It’s been a productive – if a bit tiring – day today. A late night out last night meant I was a bit reluctant this morning, but it was worth the effort and I’ve arrived home with a brand new task to get my teeth in to.
New opportunity
The new challenge involves interviewing clients of the NHS Jobs website. The site covers all jobs available within the NHS, and claims to make searching and applying for jobs a simple task. To illustrate this point, the site carries numerous success stories told by past clients. My brief is to contact individuals who are willing to use their experience of the site as a case study to be published online.
Am I worrying about nothing?
This sounded fine to me, until it emerged I would interviewing the people by phone. I’ve never used this interviewing technique before, and I’m pretty much up for a challenge these days, but it still seems a little daunting. I have expressed concern for my ability to write, listen, and plan the next question all at the same time before. Now, it seems, my multitasking skills will truly be tested. I don’t know if it’s a male thing or not - I can only speak personally – but the thought of it unnerves me. It also involves persuading my housemates keeping quiet for longer than five minutes, and I’m genuinely not sure which will prove harder.
New recruits
As the pioneering Camden Calling / Poached Creative representative, I was pleased to see another Camden Calling member, Dan, join Poached today. CC’s resident graphic designer, he started a six week course today with a view to improving the quality of their art and design work. Another trainee, Michelle, also started the design course today. To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to speak to either of them yet, but it’s good to have new people on board!
Less is more
The feedback I received on the latest Camden Calling newsletter was very useful. Hints on style, sequence, and presentation are always of great use. The primary problem, though, was just as I suspected: it’s too long. But if I make it much shorter, how will I possibly cover everything? The answer to that is by being ruthless. Cut every unnecessary word possible. I can certainly see the logic in that. What I don’t get is why, time and time again at school, it was drummed in to my head that somehow ‘more is better.’
Come on... we all did it!
In their school days, I’m sure that, occasionally, everyone padded out work purely to meet some stupid minimum word or page limit. This is ridiculous – surely being concise is more of an art-form than producing elongated waffle filled with pointless joining words. The apparent correlation between number of words written and quality produced mystifies me.
With my rant over, it’s time for me to end this for another week. Anyway, I think I’ve just reached the word limit.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Thursday, 23 July 2009
A little rusty... already?!
I was only away for a week, but the start of my second six weeks at Poached coincided with me forgetting how to string words together. It was a worrying hour or two, but sure enough by 11.00 I was back to normal and enjoying the fact I agreed to stay on. I was pleased by the news that Brij would also be staying on for a while, as we get on well and it would be sad to see him go.
My usual network problems
The morning was disrupted by various internet problems – mainly caused by my new Virgin connection - which doesn’t like me connecting to any other wireless networks. After finally triumphing over temperamental technology, the day was highly productive and certainly a success.
Marked improvement
I managed to all but complete a short article for a social enterprise magazine, and received some very complimentary feedback on it. I was particularly proud of this, as it’s quite rare for me to finish a piece of work in a working office environment. That sounds strange, I know, but I usually work best when I’m on my own, have no deadlines to meet, and feel that there is less pressure on me. I think the completion of this piece means I am more focused - and perhaps more confident in my own ability.
STOP PRESS: change of plan!
I expected to work on August’s Camden Calling press release at some point today. However, after some consultation with Jess, and Jess’ consultation with Alex, it was decided this would be put on hold. Although I had never thought about it before, I can understand Jess’ reasoning on this. A press release is supposed to alert the media about a big, important current event, and so is best used when you really have something to shout about. Sending one out at regular intervals means some of the time the content will not be particularly dramatic – and will not grab enough attention.
It gets easier (I hope)
The Camden Calling newsletter will go ahead as planned – and I’m more relaxed about writing it this time. I’ve been given some topics to include, and I know what is expected of me. The last one was really well received, so I’ll be hoping to replicate the response this time round.
Up for the challenge
This second stint has started equally as well as the first, so once again I can say that I’m more than content with how things are with me at the moment. I felt quite proud that I was at Poached today, considering when I started I was only expecting a six week stay. Comparing myself then to how I feel now, I can say for sure that I am much more at-ease and far more capable. Long may it continue.
My usual network problems
The morning was disrupted by various internet problems – mainly caused by my new Virgin connection - which doesn’t like me connecting to any other wireless networks. After finally triumphing over temperamental technology, the day was highly productive and certainly a success.
Marked improvement
I managed to all but complete a short article for a social enterprise magazine, and received some very complimentary feedback on it. I was particularly proud of this, as it’s quite rare for me to finish a piece of work in a working office environment. That sounds strange, I know, but I usually work best when I’m on my own, have no deadlines to meet, and feel that there is less pressure on me. I think the completion of this piece means I am more focused - and perhaps more confident in my own ability.
STOP PRESS: change of plan!
I expected to work on August’s Camden Calling press release at some point today. However, after some consultation with Jess, and Jess’ consultation with Alex, it was decided this would be put on hold. Although I had never thought about it before, I can understand Jess’ reasoning on this. A press release is supposed to alert the media about a big, important current event, and so is best used when you really have something to shout about. Sending one out at regular intervals means some of the time the content will not be particularly dramatic – and will not grab enough attention.
It gets easier (I hope)
The Camden Calling newsletter will go ahead as planned – and I’m more relaxed about writing it this time. I’ve been given some topics to include, and I know what is expected of me. The last one was really well received, so I’ll be hoping to replicate the response this time round.
Up for the challenge
This second stint has started equally as well as the first, so once again I can say that I’m more than content with how things are with me at the moment. I felt quite proud that I was at Poached today, considering when I started I was only expecting a six week stay. Comparing myself then to how I feel now, I can say for sure that I am much more at-ease and far more capable. Long may it continue.
Thursday, 9 July 2009
One step at a time
A question asked of me today prompted a realisation – I don’t really have any clear, long-term goals. Having now given it some thought, I don’t really see this as a problem, however.
As I see it, part of going through a rehab program is supposed to be about building an enjoyable life. To achieve this, I’m trying a few different areas of business until I find one that really suits me. I’ve completed numerous courses and workshops, and all the time I am adding to my knowledge and experience. When I reflect on the progress I’ve made and the options I now have, I feel satisfied with my current situation. So I am quite content living without long term objectives – for now at least.
Same again, please
My six week training program is now complete, and it has been agreed that I am staying for another six weeks at least. I will be working on Poached projects as well as more Camden Calling-related things. This length of commitment is fine for me at the moment – as I have been advised to ease myself back in to full time work.
I’m just beginning
Remaining at Poached is so pleasing to me as I feel that I have so much more to learn in this field. The past few weeks have only scratched the surface of what it’s like to be involved in writing – and I feel I have so much more to explore. We have covered a wide range of areas, so I am only just narrowing down which specific areas I am most interested in pursuing. It’s too good a learning opportunity to miss, so writing and communications is definitely my primary focus at the moment.
Keeping options open
That isn’t to say I can never take my interest in mentoring further at some point. The qualification I gained in peer support will always be there, but there is no rush to build on it. The relevant personal experiences I have will never go away, and people in that field tend to be much older than me anyway.
Pleasant surprise
Deciding on writing as my focus coincided with a phone call from the editor of a magazine called Chatterbox. I wrote a small article for the publication a while back, and I have been offered the chance to contribute again. The magazine is distributed to substance misuse organisations across London. It runs stories written by people who have been through the system and have had positive experiences. In a way, it’s purpose is not dissimilar to peer mentoring. It acts as inspiration and offers hope to those who are struggling to see an end to their problems. I see this as a thoroughly worthwhile cause and I happily accepted the offer of writing for it.
No mercy!
I was in the presence of another expert guest speaker today. Not for the first time, this coincided with the equivalent of public execution for a piece of Camden Calling literature. The deserving target this time was a recent press release. The loathsomeness felt for this document by Emma, speaker and public relations connoisseur, made palpable the work required when I take control of press duties next month.
Another skill to add
The session was really useful as I now have some great tips on how the piece should look, read, and how it should be structured. It will be my first attempt at a press release, so I’m thankful for the hints on how to make it a success. Emma had several suggestions on success in other areas of PR – and again one of the most important things to remember is to know your audience when writing.
Sense of fulfilment
I came away from my final session feeling immensely satisfied, and extremely grateful for the help I have received in the last weeks. While this is the end of my training course, I have no intention of ending my regular updates here. I am actually quite enjoying posting - so who knows how long this blog could run for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t plan long-term.
As I see it, part of going through a rehab program is supposed to be about building an enjoyable life. To achieve this, I’m trying a few different areas of business until I find one that really suits me. I’ve completed numerous courses and workshops, and all the time I am adding to my knowledge and experience. When I reflect on the progress I’ve made and the options I now have, I feel satisfied with my current situation. So I am quite content living without long term objectives – for now at least.
Same again, please
My six week training program is now complete, and it has been agreed that I am staying for another six weeks at least. I will be working on Poached projects as well as more Camden Calling-related things. This length of commitment is fine for me at the moment – as I have been advised to ease myself back in to full time work.
I’m just beginning
Remaining at Poached is so pleasing to me as I feel that I have so much more to learn in this field. The past few weeks have only scratched the surface of what it’s like to be involved in writing – and I feel I have so much more to explore. We have covered a wide range of areas, so I am only just narrowing down which specific areas I am most interested in pursuing. It’s too good a learning opportunity to miss, so writing and communications is definitely my primary focus at the moment.
Keeping options open
That isn’t to say I can never take my interest in mentoring further at some point. The qualification I gained in peer support will always be there, but there is no rush to build on it. The relevant personal experiences I have will never go away, and people in that field tend to be much older than me anyway.
Pleasant surprise
Deciding on writing as my focus coincided with a phone call from the editor of a magazine called Chatterbox. I wrote a small article for the publication a while back, and I have been offered the chance to contribute again. The magazine is distributed to substance misuse organisations across London. It runs stories written by people who have been through the system and have had positive experiences. In a way, it’s purpose is not dissimilar to peer mentoring. It acts as inspiration and offers hope to those who are struggling to see an end to their problems. I see this as a thoroughly worthwhile cause and I happily accepted the offer of writing for it.
No mercy!
I was in the presence of another expert guest speaker today. Not for the first time, this coincided with the equivalent of public execution for a piece of Camden Calling literature. The deserving target this time was a recent press release. The loathsomeness felt for this document by Emma, speaker and public relations connoisseur, made palpable the work required when I take control of press duties next month.
Another skill to add
The session was really useful as I now have some great tips on how the piece should look, read, and how it should be structured. It will be my first attempt at a press release, so I’m thankful for the hints on how to make it a success. Emma had several suggestions on success in other areas of PR – and again one of the most important things to remember is to know your audience when writing.
Sense of fulfilment
I came away from my final session feeling immensely satisfied, and extremely grateful for the help I have received in the last weeks. While this is the end of my training course, I have no intention of ending my regular updates here. I am actually quite enjoying posting - so who knows how long this blog could run for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t plan long-term.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
No carpet, no problem
Today has been another productive day. In fact, I would go so far as to say most days are productive for me at the moment. Poached Creative and Camden Calling are providing challenges, but they are realistic challenges I know I can rise to. Away from the work side of things I am coping with – dare I say enjoying – life generally.
The ups with the downs
I have built up a resilience that I did not have until recently. I can accept that sometimes life throws up surprises, problems, and generally just doesn’t go the way you planned. I am gradually gaining the ability to accept this and continue through life without dwelling on misfortune. This means I can handle situations far better than I could before. In other words, it takes a whole lot more to piss me off than it used to.
Natural disaster avoided
This new-found tolerance was put to the test a few days ago however. I was visiting my family at the weekend, when I received a phone call from my landlord informing me that my ground-floor bedroom had flooded.
To be honest it wasn’t actually as bad as I had thought. I rushed back to Kentish Town expecting to be washed away by some huge tidal wave upon opening the door. There was no such drama however, just a soaking wet, ruined carpet from where the water had seeped under the patio door. I mentioned in this blog that I am quite proud of my newly-organised self, and this is a case in point. Had any clothes, CDs, discarded pieces of paper, folders etc been left on the floor at the time of flooding, they would have certainly perished. As it was, only the carpet was affected.
Every cloud...
The whole incident has brought all seven residents of my house closer together. It’s strange, but through my adversity and everyone else’s sympathy, we have developed a sort of unity and a closer friendship. It’s great to know I have this kind of support from people I live with, because there is no guarantee of it in a house in which I did not hand-pick the occupants.
Multitasking – one for the ladies
By the time I arrived in Wood Green today, the fact that I have no carpet was not bothering me one bit. More new learning opportunities were on the agenda today; this week it was interviewing to gather information for an article. This seems to be a real art form - involving asking a question, listening to the answer, writing down the answer, and thinking of the next question - all at once. The structure of questioning has to be thought through too – sandwiching tricky questions in-between easier, more light-hearted ones. I devised a set of questions to ask Otu (a Poached Creative adviser), and tested them in mock-up interviews with Brij and Jess. I don’t know what the real interviewee would have made of it all though – it was far from seamless.
So the flag was just blowing in the ‘wind’, then?
This afternoon we looked at differences in features and articles – a feature being more detailed and thought provoking than a regular news report. Specifically, we compared pieces on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. The news piece focused on the facts, whereas the feature included all sorts from personal accounts to bits on how, apparently, the whole thing was faked. Features tend to stray from the Inverted Pyramid style of reporting we studied a few weeks back. The inclusion of pictures, diagrams and graphs adds to their visual effect.
Life beyond Poached
Next Thursday will be the last day of my six week programme. This certainly doesn’t mean the end of the road for me as a trainee writer, though. I have made contact with Rokpool to let them know I am ready to take on some of the subbing work they offered. I have some other options too, which I will discuss with Jess next week. After some positive, enlightening experiences so far, I am keen to pursue this interest and hopefully find an arrangement which will help my writing progress.
I will fill you in with more on my future plans next week.
The ups with the downs
I have built up a resilience that I did not have until recently. I can accept that sometimes life throws up surprises, problems, and generally just doesn’t go the way you planned. I am gradually gaining the ability to accept this and continue through life without dwelling on misfortune. This means I can handle situations far better than I could before. In other words, it takes a whole lot more to piss me off than it used to.
Natural disaster avoided
This new-found tolerance was put to the test a few days ago however. I was visiting my family at the weekend, when I received a phone call from my landlord informing me that my ground-floor bedroom had flooded.
To be honest it wasn’t actually as bad as I had thought. I rushed back to Kentish Town expecting to be washed away by some huge tidal wave upon opening the door. There was no such drama however, just a soaking wet, ruined carpet from where the water had seeped under the patio door. I mentioned in this blog that I am quite proud of my newly-organised self, and this is a case in point. Had any clothes, CDs, discarded pieces of paper, folders etc been left on the floor at the time of flooding, they would have certainly perished. As it was, only the carpet was affected.
Every cloud...
The whole incident has brought all seven residents of my house closer together. It’s strange, but through my adversity and everyone else’s sympathy, we have developed a sort of unity and a closer friendship. It’s great to know I have this kind of support from people I live with, because there is no guarantee of it in a house in which I did not hand-pick the occupants.
Multitasking – one for the ladies
By the time I arrived in Wood Green today, the fact that I have no carpet was not bothering me one bit. More new learning opportunities were on the agenda today; this week it was interviewing to gather information for an article. This seems to be a real art form - involving asking a question, listening to the answer, writing down the answer, and thinking of the next question - all at once. The structure of questioning has to be thought through too – sandwiching tricky questions in-between easier, more light-hearted ones. I devised a set of questions to ask Otu (a Poached Creative adviser), and tested them in mock-up interviews with Brij and Jess. I don’t know what the real interviewee would have made of it all though – it was far from seamless.
So the flag was just blowing in the ‘wind’, then?
This afternoon we looked at differences in features and articles – a feature being more detailed and thought provoking than a regular news report. Specifically, we compared pieces on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. The news piece focused on the facts, whereas the feature included all sorts from personal accounts to bits on how, apparently, the whole thing was faked. Features tend to stray from the Inverted Pyramid style of reporting we studied a few weeks back. The inclusion of pictures, diagrams and graphs adds to their visual effect.
Life beyond Poached
Next Thursday will be the last day of my six week programme. This certainly doesn’t mean the end of the road for me as a trainee writer, though. I have made contact with Rokpool to let them know I am ready to take on some of the subbing work they offered. I have some other options too, which I will discuss with Jess next week. After some positive, enlightening experiences so far, I am keen to pursue this interest and hopefully find an arrangement which will help my writing progress.
I will fill you in with more on my future plans next week.
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Decisions, decisions....
Spoilt for choice
I left rehab in late October last year, and I remember thinking ‘so what do I do now?’ I spent the first couple of weeks worrying about where my life was going, and what the hell to do next. Right now though, I have a few options and for some reason I feel – you guessed it – equally worried.
Jess made it clear I am welcome to stay on and do some work for Poached Creative, and Rokpool seem pretty keen too. On the mentoring side of things, I have now completed my level 1 course and I have the option of taking that further. And the other day I got something in the post asking if I wanted to be some kind of course recruiter. This seems to involve, in short, going around local rehab centres and roping the clients in to going on various courses. There’s also the small matter of Camden Calling.
Don’t upset the balance
I guess my worries come from having to make some tough decisions – and being nervous about making the wrong ones. I can honestly say that since rehab absolutely nothing major has gone wrong in my life. For that reason I am inexperienced when it comes to dealing with difficult situations, so the prospect of messing things up is a bit scary.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Life involves taking risks though, and making informed decisions. I should probably look at my situation as an exhilarating one, laden with amazing opportunities at every turn on my quest for self-actualisation. Does anyone really think like that though?! Either way, I really am grateful for such an array of choice, and I shall carefully consider my next move. I am well aware my situation is infinitely better than one where I had no choices at all, so I should look at my predicament as a positive problem.
That time already?
It’s nearing the end of the month, so the new Camden Calling newsletter will soon be with us. Or at least it should be, providing I can finish it by then. This is my first ever attempt at writing a newsletter, and I have to be really focused as the attention to detail is so important. Small things like dates, times, and places can easily be missed or written incorrectly; and a lot of people are counting on all of that being correct.
Jess gave us a lot of pointers on how to successfully write a web newsletter, how to edit one, and how to get the best out of one. I’m still not sure what kind of personality my newsletter will have, but all this information will definitely be useful as I try to meet my completion deadline. Jess has helped me figure out how to organise the newsletter - i.e. which sections should come before which others. Prioritising sections like this is so important, simply because people rarely read right to the end.
Valuable external assistance
I was grateful to guest speaker Louise for her input today. She talked about proofing, which is another phrase I have heard used many times, but never understood fully. We did a proofing exercise, which involved correcting an extract of text from the grammatically nightmarish Camden Calling website. I felt this was of great use and kept the learning experience interesting. I have a vague recollection of seeing some of the proofing corrective symbols before, but many are alien to me. Memorising the symbols is secondary to developing a corrective system all parties understand, however.
Measure of progress
We have passed the half-way point of the course now, and so it was time for a PDP progress check with Jess. Mine is going to plan, and we should be able to cover all the things we initially aimed to. The day the PDP was drafted seems a long time ago now! Not in terms of amount of time that has passed; rather the progress I have made and the knowledge I have acquired since then.
Talking of knowledge, I know the average attention span when on the internet is pretty low. So, with everything covered, I will say thanks for reading and goodbye until next week.
I left rehab in late October last year, and I remember thinking ‘so what do I do now?’ I spent the first couple of weeks worrying about where my life was going, and what the hell to do next. Right now though, I have a few options and for some reason I feel – you guessed it – equally worried.
Jess made it clear I am welcome to stay on and do some work for Poached Creative, and Rokpool seem pretty keen too. On the mentoring side of things, I have now completed my level 1 course and I have the option of taking that further. And the other day I got something in the post asking if I wanted to be some kind of course recruiter. This seems to involve, in short, going around local rehab centres and roping the clients in to going on various courses. There’s also the small matter of Camden Calling.
Don’t upset the balance
I guess my worries come from having to make some tough decisions – and being nervous about making the wrong ones. I can honestly say that since rehab absolutely nothing major has gone wrong in my life. For that reason I am inexperienced when it comes to dealing with difficult situations, so the prospect of messing things up is a bit scary.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Life involves taking risks though, and making informed decisions. I should probably look at my situation as an exhilarating one, laden with amazing opportunities at every turn on my quest for self-actualisation. Does anyone really think like that though?! Either way, I really am grateful for such an array of choice, and I shall carefully consider my next move. I am well aware my situation is infinitely better than one where I had no choices at all, so I should look at my predicament as a positive problem.
That time already?
It’s nearing the end of the month, so the new Camden Calling newsletter will soon be with us. Or at least it should be, providing I can finish it by then. This is my first ever attempt at writing a newsletter, and I have to be really focused as the attention to detail is so important. Small things like dates, times, and places can easily be missed or written incorrectly; and a lot of people are counting on all of that being correct.
Jess gave us a lot of pointers on how to successfully write a web newsletter, how to edit one, and how to get the best out of one. I’m still not sure what kind of personality my newsletter will have, but all this information will definitely be useful as I try to meet my completion deadline. Jess has helped me figure out how to organise the newsletter - i.e. which sections should come before which others. Prioritising sections like this is so important, simply because people rarely read right to the end.
Valuable external assistance
I was grateful to guest speaker Louise for her input today. She talked about proofing, which is another phrase I have heard used many times, but never understood fully. We did a proofing exercise, which involved correcting an extract of text from the grammatically nightmarish Camden Calling website. I felt this was of great use and kept the learning experience interesting. I have a vague recollection of seeing some of the proofing corrective symbols before, but many are alien to me. Memorising the symbols is secondary to developing a corrective system all parties understand, however.
Measure of progress
We have passed the half-way point of the course now, and so it was time for a PDP progress check with Jess. Mine is going to plan, and we should be able to cover all the things we initially aimed to. The day the PDP was drafted seems a long time ago now! Not in terms of amount of time that has passed; rather the progress I have made and the knowledge I have acquired since then.
Talking of knowledge, I know the average attention span when on the internet is pretty low. So, with everything covered, I will say thanks for reading and goodbye until next week.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
It can get a bit hectic sometimes, but it's worth it
Confused?
I’ve taken to writing this blog as soon as I get back from Poached Creative. I’d like to say it’s because I’m supremely organised, but in truth it’s down to the sheer volume of information my brain has absorbed in the last few weeks. I had a practical assessment for my peer mentoring course on Monday, and the corresponding paperwork is due next week. Like at Poached, it’s all new to me; so it’s best I get this written now before I start confusing the two. If I ever claim that I’m mentoring the drummer from Freddie and the Dreamers, you know what’s happened.
Less is more
Today was primarily about writing for the web. I discovered some interesting things about how much (or little!) people actually read on a website – and the areas of the page they pay closest attention to. The findings seemed surprising initially, but perhaps less so when I consider my own internet use. There are only a handful of websites where I read text unrelated to what I was looking to find. So, as only read a small percentage of what you write is actually read, it is vital that every word used has an impact.
Honest learning
Angela shared with us her new-found knowledge of Search Engine Optimisation – a technique I know will help in my work at Camden Calling. SEO is a term I first heard used at a marketing conference a few months ago - where I had to sort of pretend I knew what it was - for fear of expulsion from the building. Fortunately no such pretence was required today, and I’m sure SEO will benefit me beyond the walls of Poached. I feel another transferrable skill coming on.
Paper – NOT obsolete!
I had my first experience of a preliminary stage of designing a website using post-it notes. Each post-it represents a section of the website, and can be moved around and re-organised until you have a good representation of a site-map. We are each going to write something for an area of the new site – with me opting for the ‘Training’ section. This is an exciting opportunity for me, as having some input in to what the site will look like makes me feel like a real part of the company.
Blast from the past
We had a guest speaker, Claire, that afternoon. She is a copywriter – a term that, until recently, I assumed involved registered trademarks. The work she showed to us was extremely impressive, and acted as a reminder of how far technology has come, even in my lifetime. She mentioned the 1980s programming language Logo and the turtle that could be programmed to move across a floor on its own. This was something I remember well from primary school, and seemed amazing at the time, but strangely surreal now.
It all pays off
Hard work usually pays off, as some excellent feedback from Jess on last week’s music biog attempt shows. This means in the next few weeks I should be writing some similar pieces for Rockpool. Again, something that makes it all worthwhile and an opportunity I’m flattered to have. And who knows where it will lead to? Right now, I feel it’s essential for me not to pass up chances of finding my true calling in life.
Although I’ve been busy lately, I do feel in control this week - which I think is hugely important. I feel capable of doing the work asked of me at Poached, and generally positive about my prospects after this six weeks are over. All in all, this week goes down as another success, and I shall update again soon with the latest news.
I’ve taken to writing this blog as soon as I get back from Poached Creative. I’d like to say it’s because I’m supremely organised, but in truth it’s down to the sheer volume of information my brain has absorbed in the last few weeks. I had a practical assessment for my peer mentoring course on Monday, and the corresponding paperwork is due next week. Like at Poached, it’s all new to me; so it’s best I get this written now before I start confusing the two. If I ever claim that I’m mentoring the drummer from Freddie and the Dreamers, you know what’s happened.
Less is more
Today was primarily about writing for the web. I discovered some interesting things about how much (or little!) people actually read on a website – and the areas of the page they pay closest attention to. The findings seemed surprising initially, but perhaps less so when I consider my own internet use. There are only a handful of websites where I read text unrelated to what I was looking to find. So, as only read a small percentage of what you write is actually read, it is vital that every word used has an impact.
Honest learning
Angela shared with us her new-found knowledge of Search Engine Optimisation – a technique I know will help in my work at Camden Calling. SEO is a term I first heard used at a marketing conference a few months ago - where I had to sort of pretend I knew what it was - for fear of expulsion from the building. Fortunately no such pretence was required today, and I’m sure SEO will benefit me beyond the walls of Poached. I feel another transferrable skill coming on.
Paper – NOT obsolete!
I had my first experience of a preliminary stage of designing a website using post-it notes. Each post-it represents a section of the website, and can be moved around and re-organised until you have a good representation of a site-map. We are each going to write something for an area of the new site – with me opting for the ‘Training’ section. This is an exciting opportunity for me, as having some input in to what the site will look like makes me feel like a real part of the company.
Blast from the past
We had a guest speaker, Claire, that afternoon. She is a copywriter – a term that, until recently, I assumed involved registered trademarks. The work she showed to us was extremely impressive, and acted as a reminder of how far technology has come, even in my lifetime. She mentioned the 1980s programming language Logo and the turtle that could be programmed to move across a floor on its own. This was something I remember well from primary school, and seemed amazing at the time, but strangely surreal now.
It all pays off
Hard work usually pays off, as some excellent feedback from Jess on last week’s music biog attempt shows. This means in the next few weeks I should be writing some similar pieces for Rockpool. Again, something that makes it all worthwhile and an opportunity I’m flattered to have. And who knows where it will lead to? Right now, I feel it’s essential for me not to pass up chances of finding my true calling in life.
Although I’ve been busy lately, I do feel in control this week - which I think is hugely important. I feel capable of doing the work asked of me at Poached, and generally positive about my prospects after this six weeks are over. All in all, this week goes down as another success, and I shall update again soon with the latest news.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Coburg, Cobourg...
An eventful second week - and that’s just the journey there
My second week of training gave me an ‘interesting’ travel experience. I haven‘t lived in London for very long, so I‘m always keen to increase my knowledge of its various boroughs - and I can now say with some assurance that there is a Cobourg Road in south-east London.
The tube strike - coupled with my unease about taking a bus due to my eyesight problems - meant I had booked a taxi to pick me up from my house at 8.45 and take me to the course in Coburg Road. Ironically, poor communication meant I ended up on the other side of the city on a road with a similar name. The person taking the booking at the taxi company had relayed incorrect information to the driver, and so I found ourselves 12 miles from our destination in horrific traffic on a road named Cobourg.
I’m innocent!
I realised the mistake and told the driver, who radioed in asking someone to listen back to the recording of the conversation in which I booked the taxi. The recording showed I had been quite clear about my desired destination, and consequently the company took full responsibility for the predicament. The result was me not paying a penny for the diverted journey to Coburg Road, and getting to see a few sights along the way - which, as the driver pointed out, ‘people pay a lot of money for.’
Better late than never…
We did some interesting work today, and I learnt a few things that I’m sure will be of real use in the future. The Inverted Pyramid method of writing will, I’m sure, be used in much of my work - and the tips for effective writing are going to be immensely important to an inexperienced writer such as myself.
The afternoon provided an opportunity for me to get to know Brij better by writing a profile for him. This was quite tricky, and I found the rule that states ’make every word count’ was particularly relevant - as it involves squeezing a large amount of information into a very small space.
Writing assignment
My next piece of work involves re-working a jumbled Freddie and the Dreamers biog. I know the band, but couldn’t name a single one of their songs. Hopefully, with a bit of web research and some help from my tips on effective writing, I can make this into a respectable piece of writing. I am a bit nervous though, as this is my first shot at editing - but I took this course to try new things so I’ll have a good go and update next week on how it went.
Feelings update
Despite the slightly obscure start to the day, I’m still enjoying the course and I still think I made the right choice in taking it. Everything I’m being told makes sense to me and I understand it, the problem I have is that there is such a vast amount to absorb, remember, and reproduce on paper! It will all sink in eventually though, so I’m feeling positive and capable of really benefiting from this experience.
My second week of training gave me an ‘interesting’ travel experience. I haven‘t lived in London for very long, so I‘m always keen to increase my knowledge of its various boroughs - and I can now say with some assurance that there is a Cobourg Road in south-east London.
The tube strike - coupled with my unease about taking a bus due to my eyesight problems - meant I had booked a taxi to pick me up from my house at 8.45 and take me to the course in Coburg Road. Ironically, poor communication meant I ended up on the other side of the city on a road with a similar name. The person taking the booking at the taxi company had relayed incorrect information to the driver, and so I found ourselves 12 miles from our destination in horrific traffic on a road named Cobourg.
I’m innocent!
I realised the mistake and told the driver, who radioed in asking someone to listen back to the recording of the conversation in which I booked the taxi. The recording showed I had been quite clear about my desired destination, and consequently the company took full responsibility for the predicament. The result was me not paying a penny for the diverted journey to Coburg Road, and getting to see a few sights along the way - which, as the driver pointed out, ‘people pay a lot of money for.’
Better late than never…
We did some interesting work today, and I learnt a few things that I’m sure will be of real use in the future. The Inverted Pyramid method of writing will, I’m sure, be used in much of my work - and the tips for effective writing are going to be immensely important to an inexperienced writer such as myself.
The afternoon provided an opportunity for me to get to know Brij better by writing a profile for him. This was quite tricky, and I found the rule that states ’make every word count’ was particularly relevant - as it involves squeezing a large amount of information into a very small space.
Writing assignment
My next piece of work involves re-working a jumbled Freddie and the Dreamers biog. I know the band, but couldn’t name a single one of their songs. Hopefully, with a bit of web research and some help from my tips on effective writing, I can make this into a respectable piece of writing. I am a bit nervous though, as this is my first shot at editing - but I took this course to try new things so I’ll have a good go and update next week on how it went.
Feelings update
Despite the slightly obscure start to the day, I’m still enjoying the course and I still think I made the right choice in taking it. Everything I’m being told makes sense to me and I understand it, the problem I have is that there is such a vast amount to absorb, remember, and reproduce on paper! It will all sink in eventually though, so I’m feeling positive and capable of really benefiting from this experience.
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