Getting involved in the Creative Industries

After all that waiting, it’s finally here. The legendary Freshers' Week is now very much upon us. In fact, by the time you’re actually reading this, it’ll most likely already be on its way out. Even as a Third Year shuffling through the unbridled madness for my final time, it seems sad to see it go; the sheer enthusiasm and energy is unlike anything else university has to offer. But, of course, all good things must come to an end, and I guess there are these little things called degrees that we’re actually supposed to be getting on with too!

In fact, for me, the first few weeks re-settling in to the university way of life have actually been about one thing and one thing only. No, not that damn spaceship oven again - I’m talking about the Creative Industries.

As Southampton students will have no doubt noticed by the sheer size and scale of this year’s annual Bunfight (that’s the Union’s societies fair to anyone else), there are an awful lot of societies on offer, ranging from the subject-based to the downright insane. The Creative Industries is built up of a much smaller section of all of these groups and deals with, well, anything creative. This stretches from my own loyalties as Film Editor of the University’s entertainment magazine The Edge, to the likes of SUSUtv and even as far as the circus society.

Of course, in the spirit of creative collaboration, this year saw my first attendance at the annual Creative Industries Induction Week, wherein all the committee members for all of these creative-minded groups hang out in a gigantic room and talk/learn about how to be the best at what we do. It’s a pretty jam-packed week full of all sorts of fun stuff, covering everything from the likes of media law to simple team-building and beyond, giving everyone involved an almost encyclopedic knowledge of our own societies.

The Edge Editorial Team was certainly out in force too, as we took advantage of some incredibly useful workshops on how to use industry-standard software like Adobe InDesign to lay up our latest issue. It may have been slightly fiddly at times, and I may have become rather irate with a certain computer, but ultimately everything just about fell into place, and the new-look designs are pretty incredible. Our first issue of the year has been distributed throughout Freshers week (look out for the odd review inside from yours truly) and our second is on its way to the printers as we speak - so look out for more entertainment-related fun hitting Southampton very soon!

Our stand for The Edge at the Bunfight was a thing of beauty.

Just in case that wasn’t enough, the whole week was topped off with the team-bonding session to end all team-bonding sessions - a DIY laser-quest tournament held within our very own student club The Cube. Equipped with some classic retro Aliens-style laser guns and with plenty of inflatable barricades and camouflage netting around to hide behind, it certainly was a rather epic way to pull the week to a close. Our mixed-society team may have ultimately lost out on the top spot, but we definitely learned an awful lot about communication and team-work along the way.

With the induction over, it was over to the Bunfight to spread the word about just how great the Creative Industries are. I may have been standing around for a shocking amount of time, repeating the same pitch to what felt like hundreds of confused-looking faces, but spreading the word about one of my closest passions, and sharing our work with the University community certainly filled me with an incredible sense of pride and achievement. Joining a society and becoming a part of something bigger really enhances the university experience - I couldn’t recommend it enough!

The Edge and SUSUtv joined forces for some bunfight fun (Image courtesy of SUSUtv)

Freshers’ Week is just a mere taste of the extra-curricular opportunities on offer from the University, and based on the turn-out and enthusiasm so far, it really feels like this is going to be a fantastic year.

Ben