You can never know too much

Last month I was invited to attend the "Award-winning postgraduate marketing" seminar, hosted by Find a University. The event was held in Liverpool, so I traveled up the night before and was particularly impressed with the wallpaper in my hotel room!

The next morning I had one too many pastries at the buffet breakfast and set of for the day. The seminar featured talks from marketing professionals from both home and international universities, as well as speakers from marketing agencies.

Events like this are invaluable as they provide an opportunity to network, and to learn more about what is happening in the higher education sector, both nationally and internationally. The talks identified some of the challenges the industry is facing, and the different tactics various institutions are using to combat said challenges and reach out to audiences in new ways.

The event ended with a panel discussion on Brexit and how this will impact PG recruitment. It's a very interesting topic, with most people holding very strong opinions on the subject, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out for the sector over the next few years.

Next week I'll also be attending the Higher Education Show in London. The day is filled with various talks from key speakers in the industry focusing on different areas within the sector including the student experience, marketing and admissions, facilities and technology, and research and collaboration. This will be my first time attending this particular event so I'm excited to see exactly what the day holds.

In other news, last week I was out and about around the University, photographing some of the freshers events (one of the many perks of working for the University is picking up some freebies at the freshers fayre and indulging in the £1 domino's pizza!). There were some great events happening, and it was great to be able to speak to some of our new students as they start to settle in and find their way around the campus and town. My favourite event was, of course, the puppy room. If you missed it, where were you?!

In the middle of the action

By Michelle Ramsumair, Marketing Administrator

In Marketing it's always a learning curve, whether you are learning new skills or discovering what you enjoy doing. I am definitely learning that I enjoy being away from the desk, interacting with people, rather than on a PC. Nothing wrong with desk work, but it's just not me.

Last week I joined Paul Fryer and Sarah Hampton at the Inside Government 'The Future of HE Marketing" Conference 2014 in London. I enjoyed being able to give some support and be a friendly face in a sea of the unfamiliar. There were many people scribbling away and nodding throughout which is always a good sign your audience are engaged, and shows how insightful their presentation was.

Straight after, there was no time to break but I was onward bound to Newcastle to join Josie from Student
Recruitment. Always wanted to go there so volunteered to assist at the UCAS convention at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena. En-route I had Disney's Frozen to keep me company (highly recommended by the way).

The event took place the next day, and once we finally found the entrance, set up our stand and doors opened, it was game on to speak to as many potential students as possible, providing them with the information they wanted about the course, application process and how they can find out more. It's like a one stop shop where potential students can visit stands from universities from across the country to collect information to help them start thinking about where to study. I love to talk so perfect opportunity and as a graduate of the University of Bedfordshire, I have a lot to promote! Usually it's a great excuse for students to pick up as many freebies. Then they soon realise that they've only reached halfway round the stands and already have a pile of prospectuses which they can barely balance.

One day was down another to go, but we had to travel to Middlesborough ready to do the same the next day. Didn't get a chance to see the Angel of the North unfortunately, but determined to one day!

Thankfully then came the bank holiday weekend. Sleep and catching up on TV shows were on my agenda, and the only things on there. I booked a second holiday to Israel for later this year. This then looked rather small compared to my mum and sister's impulse holiday purchase to Dubai and Thailand in two weeks time. At least I still have something to look forward to!