How long have you worked at the Uni? What does your role involve?
I've worked at the University in this role for about a year, and before that just shy of five years in the Marketing Team in Humanities and Social Sciences. I am the CRM Manager for the applicant CRM system which means I’m responsible for the system that logs our lead capture, registers prospective student’s interests, handles enquiries, and also all the email marketing we send to those prospects and students.
What would you most like to achieve while at the University?
I would love it if people didn't groan at the mention of CRM! I'm a big fan of technology, I've always done techie things, whatever role I've been in, but I think too often technology doesn't deliver on its lofty promises. I'd like to make sure that our CRM system can actually deliver on those promises of saving people time and making jobs easier.
Name one thing that makes you feel proud to work at the University of Bath?
It’s the people I get to work with, for sure. I've seen so many people that just always go above and beyond whatever is in their role. There’s a huge sense of pride and desire to do much as they possibly can to help whether that's for other staff or for students. This community of brilliant people who just care so much about what they do, is one of the best things about working here.
Who was your most influential teacher/educator, and why?
I had an A Level music teacher called Mr Dearsley in high school, and he was brilliant. I came to music really late and said “I want to do music A Level!” I hadn't done it at GCSE, and I wasn’t Grade 8 or diploma level at anything. And so many people said, you won't be able to do it, you can't start this late.
But he said to me “Okay, if you're prepared to work at it, I will teach you, and you can do it”. And he did, he was immensely patient; he just had this ability to share what he was passionate about, regardless of what level you were at. Most of the other people who are doing it were grade 8 violinists and concert pianists who could write music free hand on manuscript; I was a drummer who wrote it on the computer, so I was well outside of the mould. He wasn't fussed though, he inspired me a lot. I then went on to do music at university, so definitely credit his enthusiasm and support for my success on that journey.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I really wanted to either be an architect or musician, drastically polar opposites in terms of career formation! I've always loved buildings, especially when people do really imaginative things like combining really old buildings with modern designs, trying to repurpose a building so they can keep being used in the future, to keep them relevant. But I quickly discovered you need lots of maths, which I'm awful at, and the full course for being an architect was quite a long road, which I probably wasn't going to stick to!
So I went towards doing music instead. And there were a few very loose parallels, I was interested in acoustics and spaces, and my degree is sound design. There's a lot of modelling spaces and understanding how we interact with environments, which somewhat tied back to the architecture I enjoyed.
What was your first job?
My first job was a data entry and archiving job. There was a project called the Millennium Archive, and the idea was to collate photos of churches all across the country into this big archive that could be indexed and searched, to serve as a record as we hit the Millennium. It involved scanning thousands of physical photos, six by fours and two by twos, into a big database and cataloguing them. I don't know whether the project ever got off the ground.
If you could start your own dream business, what would it be?
I would love to design and run escape games. My wife and I have become quite obsessed with doing escape games, and we’ve done them all over the world. It's using the puzzle solving bit of my brain that I just love. I think it would be fun to design loads of different games and run them for other people to play.
Where is your favourite holiday destination and why?
Valetta in Malta. It's just a really beautiful old town. You can walk everywhere to get around it and it’s very peaceful. There are loads of amazing buildings to see, there’s lots of great food, and it’s not too far to go for a short break. I'd love to say New Zealand but the 27 hours of flights don’t really make it a ‘holiday’ destination - it's quite a way to go for a week!
What’s your favourite book or album and why?
So most recently, The Martian by Andy Weir. It's really geeky, but it's still very funny if a little dark. You'd expect it to be really dull, as it's just one guy stuck on Mars on his own, but it’s fast paced and very human. (They made it into a very good film as well).
Favourite album at the moment is ‘We Like It Here’ by Snarky Puppy. It’s a bit of an assault of sound but it’s absolutely brilliant.
If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and why?
Guy Martin. I don't know if anyone's watched any of his stuff or the things he does, but the way he approaches everything I just find really inspiring. I've learned pretty much everything I know how to do just by getting stuck in, taking things apart, and seeing how they work. And it's the same kind of ethos that he completely embodies. He also really understands the importance of tea in pretty much every task, which is a bonus.
Which one superpower would you like to possess?
I would like to be able to teleport. I love seeing different places and exploring, but I find flying really tedious and also I’ve got long legs so it’s massively uncomfortable. Obviously it would be great for holidays and travelling, but even just the mundane stuff like getting to the shops!
Tell us your favourite joke
What do you call a dinosaur with one eye?
A Doyouthinkhesaurus