Meet the Queen Bee
Meet the director of Big Bee Content – Niki May Blane – and discover her journey from virtual tea-maid at a production company to editor of international publications.
She’s come a long way this Edinburgh lass. Nearly two decades ago Niki took to George Street in her (rarely worn) heels to celebrate graduating from her journalism degree. Just days later, off she hopped on the express train to London, as keen as can be to launch her media career.
Her first role as production assistant for a film agency saw her become very well acquainted with the kettle, as well as gifting her a solid footing in the basics of production.
A young editor
From there she took to the seas of Brighton where she claimed her first editor role at a much-loved architecture publication. At just 24 years old she ran an international team of journalists, delivering daily news to thousands of subscribers. The position saw Niki travel the world honing her production skills and interviewing the ‘starchitects’ of the day. It was here she launched her first social media strategy, before they were a ‘thing’. Sending the website’s page views soaring, she won her first award.
Niki’s next voyage was a return to the Big Smoke. At a charity sector news organisation she ran the daily news agenda and spearheaded digital transformation. She filmed glitzy awards ceremonies and negotiated with digital agencies. She also dabbled for the first time in infographics, big data visualisations, blogs and feature articles.
Community and campaigns
Her next few years were spent in the community management and campaigns space. Here she learned to focus content on the audience’s specific needs to grow engagement. Working in the aeronautics and health sectors she enjoyed wearing different hats as a ghostwriter, one day an air traffic controller, the next an ophthalmologist. She won her next award leading a team to develop a parallax website showcasing the everyday lives of real doctors.
Digital experience
From there Niki entered an exciting phase helping to launch and grow a fledgling content team for a major healthcare provider. Here she gained a firm grounding in the art of digital experience, working together with UX, IT, product and marketing teams to deliver content focused on supporting customers’ health needs. Several years and hundreds of films and articles later the analytics provided testimony to success.
And now here we are. Two kids and a lot of soul searching later and Niki brings her expertise to Big Bee with one mission: to help organisations communicate effectively and make an impact with their audience.
Niki is an award-winning digital creator with recognition in both the medical and built environment sectors. In March 2021, less than a year after launching Big Bee Content, Niki was shortlisted in the Digital Women Awards and was a finalist again the following year.
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