LCF Graduates Mixer: Resilience, shared experiences and community building

LCF Graduate Futures and UAL Careers and Employability joined forces to organise an evening of celebrations, bringing together graduates from across the creative industry. The event was the first to be hosted in person for both teams since being hit by the pandemic, paving the way for future innovative, small-scale activities within the alumni community. It took place in collaboration with The Lab E20, ahead of the College’s upcoming move to Stratford.

Recent LCF Graduates were warmly invited to attend this special LCF Graduates Mixer, ‘Pizza and Pathways’, for an evening of fun to stay connected with the LCF alumni community. This intimate fishbowl event saw graduates pre-submit questions to 4 special alumni guest speakers, with the aim of developing their professional development, resilience and transferable skills. The alumni guest speakers featured:

• Jade McSorley, Co-Founder of LOANHOOD
• Brady Ferguson, Planner (KVD Vegan Beauty and Ole Henriksen) with Kendo Brands Inc.
• Katherine Docherty, Merchandising Manager with Burberry
• Zoard Heuze, Casting Director at Tide Casting and Metal Magazine

The short, sharp and exciting Q&As rotated rapidly; allowing the recent grads and guest speakers to foster meaningful conversations around their shared experiences since graduation and debate topics important to their career journey. Discussions jumped from learning how to transition from high street brands into the luxury market, to unpicking how they could alter their chosen pathway and even debating the expectation of working for free in the media industry.

A small drinks reception with pizza was hosted during the event, alongside a festive tombola supporting UAL's not just a shop. The informal setting gave party-goers the exclusive opportunity to continue their networking at their own speed after the group talk. The mixer brought together alumni from fashion, technology, business and education sectors to offer advice to futures creatives. LCF Graduate Futures are hoping to host more events like this to continue building the LCF alumni community.

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