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...

More speed, less haste!

By Sarah Hampton, Marketing Manager

Plate spinning - a busy time for
the HE Marketer

Well where did that week just go? It's been an incredibly busy week over here at Marketing HQ.

Not only have we been busying ourselves with the post 15 January communications to our applicants, but we've been implementing our open day campaign; readying ourselves for open day season which kicks off next week for both UG and PG, and helping the recruitment team with marketing collateral to support their events and upcoming UCAS fairs, which seem to be briefed in en masse at the moment.

One man band - the multi-
tasking Marketers

But the biggy for this week, most definitely has to be the fact that we're in the final stages of both our main UG 2016 prospectus, and the mini guide. 'So what?' I hear you say. All in a days work you may think. Well, that may be the case if I wasn't trying to do all of the above, and then some, by myself, on top of my day job. As mentioned in previous posts, our Marketing Assistant Clare left just before Christmas to embark on an adventure as she travels along the west coast of America. And Kylie, our Marketing Officer, is also away at the moment, holidaying in the tropical destination of Cuba, which means that we're a little depleted at the moment and for a few more weeks still to come. It certainly makes the days go by very quickly considering the volume of work I've been ploughing through lately, and a big nod has to go to Krystle who has been great in holding down all of the campaigns which we're running at the moment.

New recruits joining the team
shortly

In between all of the madness and mayhem, we've been able to get our new Marketing Assistant vacancy advertised (hurrah!), and so we'll keep you posted on how the interviews go towards the end of February, and we should hopefully be welcoming a new member to the team very shortly. I've also taken part in a number of interesting discussions, as the Marketing team is set to expand once more - we're also currently advertising for two Faculty Marketing Assistants who will hopefully be joining us within a matter of weeks. I couldn't be happier. These new roles will present a much needed resource and link to the Faculties, and will really cement our focus on collaborative working across the organisation. I'm particularly excited, as the two new post holders will be heavily focused on content generation - and so if you've been reading this blog recently, you'll see that one of my main priorities and favourite buzz words at the moment is content marketing, and it will be great for us to further enhance the work of the team by demonstrating value through producing and sharing engaging and dynamic content. So I can't wait for all of these exciting team developments to start taking shape.