Week 12 - Assignment Feedback:

This week was the first week back after the christmas period, in this session as normal we did a stand up meeting. Over the first term I learnt the importance of these as it helped us to stay on track and make sure we had time management skills which would be useful for employment after university.

After speaking to Bex I received my assignment score and grade which I was happy with, she showed me where I can improve which would be especially useful for the second group assignment as I got the lowest within my working group.


Week 13 - Interpreting Data:


In this session we learnt what assignment 2 would be. I was happy to find out it was a group assignment as I work better in a group than individually which should hopefully reflect in a higher grade for this assignment. I found out that we would have to write an individual blog which is particularly useful as it helps for the reflection piece in the assignment.


After speaking with the group we planned our tasks for the session as per the stand up meeting at the start of the session. As always the group was shared fairly and to our strengths as per the Belbin test conducted in Term 1.


Week 14 - Presenting Data and Personas:


This session began with a brief chat about Business Placements, as I do not wish to do a placement through my time in uni due to an already busy working life this part of the tutorial was not particularly useful to me. This was followed by a stand up meeting.


This session taught me how to present my data appropriately and how this can make your work easier to follow. We also looked back over the various types of data and how to analyse them. Secondly, we visited Personas. This is a topic that we have visited over all my different courses throughout the year so I felt confident with this. It is also important to hear another member of staffs way of presenting this as it helps to understand a subject more.


Week 15 - Re-Writing a Creative Brief:


Typical of any Big Agency tutorial the session started with every group doing a stand up meeting so we could plan what we wanted to achieve in the session, this I found since week 13 has become increasingly more important as working in a group everyone has to attend and do their fair share of work otherwise we are not going to succeed in our work.


We looked at our clients brief in this session and what we could do to re-write it. We looked at 5 main topics. 1.What is the key objective? 2. Who is the audience and what do they need from your client? 3. What will inspire the audience to engage with your client? 4. How will you reach the audience? 5. What is the single most important message you’d like the audience to know about the brand/product? These questions helped us to understand even further what client ultimately wanted from us.


Week 16 - Digital Marketing in 2017:


This session was particularly interesting as it was a sector that particularly interests me and 
is a serious consideration for my third year options. In this session we looked at the various different services offered by brands and how they are used and the positives and negatives that come with them. We also looked at what is used to make up the ideas and theories that drive these apps and services. 


This session also featured a stand up meeting. These meeting are beginning to become increasingly more useful as we can allocate tasks between the group meaning we get as much use as possible from these seminars were we probably would not have done in the past. 


This session, I feel, has helped to improve my employability and given me a firmer insight in to what I want to do when I finish university. I am going to strive to get a job working for a digital agency after I complete my course.


Week 17 - Are you up to date?:


This week was a session in which we collected all our information and work together that we produced as a group and looked what we needed to do before we received our assignment briefing after Personal Development Week. By making sure we had all of our work where we wanted it to be it meant that as a group we could set up a plan for us moving forward and a plan of how to use our time off over the period effectively.


The stand up meeting conducted in this session was especially useful as it showed us how much we achieved by the end of the session. For this stand up meeting there was only two members of my group present, myself and one other. This meant that we had a slightly larger workload than usual but it meant we had to plan our time within the session which will become a key skill in the workplace. (Time management.)

Week 18 - Assignment 2 Briefing:


In this session we looked at Assignment 2 and what we needed to do for it, I understood from this seminar that it would b very similar to Assignment 1 in format which made it seem a lot easier. The only difference was the video, as Michal was the Creative Director of the group he was delegated with the task of producing a brochure over the next few weeks that we could use in the video in order to showcase our ideas to Toilet Twinning. 


In this seminar we were also reminded of the 3 key reflective theories that would form the basis of our assignment, these are as follows: Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1984), Schön’s Reflection in Action theory (1991) and finally Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1998).

Week 19 - Creative Work/ Assignment Support

This week we had our video completed several days earlier and this meant that we were fully prepared going in to the presentations in the following weeks, this week was quite a short and empty seminar due to there being no tutor present and so we had to speak to the other tutor running the Big Agency class next door to our room if we had any questions but she came in and checked on us regularly. 

She watched our video for the final time and suggested some final improvements that we could use such as certain animations when talking about the PESTEL analysis in the video. As a group we found this especially helpful and made sure Michal fully comprehended the task in question in order for us to reach the next level with the video.

Week 20 - Creative Work/ Assignment Support:

This week Michal continued with the video, as a group whilst Michal completed this instead of badgering him and trying to input constantly we looked through Yasmin's strategic marketing plan and looked to see if there was anything that had still yet to be completed or needed updating. Yasmin's plan created at the start of the year made it especially easy for us as we could be completely sure that everything had been completed.

Once our work was completed we helped Michal with any remaining creative work that needed to be completed this was because as Creative Director in a creative task he had an exceptionally large amount of work to be done and we wanted to make sure we did not miss the deadline. However, he had all his work completed to an extremely high standard.

Week 21 - Creative Work/ Assignment Support:

This week was the deadline for our final video to be completed, we had all of our non-creative work completed as per the plan set out for the group at the start of the year. Going forward creating a plan of action at the start of any piece of work will help with my organisation which I sometimes struggle with ultimately driving up my grades.

I today saw the final video and thought it was great, the work put in by Michal had really paid off creatively and the work that featured in the video completed by everyone in the group looked exceptional giving us a proud and relieved feeling knowing that we had finished the project.

Week 22 - Presentation:

Today was presentation day, we had to be in the room by 10:00 AM or we would not receive a grade for our work, for the amount of work completed it was not worth being late and so I arrived promptly and signed my group work sheet. We watched our video being played and it looked smooth and clean and worked really well as a presentation tool.

After this, Dawn invited our group to the front of the room for a few questions regarding the client, our work and how we overcame any issues. These all went really smoothly and we were able to leave after this. After this I felt pleased with what we had achieved as a group and relieved that we had received good feedback for the amount of work we had put in.

Week 1 - Motivation:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. In this 3 hour tutorial the tutor went through the ins and outs of what we needed to know for the course and what she expected of us throughout our time on the course. The main body of this tutorial was spent on motivation. We spent time considering what good ethics were in and out of the workplace.

This week gave me scope for the assignment and helped me to understand what I needed to complete week by week in order for me to succeed in the assignment and achieve the highest grade possible. 

Week 2 - Team Forming and Role Theory:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. In this 3 hour tutorial the tutor went through our results of our Belbin test and how this would be useful for group forming. We examined what a role was and how we could identify any weaknesses in the team and then we addressed these. 

The roles that the Belbin Test produced for me were Explorer, Innovator and Chairman. This means that the test showed me to have leading capabilities whilst still being creative in that role. This made me difficult to assign within a group. However, in my working group we had a range of different roles meaning that the different learning styles of the group all marry together to mean our work is done creatively in a way that suits us all.

Week 3 - Pitching for Projects:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. In this 3 hour tutorial this week we pitched our ideas in order to win a candidate. 

The candidate our group won was Toilet Twinning, Toilet Twinning is a charity that for £60 will build a toilet in another country and will send you the co-ordinates of this back to you on plaque to be placed in your toilet. Therefore hence the name Toilet Twinning. As per my PDP I felt there were significant things that I could take away from this session and use to develop my presentation skills making a better presenter.


Week 4 and 5 - Clarifying the Brief and Project Management:

To make sure I was prepared for these 2 weeks I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. In the first 3 hour tutorial we worked in a group to formulate questions to deliver to the client. This means that we could ask the correct questions wit the help of the tutor to make sure we got the most out of our work. For the second 3 hour tutorial we planned our project, we also had a deadline that day for our Personal Development Plan (PDP) which I completed in the necessary manner whilst knowing I could amend this at any time.


Week 6 - Groupwork and Feedback:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. During this 3 hour seminar we conducted two stand up meetings, one at the beginning and one at end. These are useful for goal setting and understanding how much work has been accomplished.

Whilst undertaking group work each person had their PDP reviewed, this was helpful for the assignment as it meant the work I would be completing would be to the highest standard possible. Bex told me I need to "develop" my points more so after the session this is what I did to my PDP.

We also conducted another two stand up meetings, one at the beginning and one at end. These are useful for goal setting and understanding how much work has been accomplished.

Week 7 - Groupwork:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. During in this 3 hour seminar group tasks were assigned to each group member in order to spread the work load fairly and efficiently I found this particularly useful as a group we learnt more about the strengths and weaknesses that each person feels they possess.

We also conducted another two stand up meetings, one at the beginning and one at end. These are useful for goal setting and understanding how much work has been accomplished.

Week 8 - Groupwork:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. In this 3 hour seminar Bex showed us the different forms we needed to fill in in order to be able to have our research insured by the university, this was especially important as without having those forms filled in it limits us greatly in the research we can conduct as a group. All files were stored on the group planner. By completing our forms way before the deadline it gives the group plenty of time over the holidays to plan how we should approach each company that we target and how we can do this effectively as representatives of Toilet Twinning.

We also conducted another two stand up meetings, one at the beginning and one at end. These are useful for goal setting and understanding how much work has been accomplished.

Week 9 - Research Methods and Assignment 1:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. During in this 3 hour seminar we looked at what sort of research method we should undertake as a group. We opted to interview clients as this will give us the best idea of what we can do to help Toilet Twinning as a charity. It also opens our scope as we will gain valuable information into what it is like to work for some very large companies and what their ethics (a crucial part of marketing) really are. After this we spent the rest of the session looking at reflective theories to use in the assignment and we went through how the assignment should be structured this was particularly helpful as it gave me a very good insight into what I should be writing and including.

We also conducted another two stand up meetings, one at the beginning and one at end. These are useful for goal setting and understanding how much work has been accomplished.

Week 10 - Assignment 1 Continued:

To make sure I was prepared for this week I checked Moodle for the information I needed to know for this week on the course. During in this 3 hour seminar we recapped what we needed to do for the assignment and this was particularly helpful as it gave me a refresher as to what I should really be improving it also meant I understood the work I was doing and what I could change in order to get the highest marks available. After Bex had finished going through these thoroughly helpful slides we spoke as a group to make sure we had everything fully completed in order to build our portfolio. As this was the case all the work was already on the planner and Lottie, a member of our group, collated the work into one document which made it easier for us as a group to use in the appendices of our assignment.

We also conducted another two stand up meetings, one at the beginning and one at end. These are useful for goal setting and understanding how much work has been accomplished.