MY PLACEMENT YEAR AT MINSTER FM

Where to start on my placement year… lets go from the beginning, way back to my 2nd year at university.

I came to the decision I wanted to undertake a placement year for many reasons, the main being I did not feel ready to finish university in a year and move on into the big wide world of media. The other reason was I still was still unsure as to where within the media sector I wanted to focus on and work within. And finally, I wanted as much experience as possible to set me apart from the thousands of media students across the country that will eventually be searching for jobs. Following on from making this decision, I began searching far and wide for placements available across the country. After lots of back and forth applying, interviews and telephone interviews, nothing much was appearing. I was starting to lose hope in the idea of finding a placement, with so many students applying. I then decided to take matters into my own hands and not only apply for placements advertised but I emailed business’ directly. I spoke to Minster FM and after a few emails we had agreed on a contact where I would undertake a placement of 6-months with them and get paid whilst doing it (this was a huge bonus!).

So, I finally secured my placement, finished off second year and moved back home city of York to begin my placement in May. My placements formal name was ‘Events, Sponsorships and Promotions’ this meant I was working with the events team to plan and create events across the Radios patch of North Yorkshire.

I began with being given the task of planning the ‘Summer Tour’ this is an annual event where Minster FM partner with Flamingo Land to attend as many events over the space of 3 months in summer (June-August) to promote both Minster and Flamingo Land by giving out merch and interacting with the general public. This was a huge task where I had to arrange attendance at all these events and how we would be engaging with the public and if we would be potentially broadcasting from the location. In total we attended 54 events in summer, 42 of these events I personally attended and ran. This was Minster FM’s biggest and most successful summer tour.

Alongside the summer Tour, Minster FM’s presence across as many family events is a crucial part to their marketing scheme. One of the highlights for me over the summer was attending York Maze’s maze reveal. Getting the chance to go up in a helicopter and seeing the corn pattern and theme from such heights was a truly amazing experience.

Another event I got too experience was Countryfile Live, this was the first time the annual event was being held in North Yorkshire at Castle Howard. Having the radio’s presence at such a huge event held within the Radio patch was a great opportunity to get our foot in the door. Whilst at Countryfile we had interviews with the Countryfile presenters which went out live on air.

Once summer was over it was time to start focusing on another key part of Minster FM’s calendar… Christmas! The Christmas period always requires our attendance at many Christmas markets, light switch ons and other festivities. I was given the role of organising and planning our attendance at as many Christmas events as possible over the festive period. We got to cut down Christmas trees, hold gingerbread workshops for families in the York community and attend a light switch on early every night of the week on the run up to Christmas. Our biggest challenge is the York Light Switch On. Each year it gets bigger and bigger with more crowds gathering and more acts on stage to entertain the crowds. I got to get a close look in with York Bid and Make It York who have full control over the light switch on to see how much preparation is involved. Back and forth safety and terrorism plans with ever minor detail covered as well as how the evening would run involved many key people for it to be a success Then obviously we had our work Christmas party to celebrate the end of a year of intense hard work, graft, and success! At this point my placement came to an end as I had undertaken 8 months placement with Minster FM. I was immensely proud of the work I had done and the people I had the privilege of getting to know during this time.

However, it was not the end! Beginning January 2020, I was taken on at Minster FM as a full-time employee. This time I would still be an Events, Promotions, and Sponsorships assistant, but I would also work within the finance department two days a week as a Credit Controller. This was another great opportunity to develop and enhance my already existing skills in a new role.

For hitting our end of year target with the help of everyone’s hard work and dedication we were rewarded with an all inclusive two-night stay in Tenerife as a team! This was a huge reward for the team and one we all thoroughly appreciated. Then it was back to work, continuing to prepare for upcoming events as well as starting my role within the finance department.

Then Covid-19 hit. We were all sent to work from home and events were being cancelled left right and centre. It was heart breaking seeing all the hard work and commitment of many events organisers work go down the drain being cancelled. I worked from home for a month before being furloughed from the end of April, until my contracted ended at the end of August before heading back to uni. It was a disappointing way to end my time at Minster however, it was out of everyone’s control.

Devastatingly Minster FM is no longer an active radio station. This is due to having been bought by Bauer in 2019, the “takeover” took over a year to commence. Bauer have made many staff members and all its radio presenters at Minster FM redundant during the time of a worldwide pandemic. Having nothing but their goal of making a pre-existing radio station “Greatest Hits” expand its reach, further closing down a total of 42 local radio stations across the country during this “takeover.” This was heart breaking to watch from the side lines, as my colleagues watched Bauer rip apart years of hard work from a radio station that built itself up from nothing and bury it in the sand. This monopolising of the radio stations is one that should not be allowed. Local radio plays a key part in the local community, charities and keeping connected, that without many local business’, charities and communities will suffer.

Although, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, the old group of Radio presenters from Minster FM, have joined forces with a local news outlet ‘YorkMix’ to create ‘YorkMix Radio.’ Getting all the presenters back on air doing what they love and creating local radio once again. I cannot wait to see what the team have installed for the future and wish them every success with this new venture!

My time at Minster FM enhanced many of my pre-existing skills, made me learn new ones, get a real insight to the workplace, and get to experience the media sector up close! This experience I would not have gained having not undertaken a placement year and I cannot express how much it has benefitted me. Not only on an experience and educational level, but on a personal one. I feel I have grown as a confident individual and feel prepared for my future career.

I love my Minster Family and I will always be eternally grateful to them for giving me that chance to work with them and get the most amazing positive experience x