TheatreCraft, London’s largest free event for 16-25 year olds seeking non-performance careers in theatre, returns on Monday 14 November.
This week we spoke to Michelle Penston, an Account Manager at leading marketing company Dewynters. You can find out more about the company on their website.
Dewynters will be hosting the Learn How to Market a Show from Scratch workshop at TheatreCraft 2016. To find out more and to register, visit theatrecraft.org.
An average day for me involves:
Well no day feels the same, and that’s what keeps it interesting! A usual day might consist of keeping an eye on sales figures, managing client meetings, briefing artwork into the studio, coordinating the internal team to plan marketing campaigns, and most importantly, being in touch with the client throughout the day about a variety of things such as artwork, media bookings or print. So quite a bit!
The people I work with mostly are:
External client contacts, plus all the internal departments at Dewynters – Studio, Production, Media, Ticketing, Digital Media and Partnerships and Promotions. As the Account Management department, we also try to make sure we brainstorm together to discuss ideas and challenges.
The best part of my day is usually:
When everything comes together! Pulling together creative ideas and finding solutions is a huge part of the job, and at the end of day when plans come together and the client is happy, well that’s the best part!
I usually finish work at:
Most days I can get away from the office by 6.30pm, but there are times when you need to stay later to get work delivered to deadline, and of course there are also quite a few evenings at the theatre.
The most glamorous part of my job is:
I’m very lucky in this job as there is definitely a large social element which is fantastic. Attending opening and gala performances is the most glamorous part, but if you’re working on a show you’ll often need to be in the office really early the next day to collate press reviews, so you have to remember that at the party and not go too crazy!
The least showbiz part of my job is:
The admin involved. It’s a really creative role and you get to be involved with coming up with amazing campaign ideas, artwork and photo shoots, for example. But you also need to be really organised: completing timesheets, keeping on top of budgets, keeping work in progress documents up to date…I definitely prefer the gala performances.
The advice I’d give to anyone wanting to do my job would be to:
Do it! It’s hard work but extremely rewarding, and every day is certainly different. I recommend getting as much experience as possible in all areas of theatre and marketing. All the account managers here at Dewynters come from varied career backgrounds and it works really well when we’re coming up with creative ideas, being smart in our planning and working well as a team.
To find out more information and to register for TheatreCraft 2016 visit theatrecraft.org