This year, the Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO) were thrilled to welcome a current student to the team to help organise and host Annual Reunion 2018. We were joined by Niamh Roberts, a final year Tourism Management student, who applied for the role of Events Assistant via the University’s UniJob scheme. In this week’s blog, she gives us an insight into her experience over the last three weeks…
“Studying a course as dynamic as Tourism Management has not only allowed me to learn about the different integrated areas of the tourism industry, but also experience them too. Having just returned from a placement in Walt Disney World, combined with my previous study of events through my course, I was keen to expand my knowledge of events management by developing my practical experience in the field, i.e. being involved in the planning, preparation, execution and conclusion of an event. This job role offered exactly that!
“The role was different from other 9-5 office jobs, and an element that I really enjoyed during my time in the DARO office was the flexibility in the day-to-day operations – no two days were the same, and a large majority consisted of me being away from the desk carrying out different tasks. Being given the opportunity to be heavily involved in all aspects of the Annual Alumni Reunion was brilliant and included: assisting with the finalisation of bookings; selecting decorations for revamping social areas; writing copy to send to attendees; creating signage for the event and having the honour of designing a window plan for a pop-up exhibition on the 77 Fallen. It was all extremely rewarding. This opportunity was extremely enriching, I have been able to develop both new and existing skills that are considered essential in today’s customer service driven industry.
“Another particular highlight of the Annual Reunion was, after weeks of preparation and confirming booking details with the alumni, being able to put faces to the names of the people I had been communicating with. Seeing the excitement on people’s faces as they reminisce about their College years with their fellow classmates, and having people take the time to share stories with me about their time here was a really special experience. I truly enjoyed helping deliver this event and feel privileged to have been welcomed so warmly by the team and the alumni.
“Annual Reunion is so different to previous events I have been involved with, as a large number of the attendees have not been back on campus or seen some of their classmates since they left College; therefore, being able to provide a current student perspective on how things operate now, and to be a part of an event that allows people to reconnect, has been priceless.”
If you would like to be a guest blogger, please email us at alumni@chester.ac.uk, or drop us a message on social media.
