Our newest Akin member

2020 has been a year of… well, where to start? For the events that usually fill Arundel's social calendar, it has been a year of working out how to capture their magic virtually.

"The biggest challenge when it comes to social media this year has been vetting all content, copy and images, to check we don't break any lockdown rules," explains Hannah, who managed the social media for this year's Arundel Festival. "We checked and checked again to make sure we were within government guidelines with what we post, which added a lot of time when it came to getting content out onto the various platforms."

It may have been Hannah's first virtual event, but in the current climate, she is confident it won't be the last. And it was fun in a different and surprising way.

Despite this year's festival being virtual, with videos and streamed content, Hannah says Arundel's unique community made it work. 

"Weirdly, it didn't feel too virtual," she explains. "The community got so involved with it, and it was great to see everyone's hard work pay off. I really enjoyed it despite the hard work. I had only worked on social media for real-life events, so this was such a different project, which made it even more exciting."

Although Hannah is Akin's youngest member, she has years of social media experience, which we are delighted to say she's putting to great use on Akin's social media channels. 

"I kind of fell into social media from making YouTube videos when I was younger," says Hannah. "I had a brief stint being signed to an agency in my first year at university, which is where my love and interest for social media really grew. Then I worked as an Online Content Editor during my university placement year, which further helped me with gaining industry experience in social media and content creation. Alongside this, I have also been running a successful fashion Instagram for the past few years which has given me the opportunity to work with some amazing brands and further understand the big world of social media."

Hannah heard about Akin from Jane Mote and Joshua Kershaw, from beechtobeach, while working with them on the Arundel Festival. She is a student at Leicester’s De Montfort University, where her course is firmly rooted in traditional not virtual skills. 

"I am studying textile design, specialising in knitwear/knitted textiles," says Hannah. "I'm secretly a very old soul! My family joke that I'm an 80-year-old trapped in a 21-year-old's body!"

Hannah has never been part of a group like Akin and is looking forward to working with and learning from her fellow members.

"I hope that I can continue to work alongside the amazingly talented individuals in Akin to grow my knowledge, especially in the social media side of things," Hannah says. "Akin can really help make Arundel a recognisable place for great, creative talent."

Which is where you come in. Hannah would like to regularly promote member projects on the Akin social media. 

"I think this could be a fascinating feature we could start to include," she explains. "Maybe once a week get mini member interviews about current projects they are working on - if they are allowed to disclose them of course."

This will help Hannah build the content of our social media and spread the word about Akin. 

"I wasn't aware of Akin until Jane talked introduced me, it would be great to get a wider audience," Hannah says. "I really want to get it out there that there is the wealth of talent in Arundel and I'm sure our social media followers would love to see what our members are up to. It adds that personal touch to social media."

Do you have exciting news to share? Are you proud of your latest project? Let us know, and we (well, Hannah) will help you shout about it.