Top Tips for Churchill Fellows
As the next cohort of Churchill Fellows are announced I thought I would take some time to write my top tips for anyone embarking on the journey. It’s incredible.
- Take thank-you cards (The Works sell 2 for 1 packs of 10 cards), I would write them before I had the meeting so I could give them at the end. If I wrote it after the meeting I’d often forgot to do it as my head was so full of information.
- I also went with English chocolates (Cadbury mini multi pack from Costco). These went down well.
- I planned my travels on the free online project management tool Trello (pictured below). I used different to-do lists for different cities. This allowed me to colour code who had responded/confirmed/rejected etc. I kept all the details of those contacts within each Trello card (blue was confirmed, orange was to be confirmed, red was not available).
4. Closer to the time I moved this into a google doc itinerary which provided times, locations and travel routes to each meeting.
5. Downloading the google doc app on my phone meant I could access this information without needing data/wifi
6. Download offline maps on your phone, this means you can use them without wifi/data
7. Build in extra time for traveling between meetings, it will take longer than you think
8. Build in extra time for meetings, they always last longer than you expect and if they are particularly great you don’t want to have to cut it short to dash off
9. Leave the odd day free for thinking/writing/responding to correspondence
10. I found 1-2 meetings a day was optimal any more and you rush around and are thinking about the next one while you’re in the current one
11. People will give you a LOT of paper, they want to share their reports and publications. If you want to keep them make sure you account for this in your luggage allowance!
12. I found the logistics of organising my travel my biggest worry and was really lucky to have my partner there to help out with flight and accommodation booking. If you do need support Yvonne Campbell can help organise your travel logistics at no cost, drop her a line to find out more: https://www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/yvonne.campbell
13. People, I found, are generally really happy to help and chat. Don’t be scared to take the plunge and just get in touch, ask them who else you think you should talk to and see where you go from there. Having a little blurb (not too long) that can explain who you are and what you are doing is helpful for your intros and for people to introduce you to others they know.
14. Ask WCMT for help; they are flexible, understanding and supportive. If you are worried about something don’t sit on it, ask them how they can support.
15. Have fun. Go to the hockey game, the walking tour, the beach. Enjoy it!
