I’m a little busy bee

So it’s been a mental few weeks in Maro World.  I’m finally feeling that there’s light at the end and the wild roller coaster of my life and thing are getting back on the right tracks.

Work has been particularly manic and now we’ve launched our new website – www.creationagency.com – all is looking snazzy and frexh. Regular updates and more tweets should get us some more client attention in the future and the office is really proud and buzzing with new ideas to blog about.

I’ve been studing hard to complete my Marketing Information and Research module of the CIM course.  Some good feedback in my tutorial last night has left me feeling more confident that I’ve really now ‘broken the back’ of my proposal.  With only 3 weeks until hand in though I’ve still got a lot of ground to cover.

There’s a fair few sporting events coming up on the calender too, which I’m mega excited about! Saturday we’re off to The Emirates to watch the Arsenal v Tottenham game which should be a great atmostphere!  Then Sunday I’m zooming up to Manchester to play for Olney Ladies against Altrincham Kersal should be another great league encounter.  So far we’ve been performing really well against some tough sides as we’ve gone up to North 1 in the RFUW leagues.  I got my first try on our lovely new Doff’s Field last weekend so I’m hoping for more good play this Sunday – lets just hope my black toe doesn’t cause too much jip! (more to follow on that one)

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Top marks. The results are in.

Yes, last night the doorstep had a surprise waiting for me.  The dreaded results letter!!

Way back in June (on my birthday no less) I sat a 3hr exam on the topic ‘Assessing the Marketing Environment’ as part of my course with CIM.   I spent 6 weeks reading, re-reading and studying a case study on Toyota and trying to anticipate what sort of questions would come up in the exam.

During the exam I remember writing a lot, filling masses of pages of the answer booklet, emptying my brain of all the associated knowledge of Toyota that I had accumulated.  So, almost immediately when ‘Time’s Up’ was called out in the exam room I had forgotten everything that I had been scribbling down and had no idea how I had done or if I had even done enough to pass!

Well last night results were in and I managed an A grade.  I’m so chuffed with this as it means I got at least 85% (you don’t get a specific mark) so all the late nights spent reading and revising were well worth it.  Hoo-rah!

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Its the Final Countdown.

Not quite a final countdown, but the first of many…

Back to college last night and only 2 lessons left now on the Marketing Essentials module, and that also means only 6 weeks to the dreaded exam. Not only is the thought of trying to memorise all the information and then remember it during the exam starting to worry me, the thought of actually trying to write for 3 hours solid is a real issue. Its been a long time since I last took an exam, and even trying to do past papers, after 20mins my writing is more like a drunk spider walking ink across the page than legible English. I wonder though, perhaps this could work to my advantage? If the jist of the phasing is there, the examiner could interpret my scrawls as very insightful and in depth knowledge of Marketing theory… or not.

Another issue is that this module overlaps with the Marketing Environment module, whilst I’m sure all the information I take in (if any) is useful, begining to learn a new subject and balance revision for the first one is going to be tricky throughout January and February. So, anyway I better get on with it. Next chapter to read: Distribution Channels and Pricing Strategies…

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the course continues

Week 5 at college last night on my CIM certificate in marketing course.  Even though I’ve done some reading over reading week, half term and another reading week, it felt like ages since I’d last concentrated on the college work.  And most of the first 4 weeks of learning had magically disappeared from my brain for at least the first hour of class!

Its a hard slog going to class on a monday night (6pm – 9.30pm) straight from work, but at least my class mates are good fun and we cover the work pretty quickly.  There’s a lot of chat, personal opinions and experiences with the topics we’re discussing – last night was The Marketing Plan and Strategy – and I’m finding this an excellent way to remember things.

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Back to college tonight…

First class of my CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing, Module 1: Essentials of Marketing starts tonight at MK College. I’m slightly nervous about the whole thing. It’s not just the going back to college, it’s meeting new people, new situations and concentrating from 6-9.30pm every Monday for the foreseeable future! But at least I feel fairly prepared for the hard work that it’s going to be and in my preparation I have organised the following…

1) Got a new notebook from Paperchase, any excuse to browse stationery and I’m there. I did refrain from also buying (with the justifications) – a pencil tin (it’s an adult course after all), a variety of coloured pens (because I have thousands) and a magazine bag (I’ve got one already!) which is all pretty strict by my standards!

2) Discussed with the OH (other half) about food arrangements for Mondays. He’ll be out training and then have a steak, so not exactly demanding, I’ll just sort myself out when I get back in (fish finger sarnie for quickness I think!)

3) Accepted that all Monday nights for the next 13 weeks (and then 13 weeks after that on Module 2) are going to be spent at College, concentrating.

4) The 90mins between work and rugby training on a Wednesday night, will now be my study time (will have to check I can stay late it the office…)

5) Need to find another study time.

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back to college…

I’ve enrolled at my local college in the hope of getting on the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing Course, a bit of a career enhancer, and hopefully my way to find out ‘what I want to do’.  Monday, 2pm was my interview and just happened to be the first day back at college for full time students.  Blimey! did I feel old! It’s been perhaps 5 years since I left college for University but the fresh faced students, rowdy with summer stories,  catching up with mates and establishing themselves within the new school (complete with pool table and table football in the cafeteria!) was a surprise as I’m a young girl at heart.  But now doing a professional course will definitely change my perception of what college will be like as an adult student!

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