I am writing my first blog entry after completing my first week of work at Congregation working in the Marquee! It was exhausting (I slept most of the weekend to recover) but I had a fantastic week working with our team.
We began with two initial training sessions which included familiarising ourselves with the Durham University Merchandise. We learnt about the significance of the Durham University Merchandise. To do this we carried out exercises which allowed us to discuss the specific qualities of each product. In our training it became clear that there was a dispute over which was the favourite bear. Personally, I favoured Buster although Toffee was extremely popular at Graduation selling out on Friday! I was impressed by the amount of gifts and keepsakes available for students and families to purchase at Congregation. The range of local products such as Durham Gin and the Rail Prints Durham proved very popular at Graduations with students especially favouring the gin as a present for graduating.
Once we began work at Congregation I was amazed by the atmosphere in the Marquee, it was full of students and families celebrating. Working in such a great atmosphere was a pleasure as you felt part of such an important celebration. During out time in the Marquee I helped several people find the perfect gift for graduation, the cufflinks proved a favourable keepsake for anybody who knew a male graduating. I enjoyed hearing customers' stories about who was graduating and how proud they were of them. It really was a great atmosphere to work in! The weather was also fantastic! It was great sunshine for everyone graduating except our last day on Friday when it began to rain! We suddenly had a huge boost in umbrella sales as nobody was prepared for such a down pour!
Our team at graduation was made up of myself and other students at the University. We had a great team throughout the week providing us with constant entertainment whilst we were working on the shop floor! I really enjoyed my experience at Congregation and it made me feel like my graduation will be less daunting. Except I still have the common fear that many students I talked too seem to have that I will trip over when I collect my certificate and that they will catch it on the DVD!
I am currently now working in the Retail Office over the summer. So I will be keeping you updated about what will be going on in the office now Congregation has finished!
Emma
