Telling stories and sharing knowledge

Hello there! My name is Iliana, and today I’m taking over the Friday article slot to give a little insight on what it has meant to be a social media intern for the North of Scotland KTP Centre.?

But before we go together through this reflection on what has been a rewarding and refreshing experience, may I ask you to try this quick exercise?

• Think of the last movie you watched or the one already on your list for the upcoming weeks. Why do you want to watch it?
• When was the last time you associated a song with a person or a specific moment in your lifetime? How did it made you feel?
• How did you discover your favourite singer/writer/filmmaker?

If you were to share the answer to any of these questions with someone important to you, it would come with a short (or long) story. And the truth is that no matter our age, we love to hear and read stories, especially when you can tell they are important for the one sharing them.

This is why stories can be powerful and helpful to create engagement with audiences over a vast sea of topics, including science and innovation.?

The Internship

During the first week working with the NoS KTP team and defining the goals for the internship, I was astonished by several things, including all the amazing partnerships that had been completed over past years. These projects hold stories that could become a great way to engage with people who, just like me before the internship, are not aware on the potential they hold for a graduate’s career and the role they play in innovation.

The North of Scotland KTP Centre has lots of stories to tell, and, luckily enough, by the time the internship happened the team was already finishing the first video case study we published on the YouTube channel. Thanks to the timing, during March we also covered some of the stories around women who have taken part in KTPs either as associates, business leaders or academics, with the goal to keep inspiring future generations.?

Using social media requires time, creativity, and planning, but it also must align with the investment available within companies, their vision and objectives.

When looking back to the initial months where we worked together and comparing them to where we are standing today, it can be said that we managed to have our own knowledge transfer partnership, where the team needed to develop a new strategy around their social media practice and accomplished it. My original internship was funded by Innovate UK through the KTP Capacity Building programme, which was delivered between January and March 2023.

After the first stage of the internship, it feels safe to say that the team has improved the skills to comfortably share their visits to the knowledge bases or companies through Instagram stories, plan weeks ahead of content, or even find their voice to write beautiful pieces like?Place, People and Practice: KTP Practitioners Conference 2023?or?Following in our Associates’ footsteps at KTP Capacity Building Bootcamp.?

That is why, when I re-joined the team back in June for a second internship, I couldn’t think of a more exciting opportunity to keep finding creative ways to share all the stunning stories that are happening with the innovative and creative minds in the north of Scotland, while being supported and inspired by the incredible team from the North of Scotland KTP Centre.?

Keep an eye on our social media channels. We have plenty stories to tell. Are you ready for them??