As part of my college course, I started a six month internship with Aspira in January. At last, the chance to put all my college theory into practice!
From my modules in college, I gained a grasp of three of the key ingredients required to succeed in marketing – creativity, interactivity and engagement. Progressing through my internship, I learned that variety is another important factor in attracting user attention and retaining user interaction. Some individuals are like-minded but equally some are not – some prefer to watch a video versus reading content and vice versa.
For example, when I helped create the new IT Solutions section on the website, we included short videos and the option to view brochure elements which offer more detail about the services on offer. It is important to produce content in multiple formats, as people absorb information in different ways.
Tip-toeing through the tulips
Aspira unveiled its Amsterdam office on 14 February and I joined the preparations as part of the launch team. This was an exciting project that required a vast amount of elements to be organised, amended and researched, plus a new website to be launched.
This project really drove home the need to get things right – I learned that in the real world, there is little to no room for mistakes. In college, there is usually the opportunity to rectify mistakes and scoring 8/10 is a very satisfactory result. In work, only 10/10 is acceptable!
I realised that errors can reflect badly on an organisation’s reputation, so I was determined to predict potential problems and address them before they could lead to trouble. Attention to detail is a key skill which should not be undermined.
An event to remember
For the first time, the Ireland Chapter PMI decided to host its annual National Conference outside of Dublin. The 2019 location was Fota Island in Cork and my boss, the Head of Marketing for Aspira, was selected as the Project Manager for the event. She encouraged me to be part of her team of volunteers.
Throughout the next few weeks there were numerous phone calls, emails, late night meetings and a lot of organisation– from choosing menus to setting up exhibition stands to grouping name badges into sections. I really enjoyed this additional workload as it gave me the chance to utilise my skills and take on new responsibilities, where possible. I learned from the meetings how important it is to capture actions successfully and follow up on decisions reached.
Again, attention to detail was paramount. With a room full of project managers coming, it was important to have everything running smoothly and to pre-empt any issues. For example, on the evening before the event, we conducted a ‘walkthrough’ of the attendee registration process.
The walkthrough identified the likelihood of a bottleneck being created and so we re-designed the process into two steps, physically separated. The next morning, during the heat of the registration process, we really appreciated that change – and the attendees had a seamless experience – a win-win situation. It gave me a real sense of pride knowing that I positively contributed to such a successful event.
I am already approaching halfway through my internship and am looking forward to learning lots more as part of the Aspira team!
Author: Dean Murphy, Marketing Co-ordinator, Aspira.