Two Birds One Stone founders Ged Savva, Becky Edlin and Adam Burns outside their new office in Leeds

Two Birds One Stone, which specialises in the youth market, is looking to recruit five students to work on a part-time basis in paid roles within the agency.

Two Birds One Stone, which was set-up by a current Leeds Metropolitan student and two recent University of Leeds graduates, has experience working with youth brands including Oxford Stationery, Leeds Corn Exchange and a number of universities and colleges across the UK.

Students are being invited to an initial interview process on Monday 17 October, at which they will have two minutes to impress the panel.

Successful candidates will be put into groups of five and given the live brief from King of Shaves. The five groups will pitch their campaign on Friday 28 October to a panel including Paul Adrian, Director of Sales & Marketing UK and EMEA at King of Shaves; Alex Epstein, star of The Apprentice 2011; and Nathan Lane, managing director of Bell Pottinger.

Paul Adrian said: “It’s fantastic to see young people being enterprising and we are looking forward to hearing the ideas the students have for our brand.”

Alex Epstein, star of the BBC Apprentice and former head of communications at Yorkshire-based Masternaut, said: “Unemployment amongst young people is a big problem in Britain, so initiatives like this can really help people develop skills and become more employable.

“Two Birds One Stone is a brilliant concept and I know the team are very keen to offer their peers opportunities, which is great. I am looking forward to sitting on the panel and listening to all the bright ideas.”

As well as staking a claim for a paid job the students will also gain experience in developing a campaign as a team and pitching to industry professionals.

Adam Burns, co-founder of Two Birds One Stone said: “We are looking for creative students who want to succeed in business. Our clients value the youth insight we bring, so having a young team of energetic and innovative students is vitally important.”

“It is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain experience and secure a job, at a time when finding employment is tough.

“Students will only have two minutes to sell themselves at the initial interview stage, so we are encouraging them to be creative and try to catch our eye before the day.”

Students who are interested in attending the initial interview stage should email hello@twobirdsonestone or tweet www.twitter.com/Leeds_TBOS

Or like the Facebook page and add your details to the wall www.facebook.com/TwoBirdsOneStoneLeeds

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Attending university during a tough recession, the savviest graduates are recognising the need to gain real-world experience while still studying, finding opportunities to build their portfolios.

One trend among ambitious students is participation in crowdsourcing programmes, allowing busy but tenacious Millennials a chance to contribute to companies looking to connect with the digital generation.

“When I realised that I might want to work in the public relations field, I joined Mindfire, a crowdsourcing community formed by a leading public relations firm, and as a result, I was recently hired by them for a paid summer fellowship,” says Lauren Campbell, a senior graduating from Yale University this May.

“In addition to working at a local New Haven integrated marketing agency while still a student, I found that contributing my creative ideas to challenges posted on Mindfire gave me a real taste of what a job in PR would entail, plus it gave me an edge in landing a position.”

Ketchum, the public relations firm where Campbell will join two other Mindfire community members who also landed summer jobs in the firm’s New York headquarters office, created its university-based online crowdsourcing platform last year as a new creativity engine for its clients.

Talent pipeline

“An unexpected dividend of our growing community is that it’s proving to be an incredible talent pipeline,” says Karen Strauss, partner and chief innovation officer at Ketchum and a co-developer of Mindfire. “We received nearly 700 applications for less than 10 summer fellowship spots, but the ongoing contributions by Lauren and two other students we hired, Alexandra Tomlinson of Cornell and Melanie Buford of the University of Missouri, provided our hiring committee with evidence of the way these applicants think creatively and work under tight deadlines. Students who have supplied us with a steady stream of original thinking really rise to the top of the applicant pool.”

Mindfire is an open innovation community for college graduate and undergraduate students with demonstrated creativity, communications and digital skills. More than 300 students from 22 leading universities are presented with real creative challenges facing Ketchum and its clients, which they can work on individually or collaboratively during breaks in their academic work.

In addition to getting experience to add to their CVs, students also receive career coaching, training and job alerts from Ketchum, along with prizes provided by the client that issued each challenge. Eager to give students practical work opportunities with large global corporations, professors from universities in North America, Europe and Asia help recruit creative students to join Mindfire in order to advance their knowledge outside the classroom and give them an edge in the marketplace.

How to get hired

Simeon Mellalieu, general manager of Ketchum Hong Kong, recently hired two Mindfire members as interns, and believes that the program helps the agency and, ultimately, its clients. “The open innovation community platform lets me spot individuality, creativity, enthusiasm and drive for a PR career in an instant without having to trawl through the dozens of homogenous résumés I receive each month for internships or full-time positions.”

More than 40 Ketchum clients have used Mindfire for creative inspiration, including Hertz, Wendy’s, Frito-Lay North America and others.

“Great ideas can come from anywhere, so Frito-Lay North America was delighted to tap into a crowdsourcing platform to gather inspiration from fresh-thinking minds,” says Aurora Gonzalez, senior director of public relations at Frito-Lay North America. “As someone who is often on the hunt for smart, innovative talent, Ketchum’s Mindfire is a compelling proving ground for ambitious students.”

Paula R. Rivera, manager of public affairs for the Hertz Corporation, says, “Hertz recognizes the value of tapping into a global community of creative thinkers and we have learned a great deal from Mindfire members.”

Mindfire is a free resource available to all Ketchum clients. Client challenges are confidential, and only registered members of the community can access the password-protected site. As an added incentive for participation, every idea posted on Mindfire results in an agency donation to Room to Read, Ketchum’s philanthropic partner, for the purchase of local-language books for needy children in the developing world.

The current alphabetical list of participating universities includes:

• The Media School, Bournemouth University (UK)
• Boulder Digital Works, University of Colorado at Boulder (USA)
• Boston University (USA)
• Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College (USA)
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong; College of Charleston (USA)
• Cornell University (USA)
• New York University (USA)
• DePaul University (USA)
• Georgetown University (USA)
• Leeds Metropolitan University (UK)
• Marquette University (USA)
• Mudra Institute of Communications (India)
• Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (India)
• Syracuse University (USA)
• Tsinghua University (China)
• University of North Carolina – Charlotte (USA)
• University of Maryland – College Park (USA)
• University of Missouri School of Journalism (USA)
• University of Southern California (USA)
• Washington University, St. Louis (USA)
• Yale University (USA)

All of the final year BA (Hons) Public Relations students were provided with a PR brief by Grayling. The students formed their own virtual agencies and presented their ideas to a panel of lecturers. The top four groups were then called to pitch in front of public relations experts at the company’s offices in Roundhay, Leeds.

Giraffe PR: Lauren Sedgley, Naomi Farmer, Natalie Smith, Sarah Blackwell, Claire Thomas and Christine Quigley with Grayling's Justin McKeown (centre)

Giraffe PR were announced as this year’s winners following a pitch in front of Grayling’s Justin McKeown and Vicky Murphy (themselves both PR graduates from the same university).

Final year student Sarah Blackwell commented on her team’s win:

“We are all absolutely thrilled – it’s been a great achievement for us all and a real team effort. This competition has provided us with the skills and confidence necessary to tackle any future pitches. Working with such an esteemed agency and on an exciting brief has also been a fantastic opportunity.”

Grayling’s divisional director, Justin McKeown, a Leeds Met graduate, acted as a mentor throughout the pitch process offering support and advice. Justin said:

“Year-on-year we see fresh and innovative ideas from the Leeds Metropolitan’s PR degree students. The course combines theory and practice, which gives its graduates a great understanding of the profession. The PR industry needs more qualified practitioners who can survive in a commercial environment, and this competition helps prepare the students for the workplace in some important ways.

“This year, the gap between first and second place was mightily close, and we congratulate the thoroughly-deserving winners. As these talented students are soon to be graduates,  I hope this experience will help launch they careers.”

Leeds Met Course Leader and Senior Lecturer, Lucy Laville added:

“Links with professionals is a core feature of our PR courses at Leeds Met. Grayling has supported the BA PR since its inception 20 years ago with a range of initiatives including the competitive pitch, guest lectures and placements for which we’re very grateful. With 20 years of alumni now working in the PR profession our links with employers have gone from strength to strength and our graduate employability remains exceptionally strong even in today’s economic climate.”

Birmingham is not only the second largest city in the UK but its second largest media centre.

The West Midlands region supports over 3,000 creative businesses employing more than 20,000 people, numbers which have grown by almost 20% since 2003. This focus on creativity is set to increase as Birmingham City Council is in the midst of its Big City Plan, which involves regeneration and developments that will see Birmingham evolve into a connected and visible city for both residents and visitors.

This plan encourages and supports the creative industries to flourish and locations such as Eastside, the Jewellery Quarter and Custard Factory will provide the opportunities needed to do so.

The creative industries include new media, publishing, music, photography, journalism, radio, art, design, jewellery, PR and marketing, all of which are embraced in Birmingham making these range of businesses a valuable asset for the West Midlands economy.

Though this growth has been evident for over six years, it is not until recently that there has been a real push and a great deal more funding support and advice out there for creative entrepreneurs to take that leap of faith and either start their own business or back someone else’s.

Media Talent Bank

So if this commitment to expanding the creative industries has been around for so long, what products and businesses have come out of it so far? Have they been successful? Do they still exist?

These questions began buzzing around my head as I was starting to plan my final year project with three fellow peers. The aim was to find a gap in the market or contribute to a functioning product to make it stronger. So what were these existing projects and was there anything anybody had missed so far in the evolving condition of the creative industries?

And yes… there was something missing! An online network for creative students, graduates, freelancers and businesses where they can connect with one another on a professional basis. This was a product that we were going to create.

As research progressed, we were pointed in the direction of Screen Media Lab and its website Media Talent Bank. This served the same purpose as our project and so we jumped on board with them and are currently managing it.

Media Talent Bank was the result of Birmingham City University receiving a £2.7 million pot of money to encourage new media production in the region in 2003. This has led to the creation of Screen Media Lab, an umbrella business to other smaller enterprises including Media Content Lab, Media Skills and Notion Studio, which all provide equipment and expertise for growing media businesses.

This is an example of how funding can encourage such projects, yet there is a concern they can get lost, forgotten about and become obsolete and it is important to remember these existing projects and support them with equal enthusiasm as new emerging ones.

What do students know about social networking?

The social media workshop in Birmingham

Since its launch in 2008, Media Talent Bank has increased its members and has had many hits to the website through its blog but as many have described it, it just sits there. It seems that it was launched at a time when social networking was becoming more and more popular. This would lead anyone to believe that this model for an online database would work but there is a lot more to it than that.

We found the networking aspect was not working online and decided it was time to take it offline. As PR specialists, our task is to create awareness of Media Talent Bank amongst the creative student and business communities throughout the city.

A workshop has already been held on social media with students invited to come and listen to a range of experts from Birmingham’s online scene. Its purpose was not only to educate but get the word out about Media Talent Bank and what it can offer, so it was not exclusive to members of the site.

The next move is to hold a networking evening where Media Talent Bank’s student, graduate and freelance members are able to showcase their work for businesses and employers who are already linked with the website. We will also be reaching out to other creative businesses who want to get involved and support the talent of the future.

In these instances, Media Talent Bank acts as the enabler bringing people together and creating opportunities for young creatives to meet and talk with employers in a relaxed, informal environment.

Overall, the challenge has been to refresh the website and revitalise the engagement that it offers. This is important because Media Talent Bank has the potential to become a very influential tool in developing and encouraging talent in Birmingham which is exactly what the council and leading figures in the creative sector want.

It’s up to us to make it happen and use it as an example of how funding can create something beneficial and not get lost amongst the hundreds of competing projects.

Betsy Whitwam-Kirkup, a level two student from Leeds Metropolitan University joined the hospice’s small PR team for a short-term placement earlier in the year and developed the idea with another member of staff.

The hospice’s small budget meant a different approach to fund-raising and media eye-catching was needed to raise the hospice’s profile and funding. Funds need to reach £3.9 million each year in order to be able to provide free care for its residents.

A local drama group were recruited to direct the event, with whom the fundraising team had built relations with in the past.

“I’d been taught at university that a good relationship with an organisation’s audiences was beneficial, so when I marketed the event and worked with them I got to see this in practise and deliver the event successfully based on the working relations we had with everyone involved,” Betsy said.

Being part of such a small PR team proved to be beneficial for Betsy, as more responsibility and tasks were able to be given out. This saw Betsy having full responsibility for many aspects of the event including publicity and liaising with the local press.

Fundraising events are the main source of funding for the hospice, but ‘Death by Chocolate’ was the first of murder mystery party held for this purpose.

There was also a Punch and Judy booth, a couple of picnic baskets, three treasure chests and a watering can.

All were used by students as part of an assessment designed to test their creativity as well as demonstrating some key practical skills. And each highlighted a town or village for which the students – at the end of their second year – prepared a publicity campaign.

Inside the novel and original “containers” were press releases, feature articles, business letters and an event plan, all designed for potential presentation to journalists in a press pack.

“We know that journalists will be more interested if we can entertain them, or provide them with something unusual,” said Sophie Fenna, creator of the Punch and Judy set, whose portfolio set out a PR campaign to revitalise the image and reputation of Blackpool.

“Of course it wouldn’t be possible to replicate these ideas for large numbers of journalists,” said course tutor Eileen Jones. “But we want to stimulate and encourage the concept of creativity, and the students respond with great enthusiasm to this assignment every year.”

Melanie Brydon’s giant meat pie was made by Lancashire manufacturers Holland’s Pies as part of a promotion for Accrington. Carly Newnham’s tiny coffin contained publicity material for a “ghost walk” which she had devised around Darlington. And Melanie Earle’s treasure chest contained plans for a children’s festival in Halifax, which has been adopted by the local tourism office and will actually take place in July.

Andy Green, director of Wakefield-based Green Communications and  the university’s visiting research fellow in PR, and author of Creativity in Public Relations, is a keen supporter of the portfolio assignment. “This tests the lively minds of the students and produces some ingenious results,” he said.

Photo shows Sophie Fenna with her Punch and Judy press pack