Creative Business students volunteered for Social Media Week Holland

Imagine having the chance to drive a BMWi and in your passenger seat just happens to be the Marketing Director of your favorite brand… Sounds like a dream? Not for our Creative Business students! Last week, over 50 students from the Creative Business and Communications programmes in The Hague volunteered at Social Media Week Holland (SMWNL). The students managed everything, from chauffeur services for conference speakers, to acting as timekeepers during the conference itself.

SMWNL was held from 14 to 16 November at COMM, the Communication Museum in The Hague. This year, Social Media Week conferences across the world explored the theme ‘closer’. This theme celebrates connectivity and the power that technology offers to bring people closer together. With four rooms, over fifty sessions, and more than a hundred speakers, SMWNL offered three days of social media and innovation inspiration. Companies and organisations such as Randstad, BMWi, Lidl, the municipality of The Hague, KPN, Amref Flying Doctors, Tikkie, Growth Tribe, RIFFand Bouwend Nederland provided presentations, workshops and panel discussions.

Second year IMEM student Odevia Johnson explained that attending Social Media Week Holland has really inspired her with great case studies. “I know that influencers are an important tool for marketing today, but it was great to hear the success stories about how companies actually used them. For example, I went to a talk about Salzburgerland. I learned all about the process of how they convinced influencers to come and promote tourism in the region. I really want to pursue a career in events and I now feel like I have a better sense of how to use an influencer to make people interested in a product or an experience.”

Tomisin Akinwole, also a second year IMEM student, loved seeing how new media is being used in so many different fields. “I was amazed by all the people using VR in their work. For example, the forensics division of the Dutch Police was showing visitors how it's using VR to document crime scenes!”

Fellow IMEM student Selina May finds that being a volunteer was actually the most interesting part of her time at Social Media Week. “I knew volunteering would be a great experience for me. It has been interesting seeing how a conference like this operates behind the scenes. It has also been a fantastic opportunity to make real connections in the field.”