Samuel HopkinsTelephone: 07791785150.Email: samhoppie91@gmail.comAddress: 52 Camberwell Church Street, Camberwell Green, Southwark, SE5 8QZ Profile: Human and Political Geography graduate from Newcastle University. Currently working as a Content Executive for STA Travel. I am experienced in content production (for magazines, newspapers and CMS), SEO copywriting, editing and digital and social media.

Work Experience:

June 2015 – Present – Content Executive at ‘STA Travel’ –

- Copywriting for print and digital brochures - both long and short copy for a wide variety of tours, hotel descriptions, snappy headlines and more general travel content. There are seven major brochures produced throughout the year (Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Volunteer, North America, Latin America, Europe and Australasia) and my role predominantly revolves around sourcing, producing and editing content for these. There are also a range of smaller brochures (for example Rail, Work and Travel and Group Travel) which I also work on for the first few months of the year.

- Editing and proofing - of previous content from other brochures as well as from other sources, including companies such as Contiki, Dragoman and Busabout.

- Image sourcing - for brochures (both print and digital) using Shutterstock, image libraries or globally preferred companies directly.

- Further copywriting - for blogs, digital internet sources, International Rail and Visit England.

September 2013 – June 2015 – Marketing Executive at travel company ‘The Great Projects’ –

- SEO copywriting and management – I rewrote the whole website (WordPress) from scratch (with emphasis on SEO, HTML and key words) and I also updated it daily whenever there was a new project that had been developed or if a new web page needed to be added.

- Writing, editing and content marketing – for publications (including The Guardian, BBC Wildlife, Wild Travel, National Geographic Traveller and The Wall Street Journal) as well as for weekly blogs, articles and newsletters (B2C and B2B) to over 10,000 clients. I also wrote all of the pre-departure information that volunteers received before they travelled with us.

- Blogging – During my time here, I also wrote at least one weekly blog. I also provided blogger outreach on numerous occasions.

- PR – Through relationships with clients as well as press releases in newspapers and magazines (including for The Guardian).

- Design – through my time at the company, I designed and created two separate brochures (each 60+ pages long) using InDesign, as well as leaflets and smaller brochures for ‘Visit Malaysia’ and other travel events. I also wrote and edited all of the copy for these publications.

- Social media – Facebook (including Facebook advertising campaigns and CRM), starting up and maintaining a Twitter account, Youtube channel and a Google + page. I also used video editing software to help edit videos for both the website and for the Social Media sites.

- Affiliate marketing – with partners including STA Travel and Gap Year Travel.- Administrative tasks

July 2013 – September 2013 – Junior Copywriter Intern at the ‘My Destination’ headquarters in London and Freelancer for ‘Hotels.com’ –

- SEO copywriting – for the ‘My Destination’ website (WordPress) and blog as well as freelance work for ‘Hotels.com’. Per day on average I would write 3000 words (with an emphasis on SEO, META description and key words).

- Editing and proofreading – of both website copy and of other’s work. Once edited down, this was then uploaded to the CMS by myself and by my colleagues.

- Social media – interns were encouraged to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to help spread both our work and the work of ‘My Destination’ in general. I was also allowed access to their official sites.

September 2012 – June 2013 - Film Editor at the Newcastle University Courier (The Guardian’s ‘student publication of the year’ for 2012 and 2013 respectively) -

- Planning weekly editions of the film section (for both print and online) – this role involved coming up with weekly themes for issues and design articles which were to be written by a team of writers.

- Delegating articles and film reviews – each week, writers would need to write reviews on films that were out and on articles for the section. I organised this on a weekly basis, arranged with the local cinema the film times and specified the word counts for both the film reviews and articles at weekly meetings – where I was the chair.

- Editing and proofreading – once all the articles and reviews were written and emailed to me, I would need to edit these down and correct spelling and grammar mistakes.

- Design – each week, I used InDesign and Photoshop to design both the print and the online sections of the section. Final proof was made and then the PDF format would be sent to the publisher.

- Social Media – started up both a Facebook and a Twitter account for the film section, which was a great place to meet new writers, share and discuss film related news and give details of the film radio.

- Film Radio – this was a weekly slot we had at the university radio station, which I often chaired, prompting an hour’s discussion of films out, the worst films of the month etc.

- Arranging interviews and meetings – this included a phone interview with Ben Wheatley – director of 2012’s ‘Sightseers’.

Further Work Experience:

January 2013 - RAG Team Leader and Organiser, Newcastle University – This role involved the organisation and leadership of peers in campaigning and collecting street donations throughout both Newcastle and Durham. It also involved helping to organise, plan and implement social events for the week in order to raise money for a variety of different charities in the UK and abroad.

2011 - August 2013 - Writer for the Newcastle University Courier (Film, Music, Fashion, TV, and Science sections), ‘Exploration’ travel magazine, The Travel Word and the International Ecotourism Society- I thoroughly enjoy writing articles, particularly within the travel, fashion and film sectors. Throughout my time at Newcastle University, I regularly wrote for ‘The Courier’ and over the past year I have written travel articles for ‘Exploration,’ an online travel blog written by students. I have also written for a fashion magazine. In addition, an article I submitted (about the top six things to do in Nairobi) was added to the International Ecotourism Society’s website. I also contribute to my own film and travel blogs on Tumblr, using Twitter and Facebook to help promote it.

Education:

2010 – 2013: 2:1 in BA Geography Hons (Human and Political Geography), Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Modules included Political Geography, International Development in Africa and a 12,000-word Dissertation in Popular Geopolitics.

2007 – 2009: Gresham’s School, Holt, Norfolk:3 A-levels, grades ABB (Geography, Drama and English Literature).

BTEC First Diploma, distinction: equivalent of 4 extra GCSE’s (2 A*s, 2As). 2007: 10 GCSE’s, grades A* - C.

Additional Skills:

I am a fully qualified First Aider, with proficient IT skills (particularly in social media (Google+, Twitter, Facebook etc.), Content Management Systems (Wordpress), Photoshop, Indesign and Microsoft Office.

Interests:

I am an avid film, music and TV enthusiast, contributing to my own film blog and also to my friend’s (Screen Geeks UK). I also chose to do a dissertation on film whilst at university. I love to travel, often solo - meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds along the way. I caught the travelling bug when I spent 2 years of my childhood living in Southern India, and since have travelled to India, Mozambique and Colombia to name a few.

References: On request.