Q&A with Marketing & Development Coordinator Samira Pereira
Q&A
As creative education and provision declines in schools, we want to promote careers in the arts and offer emerging creatives opportunities to gain paid training and hands-on experience working alongside our team.
Read on to hear from Samira Pereira, our Marketing & Development Coordinator, who discusses her experience as an apprentice at Kings Place.
Hi Samira! What were you up to before working with Kings Place and how did you first join us?
Hello! Before I started my journey at Kings Place, I was a Head Waitress at an African fusion cuisine restaurant. I came across the Kings Place internship through the Borough of Camden’s Kickstarter Scheme for those on Universal Credit.
‘I had very little marketing knowledge, so when I started the only experience I had was organisational skills and a huge willingness to learn.’
What was it like working with Kings Place as an intern via the Kickstarter scheme? What sort of skills did you develop as a result and and how were you able to work with the rest of the team?
It was all very new to me as I had only worked in hospitality since I arrived in London back in 2017. I had very little marketing knowledge, so when I started the only experience I had was organisational skills and a huge willingness to learn.
Throughout my internship I learned how the company works and my main task was to take care of the website. Here I acquired skills in how to work with a Content Management System, building newsletters campaigns with Wordfly and Mailchimp plus learnt more about how marketing strategy works. This then led to being a new official member of Kings Place!
‘Having a paid internship not only opens doors into the industry but also removes the idea of only being able to get in if you know someone or that you need a Marketing degree.’
What is your current job and what does an average day look like for you?
Kings Place offered me a contract as Marketing & Development Coordinator and every day is a different day. Nowadays I also monitor and I create content for our social media channels, communicate with other venues for potential peer swaps, assist with and produce design briefs, participate and contribute to meetings when necessary and I coordinate the onsale launch of various series and festivals for our website!
How has your role changed since you first joined Kings Place as a Kickstarter intern last year?
It has changed a lot! I was given more duties, like video editing and working more with Photoshop and Canva, also my time management has been put up to challenge – when I worked as an intern, tasks were really scrutinised before being given to me. Now I have greater responsibility and more is expected of me.
Why is it important that organisations offer paid training opportunities to young people looking to work in the arts & culture sector?
There are so many people out there wanting to be part of the arts sector with little to no experience but with the willingness to learn (like me in the beginning) – but they don’t know where to start.
What I think interns should have in mind is to earn your spot and show you want it in the very first moment they accept your internship, which was what I did!
What more do you hope to learn as you continue working at Kings Place?
I feel like every day there’s always something to learn. I’d like to do more about liaising with curators to plan the announcements of their events and build relationships with our local communities I’d say!