Muddy Wellies

Four events down and just one to go. Being an Event Assistant for Cancer Research UK Race for Life has been an amazing experience. I have learnt so much and my confidence has grown considerably.

I am however, looking forward to not having to get up at 4am on a Sunday morning… Yes 4am..!

Even though the events have been hard work and its been mostly cold and muddy throughout. I would definitely exchange the Isle of Wight festival mud for Race for Life mud again.

I have worked at the MK Bowl, the Royal Racecourse, Waddesdon Manor, muddy fields and I have walked about 25k in the process.

Thank you to everyone at Milton Keynes, High Wycombe, Windsor and Waddesdon who made all the events I have been at so special. Next weekend is my last event and maybe my wellies could be kept mud-free that Sunday?

 

If anyone would like to find out more about the event assistant scheme, please contact me and I’ll be happy to fill you in.

 

A Bit About My Dissertation

The purpose of this Dissertation is to discover women’s relationships with magazine brands, determine what implications there are for women’s magazines and if they can survive in the digital age and will try to answer the following objectives;

1. To look back over the last 20 years and discuss the way in which women have interacted with magazine brands.
2. To examine whether women are willing to adopt digital content into their lifestyles.
3. To critically review how digital formats will affect how brands advertise and discuss if content should be created specifically for each format.
4. To explore the idea that digital magazine editions could survive without its print counterpart.

This study contains a review of secondary research on the current literature on the topic of women’s magazines in the digital age. Primary research was then used to conclude the study. Research techniques used include a consumer survey and interviews which give insight into the industry.

With readers becoming aware of the amount of free content available online (Mintel, 2010) there is a great opportunity for women to get to grips with digital technology by taking advantage of this free content. Most women are in fact willing to adopt these technologies but there are some resistors.
Brands need to understand their target market in order to reach the right people with digital technology; brands should ensure they are not putting it out on a digital platform just for the sake of it (Carter, 2012). But both interviewees can see digital being more dominant in the future. Stenner (2012) says it’s hard to imagine in twenty years’ time that is not how you would consume a magazine.

There are many implications for women’s magazine publishing in the digital age, but it seems the main one is brands getting target audience and communication right with their readers. Having people with the right skills managing daily social media and website traffic within the women’s magazine industry will create; that two-way communication, that friendship between a reader and a magazine is important to women.

What’s Next..?

So, I have now finished my degree. My last exam has been completed and I now just have to wait on my results. This is the most nerve wrecking time of my life so far. There is no more I can do to improve my results, yet I have to wait over a month to find out whether I can tell employers that I have a 2:1 or 2:2.

Despite my nerves, I will be proud of myself either way. For a person with one C and four D grades at GCSEs and no A levels the chances were against me for even getting a place on the course. However, I finished the course and I have exceeded my expectations of what was possible.

I have never been an academic person and have always felt more comfortable in the work environment. In spite of this I have made my family, friends and boyfriend so proud by challenging myself at university. But most importantly I made myself proud.

Whatever my results say, I will know that I have done something which I never dreamed of doing and my life has changed for the better because of the things I have learned and the people I have met.

Thank you to all the inspiring lecturers at Bucks New University who have made me believe in myself and allowed me to take on amazing new challenges.

What’s next..? I don’t know but I am looking forward to new challenges ahead.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Thank you to The Happiest Cow for this nomination.

As a new blogger this is unexpected but appreciated.

I feel very happy to receive this award.

Here are the rules of the award:

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

My nominations are as follows:

http://zoomyummy.com/

http://stuffkidswrite.com/

http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/

http://prettyfeetpoptoe.com/

http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/

http://polishyoupretty.com/

http://thesurfingpizza.com

http://awhiskandaspoon.com/

http://heatherandfred.wordpress.com/

http://londonerfromafar.wordpress.com/

http://busyteacher.wordpress.com

http://followushere.wordpress.com/

http://tvsurveillance.com

http://101books.net/

http://anafternoonwith.com

Thank you for entertaining or inspiring me.

Finally, here are 7 things about myself:

1. I am totally in Love
2. I am an Aries
3. I want to travel the world
4. My favourite place is the Zoo
5. I am a self confessed chocoholic
6. I love taking photographs
7. I am going to run 5k this year for charity

Deadlines

Over the last 3 years while studying for my degree the only thing I have really learned about myself is that I hate deadlines.

I love the course I am on and I really enjoy learning new thing but I think I can safely say I would rather do all of these things at my own pace.

There is 2 weeks until my dissertation is due in, which marks the beginning to the end of my life at university, and I am more confused about my future than ever before.

Are you not supposed to ‘find yourself’ at university and meet friends that will last a life time, have experiences you will never forget? All I am going to remember is being cooped up in my bedroom working my butt off for quite frankly average grades. And, still no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.

I have no doubts that I will find a job I like and I will be good at. However I wish I was one of those annoying people who has known what they wanted to do all their lives and is already achieving their goals.

On the other hand… Where is the fun in that..?

So much to do in so little time…

Thinking about graduating is so exciting! But, I have to get there first. May is creeping up on me and I am feeling a bit like a fish out of water at the moment. I wish I had a dissertation fairy that would stop me feeling like this little guy…

New Year… New Start and All That

2012 is here, all the NYE excitement has  blown over and what’s left after the holidays? Weight gain and and red wine stains. This is not the greatest start to a new year but I am positive that 2012 will be the year for me!

I am not a fan of the overpriced NYE events, people every year believe that it will be the best night of the year, this however is NEVER the case. So, this year (well last year now) I decided to sit in with a lot of food, Alan Carr and Jules Holland’s Hootenanny which never disappoints. This morning I woke up hangover free and satisfied with my NYE boycott.

I have a lot of amazing things to look forward to this year. I have applied to be a volunteer at the Olympics and my selection event is coming up soon. Also , I am in my final year of my PR and Marketing degree so will graduate this year and hopefully get a job to kick start my career! My Boyfriend, Lee and I are planning to visit a family member of his in Arizona and go to California which is a dream of mine.

All in all 2012 is going to be MY year and next NYE I will have an awesome year worth celebrating. This is why I have decided to (finally) start this blog. I will be recording all my antics and adventures of my final year of uni and the transition from Student to Employee and everything in between.