My name is Makary and I have just completed a 2-week college placement at The Armitt as part of my Business course at college.
On my first day, I was given a tour of the museum and learnt about how the organisation is run, ranging from things such as exhibitions to talks and visits, and how they are all managed. The staff also talked me through specific tasks that I would be responsible for fulfilling on the days I would be working.
In week one, my main task was to do some research on coach companies that were offering tours to Ambleside and decide how to approach them about The Armitt. After I did this research, I started forming an email to send out to these companies which was then sent at the end of the week by one of the staff members. I also helped with other things in the museum. On one day I was taken out to a member of the public’s house who had found an usual stone feature in their garden. I tried to research about it, however I didn’t get lucky finding anything. This was really interesting because it was the first time I did anything practical, especially for a museum. I also did some digitisation of images in the collection. I was shown by a volunteer how the pictures looked with different qualities or editing being applied, as well as learning about file sizes. Later in the week, I got taken on a tour of the Bridge House and had a look at how it links to the museum as time has gone on. Then on the Friday of my first week, I helped out with a group visit and put out some Beatrix Potter art for American visitors to view. This was a good experience as I was able to help with a group and I was very involved the whole time, including answering questions to the best of my ability. It was interesting to learn how different audiences from outside the UK see the artwork compared to how I saw it.
In my second week I supported a school visit that focused on outdoor art and then my main task was to undertake an analysis of the social media platforms The Armitt uses and present a case for creating a new social media account on TikTok. This was a good thing for me to do as social media marketing is a path I would like to follow further down the line in my career. It was also interesting to learn about the more in-depth details such as the age and location of people engaging with posts.
Overall, I have really enjoyed my 2 weeks because I’ve been introduced to a brand-new industry and have learnt about things that benefit me in what I would like to do in the future. I understand more about the type of knowledge and information I would need to know if I was to become a marketing manager. So, I believe that my time at The Armitt has been productive. I got taught a lot which will help me out in my future career path, and I was surrounded by a good team who supported me in my learning. I would recommend The Armitt to anyone who would like to volunteer as it is a place of positive attitudes, and you will feel involved in any task or project that is occurring.