Connor Peters, final year BA (Hon) Public Relations student, receives a co-creation award hosted by Centre for Excellence in Learning at a ceremony on December 5, 2017.
By Dr. Joyce Costello, Senior Lecturer Digital Marketing
During Connor Peters’ placement year, he gained insight into challenges amongst public relations specialists in the technology industry when utilizing social media. Having done much content creation and social media planning himself and realizing that he wanted a deeper understanding of how it’s used in a global context, he decided to apply for the Bournemouth University co-creation project. The project hosted by the Centre for Excellence in Learning (CEL) gives final year students the chance to put together a research proposal and work with an academic with the end goal of a joint publication.
“I’ve always been someone who thinks about the future. In not just the PR world and the world of UK business, two things seem guaranteed for the future – digital business and global business are both going to be incredibly important,” said Connor, final year BA (Hons) Public Relations student. “Particularly with Brexit, we need to look for economies outside of the EU for UK businesses to expand successfully. To my surprise, there is also very little research into this topic, so it’s important to really get an initial understanding of how PR in a global context will change in the years to come.”
On December 5, Connor received the co-creation award and a £500 check presented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim MacIntyre-Bhatty. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor iterated that the opportunity for students and staff to work on project to create knowledge is a great opportunity to make a positive impact locally and nationally.
Connor is working with Dr. Joyce Costello, senior lecturer with the Faculty of Media and Communications, to address how individual cultural attitudes and organizational norms will influence the social media strategy adopted by UK technology companies in emerging markets. Connor’s advice to students who might consider applying next year: “If you have a topic you’re interested in, and an academic who’s also interested, then you should 100% make the most of that opportunity. It’s a great chance to produce an exceptional piece of work, expand your knowledge in a speciality area, and get paid to do so!”
To learn more about co-creation projects, visit the CEL blog https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/cel/.