Abbie Thomson
Media & Communications Undergraduate
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About Me
I am currently in my final year at Birmingham City University studying Media & Communications. As I am graduating this year I have set up this website for potential employers to learn more about me. Through my university course I have been inspired by PR and have a desire to work within this industry one day. The fast pace and relevance it has in everything we do excites me and this is why working within PR and Marketing would be amazing. As I have been involved within festivals from a young age, I am also very interested in events and I believe PR, Events and Marketing would be a fulfilling industry to work within.
Whilst at university to fulfil my enjoyment of writing I started a blog. The blog is filled with segments from my life and perspective, whether that be how to deal with loneliness, or next steps after university. I love writing this blog as it allows me to reflect on life and write freely. To read my blog in full there is a link next to my socials at the top of the home page.
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Within this online portfolio, you will find my Media CV, the projects I have created and worked on throughout university, and also work experience I have gained. If you wish to get in touch with me my social medias are linked, as well as my email address.
My Projects
Permission to Smile
Communications Presentation
One of the most enjoyable projects I worked on whilst at university was that of a communications presentation for PR. This was a solo project which entailed choosing a company and creating a campaign for said company. This was presented as a 15 minute presentation in front of a uni lecturer. The project consisted of researching a company, understanding their strengths and what needs working on, then following their requirements, create a campaign which matched these requirements. I chose Permission to Smile, a charity which reaches communities, with the aims to get them closer together.
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The charity wanted to become known across the nation, whilst also utilising their social media. I came up with a range of ideas which would benefit them greatly. (To view ideas and campaign I created refer to the highlighted sentence).
I found this a very rewarding and interesting module as it was a solo project so all ideas were my own. I also had to build the confidence to do my very first solo presentation, which really pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I am so glad I got the opportunity to do. From this module and creating the campaign I have learnt to trust my own ideas and believe I can transfer these skills to any job I may work in.
Forest Dog Rescue
PR Campaign
As part of a separate PR module I was tasked to create a campaign idea for an organisation of my choice. I chose Forest Dog Rescue. For this module I created a Christmas Card competition for schools in the local area to be involved with.
This was an invaluable module not only because I learnt the fundamentals of PR, but also as this is when my love for PR started. It was after this module that I knew I would like to work within the Public Relations industry after university.
Digbeth Dining Club
Promotional Video
A project I worked on whilst at university was that of creating a promotional video for Digbeth Dining Club in Birmingham. Digbeth Dining Club is an immersive food and music market which takes place in Birmingham's creative quarter. I worked on this project with two other media students. We were tasked with creating a short video which captured the magic of Digbeth Dining Club, making it look unique to other food markets.
I found this to be an enjoyable experience in which I had to learn how to edit whilst on the job. We used Adobe editing software to make this video come to life. The end product was highly effective and turned out well, espeically for three students in which none specialised in filming and editing.
My Experiences
V Festival
Working at a festival
For two years I had the amazing experience of working as a wristbander at V Festival. I had been attending the festival for many years prior to this and was already aware of how this operation was run. The skills I gained from working within this amazing team range from key communication skills, to working under pressure. Working at such a busy festival taught me how to use my initiative when I encountered a problem, as there wasn't always someone to ask for help. Working within this fast paced environment excited me, and gave me an idea of what working in the real world would feel like.
Full House Productions
Social media experience
As part of my university work experience I worked for Full House Productions learning about planning social media for a company and what goes into planning events for a bar. Throughout my time here I learnt the value of social media marketing and speaking to an audience. I worked on event planning for Pride and was taught how to draft the most effective social posts. Through this valuable experience I learnt how to adapt to working within a team of people I didn't know. I also became confident in giving ideas and more importnantly being heard.