My First Couple of Weeks as an Intern at SoolNua:
Before starting the Internship at SoolNua, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew the experience would include Digital Marketing and Events but after that I was venturing into the unknown. I had been hearing a lot about Digital Marketing and I was curious to find out more about it and how social Media works in relation to marketing. I knew Pádraic over the years and therefore I trusted that it would be a worthwhile experience to work at SoolNua and to see what it was all about.
I was made to feel very welcome from my first day by the whole team, where the general atmosphere in the office was friendly, enthusiastic and positive. I was also given a tour of the quirky office. I was delighted to discover that I had my own desk! What is even better is that the desk has a window behind it with plenty of natural sunlight streaming in! Aoife and Pádraic brought me into the meeting room where they explained to me, what the MICE industry was. I had never heard of the industry before but I have been reading articles and blogs since then, trying to get a full understanding of the Industry. There are so many facets to this wide ranging Industry and I am trying to get my head around it all.
I really enjoyed reading the blogs and the content on the SoolNua Website and learning how to use some of the social media platforms such as Twitter, Sprout Social and other content tools like Canva.
Two of the diverse projects I got to work on were:
Event Management & Social Media Management: Airfield Food Series:
During my first couple of weeks, I got the opportunity to work at an Event in Airfield Estate which was based around the subject of food packaging. SoolNua’s role on the day was to manage the event. From speaker liaising, time management, AV direction and controlling of social media walls and interactive audience engagement tools like, Slido, there was a lot going on! ‘Slido’ was used to help the audience interact with the speaker presentations by submitting questions throughout the day and they would show on all of the digital screens and were discussed during panel discussions.
The aspect that I enjoyed the most was listening to various Industry experts discuss and debate an important issue about food packaging. I also enjoyed learning about how the social media engagement could spread awareness about the discussion both within the room itself, as well as further afield, where the event trended on twitter.
Airfield Food Series, “Food Unwrapped”
Client Brand Audit:
I worked with the team on a brand audit project for a client. We looked at their digital marketing presence (email, social media and other elements) and their website. We also conducted a competitive analysis to see where they ranked in comparison to their industry competitors. I enjoyed looking at the different components that make up a website’s branding and marketing strategy. It was great learning about how a brand could improve on these things.
#WorldICECREAMindex:
I have been exposed to other projects that SoolNua have been working on such as the #worldICECREAMindex. After the competition is over, there is still a lot do to! I helped pull together our winner packs to send out to all of the stores, city convention bureaux and country destination marketing organisations. I worked with the team to streamline the winner announcements on social media too.
Overall:
So far my experience interning at SoolNua has left me feeling inspired from all of the content I have read and the people involved in the industry, as well as feeling excited to learn more about this Industry in the coming weeks. Perhaps because of the fact that the MICE industry is so linked with Travel, I too find myself on this journey of discovery, learning about a new way of working.
Aoife McCrum, Hannah McNamee, Mary Martin at Airfield Estate
If you have any advice for me, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] I also have a new Twitter and I currently only have a few followers, so please follow me @marysoolnua.
We have a super cool website to show you the work and services we provide and it can be found at soolnua.com.
For all things meetings and events related, Padraicino is the man to talk to.