As President of the Stirling University Drama Society, I have led a committee of eight people and trained each one to achieve the objectives of their respective roles. I hold meetings each week and create a shared calendar of events and deadlines for every individual to meet.
An example of an individualised view of the Marketing Officer’s personal timetable from October 2018.
Unlike many other university clubs, the Drama society operates as a business, and we rely on returns from our plays and productions in order to fund ourselves to continue to put on shows, use a professional theatre venue, and provide additional opportunities to our members. This has given me a strong background in finance and organisation. I have lots of experience in liaising with other businesses to organise meetings, events and shows. With ongoing changes at the University, I regularly have to negotiate around any issues that come up for us with various different departments and representatives.
Directing at a table read for And Then There Were None (April 2018)
Having directed and produced various plays and productions I’ve managed teams of over thirty people and sold out a full run of performances. I have co-ordinated 5-week schedules for rehearsals, set building, backstage preparation and production. I have also set up promotional shoots for various plays, hiring venues, organising equipment and co-ordinating human resources to ensure the most professional results.
In performing myself, I have developed a confident public speaking style and I am able to adequately and passionately express my ideas and initiatives. During my degree course I have delivered presentations on a variety of subjects and I am required to deliver several presentations a week to my team and to other that I work in tandem with to debrief the recent events and upcoming projects that I handle. Under my leadership, the society has been nominated for the following awards at the upcoming Clubs and Societies Awards: Best Event (Scenes by SUDS), Most Innovative Idea (Backstage Skills Workshop) and Best Committee.
Delivering notes at a rehearsal.
When it comes to my management style, I believe the best way to lead a team is to be adaptable and allow every person to play to their strengths, giving them support and guidance when they are unsure how to approach a task. If you are open and receptive to getting to know people, their interests, their skills and their work style, you will learn how to utilise them to the best of their potential, and make them a truly essential and integral part of the team. As with any team, I have had to mediate interpersonal issues to ensure the continuous health of the society and facilitate transitions in personnel where necessary, which has also enhanced my team and leadership skills.
The skills I have developed are easily transferrable to any area of creative or business work. My experiences allow me to think both creatively and commercially. For example, I have been able to develop basic graphic design skills in response to needing to create briefs for set pieces, that are shared between set design and artistic design specialists.
An example of a design brief, created using graphic design tools, for the upcoming production of The Great Gatsby.
As a result of my experiences, I have obtained a place on the National Student Drama Festival’s Management Team (April 2019) and will be running workshops, assisting the co-ordination of venues and supporting events run by the organisation.