With just three short days left (boohoo) in the Communications team until I start my rotation in the Strategic Innovation Group, I thought that I would share with you a brief overview of the Communications team and my highlights of the rotation.

The Communications team falls within the Communications, Policy and Campaigns directorate at the RSC. The team works closely alongside the Media and Government Affairs teams - areas that I also previously knew little about - it has been an added bonus to gain an insight into the work they do!

The work of the Communications team ranges from public outreach activities and planning the RSC’s social media strategy, to communicating with our members through RSC News and Grapevine. They also provide support to other colleagues with policy reports, speeches and brand related issues.

Therefore, as part of my rotation I was given a ‘Speechwriting 101’ lesson, and have since written several speeches for members of the leadership team and past RSC Presidents. Speechwriting is a skill unlike anything I have ever done before, and it was a chance to write in a flamboyant and exaggerated manner – something that was at first a challenge, but really fun to do!

I have also had the opportunity to work closely with the editors of RSC News, contributing to several issues of the magazine. I interviewed people for ‘Profile’ articles and researched and wrote a feature about the chemistry of space!
Public engagement has also been one of my favourite parts of the rotation. Every couple of weeks I work in our London office – which in itself is lovely and very exciting to work in London! It is also a chance to get to know our London colleagues.

Every month we put on public lectures at our Chemistry Centre, and I have volunteered at quite a few. My favourite speaker was Paolo Belluti – he is part of the team at NASA who drives the Mars Rover Curiosity.  You can catch up on all these lectures online!

From my rotation I have also gained experience in project managing – I was the project manager of a team of four responsible for organising the internal launch of our refreshed brand. Seven weeks of creative brainstorming, crazy logistics and a task list of over one hundred items resulted in the best day I have ever had at work (and four free ice creams!).