Hi! I’m Hope. I’ve been working at TMC for just over three years now as part of the Communications and Marketing team and I love it here! Working in Communications means every day is different and there’s always a new challenge to get involved in but there are so many creative, exciting, and inspiring aspects of my career that I get to work on. Join me on a day in the life of a Communications Coordinator as I head into the office and see some of the team!
7:50am
Out of the door and I’m on the tram! I live in Nottingham and get the tram and train to our office in Leicester. I’ve got my laptop with me, along with my notebook, pens, headphones, book I’m currently reading and my keys to the office – don’t want to forget those!
8:35am
I’m off the train and in Leicester. Of course my first stop is for a coffee, and I always stop by Leicester Coffee House when I can for a flat white. Now to juggle my bags and coffee whilst I dig out my keys…
9:00am
The working day begins. First things first as a Communications coordinator is to set up my laptop and get my “must have” tabs open. I studied French and Spanish at university, so don’t have a degree in Marketing or Comms, so a lot of what I know has been learnt as I’ve gone. Seven years into my career, and I’ve got a good set up so far.
I open up our main social media sites and check their activity from overnight, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. I also open up our Marketing tracker where the wider team can submit their Communications requests, my Trello to-do list, my emails, Microsoft Teams, and Spotify, of course!
I reply to any emails I have, take a look at what’s Trending on Twitter and in the news, and finalise my schedule for the day. I love using Trello, and I’m still old school and love to write in my notepad!
Today I’m filming a “Day in the Life” video for TikTok on my role. I let the team know I’m filming and ask if they mind helping me out with shooting a few clips. Louise steps in to get some footage of me creating content for social media.
10:00am
I’m running our team meeting today! I’m very nervous to do so, but it’s great experience to chair a meeting, and the staff are so supportive. In creative roles like mine, I’m learning the importance of confidence – it can be hard to put yourself out there, but so rewarding when you’re sharing your work with the team.
The focus of today’s meeting is The Mighty (Un)Mute, our staff-wide fundraising challenge happening in just a couple of weeks. We’ll be spending the whole day unable to communicate. No note passing, no emails, no talking, no social media, nothing! It’ll be a big challenge but I’m so excited to raise some vital funds for an important and timely project, and work with the team on making it happen.
11:00am
Meeting over and it’s time for a well deserved cup of tea! Today is also Artsmark’s Day to Create campaign, so I film an “unboxing” video of the materials being sent out to schools who are taking part. I also start editing the video, and creating some social media and online assets for the Mighty (Un)Mute – banners and email signatures for the team to spread the (silent) word. We use a mix of Canva, InDesign, and external partners to create our designs and I love getting a chance to flex my creativity. Today I’m working on some quotes from the TMC team on why the Mighty (Un)Mute is going to be such a challenge – how will we ask for a cup of tea?
1:00pm
It’s after lunch and I’ve got a couple of meetings. Over my lunch break I read a couple of chapters of my book and stepped away from my laptop for half an hour. Getting away from my desk is a good way to clear my head before the afternoon.
One of my meetings is with Amy on growing our audiences on social media channels and our upcoming content plans for TikTok. Working collaboratively is such an important part of my role and sharing insight and knowledge on different social platforms and into audience segmentation is one of the best ways I can grow and learn in my career and with TMC.
My second meeting is with Ryan and Hannaa on the Diversity Spotlight Newsletter – a monthly email we send to the whole team with articles, resources and recommendations on equality, diversity, and inclusion. It’s a really rewarding part of my role to be able to work on the newsletter, being able to spend time researching and learning about ways we can be more inclusive and work for everyone is a real privilege.
3:00pm
Time for some more social media content creation! I’m finishing editing the video I filmed earlier for Artsmark Day to Create – but hit a snag with posting it on our channels. It happens! I use Squoosh to resize videos and images when they’re just too big and edit and trim the length of them in Canva when I need to. I use Hootsuite to schedule on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but also like using Facebook Meta’s scheduling tools for all the little hints and audience specific tips they share.
4:00pm
Content posted and scheduled and I can tick that off the list! It’s nearly time to head home, so I make sure to follow up any emails I promised to send, check the Communications inbox and look at tomorrow’s list. Right now I’m in charge of adding new members of our Learning Platform to our CRM (Customer Relationship System) so I make sure there’s nobody outstanding to add, confirming their details and contact permissions.
4:30pm
I only took half an hour for lunch today so leave the office at 4:30 to get my train home. I pack everything up, say goodnight to the team and head to the station. It’s been a busy, creative, and very productive day. There’s always challenges and speedbumps in every role and learning how to overcome them can be tough in itself! But finding solutions and asking for support can be so rewarding.
