After meeting so many professionals currently working in the media industry in the UK, today was the day we embarked on our final two visits of the trip. The first of the visits was with Ollie Davis from the Fringe Society. I found this visit to be very interesting because I learned just how hard the Fringe Society works to make sure Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival runs smoothly and continuously improves every year. He told us over 3,000 people participate in the festival with roughly 320 venues housing shows and acts, all of which require pre-sold tickets. I really liked that Ollie addressed that only about 60% of the venues are accessible for people with disabilities and that the Fringe Society is working towards getting that number higher for the festivals to follow. Overall, Ollie’s presentation was great and I would be curious to see how Pittsburgh’s much smaller version of the Fringe Festival compares.
With some time to kill in between meetings/visits, Mya, Jocelyn, and I decided to go to Pret for lunch because of their variety of options and fast pace. I enjoyed a hot and spicy chipotle chicken wrap and a much healthier version of peach tea than any I’ve had back home. Of course, we had to do some shopping after lunch and chose to visit our new favorite store, Primark. It was nice to have this little break because before we knew it, we were en route to our next and final media visit.
The second visit of the day was to Whitespace, where we listened to David Anderson, photographer, and Chris, Head of creative, discuss the agency and their work for a campaign for Shackleton whiskey. It was pretty cool to see just how much time, energy, and effort they put into the shoot by traveling to Norway for several days and hiking through the snow to capture pictures of the whiskey with the white background. It made me really think about advertisements and pictures I see for brands and just how much time that one photo may have taken.
As interesting as most of the visits were, it was a relief to be done with them because I could wear leisure and casual clothes again. Even though I got a break from work, I didn’t get a break from dressing in professional attire, so you can see why the conclusion of media visits would excite me a little.
After changing into our comfortable clothes, Jocelyn, Mya, and I set out yet again for food, but this time we decided on Mexican for dinner and Italian for dessert. We went back to the hotel after dinner with the intent to work on our blogs, but the night was too beautfiul to stay inside. Jocelyn and I chose to walk the Royal Mile (and then some) and witnessed the beauty of Edinburgh with the setting sun in the distance. When I returned from the gorgeous walk, I joined Kayla and Angela at the Irish Pub nearby to listen to some live music. It was actually really cool to hear a group of people around our age performing well known songs in such a cool environment. I will definitely make note to look for young local bands in my area when I’m home! We didn’t stay too long though, and made plans to get breakfast in the morning. After all, our last day of the trip had quickly approached, and we only had one full day left in Scotland!
