Networking
Starting our third year of university came with many welcome changes compared to our highly-disrupted second year, such as the reintroduction of unrestricted lectures on campus, plus regular digital media department networking events as part of the CEDI initiative. These networking events were a great way to get to know the rest of the digital media department, including first- and second-year students, as well as offering the opportunity to make some important contacts in the digital media sector, both local and further afield. It was mandatory to attend at least three of these events, but their casual nature (with complimentary drinks!) and fairly short running time (3PM-5PM on Fridays) meant that they never felt like an inconvenience, and were rather enjoyable to those of us who like to meet new people. I did not keep count of how many events I attended, but notable dates are detailed below:
24th September 2021 Introduction Session
I attended the first session of the year to get a feel for what future networking events would be like, and to break the ice with some of the students, lecturers, and professionals that I hadn’t met before. Sadly, not too many others (especially 3rd years) came along, but it was good to meet a few new people and show my interest in the networking concept.
30th September 2021 RSA Presentations
Soon after the first networking event, Marina (one of our excellent lecturers) asked me and a few of my fellow students/friends if we’d like to give a short talk to the current second years about their Case Study/RSA project. Although I wasn’t sure if I had much to offer them, I did enjoy the project and it actually earned me the best grade attained at university so far. I didn’t prepare a speech or presentation, I am happy doing things spontaneously and decided to just show them the work I had put on my portfolio, which can be seen here. My audience seemed fairly receptive, and I think I made some good points that would help them with their projects. In hindsight it might have benefitted the students more if I had planned a presentation, but I did give them the opportunity to ask questions. I thought it was a good experience, and the students seemed to appreciate it which was nice – I wouldn’t hesitate to help out the other years on future projects if I thought I had something to bring to the table. Below are some images of my talk, courtesy of Marina.
Starting our third year of university came with many welcome changes compared to our highly-disrupted second year, such as the reintroduction of unrestricted lectures on campus, plus regular digital media department networking events as part of the CEDI initiative. These networking events were a great way to get to know the rest of the digital media department, including first- and second-year students, as well as offering the opportunity to make some important contacts in the digital media sector, both local and further afield. It was mandatory to attend at least three of these events, but their casual nature (with complimentary drinks!) and fairly short running time (3PM-5PM on Fridays) meant that they never felt like an inconvenience, and were rather enjoyable to those of us who like to meet new people. I did not keep count of how many events I attended, but notable dates are detailed below:
24th September 2021 Introduction Session
I attended the first session of the year to get a feel for what future networking events would be like, and to break the ice with some of the students, lecturers, and professionals that I hadn’t met before. Sadly, not too many others (especially 3rd years) came along, but it was good to meet a few new people and show my interest in the networking concept.
30th September 2021 RSA Presentations
Soon after the first networking event, Marina (one of our excellent lecturers) asked me and a few of my fellow students/friends if we’d like to give a short talk to the current second years about their Case Study/RSA project. Although I wasn’t sure if I had much to offer them, I did enjoy the project and it actually earned me the best grade attained at university so far. I didn’t prepare a speech or presentation, I am happy doing things spontaneously and decided to just show them the work I had put on my portfolio, which can be seen here. My audience seemed fairly receptive, and I think I made some good points that would help them with their projects. In hindsight it might have benefitted the students more if I had planned a presentation, but I did give them the opportunity to ask questions. I thought it was a good experience, and the students seemed to appreciate it which was nice – I wouldn’t hesitate to help out the other years on future projects if I thought I had something to bring to the table. Below are some images of my talk, courtesy of Marina.
1st October 2021
The second official networking event I attended featured a presentation by my friends Tomos and Dean, who showcased their fascinating Malmesbury project. Although I had seen much of the project in prior presentations (they worked on it during second year), it was good to see them talk about it in a more casual environment, and I’m sure it was very interesting for the first and second years who wouldn’t have seen it before. It got me thinking about which of my projects I would most like to present to the cohort if I had the opportunity.
17th December 2021 Poster Exhibition and Christmas Party
The final event of the year was the most memorable, combining a mini poster exhibition and a digital media department Christmas party. It was really enjoyable to have a catch up with some of the classmates and lecturers I hadn’t seen much this semester. Unfortunately, my time-planning (or my lack of discipline) had let me down towards the end of the semester, so I did not have time to produce a poster for the exhibition. This was a shame as there were some excellent entries on display and I would have liked to show off my Banshee guitar project among them, but ultimately, I had to prioritise my marked work in those final weeks.
4th February 2022
The second networking of the event of the year featured guest speaker Adam McIntosh, a games industry veteran who worked for gaming giant Electronic Arts for over 15 years. While I am not interested in entering the gaming industry after graduating, I am a casual gamer so I thought the talk could be interesting anyway. I was glad that I had attended; it was definitely beneficial to get some tips from someone who had worked their way up inside a large tech company, and some topics discussed – such as what makes a good CV – were relevant to all industries.
10th February 2022 Business Plan Presentation
Similar to last semester, lecturer Marina asked if I could give a short presentation to the current second-years, this time about the year-three study plan that they would be working on. Lucy and I spoke to them about what to expect in third year, what things they needed to start thinking about now (placements etc.), and we gave tips on how to write their upcoming study plan. I couldn’t remember all that much about the study plan, but I felt I was able to give some good advice on how to approach the third year as a whole. They seemed appreciative of this, and it was a pleasure to get to know some of them a bit better.
29th March 2022 Design Museum Trip
On the 29th March (my birthday) we visited the Design Museum in Kensington again, having done so during first year but not in second year due to COVID. Although not much had changed except the specific paid exhibitions, I had recently taken an interest in architectural photography and found lots of interesting structures to capture in and around the museum. I edited these images in Photoshop (developing my image manipulation skills) and included some in my printed portfolio.
Transmedia 2022
After two years of online Transmedia shows due to COVID, we were finally able to take part in the live event on campus which had been planned by the current second-year students. From my perspective at least, the show ran perfectly and should be considered a success – the third-year pitches ran smoothly, and everybody seemed happy with how their presentations went. I managed to win the Best Presentation award which was a lovely surprise to conclude my time at university. The only thing I think I could have done better would have been to prepare some work to display on my table, like a poster or some 3D printed parts, rather than just showing people work on my laptop. That said, my printed portfolios came out really nicely and I was proud to show them to people.
