After a year and a half exploring the world, it felt like it was time to find a worthwhile career. Enter Dovetail, a patient-centred agency that specialises in collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and the NHS. The first year has flown by in a whirlwind of activity from filming to conferences, European meetings and awards ceremonies.
The diversity of the role gives endless opportunity for learning and developing new skills. Most recently, I attended the HCA’s workshop, Improving Moving Picture. It was fascinating to hear that memory retention for a video is 30% higher than that for text. Memory retention can be further enhanced by exciting new technologies: virtual reality and interactive video have been shown to drive repeat exposure and memory retention up to 90%. These innovative new technologies are yet to be fully explored by pharmaceutical companies, leaving the door open for an adventurous trail blazer.
The highlight of the year was my first client presentation – in Valencia! It gave me the opportunity to improve my presentation skills and put into practice subtle changes that have had a big impact on the way I present. I also got to experience the amazing Las Fallas festival which was explosive, colourful and cultural.
One of the most important things I’ve learned is that good relationships are key to a successful project. When the fire alarm went off at my first ever conference, we trooped outside with 60 delegates to wait in the rain, assuming it was a false alarm, and we’d have to re-jig the agenda slightly to make up the time. It wasn’t a false alarm. The hotel was actually on fire and we were evacuated to a neighbouring hotel for four hours!
Fortunately, nobody was injured, but when we did finally get back in to our hotel, we found the conference room was flooded, and there no chance of resuming the presentations that day. Strong relationships with our clients and suppliers meant we were able to roll our sleeves up and work together all evening to rescue the meeting ready for the second day.
A great learning experience, and one I could definitely do without repeating!