Peter Telfer

The Calm before the Storm...

Just thought I would drop by and briefly update this blog with some news on work. I can't believe tomorrow ends week 7 for us here in Dubai. I anticipate a very busy time next week and thought it might be best to keep everyone in the picture while I have a chance. So here goes....

After our meeting with Mr Guy Crawford on Sunday, I went and worked in the PR Dept. This was a really great experience and rolled over into Monday. It was intriguing getting an insight into how the department works independently but also collectively. We have teams that deal with Arabic media in Dubai, Arabic media in England, English Media in Dubai, English media in England....and so the list goes on.

My main role for the two days was to proof read press releases. It might sound slightly boring but was far from it. Having just read a marketing book which Mr Diss recommended (And very good it was as well), I found a few typo's and realised that sometimes you cannot proof read material enough. As much as I might hate to admit it, I guess we are all humans and make mistakes! So I got stuck into that. I also worked on a project gathering information from the Hotel's Spa's. Concierge is a high class Dubai publication and they are running a section on Organic Body Treatments in the October edition. I contacted the Spa's and then rewrote the information they gave us. The aim being to write it more professionaly. I found this role slightly daunting in the beginning because I wouldn't say my English is always that great.

I was also taught about the different writing styles needed for different publications. For example, if Jumeirah were doing a press release, newspapers like short pieces of information that state the how, why, what, when etc. No fluffy stuff! If they are interested then they will contact the dept for more information. The head of PR explained that this is the only way to attract the media's attention as they deal with so many releases. There may also be the opportunity to go on a site inspection next week or a photo shoot with some of the media. Jumeirah has established itself as such a strong brand that the vast majority of media now contact them, instead of Jumeirah having to ask for publishing space.

Yestserday I spent some time in partnerships with Ms Brightwell. Her enthusiasm for her role within the business was amazing and she showed me her plans for the future. I got a real insight into the contribution that partnerships makes to Jumeirah, whether it be at a B2B level, B2C level etc. The interesting part of this week for me has been seeing many different aspects of the business that I enjoy and how even within marketing, there are many distinctively different paths that a career could follow.

In between all this I have been helping Mr Diss at every opportunity. He is very busy organising Jumeirah's Festival of Taste 2008 and I have been trying to assist him in any way possible. This afternoon we spent some time looking at the 'Big Idea.' I went into this meeting without a clue of what we were going to discuss and left with a clear idea of the impact that internal marketing can have on an organisation.

Well the fruit pot I have been eating while writing this is now almost finished and so I will call another blog to an end. I wanted to focus on work this week since last weeks was largely leisure.

Sunday sees a new member of staff join us in the Regional Team (There is now 3 of us!!) and I am looking forward to welcoming her in the same spirit that I was welcomed some 7 weeks ago.

This weekend also sees the start of Ramadan...yet another cultural experience here in Dubai. I had thought about fasting but it seems ashame not to eat the food that the lovely Bytes staff make. Maybe next year?

Will report back early next week..

Peter

Now this is Dubai.....

Brilliant, Amazing, Spectacular.....the list is endless!! It's the only way to describe our visit to Bab Al Shams last week!!

It all started on Tuesday when we took a long taxi ride out into the desert. We travelled along the border of what will be Dubailand and with very little in sight for miles at a time, we eventually reached Jumeirah's Bab Al Shams Desert Resort. First impressions were 'Wow' and my bag was immediately taken off me as I was shown in the front door. The rooms were lovely and for the first time in 6 weeks I watched some TV. But not for long, it was straight to the pool and some sunbathing! The pool is the real selling point of this resort and I can see why! Its quite surreal! I was sitting next to the pool and only 10 feet away was the desert and camels! I made full use of the pool over the two days and the heat really was intense. I put on my factor 50 sun tan lotion by the bottle but think I might still have got some colour? We dined both nights in the Al Forsan restaurant and I also enjoyed my doughnuts and chocolate muffins for breakfast in the morning. All in all it was an amazing few days and a big thank you to Mr Diss and Karima for organising it.

Well thats the work section done (Its tough here you know!)....so how about the social side of life here in Dubai on Week Six?

This past weekend was another busy one. On Thursday we went to Jambase in Madinat Souk and the live band was awesome. They played some great hits and my sore feet at the end of the night was the first in a while. On Firday we went sailing. As with almost everything I have done in Dubai, this was a first!! I really enjoyed it but couldn't help but feel useless as I sat on the boat while all the other guys pulled the sails and worked jolly hard! We got a great view of Dubai and the sea was so peaceful. We also saw 'The World' which is currently under construction and we discussed trying to set a new world record for sailing round the world in a day! Unfortunately I don't think the powers that be would have accepted our attempt?! Yesterday I was in my element, Well almost! After six weeks of deprivation, I finally got to see a live football match. We met up with Mr Stronach who is Scottish and Executive Chef at the Madinat. We watched the Celtic game and unfortunately they won. However, it was great getting a chance to network with new people and I think we might be meeting up for lunch on Friday.

Well that is all for just now folks, I am just heading off to work with the PR Dept. We had a great meeting with Mr Guy Crawford, CEO of Jumeirah, this morning and I am determined to make the most of these last couple of weeks.

Will report back soon.

Peter

The 5* Treatment Continues...

Well this is just a quick blog to keep everyone up to date with life in Dubai. Its been another frantic week and hopefully I don't miss anything out..

So I did my presentation to Mr Diss on Irn-Bru. It was another successful failure. A success because I continue to learn the fine art of presenting, but I failure because I continued to 'transmit.' Transmit meaning that I failed to engage my audience adequately. Therefore, I am going to have a third attempt at cracking the technique and hopefully its going to be 'Third time lucky and all that?!' This has certainly been a worthwhile exercise for me and I look forward to trying to standout next year when I present on topics at University. Aside from presenting, Mr Diss very kindly took time out his busy week to discuss the fundamentals of advertising with me. Again this was really interesting and I think I will now be critically evaluating all the adverts that I see. One of the aspects of working with Mr Diss that I am particularly enjoying is that my work has not just focused on Jumeirah, but instead Marketing in general, and I will be able to take these tips to any future employment I have. Sunday also saw Karima move offices and I am now worrying if my limited Microsoft Office skills will be truly exposed...all will be revealed?! Finally, today we had our Jumeirah Orientation. It was a rather long day but worthwhile all the same. I met Mr Crawford for the first time and it was great to hear about the vision Jumeirah has for the future. The expansion plans are crazy!!

And the social side of life in Dubai continues to be just as hot! Thursday saw us invited to a house warming party in Dubai Marina. The flat was awesome and so was the company. Met some really interesting people and one thing about Dubai is that it is very easy to make friends. On Saturday I had another bash at some designer shopping and became scared when I though T-Shirts at one hundred pounds were cheap?! Thats when I headed home!! Sunday was another relaxing day at the beach and recharged our batteries from a busy week.

This week is pretty quiet and boring to be honest.....tomorrow we are staying at Bab Al Shams 5* Desert Resort! (I was clearly exaggerating the boring bit!!) I actually cannot wait. Mr Diss has very kindly given me two days off and I intend to make full use of this. Cocktails and some sun bathing next to the infinity pool anyone?? I have been hearing that Scotland has had some water of its own the past few weeks? Wish you guys could all join me! Sunday also sees us meet Mr Crawford for a more official meeting and I am thoroughly looking forward to discussing our time at Jumeirah thus far.

And last but by no means least, a few shout outs -

1) To the guy who got his jeep stuck in the sand at the beach! This provided a good hour of entertainment as we watched three jeeps make a total hash of trying to pull this jeep out. I wish I had time to explain it!

2) To the gentleman today at the orientation who drew my portrait. I think Kitty will second me when I say this was a very bizarre experience. I was just sitting listenining to the presentation when this guy completely out of the blue slid a piece of paper across the table to me. Yes he had spent the last ten min drawing me. Kitty experienced exactly the same and to be fair, they were excellent drawings!

Anyway, I better pack this bag so I can get pampered beyond all belief for the next two days...Now this is what I had in mind when the Saltire Foundation offered me an internship in Dubai!

Peter

Over Halfway......

Well it’s that time again already when I need to engage my brain and squeeze a week of fun into a few paragraphs. So here goes….

After the fun of my birthday it was back to the reality of work. On Tuesday Mr Diss invited me to a meeting at the Madinat. The meeting was with their Regional Marketing Team and was a great experience. I picked up a few interesting points and I then spent the full day with them. They were planning their marketing activities for 2009 and fortunately for Jumeirah I am not going to let the cat out of the bag this time. (I got a wee slap on the wrist for a certain location I have mentioned on here in previous posts but Mr Diss has put me on project confidentiality now!) So that was a great day and I particularly enjoyed the Japanese IQ Tests that we were made to do. Thursday saw me present my mini research project to Mr Diss. This was a very worthwhile exercise and picked up some great tips on presenting which I will be sure to use at University next year. I have been asked to present on a topic of my choice on Tuesday to see if I can put Mr Diss’ tips into practice. It should be quite challenging but I have chosen Irn-Bru due to their association with Scotland and their Creative Marketing Techniques.

Besides working hard, yet another weekend flew past. We went to the Hard rock Café for dinner on Thursday night. I had never been to a Hard rock Café but it was a very enjoyable night with the live band giving a relaxing atmosphere. The food was amazing and I think I can honestly say I have never been as full in my life! How do I know that..well I couldn’t finish the Chocolate Cake I had ordered! On Friday the girls very kindly treated me to the Desert Safari trip for my Birthday. I had such an amazing day and some of the driving was crazy! What I do find concerning is that people in Dubai then decide to just drive on the road like this as well! But we enjoyed the drive and also did dune boarding, quad bikes, Shi Sha and tried the traditional Arab dress. Saturday was a bit more chilled out as we went to the beach all day. I had been hoping to do Jet Skiing at some point during my stay in Dubai but unfortunately (Or maybe fortunately) they have been widely banned due to some accidents. So instead I decided to go paragliding and it was fantastic. At 250m high, I had great views of Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah.

All in all, another great week!

Everyday is my Birthday in Dubai...

Well this has been a particularly special week for me as yesterday I turned 21. I had a brilliant day and it’s certainly a birthday I won’t forget in a hurry. The day began with receiving balloons on the bus and ended with a slap up meal in a five star Italian Restaurant. I have never in my life received service like it and it was all for free. I had beef for starters and then chicken with mozzarella cheese in the middle. It was truly delicious and we washed this down with Moet Champagne. The day was concluded with a very special touch from my girlfriend who had organised a cake for me. All in all it was a very memorable day and some more priceless memories of Dubai. We also had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. Beth spent the weekend with her parents and I used the opportunity to go go-karting and then spend some time at the beach with Kitty. A very surreal moment was when we were sunbathing at the beach and a camel walked past. Another moment I won’t forget in a hurry!

This week has also seen the return of Mr Diss from his holidays. I am really looking forward to getting involved in some of the projects and opportunities that he has lined up for me. I am finally getting the chance to present my findings to Mr Diss on Thursday and I have also got several meetings lined up with him. I will also be given the opportunity to work with the Public Relations team and the Call Centre team in the coming weeks. Today we were given a tour of the Burj Al Arab and what a place. It is truly phenomenal! And at 600 pounds a night so it should be! We are also getting a tour of Emirates Tower Hotel tomorrow and that is sure to be another interesting experience.

Anyway I think its time for bed after a few late nights.

Will report back here in a few days time after our Desert Safari…..

Peter