A Day in the Life of the Comms Director

By Genevieve K

I must start this blog entry with my sincerest apologies, as I fear the title is a bit misleading. There is no such thing as a typical day for a Sexpression:UK National Committee member, nor is there really any consistency or stability of tasks between roles. Each position is unique and is directed so much by the person filling it. With this in mind, I will now attempt to describe what it is like being the Sexpression:UK Communications Director.

Prior to starting this job, I was the Vice President of the Sexpression branch at Warwick, where I was in my second year of studying Politics and International Studies. I also was the events officer for Warwick Anti-Sexism Society and tour officer for Politics Society. Safe to say I was making up for the lack of course contact hours and had a VERY busy schedule. I had promised my friends I would dedicate my third and final year to rest, relaxation, and my degree. So, when I told them I was applying for this role, of course they were happy for me, but were very apprehensive. Thankfully, the role has turned out to be exactly what I needed this year and has been a perfectly manageable workload (but more on that later).

The application process was super easy, and we had loads of information provided to help guide us through. There were a few questions to answer on a form about my experiences, my relationship with the charity, my aspirations for the position, and how I would manage my time and energy. Once this was done, I got an opportunity to speak for 2 minutes, followed by 2 minutes of questions, at the online general assembly that happens annually in April. A vote then follows, and before you know it, you’re on the national committee.

We met for the first time in person in late May for the handover training. This was a fun one day event where we got to talk to our predecessor and learn everything there was to learn about our new roles. I was terrified going into this day, think I was in totally over my head, I was a fraud, I was useless etc. (you know, the classic self-doubting nonsense your panicked brain spews out). Thankfully, my predecessor Chiara was the loveliest person ever who talked me through everything really clearly and simply, and, most importantly, let me know I could contact her whenever for support. Her support in that handover made the world of difference in easing my nerves and helping me get stuck in.

The first task I was faced with was passwords. Good lord, I would be a happy happy woman if I never had to deal with two-factor authentication again. Getting the new committee logged into their gmail accounts, and soon after helping the new branch committees too, was a struggling if I am being honest. But we soon got through it and into the fun stuff.

My regular tasks are managing passwords, managing the monthly online meeting (OLM)(writing the agenda, organising the meeting time and date, minuting, writing up minutes into action points), writing the newsletter, writing the blog, organising our merch, and managing our socials (planning, making, posting, monitoring posts on Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly twitter), TikTok, Facebook).

Given so much of what we do is online and remote, getting to meet up with some of national committee in person at the fantastic Birmingham National Conference this year. Not only did I get to spend time with these lovely people, I also got to get to know members of our wonderful branches from across the country, and meet some very cool folks involved in the wider sexual health community.

I would absolutely recommend applying to anyone who is considering it, it has been a fantastic opportunity, I have met so many amazing people, and I will be very sad to leave this role.