Sport Management students bring the Handball Games to SportBU

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

Setting up for an afternoon of mayhem at SportBU, a team of sport management students await the onslaught of excited students. Leaving the door open to experienced and novice handball players, this event allowed for some great team building, skill learning and a lot of laughs.

Handball games

The second years conducted a series of events as part of their course requirement. Events such as the “Handball Games” allowed for a great opportunity for students to do something very different to our usual nights out of drinking and madness. Students from all different varsity teams came together to form amazing teams for one day only.

After a brief introduction and professional coaching session, the students were let loose to try out their techniques. A series of high energy matches took place. Students were really immersed in the experience and a lot of healthy competition took place.

The day ended in an awards ceremony for the winning team and some sore losers from others. All in all, the event was a success and students, managers and all the sponsors were very happy (and exhausted!).

Handball games 2

This event was supported by Free your Fitness and SportBU. Refreshments and information brochures were provided as well as high quality equipment and professional coaching. The management team would like to thank them for making the event such a success.

By: Kirsty Simms

Sports Management students smash it with BU Showdown: Dodgeball

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

“Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge!” Most of us are aware of the fast-paced game from the infamous Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller movie, but how many of us have had the chance to be on the front line, hurling the next ball?

BU Showdown1A team of sport management students created a full afternoon event for students to release some steam and experience the intense game of dodgeball first hand. The students said that the aim for their event was to provide “BU students the opportunity to participate in non-traditional sports”. The event certainly managed that! Students from all courses, all types of sporting experience and all levels of fitness grouped together and let loose in a style similar to that of wild animals!

Teams such as “The Oi Ois” and “Balls of Steel” took part in quick-fire five minute games in a knockout fashion. Those who did not make it to the semi-finals stayed on to cheer on a tense finale. Spirits were high and there was a great atmosphere and sense of comraderie in the sport hall.

Not only did this event provide students with a great game, there was also some great music from a full DJ set up in the centre of the hall. This helped to get the students pumped when the games kicked off. Some sponsorship from Red Bull also gave the competitors a helpful boost.

 

BU Showdown 2Overall, the event was a roaring success and for a good cause too! All proceeds from £1 entry to the event went to raising money for RAG, Bournemouth Uni’s registered charity.

By: Kirsty Simms

Final year Retail Management students reveal their plans for rejuvenating Poole

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

Real life consultancy projects for final year students provide a fantastic opportunity to showcase their ideas, and this year an opportunity emerged a little closer to home.

Retail students in PooleThe Dolphin Shopping Centre in Poole has been a major talking point in recent years. Consumers feel that Poole (as a destination) is let down by its shopping experience, and competition from West Quay (Southampton) and Gunwharf Quays (Portsmouth) is in a different class. However, BU Retail Management students took on the challenge of how to rejuvenate the shopping experience in Poole.

Following a brief set out by Poole’s economic development manager, Adrian Trevett, and BU lecturer, David Kilburn, a group of students presented three concepts to John Grinnell, the centre manager of the Dolphin Shopping Centre and the current owners Legal and General Property (L&G). These concepts included a restaurant parade located in the Falkland Square walkway, a shipping container market situated on Poole Quay and an omni-channel retailing platform.

The omni-channel retailing concept was designed to bring all retailers at both ends of the high street together on one multi-channel platform. The service would provide a ‘click and collect’ hub and a home delivery service, where orders could be placed online by phone or at ‘interactive hubs’ proposed by the students.

Adrian Trevett said: ” I am keen to try and push some of their ideas and I particularly liked the logo and slogan the students created for the project.”

John Grinnell added: “It was fantastic to see the students’ enthusiasm for the project, some of the ideas they put forward were really well thought out and very creative. They had a great understanding of the Poole community and had carried out extensive research for their project.”

Commenting on the group’s presentation was BU student, Nicola Beattie: “Everyone seemed to be impressed with our suggestions and we had fantastic feedback.”

By: Paul Fripp

Dragons Den experience at School of Tourism

Posted . Filed under Featured, News, Student Experience.

The Innovation unit this year involved working with 9 local organisations across the Events Management and Events & Leisure Marketing programmes.

This year the organisations included: The Print Room, Aruba, Bournemouth International Conference Centre, The Langtry Manor Hotel, Haskins Garden Centre, The Captains Club, The Green House Hotel, Chapel Gate and QE Leisure Centre.  The students had site visits to the organisations in February and then had to develop a new event or leisure product to suit their specific organisation’s needs.  The organisations were invited to the School of Tourism in May for their students to present their new ideas in a Dragons Den format.

Dragons Den 1

Gail Collins, Events Sales & Marketing Manager, BH Live said: “I am always pleased to see the talent and passion from the Bournemouth University students during their annual presentations to BH Live.  It is reassuring to know that our industries will in the future benefit from the skills they are now perfecting.” Matthew Piovan, Operations Manager of the Print Room said “I always enjoy working with the first year Events students at Bournemouth University, it is great to see their fresh ideas and approaches to event concepts that can be placed into a trading business to help increase revenue and awareness. Having partaken in the Dragon Den’s presentation element of their course for a number of years, it is always fascinating to see the new ideas that the students develop that we as the business managers may not have considered hosting, but now with different angles and target markets in mind, we do look at considering one or two in the future.

Dragons Den 2

Simon Morris, General Manager at the Haskins Garden Centre, said that he was impressed by the students approach during their fact finding visit to the centre and many of the ideas from the resulting presentations would be practical and viable to pursue: “We were impressed with their clear thinking and grasp of the realities of operating in a specialist retail environment.”

Learning to work together and building a relationship with a group and have an ownership for your work, is the greatest feeling

 Dragons Den 6

“In 10 weeks only, first year students had to understand and apply several new product development tools and processes, including PEST, SWOT, product portfolio analysis, Ansoff matrix, target market selection, idea generation and screening, creativity techniques and financial analysis”, said Dr. Miguel Moital, leader of the Event & Leisure Innovation unit. The teaching team, which also comprises Ms Pearl Morrison, Ms Kate Jones and Ms. Liz Gordon, agreed that once again students pitched some great new ideas underpinned in solid business cases.

Dragons Den 5

“This experience was an extremely useful insight into industry and the demands that would have to be met when performing a pitch to a business. I’ve learnt the importance of knowing the different processes of an events structure. The pressure of the pitch and the significance of time management when insuring the main points of the event have been portrayed in an exciting, innovative manner. I am very thankful for this opportunity and will definitely benefit from the experience in the future.” Alice Matthews (student)

Dragons Den 4

“Throughout the process of my Innovation, Dragons Den experience, I discovered that just coming up with a realistic idea is not so simple and fast as it first may seem. Especially working in a team, having a group with personality and opinion can be both beneficial and problematic and very challenging at times. However being able to delve into the background of a company and relating an event to their values can be very rewarding. Particularly creating something new to a real life company can be very daunting, but after learning to work together and building a relationship with a group and have an ownership for your work, is the greatest feeling. Although some areas could be tweaked, it is just a small look into the events industry and how it works, and the experience has only strengthened my determination to become a successful events manager in the future.” Verity Odukogbe​ (student)

Dragons Den 3

“Personally I found the experience exciting as well as challenge, allowing me to work with individuals I hadn’t before and learning my own strengths and weaknesses. Having a ‘real life’ business case made the process more challenging however more motivational as we had something to deliver, I loved the experience and would recommend to use in the future!” Abigail Mackenzie (student)

By: Pearl Morisson and Dr. Miguel Moital

School of Tourism student wins TMI David Hughes Memorial Award 2014

Posted . Filed under Featured, News, Student Experience.

This year’s winner of the Tourism Management Institute David Hughes Memorial Award for outstanding student placement is Claire Rosslee, a student on the BA (Hons) Tourism Management course at Bournemouth University.

Claire was presented with her award at the TMI Digital Destinations Hot Topic event at Cheltenham Racecourse by TMI President, Neil McCollum MTMI MTS and TMI Head of CPD, Paul Williams MTMI FTS.  Claire receives one year’s complimentary Associate membership of TMI as well as the chance to attend the Hot Topic event, hear the latest developments in destination management and network with destination management professionals from across the UK.

The award, in memory of late TMI President David Hughes FTMI, is designed to encourage students on TMI Recognised courses to reflect on their placement experience, how it enables them to see concepts and theories in practice and acquire valuable workplace skills for their future career.  Students have to write a reflective report on their placement and submit it together with references from their placement host and their tutor.  The reports are assessed by the TMI Continuing Professional  Development Group and the TMI Executive.

Assessors particularly liked the way Claire had “reflected on her own strengths and weaknesses and demonstrated how her role had positively helped address these” and felt that she showed “a thorough understanding of destination management and how this is evolving.”  She had “given a good deal of consideration to her role and … taken on additional responsibilities, recognising that she is working for a small team”. Overall it was seen as a “very competent, mature and thoughtful piece of work”.

TMI Head of CPD, Paul Williams, said: “Claire’s placement with the official DMO for the English Riviera provided her with an excellent opportunity to gain valuable destination management and marketing insights to enhance her knowledge and understanding of the tourism industry gained as part of her sandwich degree course. The benefits of this practical industry experience were clearly evident throughout her reflective account and panel members were unanimous in judging her to be the overall winner of the David Hughes Memorial Award. In the light of the overall quality of the submission it is felt that this should be used as an example of good practice and guidance for other students in future. Well done Claire.”

By : TMI

TMI is the professional destination management section of the Tourism Society. For more information about TMI and the award please visit the TMI web site: http://www.tmi.org.uk

Volunteer opportunity at Camp Bestival!

Posted . Filed under News, Student Experience.

Love Camp Bestival? Would you like a fantastic opportunity to volunteer at the festival this year and get a free festival ticket, food and transport from Studland House included? Beales Gourmet are looking for 4 enthusiastic people to work in their bars at the fantastic Camp Bestival at Lulworth from Thursday 30th July to Monday 4th august.

Do you have excellent communications skills?

Like working in a busy environment and thrive under pressure?

Enjoy being part of a lively team?

Previous bar work experience is an advantage.

 

Camp Bestival

Find out more about Camp Bestival by clicking the link below.

http://www.campbestival.net/info

The 6th Sense Transport project

Posted . Filed under News, Research.

The 6th Sense Transport project has an end of project show, ‘The Internet of Cars’, that will be taking place during May and June across venues in the Bournemouth area (Bridport Arts Centre, the Hansard Gallery Southampton, Winchester Science Centre). More details can be found on the website: http://www.internetofcars.org.uk/

The project has commissioned a number of artists to work with data derived from the project resulting in a range of exhibits and events. For instance you can download a phone app and be part of the Internet of Cars.

For those with a more academic interest there is a symposium on 14th June at the Hansard Gallery, Southampton. This is free to attend but you’ll need to register.

See link to the programme for the day with details of how to register for anyone interested.

Internet of cars symposium

By: Janet Dickinson