By Sarah McLean
What a day at Anfield. BCOMS north cohort joined the team at LFC today for the first official masterclass of the year. It was an amazing day which was moderated by the LFC media and digital team. I got an insight into the internal works within the club. From small ideas, in which they transform into the viral content we see on social media. Liverpool are distinctive in the way they believe content should be created and today I found out what sets them apart. Alongside this, the day included a stadium tour, an expert panel, mock press conference, networking and much more. I am going to give you my top 3 highlights from the day.
1. Mock Press conference with Phil Babb
As an aspiring journalist, it is very important to know the right questions to ask. A mock press conference was conducted and led by Peter Mcdowall. But before that started, he gave us some top tips:
After this, a short brief was given on ex Liverpool Player Phill Babb who was tasked with depicting the role of a Liverpool manager under immense pressure by fans. Everything seemed to be in chaos at the club from his key players out injured to losing 4 games in a row (making LFC’s 9th) to fans wanting him to resign. It was a difficult period for the manager. Ahead of the next game, we were in the position of journalists asking him some questions and creating some news headlines. It was a good experience as it felt like a real-life press conference which prepared
me for what it will be like in the industry.
2. 15-minute workshops with LFC Media and digital team
This part of the day included 15-minute networking sessions with each department of the media team including the camera crew, editors, brand partnerships team and the digital production team.
My favourite was the digital production team. LFC assistant producer Sam Pedersen gave me some insight on creating ideas and content. His advice was that every idea has been done before but to make it unique, ideas need to be reshaped to fit your brand, in this case LFC. This makes Liverpool’s content engaging as it’s deliberately different. He showed us the way Liverpool have to rebrand the player of the month award, so that the content is diverse each time. They were successful in doing this, which is clearly shown in their engagement on social media.
3. Anfield Tour
As a Liverpool fan, this was definitely the best part of the day. The tour started in the press areas such as the conference room where the legends of the game such as Jurgen Klopp would have sat each week. It was important to see the areas where we as journalists would be sat. It visualised the mock press conference we took part in earlier. Subsequently, we were then taken through the home changing room and mix zones leading to the pitch where I had to touch the “This Is Anfield” sign. As we approached the pitch, the media and digital team spoke to us about what a home game would be like for them. They explained the positioning of the cameras to the post match interview preparation, I definitely learnt that work in live sport is very fast paced and attentiveness is key. Overall it was an amazing day in which I learnt a lot . I will certainly be back.
