Tag Archives: students

Future of marketing discussed at annual BU communications lecture

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Over 270 local business leaders, marketers and Bournemouth University (BU) students and alumni attended The Annual Mike Warne Marketing Communications Lecture, which took place at BU.

A trio of brand leaders presented the need for change and innovation in marketing practises to ensure marketers keep abreast of new opportunities

Final year BA (Hons) Marketing students at Bournemouth University (BU), who organise the annual event with the support of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), secured three speakers who gave an insight into what the future might hold for their industries.

They included Warner Bros Executive Vice President of European Film Marketing, Con Gornell, who heads up planning and implementation of marketing campaigns for all film releases.

Mr Gornell believes marketers can learn important lessons from the film industry. He explained: “The media has historically always been in a state of change – in our business it’s about identifying and continuing practices that make you a successful marketer that’s important.”

Bournemouth University alumni Sarah Bulling, Product Communications Manager at Bournemouth based LV=, oversees marketing campaigns across a wide range of channels including TV, press and direct mail.

Ms Bulling described how the impact of the recession has resulted in LV= adapting its marketing strategy over the last five years and how it is now positioned to seize new marketing opportunities to strengthen its position as one of the UKs top car insurers.

Jonathan Fraser, Global Head of Strategy and Ideas at Holler, also gave a fascinating insight into what the next five years may bring in terms of the types of media channels, consumer data models and technological advances we can expect to be experiencing in future.

CIM Chief Executive Anne Godfrey addressed the conference and told students of the great responsibility being a marketer entailed, adding “the ‘recession’ was a reality for most companies but marketers need to adapt to a new normal. Doing more with less, embracing change and innovation and driving growth presents a real opportunity for professional marketers.”

Students’ ‘Big Idea’ gives power to children

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Bournemouth University students used teddy bears and a comic book ‘super hero’ theme to win a Dragons Den-style ‘Big Idea’ competition run by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

The scheme is part of a new physiotherapy programme aiming to increase involvement child cystic fibrosis patients can have in their care.

Students Gary Whiting and Luke Rockett, both studying Physiotherapy at Bournemouth University, worked alongside other students from the South West and created the ‘Teddies for Toddlers’ scheme as their ‘Big Idea’. The scheme aims to increase children’s engagement with their treatment of Cystic Fibrosis, a life-long condition affecting the lungs.

The idea for ‘Teddies for Toddlers’ came during a work placement at a pediatric physiotherapy unit where they discovered that children and their parents would benefit from having a better understanding of treatments.

Gary Whiting worked with student Dave Progl, from the University of Southampton, to create a system where children can choose how to care for their own teddy bear with help from a comic book giving instructions.

The idea is for children to care for the teddy bear and subsequently learn about their own care. The students said, “Research shows that it’s important for a child to have some say and choose what they would like to do in their care. We would give the initial comic to the child and they would choose their treatment plan from that”.

Children aged 6 to 10 are targeted through a super hero comic book character and games which can later be used to gain feedback.

Dr Helena Johnson, honorary student president said, “We liked the concept of needing to incorporate fun into physiotherapy to promote self-management. It was thoroughly investigated and you then went on to fully develop the product with your comic book and characters.”

Timetable information for HSC students

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The external power supply to Royal London House has been restored and normal access to the building will resume from 8am on Monday 6 January.

HSC students are advised to check the online timetable before Monday morning as there have been a number of changes to timetables due to the power outage.

Timetables have also been amended due to a few areas in the building that have suffered water damage as a result of the continued poor weather. HSC managers and Estates staff will be on hand to assist with any remaining issues on Monday.

If you have any questions please contact your programme administrator.

BU lecturers share advice in Nursing Times

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Clinical demonstrator Catharine Handford and lecturer Cate Wood shared their advice on what first year nursing students should expect from their degree in an article for the Nursing Times.

“Learning to be a nurse is not as simple as just being told what to do and then going out and doing it,” they wrote.

“The process involves time spent in lecture theatres and on self-directed study, alongside learning practical aspects of nursing taught in simulation departments and on practice placements in a variety of settings.

“To succeed you need to be determined, organised, positive, assertive and self -directed.”

Alongside attending lectures and seminars, students should be prepared to become “independent learners”, they added, completing background reading and self-directed study.

“To look after the health of others you need to start by taking care of your own,” they wrote in the article.

“Plan your study wisely and take up all the help offered to you, a study timetable will allow you to work hard and give you time to do other things you enjoy.”

They also explained some of the practical skills that nursing students will be expected to learn and complete assessments in – including practice placements and ‘simulation’ exercises.

“Simulation is used by universities as a way of reflecting on real-life situations,” they said.

“It allows for a variety of clinical skills to be taught and practised in a realistic and safe environment before you practice these skills on actual patients.”

They explained that simulation exercises for first year nursing students at BU included learning moving and handling skills, how to assess a patient’s nutritional and hygiene needs and practicing basic observation techniques – working with other students to learn how to take pulses, temperature and blood pressure.

Catharine and Cate, who are both from BU’s School of Health and Social Care, said: “This is where you really get to know your fellow students.

“By sharing experiences and learning together what it is like to be a patient, you build firm friendships and a strong support network of individuals who understand exactly what you’re going through.”

They added: “The journey to becoming a nurse can be challenging and hard work, but it is also a time when you will grow as a person, meet some amazing people and, hopefully, have a lot of fun.”

Read the Nursing Times article in full (subscription needed)

BU placement students key to football club’s success

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Two Bournemouth University placement students have been praised for their effort in the running of a lower league football club.

Chris Sherwood and Andy O’Reilly are currently on placement at Dagenham and Redbridge FC from Bournemouth University and ‘Daggers’ Managing Director Steve Thompson has been full of praise for the BU duo.

Steve Thompson said, “[the placements have] allowed us to bring in bright, young, enthusiastic students who bring fresh ideas and who have a level of skill that perhaps we wouldn’t get if we were to employ somebody on that wage. They tend to be more computer literate and social media savvy.”

The two students have taken on different roles at the football club; Chris has taken responsibility for the club’s website and match day programme while Andy looks after the ticket office and club shop.

Again, Steve Thompson said, “Chris looks after our website and writes articles for the website and does interviews on the players section of the website. He films interviews with players and management staff three or four times a week. He is also responsible for a lot of the content on the match day programme.”

The students are always encouraged to come up with new ideas, as Steve explains, “Andy O’Reilly, who is in the ticket office and club shop, has come up with new products for the shop, which he has sourced and we have designed and they are on sale in the club shop.”

This is not the first time that Dagenham and Redbridge FC have taken placement students from BU either, and the football club has a great track record on providing students with the skills they need to go into employment. Steve continued, “We are pleased with the record that everyone who has come on placement with us has got a job straight after leaving university.

“The first year in the Football League we had a student who still works with us part time on a match day in the hospitality department. The third year, when we were in League One, we had a student who, when he graduated, we took on full time and he is now our Commercial Manager. The fourth year we had two lads who graduated last summer; one of them, through our connections, has got a job in the media department at Millwall FC and the other lad got a job as in analysis for the Bank of England.”

Chris and Andy were also praised when Steve Thompson was interviewed by the BBC a few months ago on the subject of finances at Dagenham and Redbridge – for more information you can read the BBC Story.

Students and academics from across Europe visit BU for international social work conference

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Students and academics from across Europe visited Bournemouth University for a week of events centred around social work and diversity.

It is the first time BU has held the International Social Work Week, organised for students and staff of universities in the SOCNET network.

Around 50 academics and students in social work, sociology and law visited BU for the week, from universities in places including Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain.

Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Head of Sociology at BU, helped to organise the week.

She said: “It helps the staff gain international connections, and because you are part of a network it helps give students the opportunities to go abroad to other universities as well.

“It means that you are part of a community rather than an individual institution.”

She added: “We are creating these research networks and links, which are really important.

“There are very different approaches to social work in Europe. We learn from them as much as they learn from us.”

The event is held every year at different universities who are part of the network, with each week having a different theme.

This year’s theme was around diversity, with talks and workshops on issues including discrimination and cohesion, marginalised groups and social work approaches.

But there was also chance for the visitors to explore Bournemouth and the surrounding area, with excursions to Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast and a visit to the Mayor of Bournemouth’s Parlour.

Student Franziska Lasche, from Hochschule Bremen University in Germany, said she had enjoyed her time in Bournemouth.

“It’s the first time I have been to Bournemouth, and I have really enjoyed it,” she said.

“It’s good to get to know people and exchange our experiences and ideas. It’s useful to have a network of people from all across Europe.”

Jill Davey, Framework Leader for Social and Community Studies and Erasmus coordinator at BU, said the week had gone well, and they now hoped to hold the event in Bournemouth every three years.

“It has been a very successful week,” she said.

“As well as potential student exchanges and opportunities at BU, a lot of the students have expressed interest in coming across and doing programmes and further study here.

“We’ve also had lots of people saying they are going to come back to Bournemouth for a holiday, so it’s really good for the tourist trade as well.”

Maria Luisa Gomez Jimenez, from the Public Law Department at the University of Malaga, was one of the academics running workshops during the SOCNET week.

She said: “It has been wonderful, and I think it’s a really valuable thing for us and the students to meet each other and exchange perspectives, backgrounds and ways of looking at problems and seeking solutions.”