The Twitter Conference and Overall Module Thoughts

 The Twitter Conference and Overall Module Thoughts

On the 30th March, at 11am, our Twitter Conference went live. This is a page posted to twitter consisting of eight parts, showcasing our campaign in its entirety. We devised these eight posts as drafts, and once they had been approved by our seminar tutor, we uploaded them. A link to our twitter can be found below.

Twitter Conference

This marked the end of our communications campaign. 

From devising a survey to conducting an interview, our team learned may skills during this term. Personally, I enjoyed learning to use editing softwares such as imovie to edit short videos and audacity to edit our podcast. I am thankful for the opportunity to improve my teamwork skills, an asset that im sure will prove useful in all parts of my career going forward. I think it would have been good to have an evaluation meeting at the end of each work to discuss what went well ad what did not. This would have helped us understand what we could do better next week, and allow us to transfer ideas. The fact that you are given people to work with at the start of term and not allowed to group with friends brings a different dynamic to each piece of work. there is no prior rapport or base of understanding with each other, which does change the way you work together. However this is an invaluable skill for entering the workplace. I was fortunate that in my group the other two people in our group, Amy and Ella, were conscientious and reliable. One incident highlighted the importance of good communication. I had been ill and missed a seminar, and then met up without having done my work. As I didn't know these people well, I felt uncomfortable texting to say I was unwell. However, the next time we met, they mentioned the fact that I had not been pulling my weight that week. I was mortified. This misunderstanding showed me the importance of clear communication and explaining myself to the rest of the group. This is an important lesson which I will take with me in any group situation in the future.

When I learned I was going to take on a different role each week I was apprehensive, because I wouldn't naturally place myself in a leadership position. However, on reflection, this was a pivotal moment for me. Had it not been a necessary part of the course, I would never have taken on the role of interviewer for Vics Brown. Contrary to expectation, this turned out to be my favourite week. Vics was a very engaging speaker, and the interview flowed without any hesitation or awkwardness. As I was editing, and listened to my own voice on audacity, the fact that that this interview was such a success gave me a sense of extreme pride. It was interesting to listen to myself as a third party. I was surprised how confident I sounded compared to how nervous I had felt before the interview started. I think that this has made me more confident in speaking in the future.

Advice for Communications Students next year: 

• Keep on top of the blog. Although it doesn't seem like a lot at first, work can build up quickly.
• After using blogger.com for this blog, I can recommend it. However, wix.com is really great alternative which I also tried. It has some useful features, for example free blog templates.
• Look up tutorials on youtube for your assigned designer role: how to use audacity tutorial really helped me, as well as videos on how to make an engaging podcast. 
• Make sure you stay in contact with your group. A whatsapp or snapchat group chat is ideal as collaboration is much easier. This is pretty much essential to figure out meeting times etc. Teams or Skype can be useful if people are unable to attend any meetings in person. Doing work on an online document on google also helps everyone contribute even when not physically present.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help from your tutor!