Bradford College Principal awards staff member live on Facebook

A college principal presented one of his lecturers with an industry award live on Facebook.

Bradford College Principal David Harwood used the live broadcast option on the social media site to film himself making a surprise presentation to business lecturer Saghir Iqbal who had received a Certificate of Excellence following a nomination for FE Lecturer of the Year in the Pearson Teaching Awards.

Principal Harwood had taken control of the college’s Facebook page as he was spending the day working as part of the marketing team in the latest of a series of job swaps that has already seen the boss go ‘undercover’ as a security guard, cleaner and receptionist.

The live broadcast of a shocked Saghir accepting his award was one of 22 videos filmed by the principal. Others saw him tour the campus, chat with staff and students and step into the boxing ring at the college’s boxing academy at the Trinity Green site.

“Using social media is a great way to give our potential students a taste of what the college is like”, said Mr Harwood.

“We can share what we offer in relation to courses, qualifications and pathways to employment or Higher Education.

“I really enjoyed going around the college, chatting with students and staff and it has been great to be able to connect to thousands of people in just one morning of streaming real-time live videos. It’s something I will definitely be doing again.”

Digital Marketing Manager, Sukhwant Lota, said: “This is such a busy time of year for us, with open days, showcases, and summer advertising campaign to attract students, so we thought we’d put David to work generating content for the college Facebook page.”

“The 22 videos reached just short of 20,000 people with over 4,500 video views.  These numbers will grow over the coming days and weeks.

“This is a great way of raising the presence of the college and its provision to potential students.”