Robyn: PRE FESTIVAL

I’m Robyn, FITD trainee on placement in the 24:7 Festival Office, interning under Annika, David, and Kathryn. A typical day begins at 10am in the office, where we’ll all arrive and get settled with cups of tea kindly made by fellow intern Harry Jelley.

I’m currently working on the Herding Cats Convention and 10^th Birthday Party, both held onsite at New Century House during festival week. Sarah Birch and I meet around 2 days a week in the 24:7 HQ office, to make bookings and plans for the events and discuss progress.

I spend the rest of the day helping with anything from setting up the office for events to sourcing supplies, and sitting in on informal chats with members of the 24:7 Family and Alumni.

The placement is proving valuable to me in terms of really highlighting the true variety of thoughts and tasks which must be arranged and enacted in creating a festival. This was one of the most important things to me in applying to the Foot In The Door Scheme, having previously found festivals to be a truly intoxicating concept. The abstract notion of a temporary event intrigues me alongside the more concrete, logistical everyday issues involved . Realism is as important as a sense of humour and the willingness to work hard and apply oneself to the tasks as part of a greater learning experience.

Robyn – June 2014