Personal MADE talks
MADE talk 1 – podcast
Situation
Our first MADE talk we had to do was the podcast. We though this was going to be easy since we were all very motivated and excited to get started. We had the idea to talk about good VS bad festivals, one of the requirements was to invite a professional and to include him/ her in the podcast. We soon had some issues at hand, our professional canceled whilst we had already asked for an extension. After this we decided to interview our classmate as a professional since he had some experience organizing events himself, however on the recording day he also did not show up. We had to change our plan again, and this time we did record and I could say the result was better then expected with 30 minutes preparation time.
Task
During this assignment I had multiple different tasks. For the first idea we came up with I had the task of doing research on the topic. I also found the professional we wanted to interview and was in contact with him. After the first and second plan fell trough I had the task of coming up with new questions regarding the new topic and I also was part of the podcast itself. I think the roles I played were very important especially in the end when we had to improvise, if there would have been no questions then we could not have done the podcast.
Action
With our original idea we though nothing could go wrong, we were in contact with the professional and already set some dates on when to record the podcast. We even discussed with our coach if we could have an extension of the deadline since the professional could only be available after the deadline. A few days before the recording he canceled, this caused us to have to take action very quickly and be flexible in our way of working. We decided it was best to have our class/ group mate do the podcast. We prepared some new questions more in the direction of his expertise and set a new date to record the podcast. This went reasonably well since the group all agreed that this was the best short term solution. This was however not the only issue, on the day of recording our class/ group mate did not show up, we had to be quick to find a solution because our deadline would be in 2 days. we got together as a group and the atmosphere was not very nice, we were very disappointed that our back up also fell trough and we now had to come up with something completely different. Although the atmosphere was not great we quickly came to a solution and started working. Questions were created, we found another person that wanted to be included in the podcast and we started recording.
Result
I think as a group we started off very positively, we all did our jobs and what we had to do according to what we discussed. When the first plan fell trough we all started to slack a bit since we were disappointed, we still could use the same topic we only had to change a few questions so there was not a lot of work. Then the second plan fell trough and again we were disappointed but this time also angry at our classmate. We cut trough and we came together put our feelings aside and came up with a solution. I think as a team in the end we handled the situation well, even though it was a big improvisation. The result of this quick thinking and improvisation was that we could make our set deadline and hand in a podcast, we did not expect to do this in the moment. Everything turned out well and we were happy with the result.
Reflection
I would say that I am happy with the result of the podcast compared to the time we had to prepare for it. Since it was all very unexpected and improvised I thought it would not be great and we were not going to meet the requirements necessary. I think however we could have prevented this situation from happening, we should not have put all of our effort into one person, we should have contacted multiple professionals. If we would have done that we would not have had that big of a problem since we could just interview one of the other ones. This means that we could have stuck to our original topic and plan, this way we could have made the professional but informative podcast we were planning to make. The podcast we created in the end was more casual and maybe not very appropriate for professionals to listen to, the topic however is interesting since it talks about internationals in Breda and in the student life. I think because of the short amount of preparation we did not discuss the tone and professionalism of the podcast we just started talking and soon found out it was an informal relaxed conversation. To conclude, yes I was happy with the results looking at everything that happened. But I also think we could have done better if it where to have a better preparation.
What I learned from all of this happening is that it would be nice to have a backup plan for your backup plan, this would make everything way easier and It would be easier to agree as a team on what to do when things go wrong. Next time I would also improve communication in my team since it was a team member that did not show up for our own deliverable.
MADE talk 2 – video
Situation
Our second MADE talk includes a video we had to create about the industry, again the target group was professionals in the industry. For the video we stated asking ourselves what we were interested in seeing in the industry. we concluded that we had not yet been to a concert venue, very quickly we decided to ask multiple venues if we could visit them and get a tour from it. One person in our group had a connection in 013 in Limburg, we contacted them and arranged for us to get a tour and film it for our classmates.
Task
My tasks in this MADE talk were a bit less than the tasks I had in the previous one. In the preparation I was part of the people who decided what we were going to do and where, when this was arranged we divided some tasks to find out everything we could about the venue. I had to do the research and come up with the questions they could ask at the venue, the question were listed according to the topics so the interview would be logically organized.
Action
I feel like I could have done more this MADE talk but I did not have the opportunity to since I was sick on the day of recording. The tasks that I had to do were small but I made sure that I took immediate action to help my group decide on what to ask at the interview and how they could make it so it would look good and sound logical at the same time. We figured out that it was best to create the questions in such a way that it would be logical. I think everyone was agreeing with each other really well, and we all did our tasks accordingly this project.
Result
Looking at our result I was really proud of the group, unlike last MADE talk everything went smoothly and no big problems occurred. I think my group members where happy that the interview could be conducted without any weird questions or situations that would lead to us looking unprofessional. I think the research and questions done before hand made sure of this. I think in general this made the whole day of recording nice and relaxing instead of rushed.
Reflection
Looking back on this project I would say we did everything according to plan, and this paid off. We had a great result with our video and obtained the knowledge we were looking to obtain. I would however say this video was not so targeted to the audience it should be targeted to, it might not be interesting enough for professionals to watch this video since they might already have all of this knowledge. I think however that our classmates have learned something from this video and obtained some information about a topic they might have not know a lot about until then.
What I would do differently next time is probably do a bit more in the production of the video. I am interested in obtaining skills in the creative part, in this case it was the creation of a video. I was sick unfortunately so I could not be there on the day itself. Our problem was that our video might not be appealing to our target audience, next time I want to do some research on what might be interesting for them to know so we could focus the information more on them as well.
MADE talk 3 – live event
Situation
For our third and last MADE talk we had to create a live event. Like the first time a lot of things went wrong in the preparation of this event. For this event we decided that we wanted to create an event focused on the first year and future MADE students as the target group. we took immediate action in finding a location for this event, when we had the location a lot of other things had to be arranged. In the previous two events we did not have a clear role division, this was different this time. I this event we decided to divide the things that needed to be done, this however concluded in a lot of miscommunication and sometimes even no communication at all. On the day itself it turned out that the venue was not open yet, there was a miscommunication between the two managers that switched in the time we arranged the event. Our guest speaker did not come, he was sick. There is a lot to learn from looking at this event.
Task
In this event we had some things to arrange, together with the team we came up with the topic and the idea of the event. After this we started dividing tasks, tasks include: contacting venues, arranging DJ, arranging guest speaker and marketing. Me together with another student were in charge of contacting different venues to find out where we could have the event. The other tasks were divided among the three other student that were also in our group.
Action
We as a team of two started contacting locations to ask if it where possible to have our networking event there. Soon we where in contact with three different venues, and we decided to go with Lawaaipapagaai. This venue was used before for ESN event I attended, and was a nice location for events where you want to either talk to people or just have a nice time with some drinks, it was perfect for our event. In the week after we started with the organization of the event we met up with the manager of the place and discussed the things that we needed to.
For the following weeks we did not have a big tasks in our group so we put ourselves in the background, this however turned out to be a bad idea since in the week before the event there was still no marketing, no guest speaker and no DJ. We started to ask for this and I do not know what went wrong, maybe our groupmates forgot the tasks but our event was lacking and we had to get back to the venue with a number of visitors. We jumped in and started messaging people to come to our event and market it directly to the target audience. Three days before the event we send an email to the location, to give them a number of visitors and to apologize for our lack of communication, if we would have not done this the venue would have not been open for us, because they forgot the event completely.
Result
In the beginning I think our group was happy that we had already found a location, we had it pretty early so we could prepare everything we wanted and needed for the event. In the end I think our group was getting annoyed with each other again since no one was taking action, I think the division of the tasks caused confusion. We also did not appoint a project leader, and therefor had no one that overlooked the project and pointed out the tasks at hand. The last week was a bit stressful, as on the day before one classmate told she would be joining late, another one had prior activities, and the last one was not present at school the day before to discuss things. Again for this project I think everyone was excited in the beginning, but after that to busy with other things and they forgot about it completely.
Reflection
Looking back on this event I think we should and could have done way better. Content wise I think the attendants where really happy about what we told them about the education, we gave them the opportunity to also ask questions about it. I think if we would have had the guest speaker it would be more interesting, at least we still had one of our guest speakers there. Communication wise in our group and to the venue we could improve tremendously, next time we should keep in closer contact with the venue as this will solve some issues we might have. At our event they opened up late, this could have been prevented if we would have a close connection and contact with them. next time I think someone should take charge in the preparation of an event like this, this could be me or someone else. I think if you appoint one person to be in charge of overseeing everything miscommunication might not happen. In our case this would mean that we would have started with the marketing of the event sooner, this could turn into more people showing up for our event. I believe that we could have done better in the organization and we should have, I have learned a lot in this project and I regret not saying more and speaking up in the organization, this could have solved some issues and lack of preparation.
Other MADE talks
MADE talk 1 – (podcast) this is a man’s world
What is it about
This podcast is about women in a professional environment. The reason I choose to listen to this podcast is because I am very interested in the topic of inclusivity and diversity. It was very interesting to hear all the different opinions of the interviewees in the podcast. The topic is something I feel that needs to be discussed more since this problem has been going on for many years now. I feel that in this generation people can talk about taboo subject more, and help solve problems like these more in comparison to the past.
What went well
Looking at the podcast itself I really liked the set up and the subject. I think they put some thought into why they wanted this subject and did a good job by asking multiple people for their opinions. In the end they even interviewed someone more experienced on the subject to conclude and give the podcast a more professional direction. The podcast was a good length and I think also nice to listen to for professionals in the field.
What I would improve
The subject of the podcast was very nice and important to discuss. The thing I would change is the small interview parts, I liked that they used the input from people on the street but sometimes they did not know how to word their feelings and opinions in English. This made it so that the podcast had some shallow answers and did not go deeper into the real question at hand. I also think this podcast should have been turned into a video because it would be nice to have a view with the voices. It would give it a more personal feel, I feel like with the importance of this subject this would create a more professional story.
MADE talk 2 – (video) 14 questions: freelancing edition
What is it about
This made talk video has freelancing as a subject, I decided to watch this video and reflect on it as I myself was also interested in signing up as a freelancer. I think this video has some good information in it if you want to know about freelancing from a person your age. In the video they talk about the experience of the interviewee and what he would suggest people to do when signing up as a freelancer. He talks about what he is doing now in terms of events and other business models.
What went well
I really like the format and idea behind the video, it is really clear that they used the format of MTV cribs in their video. The sound was clear and I think the video contained good information for people that might be thinking about being a freelancer. They put some thought into the order of the questions and the interview seemed to flow pretty well. The whole production of the video was great, there are however some things that could be better.
What I would improve
I think the questions asked in the interview where based on a personal experience and did not really say anything about becoming and beginning as a freelancer itself. I think when you want to earn more information about freelancing this video is not that recommended as it does not have the information needed. The format was great, but the location was a bit weird since the interviewee said welcome in my house (they were in school), just be clear about location this would take away from the confusion. I would maybe try to interview a professional in the field instead of a student since he/she might have more experience and more in debt answers to more questions.
MADE talk 3 – (live event) DJ workshop
What is it about
This live event included a DJ workshop. I was always very interested in music and possibly playing instruments, I never could but now I had the chance to learn so I decided to show up. The event itself included a DJ workshop, but also the possibility of practicing with a DJ set yourself.
What went well
Even though the event was not that busy with attendance I think the set- up was great. You really had the opportunity to see how everything went and you could event practice yourself. The DJ was great and really good at teaching the basics, if it went a bit to fast he would help you. I think the event was not too long, and because less people showed up you had more chances to practice and talk to the DJ about anything you wanted. You could even ask him questions about how it works when he is booked by a bar. It was very interesting to learn everything and at least try to do something with the creation of music.
What I would improve
Some people of the group that organized the event seemed not that included in it, I think if they would have shown more enthusiasm it would have come across as more professional. It seemed as if they were not interested in the result or attendance. The location was great for this small of a group, but I would have loved to see this DJ workshop at a more well-known and interesting place as it might have made it for more people to show up. For the small group of people that showed up one DJ was enough, but if more people would have showed up they would have had some issues with the occupancy of the DJ sets and help they could give the attendees, next time they could prepare for more DJ’s to help out. The event itself as said was great and I learned a lot, just some minor things that could be improved.
MADE talk 4 (video) behind the curtains – episode 2
What is it about
In this video you will see a short behind the curtains look/ interview at two very different event locations in Breda. The video is formatted in the same kind of format as RTL news, I think this is really creative because it will be recognizable for the viewers. In the video they talk about the event locations itself, they dive into what they do, how they kept alive during the COVID period and how the students can possibly help out at those locations in the future.
What went well
I think the format was great, they showed enthusiasm, the productions looked good in terms of not just one steady shot but keeping it variable. I really liked the fact that they used two completely different event locations in Breda. I think this already gives some perspective of the multiple different kinds of event and locations actually exist. You could see that they prepared for the interview and asked the right questions during,
What I would improve
The interviewee at one of the locations was a bit short with her answer, the interviewer could maybe with the knowledge that he had go a bit deeper into the actual question. The format of the video was great but sometimes lacked a bit of professionalism. If they would have used some different props it could have already made it a bit more interesting to watch also for professionals from the industry. sometimes the sound in the video was a bit noisy because of the wind, I would try to look for a place where this gives you a bit less trouble.
MADE talk 5 (podcast) Beercantus Breda
What is it about
This podcast includes an interview with a group of friends that organize a beercantus in Breda. They talk about the subject from start to finish, how they got the idea, what problems occurred and more. I think this is very interesting and inspiring for students that want to start their own (small) event in the future.
What went well
I think the podcast was set up in a great way, the sounds was good. I think the information provided in the podcast was very interesting for both the professional target group and the target group of that consist of students. They talked about a lot of things and choices they made and explained why. Going this deep into the questions was nice since it provided us with insight of such event. The podcast was informal with a relaxed vibe but still professional enough for a bit of an older target group.
What I would improve
For this podcast there are not a lot of things I would improve, for me they covered all of the subjects I would suspect them to cover whilst talking about an event like this. The only thing I would be a bit mindful of when recording is the background noises. This can rapidly take away the concentration and interest in the podcast.