Williams Blog: Week 31

Posted on Wednesday 12 Aug 2009 and tagged with blog, williams.

This week's blog introduces Chloe Palmer, one of our motorhome hostesses who is currently undertaking some work experience in the Marketing department...

As a motorhome hostess for the team at European Grands Prix, I get the opportunity to observe the coming and goings of the Marketing and Communications teams over a race weekend. I quickly decided that I would love the chance to be able to get a bit of first hand experience of the work that they do behind the scenes so, after twisting (Head of Communications) Liam Clogger’s arm and using much tea-bribery, I persuaded him to let me do some work experience at the factory this summer.

Upon arrival, my first project was to go through the fantastic photo archives we have at Williams and see if there were any gaps in the records that needed filling in. The images are filtered into years, obviously starting at the very beginning of the team’s existence in 1977 through to the last race in Budapest this year. There must be 1,000s of photos so it’s a big job and I’m still working my way through them!

The archives themselves are used daily by the Marketing and Communications teams and are obviously invaluable as the constant demands from media and sponsors to use imagery for various projects is fairly constant. A good example of this is when the Hospitality department hosts events at races or test days as various images can now be found quickly and easily for use on passes, menus, programmes and even for use as backgrounds to enhance the experience of the guests at a particular event.

Sorting the Williams photo archive is a valuable history lesson as it’s giving me the opportunity to get a clear picture of Williams and the progress the team has made over the years, something that’s not always evident when you’re fulfilling a trackside role. On a lighter note, it was also a great opportunity to see pictures past and present, particularly of current members of the team as it was amazing to see how much (or how little in some cases!) they have changed over the years. It has to be said that many of them have a little less hair now, but racing seems to have kept them all looking fairly young!

I felt that the opportunity to complete some work experience at the factory would not only be a great chance to add a positive extra to my C.V, but also to understand the workings and needs of the various guests I help to look after at races in the motorhome. Working alongside the Account Managers at the factory, and seeing the relationships they have to build with sponsors in order to achieve the most out of the partnership for them and us as a team, will really help at the next races I go to as I now understand how important it is for them to have a consistent and highly memorable experience.

Similarly, now I’ve worked alongside Liam and Claire in Communications, it’s become clear that it’s necessary to build up a good rapport with the media in order to keep them informed but to also make sure that Williams is in a strong position should a story involving the team arise.

I still have a while to go in the Marketing department but, so far, it’s been a great insight into the preparation and organisation the team have to do to make sure that, when they get to the races, it’s very much about focusing on the happenings of that particular race so if anything unexpected comes along they are prepared, which is a good thing as races can be fairly unpredictable!

I really look forward to what else will be sent my way while I am here at the factory and I will certainly be making the most of the tea that is being made for me for a change!