sure what to expect when we went to London to meet the team. However, they were reassuring and we soon realised just how much they can do. Also, we finally have budget approval for the Pre-Clearing campaign! I just need to rework it to fit and then it's go go GO! It's always a massive team effort to execute these plans successfully and promptly. We do tend to work on the edge here, but will be much better once the Campaigns Officer starts. Next month we have a few new faces to welcome which will be exciting.We're a very welcoming bunch and thanks to Sarah's induction schedule they will feel like part of the team in no time.

I do enjoy sitting at the Marketing team's pod as I got to see the little victory dance my colleague did when she finally signed off the UG 2015 prospectus (no video footage available unfortunately). We work super hard so a celebratory outing is definitely in order. However, hot desking waiting for my PC I now occupy two desks and somehow with the same amount of paperwork on both. I must say for an Administrator I am rather messy.

I have my next CIM exam next week so have been studying for what feels like forever. I know it will all pay off  in the end so just got to keep pushing through. During the stressful times it's always worth having things to look forward to though like one of my closest friend's weddings in Easter and I booked my flight to Israel for the summer. I'm so excited!

Work hard and...work harder

By Michelle Ramsumair

Recently I attended the CIM Writing an integrated marketing communications plan training day in Euston, London. The title is pretty self explanatory and it’s something we should all be doing in some way but we don't always take the time to step back from the daily grind to really consider exactly why we are doing what we are doing. It was reassuring so see we are on the right track but learnt a lot from the workshop leader and hearing feedback from other organisations in different industries.

We are currently looking to work with a media agency to assist with the logistics of the campaigns. We have never done this before but with the number of campaigns we roll out now it has become more apparent this is needed. The challenge will be making sure everything from the bookings to the artwork is as transparent and integrated as possible. However, here we do enjoy a challenge and for me it’s a new project to sink my teeth into.

We had our first Applicant Open Day this Saturday gone at our Bedford campus which was very successful. I always enjoy working these and helping nervous applicants and parents as much as possible. Everyone enjoyed the day and improvements for this type of event definitely paid off. Our next one is at our Luton campus this Saturday 08 February where more registrants are expected. I think flat shoes are in order again! For further information about our open days feel free to visit www.beds.ac.uk and click '2014 Applicant Open Days' for more details. 

I am currently working on a campaign for Aylesbury to promote the March intake for Adult Nursing. As we haven’t done much promoting for this in the past, it is very interesting to work on as we will be able to better measure and review throughout as it is very specific. If you know anyone who maybe interested why not recommend they come along to our healthcare open day on Saturday 15 February at our Aylesbury campus.

With all the above going on it's important to just break away, maybe to some scenic views and fresh air. I was either rather brave or silly but I decided to take a trip to The Downs on what was possibly the windiest day of the week. Enjoy the view!

Stepping out the office

by Michelle Ramsumair, Marketing Administrator

Starting work when it's dark enough outside to still sleep definitely tells me it's almost time for those delicious limited edition Costa hot beverages. The beautiful festival of lights is also approaching on the 03 November. For all those celebrating I wish you a very happy Diwali in advance. Next Halloween and Christmas!

Weeks are flying and it's almost time for my holiday, but more on that at a much later date. In the meantime the team are working hard in one of the busiest times of the year. We mostly remain in our office, but all our hard work can be be seen by those outside. Our second wave of the Winter Campaign is about to start so make sure to look out for us. We couldn't let you forget us after Clearing now could we?

As October open days pass we start preparing for 16 November open days at our Luton and Bedford campuses. It's always interesting and fun to meet nervous potential students and their encouraging parents. Reminds me of when my mum and I started looking at universities. I remained quiet and my mum would push me forward slightly saying 'You're the one applying not me, say something'. It's the best way to find out everything you want to know about where you will be spending some of the most important years of your life. Not to worry though, just remember everyone is in the same boat.

I recently attended a CASE Publications Forum in London. It's always great to escape the office for a day to network and see what more you can learn in the world of marketing. The importance of publications, working with agencies and story telling are the main areas we covered. I came away with many interesting points to feedback to the team, whether it was reassurance we are on the right track or learning something knew. It was definitely beneficial for all who attended.

Amongst the daily race we are running there has to be some fun right? So I've recently found a new hobby... snowboarding! Well I've done level 1 and level 2 this weekend. Not quite flying down mountains and doing tricks just yet but that's all in good time. All I can say is if your skiing or snowboarding next year...be careful on the slopes! I may be hurtling past you. So if you see someone screaming, zipping past you and they are still standing, that's not me. If you see someone screaming and rolling past you..bingo!

Wish me luck!

One month in and busy with exciting Graduation, Clearing and other campaigns

By Scott Buist – Marketing Assistant

Well what can I say? It’s been a busy four weeks since I started working within the University’s marketing team and I’ve settled in well. I feel I understand the dynamics of the team now and have a much better understanding of the University and how it operates.

As a team we have all been very busy with various different projects which we are running. Namely our subject guides which are now almost finished. We’re working closely with our in house designer to make sure they’ve got the most up-to-date and exciting information in them, ready to send to our Undergraduate students later in September. The main difference this year is that they’re going to be digital versions only, so watch this space for when they go live on our website. As mentioned in the previous blog posts, our 2014 prospectus has been put to bed and is with the printers – we’re really excited to see the printed thing after all of this time. Plans are now well underway for our 2015 publications; plan early as they say!

I am currently working on our award-winning e-zine: PG Life, which we send to our Postgraduate enquirers and subscribers each month, and so far it’s going well. I’ve been out and about on campus this week interviewing some of our students which you’ll be able to see in the next issue. We are working to a tight deadline but I am sure we will succeed. Sign up via: www.beds.ac.uk/pgstudy if you’re not already subscribed. And, if you have any University news and stories to share with us, let us know – we’re always on the hunt for exciting content to share with our prospective students.

Normally it would be Sarah and Lauren who produce the e-zine, but for the next month or so it’s all down to me! I wanted to say a huge congratulations to Lauren who having completed a degree in digital media; her move over to our digital team seems like a natural career path for her and I am sure she will love it and, it’s only a stone’s throw away from us at the moment, so I am sure we will be able to benefit from her expertise.

With Clearing about to kick off this week (15 August to be precise), I am sure that the next few weeks will keep us all as busy, if not more so than we have already been.

Celebrations, campaigns and clearing

By Sarah Hampton - Marketing Manager

Our blog posts are coming in thick and fast, and we’re very excited to be sharing an insight into all of our work and the many projects that we’re working on at the moment.

Postgraduate 2014 Prospectus

This week has seen the culmination of five months’ hard work come to an end, as we approve the 2014 Postgraduate Prospectus for print. Working on our prospectuses forms a key part of the work we do here in the Marketing team, and so we were very pleased to get another one under our belt this week. At the time of writing this blog post our latest prospectus has made its way over to Mansfield (where our external printer is based) and is currently on press. Here’s a sneak peek (left) at the cover. You can also flick through it online – we hope you will all like it as much as we do!

Just as one project comes to an end, another one begins. And the fact that we are already preparing for our next Undergraduate Prospectus, for 2015 entry, is an incredibly scary thought. More on this in future posts, as we approach the Prospectus tender stage and the creative pitches – my favourite time of the year!

For any of you who happened to be at our graduation ceremonies last week, I’m sure you will have seen a member of the Marketing team roaming around, armed with a video camera and microphone as we join in on the festivities of the day. Scott and Lauren ventured out to interview some of our graduates at both our Luton and Putteridge Bury campuses last week, and spoke to some of our graduates about their time at Bedfordshire. They were also on a mission to capture the fantastic buzzy atmosphere that comes with celebrating our students’ success. You’ll be able to see the video interviews in the next issue of our award-winning monthly e-zine, Postgraduate Life. If you’re not already subscribed to receive it then fear not, as you can sign up here.

Congratulations to all graduates from the University of Bedfordshire who are celebrating their success today! @uniofbeds
— Iliyan Nanchev (@IliyanNanchev) July 23, 2013

August is by far one of our busiest months for us as we prepare for Clearing. The team has been hard at work for the last few months; working with creative agencies to develop our campaign visuals; our key messages; arranging photo shoots; and devising and costing out the activities that will form our marketing campaign for this years’ Clearing period. Since some of our visuals have now gone live, we can exclusively share some highlights with you. We currently have some outdoor media up and running including bus advertising, both in the local area and in London. Keep looking out for other aspects of our campaign over the coming weeks, and be sure to let us know what you think.

Clearing Campaign 2013 (bus rear)

Watch this space for more Clearing updates as our campaign gets rolled out.