In these last four months I have been employed by the Grand Theatre as a Digital Officer intern, and I feel that I’ve learnt more than when I was in university. What I never realised when entering University is that it is not only knowledge that is important, but experience. When you leave, you might have the perfect degree, but unless you can show that you can do the job without hesitation then you might as well hang your hat at the door.

I believed that after University, due to the pressing need for people in my field, I would be hired instantly, but much to my discovery, I found that most employers were looking for up to 3+ years of experience. I thought I had no chance, until I saw that there was an opening at The Grand for an intern to handle the digital side of their marketing. I was excited beyond belief, as I’ve told countless people countless times since being hired, “It’s my dream job in my dream workplace”. I’ve always been very much into theatre, I’ve been singing and performing from a very young age, and to work for one of the most beautiful theatres in Blackpool was unbelievable. You can imagine my face when I was told I was hired, and in November I started my new role and was introduced to the marketing team.

From the first day, I was told that I would be leading on social media, keeping track of activity on the website, everything that I had expected when reading the job description. I had thought my new job would be easy until I was introduced to programs I had never heard of; shown the business side of social media that I had never seen and was asked to attend conferences across the country, including ‘Digital Utopias’ in Hull, and ‘Picture This’ in Birmingham. I was slowly introduced to their systems and their branding, making notes along the way. I was shown useful apps and programs such as Hootsuite that made scheduling tweets and posting photos on instagram easier, I learnt how to use programs such as Spektrix and Dotmailer to create and send emails to subscribers, and I was sent on training events to learn more about the creative business side of online arts. I learned how to use Agora Pulse to bring fun and family friendly apps to our audience, giving them a new way to interact with us. I am proud to say that I have helped them to revitalise their social media such as their new Instagram and Tumblr account, slowly bringing in new ideas that will help The Grand for years to come. In a short amount of time, it was no longer ‘their Facebook page’, but ‘our Facebook page’. When I first started I would wait to be told what was needed, but after four months, I can now sit at my desk and get on with whatever I have planned for that day. I’m left to my own devices, adding new tweets and facebook posts when new information comes in and designing emails on a weekly basis.

I’ve had plenty of opportunities to take responsibility for projects of my own devising, such as designing The Grand’s new Tumblr account. I have been allowed to improve areas of their social media, such as their Instagram and Pinterest accounts. I have conceived a hashtag for their Instagram (#instagrand), and I have expanded digitally some of their current projects to grow their social media ( e.g. A ‘Dinosaur Zoo’ competition called ‘DinoZoo Baby’ in which the audience can submit photos of plasticine dinosaurs they have created and vote for others.) My role was to create ‘awareness’ on their Facebook and Twitter pages, use Pinterest to create a board in which people can see the Dinosaurs that members of staff have created, and I have used Instagram to attract younger members of our audience.

I’ve found that working at The Grand is like working for one large family, as corny as that sounds. I think that perhaps that has become truer over the last few months, as most of The Grand’s employees have moved temporarily into a new office while renovations are taking place. As such, because our offices are closer together than they were before, it’s easy for someone to pop in for a visit instead of sending emails. Everyone seems very in touch with each other (with a clear vision), which for a theatre I think is important. It’s been educational not only from a marketing point of view, but also on how a theatre such as The Grand works. I was part of a team that worked to bring Blackpool the best shows in town, and who are determined to boost culture and the arts in Blackpool.

by Charlotte Watts