Nevşehir/Nevşehir Province, Turkey

Diary of A Project Manager take 1-Turkey

Recently I scored an awesome promotion at work (Ulfah Arts) and have had the opportunity to become part of some really inspiring projects.One of the projects is the Leonardo Project. Ulfah and YTV have been part this international skill building exchange for some time hosting young people from Germany and other EU countries and then being able to send the youth of the UK on trips of a lifetime to Norway, Spain and now guess who is in Turkey. .....Well go on guess then. Ha ok me and 10 young people. This is such an amazing opportunity not just for the young people but also for me to develop my own skills as a manager. I really love working with young people and am really passionate about the work Ulfah has to offer. Ulfah really believe in people and gives chances to those who may never have had them. Media is already such a hard industry to break into and those little extra chances can help a young person really boost their career, creativity and give them a education in life skills.

So here I am sitting in my hotel room after a hectic first few days and I don't even know where to start. I
guess rewind to first meeting the team. I joined the project a little late so the team had already started media training from a top professional brushing up on camera skills and editing armed with new knowledge they were handed over to me. I met the team of 10 young 18-28 year olds. They all seemed lovely and very focused on the work. Grabbing the opportunity with both hands. Although we had met a few times it wasn't until we were all standing in Digbeth coach station sleepy eyed that it suddenly dawned on me WOAH we were about to head to Turkey. What a journey too.

The journey was eventful to say the least. The team were great and even though everyone was tired they remained in high spirits and instantly formed as a unit. Everyone was surprised by the first Turkish airline flight. Snuggled down in our comfy seats we watched 'The Heat' on our personal screens. Is it just me or when the hell did economy get so good? The heat was really funny better towards the end but made journey super quick. My only grumble about this flight is the air staff were a bit rude at the fact that one of the team didn't eat meat. Come on airlines vegetarians have been around for ages lets not be so surprised. A misadventure with the airline sneakily messing with luggage but as a team we problem solved and got the whole team and the luggage safely to our destination. The second flight being domestic wasn't so luxurious but on the flipside the air staff were lovely and went out of their way to feed my veggie friend.



Met by our friendly host we mini bussed our way to the hotel where everyone settled into their rooms. The rooms are all really spacious and while they all settled in with their room mates it gave me a chance to meet with the partner and discuss the programme. The next two weeks were going to be rammed packed with exciting new adventures for all to film. Read all about how the participants found the journey here. My room is huge and super exciting.


Comments

back to top