#ComeDaneWithMe…. It happened! All eyes were on me…

#ComeDaneWithMe…. It happened! All eyes were on me…

 

Hello and welcome to the #ComeDaneWithMe edition in the #Daneyblogs series. I want to start this blog by firstly saying how overwhelmed I am by the support and great response I’ve had from my family, my closest friends, my peers in the PR, Marketing world for #ComeDaneWithMe and of course, my Employ Daney campaign overall. Thank you.

Secondly, I would like to give a huge shout out to my fabulous #ComeDaneWithMe guests; Kay, Rachel and Yvonne, who came with an open mind,  a genuine interest in my campaign, the encouragement and feedback I need to succeed in achieving what I want from the Employ Daney campaign…. finding a PR/Marketing job.

 

 

Now, that my thank you are done…..let’s talk about how #ComeDaneWithMe went and what the highlights and key learning points for me were..

I made #ComeDaneWithMe happen…

I’m so proud of myself for making #ComeDaneWithMe happen and I’m genuinely sad it’s been and gone now! It was such a rich learning experience and it saw me adopt so many different roles. From Daney with the idea >> to Daney the PR person building relationships with the right people to make sure I had the fabulous guests I did and it could go ahead >> to Daney the marketing person, coming up with exciting and eye catching ways to keep interest in the event and using social media to my advantage >> to Daney the event organiser- sorting out the logistics of the event, how many people, drafting up a budget, selecting the venue, date and time etc. >> to Daney the chef and baker which saw me whip up a 3 course menu from scratch! >> And, of course, Daney the host…PHEW!  Yes, I was as busy as you can imagine! But do you know what? I loved every minute of it!

And #ComeDaneWithMe the ladies did…

The night started with the arrival of the lovely Kay. She had managed to find my place with the help of my personalised signage directing the ladies to the flat.  On a side note, I think it’s so important to clearly mark where your event is. Nothing frustrates people more than being lost!

Anyway, back to Kay, she came bearing Margarita, which was an ode to how we met. Kay and I had met a couple weeks previously at the snazzy El Toro Loco launch night where we chatted for like 3 minutes, blethered about blogging, and how tasty the burritos were. From there, and as a blogger myself, I knew she’d be ace to have at #ComeDaneWithMe and she came! Result!

 

 

Next up, came the fabulous Rachel, and Yvonne who came bearing prosecco as a gift to open when I do finally get a job, which I thought was such a thoughtful, lovely thing to do. Rachel and I studied at Queen Margaret University together. Having not had the pleasure of seeing her in ages, and with her digital marketing background, and general all round awesomeness, I decided she’d be a fantastic guest for #ComeDaneWithMe.

Yvonne, I’m very lucky to have known for a couple of years now. We worked together back in 2011 at Next Retail. She’s been a constant shoulder of support for the Employ Daney campaign, offering me tips, advice and information on sources of support I can tap into for help on the graduate job hunt. She has a strong digital marketing background too, she’s an all-round lovely person and I was delighted to have her as a guest for #ComeDaneWithMe.

So what did I have up my sleeve for #ComeDaneWithMe?

For #ComeDaneWithMe I wanted it to be fun, and very different, but engaging. So, instead of having placements at the table, we designed our own table mascots. I wanted the ladies to personalise their own space at the dinner table, so they could feel that the event was there’s too. I also had the #Daneysguestfact raffle (an ice-breaker), where each guest would pick three pieces of paper and answer the wide ranging questions which ranged from ‘who’s your favourite viral star online, to what’s your thoughts on the Facebook Dislike button, to what’s your least favourite destiny’s child song etc. I also had the golden ‘question time’ box which covered more questions related to the PR and Marketing industry. We needed no ice breakers, we chatted away the whole night with ease.

 

The hot topics for the evening were…..

>Digital marketing:  the importance of being clued up on google analytics and utilising google ad words effectively. There was just so much to chat about on this, it blew my mind!

>>Great networking events worth going to and where to find them

>>>>> Great places to volunteer which really facilitate finding a job and making best use of your time you’re giving for free

>>Employ Daney (of course) and what aspects have worked really well so far, and what I could do to make it even better. I was asked the golden questions:

‘What have you gained directly from your Employ Daney campaign?’ and I answered as following:

·         1 interview with a social enterprise supporting agency – was shortlisted but narrowly missed out on the job unfortunately

·         2 PR agencies requesting I submit my CV to them

·         Finding 2 networking events (El Toro Loco event & Opportunity Knocks event) to attend that I’d have not known about had I not did this campaign

·         An interesting topic to discuss in the other interviews I’ve had. Employers are always keen to know what I’ve been doing whilst job hunting. Being pro-active like this gives me the competitive edge 

‘How have you been promoting your Employ Daney Campaign and #ComeDaneWithMe event and what 3 key things have you learned through doing this?’

I’ve been promoting both Employ Daney and #ComeDaneWithMe through:

·         Facebook (Posting regular photos and updates on how the event is shaping up)

 

·         Twitter (getting involved in key Twitter initiatives such as #EastLothianHour; #ScotlandHour)

 

·         Linkedin (both as statuses and ‘publish post’)

·         Blogging (blogging regularly and covering other topics other than #ComeDaneWithMe so my audience doesn’t tune out)

·         Website (regularly updating my website to incorporate all the things I’ve been doing in terms of networking events, initiatives (I turned £4 Iceland gave me as a gesture for some spoiled chicken into £4 worth of food for the East Lothian Foodbank last Friday)

·         Attending Networking Events (working on the elevator pitch to sell myself and my campaign succinctly in 60 seconds… I’m still working on this!)

What’s worked well promotion wise for #ComeDaneWithMe?

>Not revealing my guests until the last minute built up suspense and excitement for my event. I revealed on Facebook and Twitter the night before.

>>I’ve found publishing the posts on Linkedin instead of posting as a status has worked really well as all my connections see it, with statuses, I’m never sure who’s seeing them and when!

>>>Blogging regularly and about different topics has worked really well as people seem to like my blogs

What were my 3 key pieces of advice from my #ComeDaneWithMe guests?

>Keep blogging, it’s a fantastic way to keep raising my profile to PR and Marketing employers

>>Keep networking and just keep putting myself out there! I never know who I may meet!

 

>>> Keep making chocolate brownies, after all, mine are “even better than a restaurant” J

What’s next for Employ Daney?

Well you’ll just have to keep your eyes peeled J

Daney over and out for now!

 

P.S. How GOOD was the Great British Bake Off last night! So happy Nadiya won!