Tuesday 19 June 2012

Media Mogul




It seems it’s been a good few weeks since my last post during May which what was for me a rather productive phase, perhaps the result of hours of idleness in front of the laptop screen  and a set of restless fingers. With the Beijing summer in full swing and lovely clear skies coupled with a short-term part time job as an editor for an online magazine,  my creative efforts were either drawn to the media industry or finding the nearest bar to grab a beer in the balmy weather. Now, with the job having come to an end and a return to Beijing’s trademark dreary skies (yet with added humidity), the urge to get back to blog writing and reflecting rears its ugly head yet again for any unfortunate eyes that may befall my facebook/blogger page.

So what of this magazine job? Well, Beijing sure can present you with a flood of opportunities to find work in almost any field if you know where to look. Luckily the Beijinger.com is the accessible platform for this, and a sudden willingness to find a professional platform for my writing as well as an encouraging girlfriend landed me with a decent opportunity soon enough. I was employed as the editor for a creative arts magazine, which was aimed at a niche audience of creative individuals and companies in the “high” arts spectrum of Beijing. Artsy fartsy enough? Well not really, especially seeing as the director of the magazine chose to listen to Katy Perry in the office as motivation music. In my two weeks there I conducted phone interviews, one with a guy from Kentucky who’d somehow imported gargantuan sized 19th century printing machines to Beijing to set up a traditional printing business, and attended a couple of networking events not knowing anything of what was to be discussed until about thirty minutes before they started. It was pretty frantic, and besides simply writing for the magazine I found I had to educate myself on topics prior to interviews and attending events all in order to make me sound as if I knew what I was talking about. Did you know that the printing press was active in China way before Gutenberg introduced it to Europe in the 1400s? Despite getting my articles approved by the director of the magazine (though they are yet to be published as the magazine altered its release date), my proudest moment was name dropping Game of Thrones whilst asking a question at a networking event in front of a host of smart phone savvies. King of the North!
Raaaaaarrrrr! Death to all blonde haired smart phone users!


I was unable to stay any longer at the post as the company couldn’t support me doing the editor’s job at only ten hours a week, though it was a fun and educational experience. I’m currently back on the prowl for more freelance jobs as they come, though with my free time rekindled on my days off, I’m back to the usual pattern of reading, film watching and walks in the park followed by a good few bevvies in the sun. The school will stop its normal classes for the summer holidays in a few weeks which will be followed by the onslaught of teaching every day for 2 weeks as the Chinese parents push their kids for intense English cramming sessions, poor buggers. Looks like I’ll have to get my Mr. Bean which I hope will ease their suffering, though a bawling four year old as a result of me stretching my face into all manner of what I thought were humorous positions may indicate otherwise.
Smile kids - English is fun!