Christmas a natural resting point

Having been at 3M now for well over 5 months I, like most people, am looking forward to Christmas and a few days of holiday. But before the Christmas break I must first get my affairs in order, so to speak. I have a number of projects that normally roll along and overlap each other; these must all be brought to a sensible resting point prior to the festivities so that they can await the New Year and further action.

My project on rebranding the Infection Prevention web pages took a natural break on Monday when I submitted my latest round of copy to the e.Marketing team to allow them to work their magic. When I return in January they will have turned my word
processing document into a shiny new webpage.



My Marketing plan has no such clear break, what started as a spreadsheet has evolved to a 45 slide presentation which in turn has been reduced to key factors on 5 slides. Updates often need to be made, due to internal and external factors, but this is the kind of document that I spent 2 years learning to produce and I am relishing the opportunity to gain real world experience.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas, I may be gone for much of January as I am serving on Jury duty but I will return and continue to let you know how my year progresses. Seasons greetings and God bless…

Time Managent Tips

O.K. so I currently have quite a few projects on... I am doing my best to prioritise and manage my time effectively. So far I am going with a simple customer:boss:nearest deadline approach with prioritising. Has anybody got any tips on this?

What now?

The last few months has seen me grow as a person, I take responsibility more readily and as a result enjoy the success all the more intensely. Sure this means spending the odd day pulling my hair out when something goes wrong or waiting til my boss has had his second coffee to take a problem to him (just kidding), but this is all a factor of real life. I have learned from my mistakes and check things more thoroughly BEFORE I send them for approval and I save my data more often. Everything that I do in this job makes a difference and that’s why for the moment I am in love with this company.

That brings you pretty much up to date… any clues on stress reduction, writing ad copy or general work tips would be helpful… as for me I will blog on… and continue to keep you up to date with the life of a 3M placement student.

Glory or Bust

6th October 08 - Glory or Bust? With the dawn of Monday 6th October 2008 comes a pivotal point in my 3M employment the exhibition starts the next day and the afternoon will be spent setting up and rechecking every detail for the final time. By 6pm the optimism is back! The stand looks fantastic the literature and samples have all arrived and there has been no random act of fate to destroy my planning. I am confident and sleep better than I had thought I would as I drift off I can’t help but feel today was a good day.

7th-9th October 08 – The good feeling from the 6th continues throughout the exhibition as it runs as smoothly as I could have hoped. I feel genuine achievement and am congratulated by my colleagues on a job well done. The exhibition has delivered a good number of leads and they seem to be of a high quality. The company has also represented itself well with a polished stand and product display.

The Build up

8th September 08 – With a month to go before the exhibition in Harrogate (arguably my biggest test to date) I am in a state of gentle panic as I realise that my planning tool has been erased, I had not realised that our shared drop box only stores information for 2 weeks before deleting it. I now need to remember the various elements that I have brought together so far. Fortunately I find that I have emailed many of the elements to various team members and only lose one day rebuilding the tool. I do now however store all my work on my desktop and back up every week.

29th September 08 – With the exhibition a week away I discover a stoic calm, my usual optimism returns and I decide that this event will be a success. I organise the final details with help from our senior admin and double check everything I can

3rd October 08 – My stoic calm is well and truly vanished as I run round the office and constantly check my voicemail for “that call” which I am convinced is going to throw a spanner in the works. By 7pm however the call has not come and I can think of no detail I have not checked 100 times, all that’s left is to go home for the weekend, settle my nerves with a stiff drink and wait to see what the following week brings.

August

5th August 08 – Publish my first editorial, 150 words on a new contract that 3M surgical masks have been included on. Feel elated to see my work in print in the Clinical Services Journal, but worry until I have it triple checked for spelling. Develop a much greater appreciation for the “sign off” process that literature goes to before it is released.

29th August 08 – I am now starting to feel at home in my role and my productivity is increasing. Just as I think I’m getting comfortable I am moved into 2 new project teams and pushed out of my comfort zone. This job is not easy but I find myself constantly challenged and I am enjoying these challenges in a way I had not anticipated.

July

Since July 1st I have completed a number projects and learned about Infection prevention. This comprises the various products and techniques that are used in sterile situations to reduce the likelihood of patients developing post operative infections. Below is a timeline of my work so far:

1st July 08 – Start 3M and am introduced to the team. My first impressions of the company are broadly good and everyone is extremely pleasant, smiling seems to be a common event here and everyone is positive.

14th July 08 – The previous placement student, John, who has been introducing me to my role and mentoring me finishes his year of employment and heads to Japan to travel for a few weeks before beginning his final year of uni. I feel a gentle sorrow as John was good fun and provided much needed guidance.

25th July 08 – Tasked with coordinating and organising our attendance at the Association for Perioperative Practice congress and exhibition in Harrogate in October. Had not realised how demanding this will be and the vast number of things to be organised. The exhibition plays host to nearly 2000 people, mostly Healthcare professionals who work in operating theatres and is the largest exhibition that the 3M Infection Prevention UK team attend in the year.

In the beginning,

In September 2007 I found myself facing a daunting task, to secure a placement year in industry that would further my education at Aston uni (where I study marketing) and would prepare me for a future graduate job. I have a background in sales and am interested in understanding the relationship between marketing and sales, with a view to working in both. To my delight I secured my first choice placement at 3M Health Care in Loughborough, part of the global 3M Company, which has a reputation for technological diversity. Friends who had previously done a placement with the company had recommended it. The job offered to me was Marketing Coordinator for Infection Prevention Products. The following blog comprises my experience so far and will be updated throughout the following months as I continue in my placement. I will also be taking the opportunity to find out what you guys think about ad campaigns, products and more, to see if I can prove that marketing must embrace the web revolution and continue to evolve. I should mention that any views or opinions here are those of the author and that this blog does not represent 3Mpolicy or guidelines. Any posts containing none family friendly language or that are offensive will be deleted.