All the best to Emma
We can hardly believe six months have passed since our Events and Sustainability Assistant Emma Jones joined the Maxim Park team. But although it’s a sad farewell for us, it’s just the start for fantastic Emma as she returns to complete her degree in International Tourism and Airline Management at Edinburgh Napier University. We know she’ll fly high. But before leaving us, we sat down for a quick catch up about how she’s feeling about her placement coming to an end.
Emma said: “Before my placement at Maxim Park I was quite shy and quiet, but my confidence has grown substantially, so I know being part of the team has helped me and will continue to help me a lot as I return to university.”
One reason Emma feels her confidence has grown is that her role has enabled her to engage with many different people, from event suppliers to members of the park community at every level.
One of her biggest achievements has been to be part of the team creating and developing our new Maxim app, which launched earlier this year and already has almost 800 people from across the park using it to secure exclusive discount offers, and stay up to date with our regular events and news.
Emma continued: “The number of people using the app is rising every day as it’s proving so useful to them in keeping up to date with everything going on in the park, including events, perks of the park, amenities, competitions, and lots more. It felt so good to be part of the launch event after working on the app behind the scenes.
“As well as this, my supervisor and I have organised many recent events for teams across the park to enjoy, like Maxim Sports Day, allotment sessions, cycling maintenance visits from Dr Bike, scran sessions from a wide variety of artisan providers, and a summer BBQ, that we welcomed more than 450 people to just last week.
“Being involved in all this has meant I’ve learnt so much at Maxim Park, from brainstorming ideas for events and presenting them to stakeholders, to problem solving. I've enjoyed learning how to prepare, set up, execute, and collect feedback from the varied events we’ve had at Maxim Park, and these skills will be invaluable in my future career.
“Returning to university, where theory is important, I’ll be able to put my ideas across more confidently and work better in a group setting because of what I’ve done here, as it has helped me put multiple theories into practice.
“I've enjoyed working to deliver brand new, fun and exciting events for all community members. Before my placement I thought I was just going to be in the background, but my colleagues really encouraged me to share ideas and input, and get involved, even organising an event on my own, which I loved.”
Although not certain which area of work Emma would like to settle on after she graduates, she does have some ambitious travel plans, and hopes to get involved in business and event planning for music festivals and corporate events.
She said: “Thank you to the Maxim team for taking me on board, welcoming me, and giving me an opportunity to learn and develop my management skills. It’s been a fantastic six months and I’ll miss the office jokes.”
Our Director of Park Services, Caroline Baillie, added: “It’s been our privilege to host Emma as a valuable member of our management team while on placement. She’ll be a big miss and we have no doubt she’ll flourish in the final months of her course. All of us look forward to seeing her career take shape, whatever she decides to do.”
Download the Maxim app at Apple’s App Store or via Google Play, and to find out more about Maxim Park’s many facilities, amenities, news and events, visit maximpark.co.uk.
