Week Four: Bloomimg Gorgeous

Week Four: Day One

This morning I did my normal task of updating the deWinter social media sites.

This afternoon however was much more exciting. I spent the afternoon meeting with the retailers at The Golden Square. I needed to source 5-6 looks. I explained to the retailers that I was working on behalf of the centres PR team styling a shoot for the local paper up at Arley hall in Cheshire. The shoots were to be a florals look and a tailored look. I left with more than enough items sourced to style both looks. 

Week Four: Day Two

Today is the shoot day. I spent the morning working from home researching the two high street trends that would be photographed later today. I also drafted up the two columns for Laura.

At 12 I left home to collect the clothes from the retailers and then headed up to Arley hall to meet Laura and the photographer. 

The shoot went really well and I was really pleased with my styling.

Above are some behind the scenes snaps I took. Below is the final column.

I know is very very 'high street' but I am pleased with it none the less.

Week Four: Day Three

This morning I returned all the clothes to the retailers. I let them know how the shoot went and thanked them for allowing us use of the items.

I then spent the afternoon making product lists for each look for the paper. I also continued with writing the two columns.

This has been the best week of my internship so ar. It has been great having the opportunity to use my styling skills and do some fashion based research and writing. It has really opened my eyes to other skills I have other than image making. Fashion journalism is something I am definitely interested in perfecting after this week. 

Week Three

Week 3: Day one

Today was pretty exciting I got the opportunity to spend the day shopping for clothes and sourcing props for a photoshoot which will take place tomorrow. The shoot was for one of DeWinters newest clients, Dr. Beckmanns. Dr. Beckmanns is a company which sells stain removal products. the images were to be used for their new website being designed and built by DeWinter's design team.

I was briefed by Jenna as to what the story of each shot was to be.

I spent the day out and about in Chester shopping for props and clothes, here s the list of what I had to buy for each shot: 

Children summertime shot

4xbrightly coloured t-shirts

1xbox of Ribena lolly ices

Children Easter shot

Easter Eggs

Stripey dress

Christmas shot

Cooked chicken

Carrots

Gravy granules

Cranberry sauce

Sauce dish

Tea spoon

Crackers

Christmas hats

Burger shot

Ketchup

Bright blue men's t-shirt

Girls dancing

4xcolourful skinny jeans

4xcontrasting colourful heals

Coffee

Italian restaurant shot

Red and white table cloth

Salt and pepper

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Red Wine

Pasta dish

A menu

Two times ladies blouse in pastel

Later this afternoon when I arrived back at the office with all the items for tomorrow's shoot I was asked to then source some images for the Warrington Guardian Column. This weeks trend was the 'Cut-out' trend. Here are some of the look shots and product shots I sourced.

I am really enjoying the work I am doing alongside Laura for the Warrington Guardian's fashion column as I feel I can really apply my fashion knowledge and visual communication skills too.

Week 3: day two

Today I managed the props for the Dr. Beckmanns shoot. The shoot lasted the full day. 

I spent the morning making Christmas crackers and pretend Christmas presents and paper hats. Due to the time of year, these were the only props I could not purchase at the shops. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to do something creative and the directors were really impressed with the props I created.

I was given the running order for the days shoot and was left in charge of making sure all props were in the right location or studio at the correct time. I was also asked to make sure all models were ready for the correct time too. I also had the job of making up the christmas dinners and spaghetti bolognaise, they were quite obviously cold but looked pretty tasty never the less. I really enjoyed the responsibility and the shoot went very very well.

Below is one of the final images being used on the website. Really really pleased with it.

Week 3: day three

Today I scheduled tweets and posts about the use of Pinterest as a business or a brand. I used links to both articles and info graphics on Pinterest.

I then spent most of the day returning some of the props and clothing from yesterday's shoot. All items which were not stained or un-returnable.

Week 3: day four

Today I spent most of the day archiving old magazines, newspapers, monthly client reports and press cutting. This wasn't the most fascinating task but it felt quite therapeutic after a really busy few days its the Dr. Beckmanns shoot.

I then filed everything away in the store room in the appropriate areas.

I also scheduled tweets for over the weekend via Hootsuite.

Week Two

Week 2: Day one

This morning I scheduled tweets via Hootsuite. Today I focused on recent articles discussing the benefits of using LinkedIn as a professional, a brand or a business. 

I then went on to source some product images and to write a small description of a trend 'Beautiful Beads' for the Women Today column in the Chester Chronicle. I used PR Shots and Fashion GPS to source the images below and write the mini article.

Later today I spent keeping in touch with two of the PR execs which were at a Thermal Spa event at Mottram Hall. I used the images and information they sent me to update the Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Week 2: Day two

The tweets and posts I scheduled today included the discussion of video conferencing and how this can save a business time and money. I discussed the newest ways of video conferencing and best platforms to use.

I then went on to do some research. I was looking for celebrities based in the Northeast. DeWinter were looking for celebrities to sample smart washing machines for one of their clients. Each celeb needed to have a Twitter account so that they could tweet about the washing machines. I found the agent contact details for the members of Geordie shore and some Sunderland and Newcastle WAGS. I put all the contact details int a spreadsheet and printed it for Lexi who had asked me to do this task.

This afternoon I did some research for BBC Radio Manchester. They are coming to Warrington on Saturday morning to record a segment at The Golden Square shopping Centre. They asked me to research clubs, associations, spokespeople and events upcoming in Warrington. I really enjoyed this task and being a Warrington girl I found it pretty easy.

Week 2: Day three

Following on from yesterday's scheduled tweets and posts on video conferencing, today I linked my posts to the use of Skype. This is all fascinating stuff. I really enjoy spending my morning reading up to date articles on the newest developments in Social Media use.

This morning we also had a catch up meeting on the BBC Radio Manchester segment. I printed off my research and relayed it during the meeting. The feedback from what I had done was great and was later forwarded to the BBC. Research for the BBC is a great thing to pop onto my CV I guess. Really pleased with the feedback.

Later today I started some research on Linkedin for Jenna and some research on a project called CLNR for another of the PR execs.

Week 2: Day four

Today Jenna was off sick and so I didn't have anyone to report to. I carried on as normal scheduling tweets and Facebook posts via Hootsuite and scheduled some for over the weekend too.

Later today I continued with my research on CLNR. CLNR (Customer Led Network Revolution) is a project funded by OFGEM. The project looks at renewable energy sources and is launching products such as smart washing machines, smart cars and smart meters.

I popped together a report for Lee, the exec in charge of the account. The report included a look at the competitors of the project, how they use social media and any recent news articles on them and CLNR. I also looked at the industry in general and put together some research on the DECC (The Department for Energy and Climate Change) and Ed Davey who is the minister for Energy and Climate Change. At the end of the day I emailed the document over to Lee.

Week One: DeWinter

Week 1: Day one

Today my intern experience began. I was nervous, excited and keen to learn something new. I chose to come and work at DeWInter rather than with a stylist or photographer as I already work with photographers on a weekend. I have always been really interested in blogging and the use of social media within the fashion industry. I know that DeWinter contributes to several local fashion columns and works closely with some retailers too. This was a perfect opportunity for me to expand my interest in fashion journalism and also to apply the skills I already have as an image maker. Hopefully at te end of this six weeks I will have gained a whole new skill set.

Jenna Vernon, director of Digital and Social Media is the person I will be reporting to throughout my internship. 

My first task as part of my placement was to attend a meeting alongside Jenna with an expert social media strategist. This was a great start as it gave me a great overview of how both business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) companies are best using social media to their advantage. 

The meeting discussed several points.......

After the meeting ended Jenna briefed me on updating DeWinter's social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, daily during my placement period. She asked me to look at sites such as Social Media Today, Marketing Week, Mashable, The Drum and Creaive Review. I was then to tweet and post links to the most up to date news articles on these sites each morning via Hootsuite. I felt this was to be invaluable to me as I was also reading the articles and learning how social media and great marketing can benefit a business. Jenna also asked me to tweet and post via Facebook the most up to date news on the company including awards nominated for and events handled etc. As a great believer in social media as a brilliant platform for any business I am really looking forward to handling this aspect of my job ole during my placement. 

During the afternoon one of the PR executives asked me to do some competitor tracking which n clouded researching the latest news articles relating to the competitors of one of DeWinters clients, Flextronics and then putting my research in to report form using a template she gave to me. 

Day one of my internship went really well and I feel I am already gaining valuable knowledge.

Week 1: Day two 

This morning I scheduled tweets for the DeWinter social media sites as Jenna asked me to yesterday.

Today I worked alongside Jas Melling. Jas is the main PR exec for The Golden Square account at DeWinter. Th Golden Square is my local shopping centre and so I was really excited to be working on a retail based account.

I did some research for Jas this morning. I looked at competitor shopping Centres, Manchester Arndale, The Trafford Centre and Liverpool one. I researched by looking at their online sites and social media accounts, what offers they are running, competitions and upcoming events. I took some screen shots of the 'coolest' pages on their sites. 

Jas also asked me to research the main clothing retailers which are based in the Golden Square. They are Topshop, New Look, BHS, Wallis, Warehouse, Bank Fashion, Oasis, River Island, Monsoon, HnM, Debenhams and Jack and Jones. She asked me to again, look at their online sites to try and gage any up and coming collections etc which they are promoting. For example, the Kelly Brooke collection is due to land in New Look stores any day now. 

The Beyonce for HnM campaign and the Conscious Collection have already launched.

  Jas wanted this info so that she can check if the Golden Square stores have any of this stock when she visits them later this week so that she can photograph it and promote via the social media sites for the centre which she manages. 

I then relayed all my research back to Jas via email. She told me that it was a great body of research and thanked me. This task felt enjoyable and pretty easy for me as research is such a big part of my degree as a styling student. 

During the afternoon today I was de-briefed by Kate Cox the MD and owner of DeWinter on an upcoming event that the company would be managing for their client, Mottram Hall. Amanda Wakely will be showing her collection here next week and Kate wants me to collate a list of national and local press contacts through a system called precise. She said to focus on fashion editors and features writers as the main contacts. Invites will need to be sent out by the end of the week so this is a really important task.

Week 1: Day three

This morning I scheduled tweets via Hootsuite for DeWInter. The theme I focused upon for today's tweets and posts was 'How will social media shape the retail experience of the future?' I found some really interesting articles.

I then went on to organise and format the list of press contacts for the Mottram Hall event. I used Excel to do this and then printed it off and handed it to Kate for her to highlight which people she wanted to invite.

During the afternoon I went to visit the retailers at the Golden Square with Jas. This was really interesting. We took the research I had done yesterday and she queried with some of the shops when the collections will be in store. Jas had also checked items in nationalmpress magazines such as Look and Grazia. She photographed some Topshop shoes in store which were advertised on the cover of look magazine. She also took some photos of some of the new shop displays for on the Facebook page. 

Jas also asked the retailers if they wanted to take part in a competition that will be advertised at the Chester Rocks event at the race course in June. It was a really great afternoon as there was lots of interest in the competition with Topshop willing to donate a Miss Patina dress and Jack and Jones were interested in donating some menswear. 

Week 1: Day four

This morning I spent scheduling posts via Hootsuite focusing on the emergence of Facebook Home. They discussed the features of the app and how they could benefit both a B2B and B2C business.

I then binded several monthly reports for the DeWinter clients. Clients include, The Golden Square, Flextronics, Adoption Matters. Dr. Beckmanns, The Grovesnor, CLNR and Mottram Hall. A real variety of companies.

I then formatted a monthly competitor report, I used links to articles which I had been emailed and put them in to the form of a report.

During the afternoon I was introduced to Laura Jones. Laura is an ex journalist and fashion stylist. Her background includes working for both I.D. Magazine and alongside Katie Grand. She graduated 7 years ago with a degree from LCFin Fashion Journalism. Laura asked me about my degree and my styling work and seemed to really love the visual work I showed to her.

Laura briefed me on a new fashion column she had just began to work on for the Warrington Guardian.  Laura asked me to help out with the column and asked me to take on the responsibility of styling two shoots. I was so excited. She asked me to start thinking of a concept for one of the shoots. One had already been decided upon which was a spring florals theme. 

During the afternoon Laura asked me to write 200 words on the Monochrome trend to go alongside the shoot they had just done for the first column.

The first week of my internship has been fascinating. I am so glad I chose to come to DeWinter. Not only am I learning a whole new world of skills and about how PR and Marketing benefits my local retailers and shopping centre. I am also getting the opportunity to manage a shoot which is great to go alongside my degree.