Tips for video production if you have no idea what you’re doing

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.

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.

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.

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!

You don’t need expensive equipment

This is the kit we use - you can buy it here

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.

You don’t need to produce an Oscar-winner
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.

Less is not more!

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.

When in doubt, YouTube it!
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.

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!

Putting yourself back together when the black dog comes knocking...

Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week, which inspired me to revisit the below blog. I actually wrote it a few weeks ago but I questioned whether I should publish it.

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.  So here’s my two cents worth…

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tell your colleagues
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.

Shout if you’re struggling
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.  

When someone tells you they are struggling, don't be the person on the right!

Talk to your GP – when YOU’RE ready

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.

Be kind to yourself
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.

And finally, always remember....

Supernatural Dean Winchester GIF from Supernatural GIFs

Tips for using a professional Twitter account

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.

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:

Think before you post

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

Ask yourself what you want out of Twitter

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).

After a mental Monday, a cuddle with this beautiful boy is just what I need ❤️ pic.twitter.com/F0IgtlqBrA

— Caroline Jacobi (@CJacobi16) January 8, 2018

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.

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.

Use it or lose it

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.

Don’t be afraid of images and tag, tag away!

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.

Ignore the trolls

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.

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.”

Just ignore it, and if it gets really nasty, block them and report them to Twitter and let them deal with it.

If you’re interested, my Twitter handle is @CJacobi16 – feel free to pop over and have a look.

Reflecting on last week’s Graduations, and why I didn’t go to mine

Last week we had graduation ceremonies at the Luton campus, which are exciting and hectic in equal measure.

Though not as busy as the summer ceremonies, the November graduations as just as important for recognised the achievements of our students, and we attend as many as we can to capture the joy and excitement of the day.

Here's a few snaps yesterday's #BedsGrads - the full album can be viewed here: https://t.co/0ShBKihNyo pic.twitter.com/DQ0sEvWP3a

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) November 17, 2017

I‘ve sat in on countless graduations, tweeting (using the hashtag #BedsGrads), writing down quotes for the press release later, and there is always a danger of forgetting how special the day is to the students graduating, as well as their family and friends, especially when your head is down and you’re furiously scribbling away.

Then you’ll hear a name you recognise. When you look up, there is a student you interviewed for a press release a year or so ago collecting their degree. It’s during those moments that I feel a sense of pride, especially if I know they have been through a tough time to get to that ceremony and collect their degree.

I detested my graduation –I begrudging went to the ceremony after I got my degree, but refused to go to the one after I finished my Master’s. Sometimes I regret, mostly I don’t!

It was mostly because the year I spent doing my Master’s at Kingston University was one of the hardest of my life so far, so much so I nearly quit. So when it came to the end, I was glad to see the back of it.

But whenever I go home to see my parents, there are two photos on the wall you can’t fail to notice. The photos are of my sister and me in our graduation caps and gowns (my sister graduated a few years before me from Southampton Solent.)

Both my parents had very successful careers - my dad was an air traffic controller and my mum until recently ran her own business. Neither of them went to university. They were from working class backgrounds in a time when going to university was just not an option for them. So the fact that both their children went through Higher Education must mean an awful lot to them.

My point is that behind every student at graduation is a family – parents, guardians, partners, children and friends – a small army of supporters willing them on to succeed. And every student has fought their own battles to get their degrees, many of which were probably fought in private.

Congrats to the @uniofbeds #Classof2017! #BedsGrads 🎉🙌🎓 pic.twitter.com/GJZUxhN2YZ

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) November 16, 2017

So to the Class of 2017, I salute you!    

By the way, our press releases about graduations are now online, so please do take a look.

Clearing and the countdown to Canada

It feels like the Communications Team at Bedfordshire hasn’t stopped for the past couple of weeks. We had preparation for Clearing, then we had Clearing itself, and now we have a moment to take stock and catch our breath (famous last words!)

The majority of my prep for Clearing was around case studies. I’ve spent a lot of time digging around looking for former students who went through Clearing and went on to have successful careers. We have graduates all over the place, working as BBC journalists, actors, nurses and many other professionals, but we also have those who have gone on to start their own businesses, including Ann Akin, who set up her own theatre company.

.@Harts_Theatre AD & @uniofbeds alumna @Ann_Akin reveals what it's like to work in the #theatre https://t.co/Uz8EXA8Bcn #MakeitBeds pic.twitter.com/GeZXuUNm5P

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) August 30, 2017

I’m always really grateful to all the students and graduates who agree to be case studies. We can be incredibly busy during the working day, and the fact that these guys take time out to talk about their experiences and read through the content of their case study is amazing.

.@uniofbeds student @OneWalshMeister shares his experience of going through #Clearing #MakeItBeds #BedsNews https://t.co/A0xSsEHEyF

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) August 17, 2017

I was also saddened to hear about the imminent closure of one of our local newspapers, the Bedfordshire on Sunday. This will be a huge blow to the local community and also local journalism in general. I completed many a work experience placement on local papers, and although I never had what it takes to be a 'real' journalist, I loved every minute of my time working as one and the experience ultimately helped me get into the ‘dark side’ of public relations, which I love! Best of luck to the Beds on Sunday team and their future adventures!

I’d also like to mention that I’m on Canada countdown – next week I’ll be jetting off to Toronto for some much-needed downtime with my parents. It is a country I have always wanted to visit and though I’m only there for a week, I fully intend to take it all in and enjoy every moment, and hopefully see a moose!

I wonder if I could bring one home as an office mascot...

One year on and I’m still here!

So this week it’s my turn to write the blog. It conveniently coincides with my one year work anniversary. That’s right, I’ve been back at the University for one whole year! I can’t believe it either – where has the time gone?

How did I celebrate my work anniversary? Covering graduations of course! Last year I had been on the job for just over a week and I quickly had to get to grips with live tweeting and getting the message out to our local press contacts that the ceremonies were happening. I’ve now become a bit of a pro at the old live tweeting, which has saved me time and a whole lot of stress!

Last year may have been a baptism of fire, but it meant that this year, I knew what to expect and I was able to plan media activities and tweeting in advance. As a result, the engagement from @uobnews went through the roof. I think James Bay might have had something to do with that – check out what he had to say about receiving an honorary award.

And our hard work on promoting Graduations has paid off. Our efforts on 2016’s campaign have earned us a spot on the shortlist of this year’s CIPR PRide Awards. For those of you who don’t know, these awards celebrate the achievements of Public Relations professionals from across the country, working in a huge range of sectors.

We made it onto the shortlist of the Best Low Budget Campaign, which is extremely pleasing, seeing as our only expense for Graduations is photography, although we do pay for it with lack of sleep and frayed nerves sometimes.

So proud to been shortlisted for Outstanding In-House PR Team #PRideAwards @CJacobi16 @claudia_mayr1 https://t.co/E9UkcVFnl4

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) July 21, 2017

I am over the moon with this nomination on a personal level as I worked hard on this campaign, having only been in the job for a matter of days, with the support of my fabulous colleagues of course. Their guidance was essential in helping me pull it off and at least give the illusion that I knew what I was doing!

We also made the shortlist for the Best In-House PR Team award, which is amazing news. Last year we were a team of two and a half people. This year, we were only two. We may be small, but my God we are mighty. To have our efforts acknowledged by our PR peers is an amazing feeling, even if we don’t win.

The awards ceremony takes place at the end of September – hopefully I will have a positive update for you then!

#PRideATC Outstanding In-House PR Team shortlist is @EastNorfolk @uobnews #PRideAwards pic.twitter.com/8wBYrPSnRC

— CIPR Awards (@CIPR_Awards) July 21, 2017

A lesson in live tweeting

For this blog I thought I would talk about my experience of covering the Vice Chancellor’s Student Experience Awards.

This was the first time I had been able to attend these awards and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Luckily I was privy to who the winners were beforehand and was able to prepare in advance (Comms team perk!)

The stage is set for today's ceremony. Now we just need our winners! #VCSEA17 #BedsNews pic.twitter.com/5rPax9BIIq

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) May 3, 2017

Twitter on a smartphone has a lovely function where you can save draft tweets – this has saved my bacon on a number of occasions when I have been live-tweeting.

Armed with the trusty #VCSEA17 hashtag, I wrote a tweet for each winner and saved it as a draft, ready to slot in a photo and send out when the time came. I also took a bit of time to find out if the winners had Twitter accounts that I could use while tweeting. Working at Bedfordshire has taught me many things, but when it comes to live tweeting, preparation is everything!

The hard work paid off when I got back to the office the next day and realised that the Twitter activity as a result of my tweeting had earned us 14,000 impressions in just one day!

Fantastic afternoon Not to be forgotten! Very kind words from @gurchrandhawa . Thank you to @CJacobi16 @uobnews @Profgailk @divhealthpsych https://t.co/R9JjdLsdZk

— Jolel (@JolelMiah) May 3, 2017

Once the awards got underway, it was fantastic to see the reaction of the winners as they went up to collect their awards. One highlight was Customer Services Advisor Arsalan Sheikh who jumped for joy when his name was called out (no jokes, he actually did!)

Another highlight for me was that I was aware that PhD student Jolel Miah, who I know well, had won the Deputy Lieutenant Community Engagement Award. He of course didn’t know this, and keeping it quiet beforehand was a challenge, but the look on his face when he realised he had won was priceless!

I’d like to say a huge congratulations to all the winners of this year’s awards. You can see the full list of winners here.

.@uniofbeds PhD students @JolelMiah & @Hamdi_Lemamsha honoured at Student Experience Awards: https://t.co/U2NoOB1yHe #VCSEA17 #BedsNews pic.twitter.com/J5TIKYIpDG

— UoB Press Office (@uobnews) May 5, 2017

Improving our intranet

As I write this, I can tell that this blog post is probably going to be a two-parter (you lucky things), therefore this post will be more about scene setting and our aims and ambitions for now.

So I’ll start with the context part. Once upon a time someone coined the term the ‘digital workplace’ (basically all of the tools and technology provided by a workplace to enable its employees to do their jobs) and ever since ICT teams and Internal communicators alike have been grappling with how they can improve collaboration, employee engagement, communication, finding and sharing of information, business applications and agile working (being able to work from anywhere at any time).

This is supposed to represent the digital workplace, hopefully you get the picture.

An intranet is one of the key components of a digital workplace and here at the University of Bedfordshire a project to review of our intranet in.beds is in full-swing (and long overdue!). It is also particularly timely as improving the ‘staff experience’ is a key priority on our new strategic plan which launches in the summer.

As part of our digital workplace offering, we’re also looking at developing other tools and encouraging the use of Office 365 and Yammer (for which I have somehow volunteered to run a fringe event about at our annual staff conference – gulp!) among others, but I will come to talk about this more in a future post.

Why is an intranet important?

Personally, I don’t believe that having an outstanding intranet is the answer to great employee engagement- there are so many factors involved here. However, I do think that it plays an important role in helping staff to do their jobs more effectively and adds to a positive staff experience (if done well!). 

What makes a great intranet?

Ideally a good intranet should include:

• An engaging and dynamic homepage
• Interesting, useful and engaging content
• An opportunity for collaboration and sharing
• A useful and intelligent search functionality
• A quick way to find important things which make it easier to get things done
• A more personalised user experience

A journey to improvement

We want to make our intranet a useful tool for our colleagues and aspire to the best practice components listed above, whilst also being realistic at the same time- it can’t all happen at once. It is something that will require continuous improvement and we will constantly need to manage a cyclical process of review, development and measurement. 

I’m pleased to say that we’re on the first steps to understanding what our colleagues need and how we can support that. We recently ran an online survey (with the help of our fabulous Market Research Manager Andrew Kingston) to identify how colleagues use in.beds and their likes and frustrations among other things. Using this, plus analysing our intranet usage stats and conducting focus groups (to come in the next few weeks), we should have a pretty good idea of where the gaps are and where we can make an improvement.

Unlike some big corporate companies out there, we don’t have masses of money to spend revamping in.beds, but with the help of our talented digital marketing team, we can go a long way to contributing to a better digital workplace for our staff.

In my next post, I will reveal what our research found and what exciting plans we have for the intranet going forward.

Reflections from the IoIC Excellence Awards

I don’t think anyone starts out in their career with the goal of winning awards, unless you’re an Olympic athlete or something like that of course!

A lot of the time, because what you do at work becomes second nature, you don’t realise how amazing it is.

I’m definitely someone who likes to work away in the background and I find praise difficult to take in, often because I think ‘I’m just doing my job’ and don’t deserve it.

Winning one of these would be nice!

I’ve been thinking a lot about awards recently. Not only because our Marketing colleagues are busy with their submissions for various things, but myself and Jenny, Bedfordshire’s Internal Communicates Manager, recently returned from York after making the shortlist for an Institute of Internal Communications (IoIC) award.

Sadly we didn’t take the top prize but we did get an Award for Excellence which we were very happy with. We also got a certificate which has pride of place on our desk.

The National Railway Museum was the perfect venue!

Although my background is in media relations and external communications, I have been more and more involved with internal communications as my career has progressed, something that I’ve really enjoyed.

I felt like a bit of impostor at the ceremony because the staff newsletter is Jenny’s creation which she set up and took care of long before I joined the team. But when I stopped and thought about it, I remembered that the newsletter is a team effort.

Me and Jenny work together to get it out every fortnight and we work hard to make sure it is full of things our colleagues across the University want to know about.

So I guess I want this post to be a reminder to everyone to take a moment and look at what you have achieved recently. Look at the do-to list you’ve managed to complete. Look at the piece of work you’ve finished that you’ve been working on for weeks. Think of the impact you made to a colleague by helping them out or making them a cup of tea when they needed it.

When you are close to something, you forget what a positive impact you’re making. We don’t have to be rocket scientists or anything that fancy but our efforts in our jobs do matter and do make a different. So take a moment to give yourself a little pat on the back - you deserve it.

Insights from the press officer who couldn't stay away

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

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

One of my favourite shots of the Campus Centre

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

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

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

Lovely photo of Luton in the sunshine

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

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

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

Graduations are my favourite events to cover

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

Wrapping up for winter

It's a wrap

This time of year tends to be a time of reflection – we’re looking back, evaluating the cycle with the help of UCAS end of year data, which is due this week, and the National Clearing Survey (NCS), which has just been released. We’ve been listening to commentators and thinking about lessons learned.

The consensus is that the undergraduate market is changing and not just because of the increased competition amongst HEIs. Student behaviours are changing too.

Commentators tell us that 49% of our recruitment will be from direct applicants through Feb- Aug and that more students will enter through clearing in 2017-18 than ever before. The NCS tells us that 67% of clearing students hadn’t visited the HEI they chose before they went there, but that 77% had visited the website and, apparently, attendance at open days is falling across the sector.

What’s our lesson? That we can’t rely on past behaviours or be complacent about the recruitment cycle or confirmation and clearing?! This is evidenced in sector wide undergraduate applications for 2017 entry, which are currently 8.6% down and the likelihood that HEIs will experience the submission of 20% of applications just before the January 15th deadline.

It's a rap

We know that we’re operating in a shrinking market with fewer 16-18 year olds in the UK; a situation that is not predicted to improve until 2020. We also know that there are more alternatives to university on offer, such as apprenticeships. A buyers’ market clearly now exists for UG enabling the prospective student to wait until clearing before applying.

So how do we identify and engage our potential students? It’s challenging - we have to engage early, interact and make loyal, so that at the point of decision, the University of Bedfordshire is front of mind and a positive choice. Students need to have heard of us to consider us in clearing; the NCS states that 85% are aware of the institution they enrol at prior to results day.

Top motivations for students are still subject 1st, career 2nd and institution ranking 3rd, but students also want to see and experience student life. They want to know about the community that they could become part of, so the opportunities we have to engage with them have to create emotion and connection.

So in 2017 watch out for more storytelling from students, virtual open days, web chats with academics, web tools to ease decision making, interactive video to select the content that is relevant to the student (mature, international etc.), digital champions and social media across the University, user generated content, more use of alumni, social media engagement not broadcast, softer calls to action that lead and nurture relationships and communications that connect with segmented audiences; parents, mature students, teachers.

Oh to be like the film industry and have a party at the end of every project, but working in marketing we can never really say ‘It’s a wrap’ because relationships are on-going, they evolve, take new forms and provide us with new communication challenges.

It's a rapper