Summer Festivals Production Assistant Review

I really enjoyed my internship with CCS, both on a professional, and a social level. Throughout it, there was a significant effort made by the organisation to prioritise my experience as an intern, and seek out opportunities for my positive involvement. It passed in a complete whirlwind!

I felt consistently valued by my colleagues over the 3 months of the placement - as well as the personal responsibility placed within my tasks, the overall equal ethos of the organisation encouraged me to contribute to the projects of others, and vocalise my opinions and ideas fully in weekly team meetings. I was also invited to the organisation's Board Away Day,

I had multiple line managers (assigned to different projects) and always felt that I was able to approach them for guidance and support. Additionally, my managers also encouraged me to work autonomously and using my own initiative, which enabled me to explore my personal skills and areas of interest. Consistently I was encouraged to provide 'unvarnished truth' feedback about my internship experiences.

The variety in the pace of the internship reflected the pacing of the work that takes place in the organisation over that time period - largely affected by the August Edinburgh Festivals. In the first few weeks I was able to take my time in learning about the organisation, but in month of August, all the preparation led to an extremely busy time for all staff members.

I had complete responsibility for several discrete projects and events during my internship, including an international discussion event for festival directors, and award ceremony with 70 attendees and a two-day recycling event for over a hundred people. I was completely responsible for their planning, undertaking and evaluation.

My internship allowed me to directly apply my learning from my degree studies (I had even wrote about the organisation in my undergraduate dissertation!), and put into place the recommendations from my research. Communication, administration, organisation, facilitation and strategic skills were all gained, It has enabled me to achieve further employment in a sector extremely relevant to my academic background and my personal interest, and equipped me with professional skills and networks.

The atmosphere in the the office was generally quite relaxed. The organisation is hosted through support-in-kind by the local council, with the provision of two desks and although the council offices are more formal, CCS' space was always approachable. Festivals Edinburgh (a founding partner of CCS, and a presence on the board) is hosted beside the organisation, so the larger team added to the office spirit. Team lunches were the norm, sometimes to the local park, and socials were encouraged regularly. If one had a question, it was not frowned upon to interrupt my manager, or another member of the team.

The internship was very well organised, and I met with the organisation prior to the commencement of the position for background, introductions and pre-planning, which made walking in on the first day much easier! The team was prepared to work with me for a week or so to enable me to get my bearings, and had plans and projects established for me to take on. However, they were also prepared for me to shape the position according to my skills and interests and to an extent, allowed it also to be somewhat self-organised, as it suited my working style. There were established recruitment/training/evaluation procedures throughout.

During the internship I was encouraged on multiple occasions to focus on my aims for my own personal and professional development, and seek out opportunities for this. The organisation supported me in undertaking a day of facilitation training, which has aided me in professional and voluntary contexts since, CCS also encouraged me to become involved in the ISO20121 Sustainable Event Management Standard pilot group, which was not originally part of my job description, and which has grown to become a central part of my present work, I have no doubt that if I had approached them with subsequent relevant training opportunities that they would have been welcomed.

Since my internship I have worked for CCS in a variety of capacities, finally (and currently) in a permanent position on multiple major projects. The organisation is very appealing to work for, and I have a good working relationship with the CCS team. I do not know of another organisation which aligns with my professional interests so much, and which I have had such a positive experience with.

There was one fellow intern during the duration of my placement, and it was more common to socialise as a full team (5 people) rather than exclusively as placement students. I gained a lot of knowledge and experience from the different background and skills of my fellow intern too! Although my fellow intern worked more at distance than myself, we frequently socialised at sector events (particularly during the August Festivals).

I am an Edinburgh resident, and the organisation is Edinburgh based, so there was no change in my living circumstances as a result of the internship, nor in my awareness of the cost of socialising. The organisation is based close to the city centre, but the council canteen offered subsidised meals for lunchtime socialising, and the surrounding activities were affordable due to the competitive prices of a busy high street.

There was nightlife available in the area I worked in, as the organisation is based in the city centre. However, as an established resident of the area, this was not a novelty part of my internship. More interestingly, 6 Edinburgh Festivals (which the internship was connected to) took place over the duration of the internship, so there were loads of cultural events and parties to attend.

Due to the nature of the organisation and the surrounding Festivals office team, there were lots of performances, exhibitions and connected events to get involved in outside of work. I went to the launch and preview of the Edinburgh Art Festival and multiple gallery openings, as well as many Fringe productions with members of my team.