West of England
Case studies
I believe that I am an outstanding young communicator as I have developed a reputation as being an asset to a business, I’ve been head hunted twice, worked my way up through the ranks and provide my clients with level of service and return which exceeds their expectations.
Background:
I lived in Warwickshire until I was 14 when my family and I moved to Cornwall. I integrated well at school, becoming a member of the student committee and the co-ordinator of the end of year ball.
I finished my GCSE’s here in Cornwall, achieving above C grades in all 10 subjects and then took an alternative path to that of my school mates. Rather than continuing my education through college and university I chose to begin work and study through apprenticeship programmes, NVQ’s and vocational training.
Work Experience:
Penwith District Council
After leaving school I found a position in the Tourism & PR department of the local council, Penwith District Council (PDC) which covers West Cornwall.
My role as a trainee allowed me to become involved with all aspects of tourism marketing and PR and local authority PR. Whilst working at the council I was studying for an NVQ in Business Administration and Customer Service. I was determined to continue my education away from college so that I could gain valuable work experience whilst gaining qualifications along the way.
After 12 months as a trainee I was taken on as a Clerical Assistant. By the time I was 19 I had been promoted to the role of Assistant Marketing & Promotions Officer, reporting directly to the Head of Marketing and PR. I was responsible for production of the annual holiday guide, media releases for all departments of the council, conference management and event promotion, including Maritime Festivals and Ironman Competitions.
Having completed my two NVQ’s I then moved on to study a two year AVCE in Travel & Tourism. Living in Cornwall many jobs are linked to the tourism industry and I believed that a thorough understanding and appreciation of the sector would be beneficial.
I enjoyed four years at PDC, managing a variety of events and developing relationships with key regional media and business contacts. I completed my AVCE in Travel and Tourism with an AA pass and then committed to study with the Open University towards a Certificate in Social Sciences with a long term view of working towards a degree in Social Sciences with Media.
DACOM
I was not actively looking for another job, but was approached by a colleague from Devon & Cornwall Overseas Marketing (DACOM). I was offered a position with DACOM, which was an Objective One funded project, to promote Devon and Cornwall to overseas visitors and tour operators in key target market areas, specifically Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands.
The new role involved developing packages with tour operators, organising UK and overseas travel trade and consumer exhibitions, traveling to the target market areas to present the key selling facts of the region to the tour operators, presenting to tourism businesses in Cornwall and Devon and developing partnerships to enable increased tourism. The job was a short term contract as it was a funded project. It was a challenging role which would move me in a slightly different direction, allow me to develop new skills and move up the ladder.
As Overseas Travel Trade Officer I was able to develop a broader range of skills. I became confident in German language skills and my ability to work on a number of projects which were target based.
As my 12 month contract was coming to an end I began to look for a role in which I could use the new skills that I had developed in partnership working. I was also looking to grow my knowledge base of marketing theory so I signed up to the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing.
VisitCornwall
The DACOM project was housed within the same building as VisitCornwall – Cornwall Tourist Board as was. A month before my contract came to an end a position as PR Assistant for VisitCornwall was advertised. The position was perfect, it allowed me to move into a dedicated PR role and once again develop new skills whilst making the most of my previous experience and base of contacts.
I was nervous ahead of the interview as having chosen not to go to college or university I was up against other candidates, who on paper may have been more qualified than myself. I was confident in my ability to articulate my credentials, experience and passion and felt that my commitment to study whilst working could work in my favour.
I was offered the job and soon got to grips with the scale of the media opportunities available. The role was exciting and gave me a real focus. I was able to work with regional, national and international media. Much of the work was focused on tourism
PR and organising press trips, regular media releases were issued pro actively and statements pulled together for reactive jobs such as comment on the second home market in Cornwall.
Whilst in this position I continued to make presentations on tourism matters, these were not just for the industry, I was also invited to present to local colleges on career choices for the industry using my experience as a base for discussion.
My confidence in my public speaking skills grew and was positioned as a spokesperson for the company.
During my time as PR Assistant at VisitCornwall I completed my CIM qualification and moved onto another course which would provide me with management skills. I signed up to the ILM Introductory Certificate in Line Management which was a six week course, I followed it up by signing up to the Open University’s Certificate in Business Studies.
Deborah Clark Associates
During my time at VisitCornwall I made a number of new business contacts, one of which worked for local PR Agency, Deborah Clark Associates (DCA). DCA has been operating for more than 20 years and has the largest portfolio of both public and private sector clients locally.
An account manager from DCA approached me in 2007, I was told that DCA were growing their consumer team and wanted me to be a part of it. I met with Deborah Clark and was offered a position as account manager within the company. I had not been looking for another job, nor had I considered moving from the public to private sector in such a swift move. The opportunity was too good to miss, I accepted the role and started a month later.
Since May 2007 I have worked as account manager on a number of clients which include tourism, fashion, food & drink, events and the care sector. The change from public to private sector was quite a big step but a step which would enable me to make my mark on the industry.
Specific Achievement:
I have focused so far on my professional achievements in terms of my career, qualifications and general achievements within the organisations in which I’ve worked. I would like now to focus on one specific achievement of which I am very proud and which I believe shows my credentials as an outstanding young communicator.
I have been involved with a number of high profile and exciting regional events and initiatives in which I believe have achieved and exceeded expectations. Most recently I was the account manager for The Artemis Transat Race which took place on May 11, 2008. This involved managing, generating and sustaining all of the pre event PR, against a budget of £10,000.
I developed a comprehensive campaign plan to achieve regional publicity in both print and broadcast media whilst at the same time achieving the client’s additional objectives to show added value for partners, promotion of place, economic growth and long term support for the event.
Coming in on budget of £10,000 our AVE analysis showed an outstanding return:
|
Print Total |
Broadcast Total |
Combined Total |
Feb-08 |
£2,308.05 |
£26,650.80 |
£28,958.85 |
Mar-08 |
£7,740.80 |
£4,810.96 |
£12,551.76 |
Apr-08 |
£35,796.70 |
£9,987.30 |
£45,784.00 |
May-08 |
£45,782.40 |
£358,915.08 |
£404,697.48 |
Total |
£91,627.95 |
£400,364.14 |
£491,992.09 |
This is an amazing achievement and something of which I am very proud. It has raised the profile of the business, provided opportunity to develop new business with both OC Events and businesses in the region as well as raising my profile as a PR practitioner achieving top level results whilst working to a strict budget.
There were a lot of issues to consider with this campaign, a main client – OC Events and the Plymouth Partner Group; a group of four organisations all of whom had different objectives and expectations. Balancing the politics whilst ensuring positive media coverage for the lead up to the start of the race required careful management and a focused approach to media targeting.
I was able to deliver all of the key messages, reach all of the targets and exceed their expectations with regard to the level of media coverage. The client was delighted with the result (see supporting letter) and has advised me that they intend to contract me again for any future events in the region.
This is just one specific example in detail. During my career to date I have worked hard to communicate messages effectively to achieve the objectives of the organisation or client, thus developing a reputation as an effective communicator.
The experience I’ve gained over the course of my career to date has provided me with a hugely diverse skills set and wide ranging knowledge base, pair that with my ongoing commitment to study, dedication and drive to succeed and passion to achieve the best results for the business and the client, I believe that I have all the criteria needed to be an outstanding young communicator.