Student gets a taste of Glasgow Life
A placement with one of Scotland’s leading cultural organisations has given an International Tourism and Events Management student the perfect start to her career.
Jennifer McCabe has been making the most of her summer break ahead of her final year at GCU thanks to a four-week placement with Glasgow Life.
“I actually found the opportunity myself,” explained Jennifer. “I chose the Work Placement as my optional module this year and we had to source our own placement.
“I decided to approach Glasgow Life because of their reputation and the fact that they are so well established. They are basically a charity that work as a DMO (Destination Marketing Organisation); they created the ‘People Make Glasgow’ slogan for the Commonwealth Games ten years ago.
“They also work on lots of different events like the Cycling World Championships and the World Pipe Band Championships. They take in tourism and events which was a massive bonus because a lot of my classmates were stuck with choosing one or the other.”
She added: “I applied through a form on their website - more in hope than expectation - and they got back and said they could accommodate what I needed for my course. They had never done anything like this for University students before, so I was delighted to be the first to get the opportunity.”
The internship was based within the organisation’s Destination and Events Management Marketing Team, giving Jennifer the chance to further develop skills she had learned throughout the first three years of her degree.
“My role was hybrid; so I did a couple of days in the office and a few at home. They created a Google Drive where they put all their materials for me to view at the start from home – it was a good way for me to learn more about the company. When I was in the office, I got the chance to attend meetings and get that practical experience overall.”
The opportunity led to Jennifer being directly involved in the promotion of three events, providing her with valuable experience ahead of graduation next year.
“Glasgow Mela, a multicultural event based on the traditions on the Indian sub-continent, involved a lot of promotion around the different acts and food that was going to be there. The main sponsor was Tilda Rice so we worked closely with them to help promote their brand at the event. There was a lot of advertising online before the event and then on the day I worked closely with the photographer so that Glasgow life could get lots of pictures to promote the event next year.
“It was a very busy event, held in Kelvingrove Park – they had over 40,000 people turn up. There was lots of different music acts over two stages and there were also lots of different workshops put on in the Kelvingrove Bandstand. There were lots of food and shopping stalls, and there was also funfair rides for kids.
“Media Getaway was a three-day networking event that brings together different companies from the world of travel and tourism. They basically have one-to-one meetings and also do visits across the city. Glasgow Life’s main role was to organise these different trips to the likes of the Burrell Collection, mural tours and food tours.
“The Merchant City Festival was a three-day event. I had actually finished my placement before it started but I did work on the marketing running up to it. Glasgow Life basically work with different companies to create a programme of entertainment; for example they worked with Imaginate to do family fun day activities; one example was Prom Pom Queen and I was lucky enough to go along to their photo-shoot for that – it was a lot of fun. They also worked with Surge to create a wide range of shows and events. Celtic Connections were also involved with the different music acts at night, so there was a lot of organising behind the scenes.”
Jennifer added: “I would say my role more focused on the marketing side of things and the overall promotion. It was quite interesting for me because it was something I hadn’t really looked into before. I got the chance to use the likes of Canva to make graphics to help promote the event. I also did a lot of research: for the Merchant City Festival I worked on how influencers could be used to help promote the event.”
Looking back on her experience, Jennifer is delighted to have had the chance to work alongside such a big organisation at this point in her career.
She said: “I think I’ve been really lucky because I’ve been able to work with a well-established company involved in both tourism and events. It’s given me relevant experience and that opportunity to build skills used within the industry, like marketing and data analysis.
“It’s also given me a different perspective because I hadn’t considered the marketing side of events before. I’m now thinking in the future I might work in that area.
“I chose work placement because I knew my CV lacked some relevant experience within this industry. The month with Glasgow life has given me more confidence and I do now feel ready to go and start my career.”
By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter