Chapter magazines launch party, held before christmas, was a brilliant night, filled with inspirational talks, new friends and lots of wine. The industry guests included the founders and editors of Sublime magazine, Laura and Damian Santamaria, Mollie Makes editor, Lara Watson, director of Brandspoke, Hilary Andrews and past Solent student Rebecca. If you couldn’t make the launch party, experience the night through the pictures below.
The lecture hall was filled with past and present students, eager to ask questions and gain insight into the industry from those with the knowledge to advise and suggest things that will impress editors and employees.
The talk kicked off with a question asking advice for people who wanted to start their own magazine. Laura and Damian Santamaria immediately began talking with excitement as Sublime magazine is their own creation, they’ve been there every step of the way from the first ideas and concepts to the success of an international magazine. Laura takes care of the editorial side of Sublime and explains that they started by creating think tanks of like-minded people that they could bounce ideas off. Laura says, ‘the beauty of having your own magazine is that you can experiment and create your own formula. Damian adds, ‘don’t hurry up on the launch of your idea and do your research.’ He explains that you need to know your competitors and do your research, and to begin with launching the brand and the name on the internet, before launching the print. ‘Keep your little idea alive, no matter the set backs.’
Students then questioned Rebecca on her journey from university to where she is now. Rebecca explains she graduated from Solent a year ago, ‘it took a while to find my feet, I went back to office work to earn money whilst freelancing on the side to stay with my practice and gain experience for my cv.’ She found an internship online and they then took her on full time. ‘I guess I was lucky that it didn’t take that long for me, it was only 4 months from when I left uni till I was accepted into the beauty PR company.’ Her best advice is to use your contacts whilst your at uni as she was able to go on a PR trip with Zest magazine because Alex Shakespeare, a Solent lecturer, was then the acting editor.
The talk then progressed into a discussion about the effects of the emerging digital media on the print world, which led to the question; when looking to hire someone, how important is it that they have a blog?
Lara Wilson begins to explain that for her, having something online that you can look at quickly is essential when your so busy. ‘It’s so important to have an online portfolio of text and images.’ Mollie Makes is very visual and creative so Lara looks for that in the candidate. ‘I say that, actually, I go on Instagram and Twitter a lot more. I find out more stories and great photography.’
All the panel agree that, when applying to a job or intern, make it personal. Lara explained, ‘I hardly ever get an email with pitch ideas, I just get blanket emails that you can tell has been copy and pasted.’ Laura agrees that for an editor, it’s annoying to receive blanket emails and that it pays to do your research.
Before we all departed to the conference suite to mingle and socialise, the last question was: what is the most rewarding thing about your individual jobs? Editors of Sublime and Mollie Makes both agree that having the finished product in your hands feels amazing along with reader feedback. Hilary Andrews, who joined the panel slightly late, told us that ‘to succeed in anything you set out to do and to reach a goal is a fantastic feeling. Then if you can use that experience to mentor others then that adds to the joy.’
With such an uplifting end to the discussion, everyone couldn’t wait to question the experts further and to mingle with a glass of wine in hand. Keep an eye out for further posts of when we caught up with them directly and asked them questions on how to get started in the industry as a post graduate. Check out the rest of the photos below…
Chapter 2 is currently in the making, so we’ll keep you posted on latest updates!
Chapter Magazine 
Gorgeous blog!
Nicole x
http://www.floralsforspring.com