It’s all go, go, go!

Happy belated Easter wishes to everyone. After a relaxing six day break, we’re back into the swing of things in the MARC department.

I’ve been here eight weeks now, and it’s really flown over! So, what’s going on…what’s keeping me busy…

Prospectuses are coming

We’re now in the middle of not one, but two prospectuses- UCMK and PG. So lots of proofreading, liaising with departments, coordinating content and updating information. We’re expecting the first proof of the UCMK prospectus from the design agency on Monday 28 April, which will be very exciting- I love seeing a piece of work come together!

Open day

Our Bedford Campus

We’re hosting our next PG open day on 22 May at Luton and Bedford. As conversion is really important to us, I put a six week plan together for the event and I’ve been pushing those plans through with the help of my colleague, Clare. From setting up Google ads with the Digital Team and pushing messages on social media, to placing ads in external newsletters and around our campuses. We’ve had a lot of people sign up so far, which is great news with almost four weeks left to go before the event.

In between my larger projects I have been working on our next edition of B4 Beds- our undergraduate e-zine, briefing course specific leaflets for our UCAS event on 23 June at UoB, filming graduations, and attempting to edit videos (I’m still getting to grips with the software).

My development

I’m really excited that I have been signed up to attend our next PG forum in London at the beginning of May- an introduction to PG. This is an opportunity for people from different universities to get together and discuss their thoughts on postgraduate study and share ideas and best practice for increasing student numbers. I’m looking forward to attending and I’ll have an update on this in my next blog. I am also going to be attending a print workshop later in the year and spending some time shadowing the Digital Team. I’ve learned a lot already in my eight weeks and I'm looking forward to that continuing.

So, as expected, lot’s going on and I’m loving it!

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!