How did it come about?
The lovely Claudia at Wonderland (a creative events and production agency) got in touch a couple of weeks before to see could we host up to 30 students at a time in 14 UCL student dorms all across London, in only a week! Hell yeah! Sounded like a great opportunity, so we got to planning and figuring out logistics to the brief - the classes needed to be 1 hour long, drop in friendly (in case late comers) and quite mobile as we would have to travel to and from different places one after the other on some days, some of them were also going to be outdoor - so there would be no access to power.
The UCL freshers week was packed with fun events - from powerball making, quiz nights, to talks, to nights out and more. The whole idea around it was to help students get to know each other - after all, you make friends for life in the first weeks of university and doing things together can help break down language barriers and cultures, so everyone finds a common ground and increases chances of getting along. Many students were travelling from abroad and it was their first time in London too - which can be scary!
Getting creative together is a great way to get to know people, relax and have some fun too - which is obviously where M.Y.O came into the mix.
What next?
As time was tight, we provisionally agreed a discounted, fixed price, based on the high volume of participants and number of houses, along with agreeing the activity (tote bag design using hand cut vinyl and a heat press if indoor and using fabric paints & sewing if outdoor). We then arranged to go to their offices to carry out a creative demonstration of how the session would work, which we weaved some UCL branding & colours, along with some London imagery into, to keep it in tune with the fresher's week and where we were (London!).
It was important that despite being a free event to the students, they came away feeling proud after learning something new and something that (in most cases) was linked to the university or London. If someone's imagination brought them away from the themes, that's totally fine too! Doing creative things is appealing to people also, so increased chances of student participation.
The lead up
The demo went great and all was confirmed. Time to roster in the M.Y.O team to support on the sessions. We have a great team of 8 hosts that help on various sessions, so we confirmed resourcing quickly, ordered all the stock in (we always get too much, just in case!), completed the design inspiration packs, made some examples, checklists and got to it.
How did it go?
It was great fun meeting so many students and helping them have a creative time, we could see new friendships being made before our eyes and everyone that came seemed to be enjoying the relaxing, creative time. Some images of the week above, thanks again to Claudia for involving us in the week and the lovely feedback!
Feedback from Wonderland
"The students have loved all the activities and we have better numbers than last year so the client is very very happy. Your workshop was the most popular one, you are your team were excellent and they had a lot of fun!
I have noted below a few comments from the event managers in regards to your workshops!"
"The MYO team were super helpful and friendly"
"Workshop leaders are so lovely, really helpful setting up. Great activity as it’s super creative"
"Sam was great and made a real effort with the students who were all very shy. Tote bag designs were fab, I think UCL will be pleased with what was created"
Awww shucks, thank you!
Would you like to bring some creativity to an event you are organising?
Drop an e-mail to Hello@MYO.Place and let's chat! We've brought some creativity to whiskey tastings with Diageo owned Roe & Co, helped cocktail makers at the Beefeater Gin World Cocktail to design t-shirts, helped all the support staff The Brit School get creative, hosted influencers at a River Island pre-Christmas event, done creative things at the St. Katharine Docks Classic Boat Festival and tonnes more.