On envelope stuffing and why the taste of the envelopes doesn’t come into it

A staple of the student diet – i.e. whatever happens to be on the Tesco reduced shelf. Best consumed within 10 minutes of purchase, without shame, and at the back of a bus.

Today was a special day: my first real experience of work in an arts administration office. The office in question was that of the Manchester Camerata, and the work in question was, to give it its proper term, envelope stuffing. Take my word for it, it’s a beautiful thing – the smell of freshly-printed flyers; the taste of envelope glue; the thrill I got every time I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d remembered to put the flyer in with the letter but I’d already sealed the tab…

Alright, it wasn’t quite that amazing. In fact, after the first 50 or so envelopes I realised they were the ones you don’t need to lick. Oh, and the only payment was a (very nice!) cup of tea. But I didn’t sign up for this expecting to have fun, or to gain anything out of it in the short term. Instead, my aim was to shift myself a tiny step closer to employment in the Arts, and I think I achieved that in a small way. There wasn’t as much opportunity to network as I would have liked, given that I was tucked away on my own in one corner of the office, but I enjoyed witnessing the day-to-day goings-on of this kind of office, as a fly on the wall.

Plus it was a useful insight into the various inventive methods that such small organisations as this use to publicise their concerts. In this case, in the run-up to a concert of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they’re sending letters and flyers to a long list of people who recently attended Shakespeare plays at The Lowry, and who presumably consented (at some point during the booking process) to their being sent publicity. It’s a great example of the way Manchester’s arts organisations collaborate, sharing their limited resources in order to keep each other in business. All of them, from Cornerhouse to The Hallé, are linked by an unofficial network of arts administrators, the artistic mafia of the city. Now that is exciting.

Leaving the Camerata's RNCM base, I took a wrong turn and found myself here – must have something to do with that sinister network of arts administrators...?

On work experience, volunteering, and why this blog will be infinitely better when I get my new phone

As I write, the sun is shining (a rare treat in this city) and I’m finally on the train back to Hull after my fifth of nine terms at the University of Manchester. So my mind naturally wanders to thoughts of a future that is only a couple of months away but – if all goes to plan – will affect how (and how quickly) my career begins.

In case you’re wondering what goes on between Manchester and Hull. N.B. the quality of the photos on this blog will improve dramatically as of Monday, when my shiny new phone arrives.

My plan is to devote all three months of my summer to gaining work experience in the arts sector. I struggle to find space in my hectic music student diary during term for voluntary or part-time paid work, and while I do plenty of orchestral management and arts marketing through the Music Society and the University Chorus, I need to be able to show employers that I know how proper, ‘grown-up’ arts organisations operate.

In case you’re wondering what a hectic music student diary looks like. N.B. the tidiness and sophistication of my diary will also improve dramatically as of Monday, when my shiny new phone arrives.

So my summer is (hopefully) going to be spent volunteering for the Manchester International Festival, the Manchester Jazz Festival, the Just So Festival and the Manchester Camerata. Combined, these different experiences should set me up with a lot of useful new skills and contacts. This isn’t just career-mindedness, though: I’m also hoping to have a lot of fun!

Oh, and since I’m told the most attractive kind of work experience to employers is that which is self-generated, my housemate and I are organising a concert for the Teenage Cancer Trust in Glasgow next week – more to come on that, I’m sure, but if you can’t wait then there’s more information available here.

P.S. You’d have been able to read this blog a whole two hours sooner if I’d had my shiny new phone on the train…