I have had my most productive Summer yet, undertaking 2 work placements in different areas of the media for my work based learning module this year. I felt it was important to explore different areas so I could get a full taste of what career options there are in the industry. Additionally it would also give me more experience to put on my CV. I knew that I whad to work as hard as I could so that I could give off the right impression.
My first placement was with Ocean Media. Ocean Media are a company that specialise in events and exhibition management, journalism and digital communications. I did a week in Manchester working at a housing conference. Here I learnt all about events management by helping setting up and run the event. I acted as an event runner, doing all little jobs for people. I also got to help with the production of the magazine of the event - watching the final hour before it went to press was very exciting! Another aspect I learnt about was the social media element of the event. I saw that they put a lot of emphasis on the success of this and made sure that they recorded all the events on their pages so that attendees were constantly updated with what was happening and it was also used to spread the word about events during the conference proving social media's success as a marketing tool. I also did a week in London working in the main Canary Wharf office helping plan next year's conference. I enjoyed this as I got to see the initial steps of setting up the exhibition that I had previously worked at. The week in London was very exciting as it gave me an insight into what it would be like living and working there and I'm happy to report I loved it! I love the hustle and bustle of a busy city and how there is so much going on. Overall I thorougly enjoyed my experience at Ocean Media as I got to learn so much, the people were absolutely lovely and I feel that I worked to the best of my ability. This was proven by the positive feedback I received back from them, and the offer of the chance to work at their upcoming conferences. I found this experience enlightening as it has opened up the prospect of going into events management as a career choice because I really enjoyed my time there.
My second placement was at Lime Pictures. I was very excited for this as I have always been a big fan of Hollyoaks, The Only Way is Essex and Fresh Meat - all programmes which Lime Pictures produce. My job was to shadow the 3rd Assistant director, otherwise known as the runner. As the week went on, I was given more and more responsibility, eventually having my own radio so that I could go off and do my own tasks that I was given. Some of the things I had to do included: travelling the artists from costume or make up to set, locking off the set by making sure everyone was quiet, crossing off scenes in the production office, ensuring all the cast and crew were happy by providing them with refreshments and organising the background artists. No job was boring for me as it was all a massive learning experience. This was definitely one of the best (but most tiring!) weeks of my life as it was my dream placement. Again, I managed to get amazing feedback about the work that I did and can onluy hope it can lead to more good things. It has made me realise that I definitely want to go into television production and has given me the drive to smash 3rd year!
