Claudine Conway

Marketing and Communications Manager for Volcano Theatre Company

Education

Claudine Conway received her BA Hons in English from Aberystwyth University in 1995. She graduated from Aberystwyth in 1996 with an MA in 18th Century Studies.

Career Path

When Claudine was made aware of a job in Volcano Theatre Company, she “had been dimly aware that this indecorous and talented bunch of not-quite-Marxist/Feminist/Anarchists had for some time been plying their strange trade everywhere from Cardiff to Kosovo, and gleefully incurring the displeasure of the Bishop of Galway (who memorably described their work as "pornography for intellectuals")”. As the Marketing Manager for Volcano she devises and implements the company’s marketing strategy and communicates (to audiences, the media, funders, promoters and politicians) why qualities described by adjectives such as maladjusted, hilarious, bloody-minded and deeply refreshing are a good thing. "In theory I devise and implement the company’s marketing strategy, manage marketing and press campaigns, oversee print design, production and distribution, write copy, maintain the website and so on. In practice I do as much of this as I can while explaining to someone on the phone that we don’t actually do shows about volcanoes, searching the web for one of those things they measure your feet with in shoe shops, and arguing about whether After the Orgy is a suitable show to tour to Saudi Arabia."

She reckons that “the best thing about her job is working with people of integrity, commitment and humanity, and having the luxury of being able to care about the end product of what our organisation does” She appreciates the variety, the involvement and creativity that her job offers and demands.

Why English and Creative Writing?

“My degree at Aberystwyth has contributed not just to my ability to secure an interesting and permanent job in the arts sector, but also to shape and develop it and to engage critically with the work and its context. Not all jobs require or encourage critical thinking or offer any degree of self-determination, but it's safe to say that a stimulating and challenging degree course, such as you find in Aberystwyth, will enable you to recognise where these things can be found and will equip you with the confidence to demand them. And in return, as an English graduate, you can offer enlightened employers an armoury of critical, analytical and communicative skills, as well a command of linguistic styles and registers that will be the envy of your colleagues from other disciplines.”