8 weeks at Brighton Chamber: Reflecting on my internship

My internship at Brighton Chamber has been in Digital Marketing and Content. Day to day, this has involved lots of content-based tasks like writing posts for social, uploading and managing content on the Chamber website, and working on blogs.

I‘ve worked hybrid, both at home and in the office as the rest of the team do. I’ve helped out at events, worked on membership projects, Net Zero content, social media, as well as sharing topical information with members and working on other tasks the Hannah and the team have asked me to help with. 

As this role has been my first ‘professional’ job, working from an office and working on a laptop, I’ve learnt a lot of new skills!

I’ve worked in events before, having attended Glastonbury festival with crew every year since I was eight years old - and now packing my summers full of voluntary positions at different festivals with Oxfam. Networking and working alongside the Chamber team has exposed me to different sorts of events, and meeting members has really developed my people skills in a professional environment.

Developing copywriting and content creation, my digital skills have also expanded, using new platforms like as Canva, CRM.me, Hootsuite and editing the Chamber’s website. I’ve also learnt how to send out mail merges, which was scary at first! 

The first Chamber event that I attended was the Summit last April, where I volunteered through the University of Sussex to help the team out. The day was packed full of lots of exciting activities and opportunities to meet people, including an amazing keynote from Floella Benjamin. This was the first time that I met the Chamber team, who I now work with, and it was great fun - and part of the reason I got the chance to do this internship!

I attended the Chamber Breakfast, held at Moshimo, on my first day and this was a fun and exciting way to start a new position and meet some of the members. The Bite-sized Learning event I attended was run by Miles Duncan and gave me lots of new and useful tips from how to construct an ‘about’ section and what sort of images are appropriate to use for your header or headshot, but my favourite events have been the networking events.

At Slo-mo networking, I got to network and meet lots of members. I really enjoyed the style of the event, sitting in groups of three, and each person in the trio had several minutes to speak about themselves. As well as hearing about member’s businesses, this helped me to perfect ‘pitching’ myself to others, and getting used to speaking to others about who I am and my aspirations. 

The events have been the main highlight of my time at the Chamber, as I’ve had the chance to speak to people in many new and different ways.

I’ve also been helping Amy and Hannah on a membership project, speaking to members about their membership to help the Chamber understand their challenges, successes and how they use their membership. I’ve spoken to a range of members in person, virtually, and over the phone - from sole traders to owners of larger business and employees at different levels. 

The types of businesses that people work for have held such a high variety, from individuals working in photography, the music industry, and events, to financial services, marketing, and law, and it has been great to hear about the different industries and professions – even some that I didn’t know existed!

I’ve also enjoyed spending time with the team and working alongside them on projects, whether that’s in the office or hybrid from home, as everyone has been so friendly and welcoming.

After leaving the Chamber on the 15 September, I have a lot of big changes going on!

I am officially moving on from the Brighton chapter of my life - where I have lived and studied, having graduated in July. The few weeks following the end of my internship I will be starting a new position as a Sales Development Representative at Intercity Technology in Birmingham, as well as packing up all my possessions and helping my mum with our big move up from Surrey to the midlands!

My future plans are to continue to travel and see the world - my next trip booked is to Vegas in the first week of October, to attend a wedding! In the long-term, my best friend and I eventually plan to have saved up some money to travel around South-East Asia. I will also be returning to Brighton to help the team again at the Chamber’s next Summit!

Immy's internship at Brighton Chamber was through the University of Sussex - find out more about their internships at University of Sussex's Career Labs page here. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk