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9th September, 2013
We are delighted to welcome Gavin Phillips to the team. Gavin first joined PFA Research through the Unlocking Potential Gateway Programme and has since worked freelance as research analyst on a number of our projects this year. We’ve now invited Gavin to get involved in PFA Research on a more permanent basis and thought it would be a good idea if he introduced himself properly in the best way he knows how! Over to Gavin…
Self introductions are always a little hard. Even in a relaxed situation, the onus is always on the writer to promote themselves as wholeheartedly as possible without coming across as…egotistical? The difference between an introduction and a covering letter can be quite minute at times and I guess for all intents and purposes are actually the same. So, here we go:
I graduated from Dartington College of Art’s in 2010 as the last graduating year from an outstanding artistic institution (the college ‘merged’ with Falmouth University and has since ceased to exist) with a BA (Hons) Contemporary Writing Practices w/ Digital Art Practices. I have to say, what I expected from the course and what I found were perhaps different, but the Dartington approach to writing, language and philosophy deigned to connect with almost everyone that participated and for me, assisted me in understanding that writing is exactly that: a philosophy.
With this in mind, I have turned my hand to many different styles of writing wherever I have been needed be that content writing, analysis, copy or research, primarily focused upon work in the digital realm. I pride myself on being able to write for any given audience though have found that I take most enjoyment from technical enterprise writing (or anything where technology can be found!).
This year I was accepted onto the Unlocking Potential Graduate Placement Scheme which saw me deployed first at PFA-Research, then at Radix Communications. Both were interesting for their own reasons and both stretched me in different ways; after being out of the loop for a while it was exciting to be working in professional environment where I could continue to hone my abilities as well as develop a business network that in Cornwall is well needed.
So, a bit more about myself. I came to permanently reside in Penzance in 2010 after a year of back and forth visiting my then expecting partner, Natalie. We are now 3 ½ years down the line and have two beautiful young girls (well, I can be biased!) Isla and Ffion, and are finally after several years of working in positions that didn’t really hit my potential, moving houses and establishing a friendship group, becoming rather settled in this end of the line town. And with this, I spend my free time having exceptional amounts of fun with them, enjoying all that Cornwall has to offer.
Outside of family life, and when I can, I enjoy computer games of almost all varieties. I had my first Amstrad Lotus to play with when I was around 5, as well as a borrowed Master System to fulfil my childhood gaming needs – roll on hours of Alex the Kidd (brilliant!) and Nethack (at that age, completely mind boggling – still to this day haven’t beaten it !). I am lucky enough to have participated in script writing for independent games and maintain a close relationship with a few indie developers to keep in with the ever growing gaming fraternity.
My other absolute favourite thing in life is cooking, and this can beat even computer games. I come from a large Irish family where eating, drinking and laughing have always been the focal point of our lives. Although there are now less of us to cook for – they all live up country and abroad now – we still cook every night in an attempt that the kids will see this as a focal point of their lives too.
Writing has and will always be a passion of mine. My partner often asks why I don’t retrain in something else as continual writing work has been hard to find, to which I have to reply, ‘I’ve nearly 20 years training in this, why throw it away?’