Business Development Intern Reflections

Written by Ruby Lovett

When I started my internship with Feathertree Arts I knew I was going to be working on business development, but I do not think I fully understood just how broad that would become.

Over the course of my time with Feathertree Arts I have had the opportunity to work across business developments, research funding, statistical research, crowdfunding, LinkedIn, industry outreach and partnerships, while also learning what it actually takes to build something from an idea into something that other people can understand, engage with and eventually use.

Most importantly, I have come away with a much better understanding of how many different parts of a business have to work together to move an idea forward.

A large part of my internship was centred around Scenes, Feathertree Arts’ digital theatre platform. When I first came across the concept, I understood the basic idea: a new way of telling stories digitally, where stories unfold over time through individual scenes. As I became more involved, I began to understand the thinking behind it much more deeply.

Scenes is not simply another platform for putting creative work online. It comes from a much bigger question about how we currently create, share and experience stories. Much of my work involved thinking about that wider context: the relationship between technology and creativity, the impact of algorithms, the difficulties creators face when trying to gain visibility and whether there is a way to build a platform around storytelling rather than around constant consumption.

That was one of the most interesting parts of the internship for me. I learned that business development is not always about trying to sell a product. Sometimes it is about understanding an idea well enough to explain why it matters, who it could help and what problem it is actually trying to solve.

I also learned a lot about the amount of research that sits behind those decisions. I spent time looking into funding opportunities, grants, investors, theatre organisations, producers, publishers, creative organisations and potential industry contacts. I learned how important it is to look beyond whether an organisation simply appears relevant and instead understand what it actually does and what its priorities are.

One project that particularly developed my understanding of this was the work around partnerships. I researched how Feathertree could potentially work with Lancaster University and looked at where the university’s expertise could support the development of Scenes, particularly around ethical technology and accessibility. It showed me that business development is often about finding the point where two organisations’ interests genuinely meet, rather than simply approaching people and asking them to collaborate.

I became particularly involved in preparing Feathertree’s crowdfunding activity and researching indiegogo, from understanding how the platform works to thinking about campaign messaging, rewards, stretch goals, promotional content and how to actually encourage people to engage with a campaign. It was a completely different side of business development to the research and outreach work I had initially expected to be doing and it taught me how many different skills can be involved in taking an idea towards launch.

I also spent time during this internship working on LinkedIn which has been a big learning curve of my internship. At the beginning I saw LinkedIn as a platform where you post updates about a business. I quickly realised that for Feathertree it could be much more than that. We want to build relationships with writers, actors, producers, theatre professionals, filmmakers, funders and people working across the creative industries. That changed the way I thought about content.

I learned that building a presence does not necessarily mean trying to make every post go viral. It can mean having something worthwhile to say, being consistent, starting conversations and gradually building relationships with the right people. I researched how Linkedin works, looked at posting frequency and timing, developed content ideas and worked on shaping Feathertree’s voice so that it felt thoughtful while remaining professional.

Another important part of the internship was learning how to work independently. Due to the role being remote, a lot of the time I had to organise my own workload, keep track of different projects and work out what needed doing next. I learned how to ask better questions, research independently and how to take a broad task and turn it into something practical.

At the same time, my experience of remote working has taught me something about myself that I did not necessarily know before starting. There are definite benefits to working remotely. The flexibility is valuable and being able to structure your day around your workload can make it much easier to manage different responsibilities. I enjoy having that independence. However I have also realised how much I enjoy working with other people in real time. I like being able to turn to someone and ask a question or talk through an idea. The team at Feathertree has always been supportive and that has made me appreciate how much I value collaboration and social interaction at work.

That is probably one of the biggest personal things I will take away from this experience. The internship has helped me understand not just what I enjoy doing professionally but also the kind of working environment in which I work best.

Feathertree Arts is still building. Scenes is still developing. There are still things to test and plenty of work ahead. Being part of this stage of a business has given me a much more realistic understanding of what it means to build something new. It is not a straight line and it certainly is not always straightforward, but it is incredibly rewarding to contribute to something that has a clear purpose.

I am incredibly grateful to everyone at Feathertree Arts for making my internship such a positive experience. I have really appreciated the trust, encouragement and opportunities I have been given throughout my time at Feathertree. I am taking away far more than I expected when I started and have learned a lot about how I work, what I value and the kind of work I want to be involved in.

I am grateful to have been part of Feathertree Arts’ journey and I am excited to see where it goes from here. I wish the whole team all the best for the future. I will be following the journey and I cannot wait to see how Feathertree develops.