Boyana Atanasova reports:

A lot of time has passed since my last post here. In the past 7 months, I’ve found a very good job, met a lot of interesting people, had a birthday and went to Berwick-Upon-Tweed for a short railway trip.

Lots of things changed, but others didn’t, and I’m now again at the stage where I’m looking for a new exciting work-related opportunity.

Yes, I’m looking for a new job, ideally based in Edinburgh. For those of you who don’t know me, here’s my current LinkedIn profile - it shows my experience to date in a more detailed manner. In general - I want to work in an inspiring environment, managing social media profiles, building and maintaining communication strategies, applying my design skills and implementing all my creative ideas on a day to day basis. I’m also keen to apply all my academic knowledge on media relations, PR and journalism. I can write, create, design, code, help, interact, suggest new ideas and make good projects reality.

If you want to know more about me, please do write me a message.

I’ll be happy to hear from you, wether you have a big company or a small-sized project. Until then… I’ll keep on posting links to my old work here.

Thanks!

It is this time of the year again - to look back at the past 12 months and to reflect on everything that happened. It is easier to put my memories in a list, isn’t it?

- the first five months of 2012 were horrendous - no money, no hope for work, no fun, no going out, nothing cheerful

- after that, a very nice (and very WET!) Scottish summer - more time for nice things and some money to spend

- between May and August - my greatest effort of the year - my MA dissertation which has taken me ages to complete. It is the first time when I didn’t waste a lot of time and everything was ready before the final deadline.

- from September - my search for new job and new opportunities 

- October - my graduation and my parents here with us for the official ceremony. I can still remember the excitement.

- November - until now - my new great job and the chance to meet new people, make friends, build connections and learn a lot. I hope that the good things are still to come.

All in all - a very hard but very successful year. The year of some personal difficulties and professional achievements. 2012 has made me bullet proof (or at least I want to see it that way) - let’s see how I get on with the lucky 2013!

Happy New Year to you all!

My struggle with the dissertation is finally over. I handed in last week and I am now awaiting for my final mark. It is a very odd feeling - when you have dedicated so much time to one project, it is so hard to go back to the ‘normal’ life. I hope the whole thing was worth it.

I have two weeks to become ready with my first full draft of the dissertation. The weeks and months have passed so fast and now I am finally on the last phase. I’m not so worried any more - when I have a real deadline and I am under pressure, I work better. 5000 words to the final, it is not too much, is it?!

Yep, it’s dissertation time and if I have to be honest, I don’t really feel good by talking about it. However, I’ve decided on posting something here using my mobile phone since this is meant to be a mobile blog and it was made to represent my feelings during the days while I’m figuring out how the media in the UK actually work… This has started badly - with a loooong sentence. But let me get back on my dissertation. It is probably no surprise that my topic is on Twitter but it was a big thing for me to realize that the dissertation format here is quite different to the one I have already experienced in Bulgaria…

I had to read so many books, to spend so many hours compiling all the written things on my subject that I am already fed up with the whole thing and I am nowhere near finishing it… Sometimes it is just so hard to continue writing but I am always telling myself that everything will be over in a month now… And it is going to be, really, so send me some positive energy and wish me luck! :)

When you feel bad, it’s hard to believe that things will become again better. It’s hard to smile, hard to be yourself, really. When you feel that something is missing and the purpose of your existence is not very clear, you can just stay and wait for something to happen. I have always been a fan of the proactive management of these situations, but sometimes even I am caught in the net of my negative thinking and bad feelings… 

Sometimes, even a few sentences like these might make you feel better and that’s why I’m searching for a way…

Following the elections results today on Twitter, made me realize (again!) that the social media channels have really transformed the way traditional media works. They have also changed the way we - the receivers of their message, react, understand, look for more info.

There were a lot of different hashtags all over the place today. Journalists were competing against each other more fierce than ever before… It might be the same old competition between the different media providers, but this time the audience was watching right behind their shoulders… I can’t understand how in such entirely new environment, there are still journalists who refuse to accept that Twitter is the new big thing and that they have to be there, before it’s too late…

The other day I have started writing some random articles for an online music magazine. Here is my first piece on the music we can expect this summer during the London Olympics 2012: http://worldrecordlabel.com/hot-music-in-london-2012-olympic-games-cms-17

Enjoy! :)

It’s always nice to find out that someone has appreciated your work. Today, I accidentally found this short piece by the community organization Friends of Craighouse, regarding my report on Edinburgh Napier News: http://friendsofcraighouse.com/2012/03/19/article-and-interview-with-local-residents-2/

Thank you, guys, and good luck with the campaign! :)

I’ve previously written a blog post containing part of my work for the music website MySound. Before my time there, I was a freelance contributor for the online rock radio Tangra Mega Rock. I’ve been writing mainly reviews of new metal/rock albums, and some occasional live gig reports. 

Here is a selection of my reviews for the radio. I quite enjoyed my time there, so I hope you’ll feel the same when you read them. (The good thing about this project was also the requirement to write all my materials in both Bulgarian and English, so you can read them here properly. Another thing - sorry for the strange symbols in some of the reviews, but the new version of the website has caused some problems with the formatting. Second and last - these were written in 2007 and 2008, so bare in mind that my English is now better) :)

Masterplan - MK II

Ensiferum - Vistory Songs

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

Korpiklaani - Tervaskanto

Kamelot - Ghost Opera

Symphony X - Paradise Lost

Candlemass - King of the Grey Islands

Folkearth - Drakkars in the Mist

Amorphis - Silent Water

Epica - The Divine Conspiracy

Blood Stain Child - Mozaiq

Mekong Delta - Lurking Fear

Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement

Arch Enemy - Rise of the Tyrant

Winds - Prominence and Demise

Helloween -Gambling With the Devil

Elvenking - The Scythe

Apocalyptica - Worlds Collide

Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes

Ayreon - 01011001

Opeth - Watershed

Avantasia - The Scarecrow

Primordial - To The Nameless Dead

Crematory - Pray

Rage - Carved in Stone

Children Of Bodom - Blooddrunk

In Flames - A Sense of Purpose

More of my “rock radio” work - in the next posts. :)

I wanted to give you some details on my future internship. I will take part in the #CitizenRelay project this summer, when the Olympics torch will come to Scotland. I will be responsible for the citizen reporting of the events during the relay in the Edinburgh area - from St. Andrews to the Scottish border, to be precise. 

Jennifer Jones, one of the main organizers of the project, have compiled all the necessary information around it, in her recent blog post, so I highly recommend you reading it. The most important part of the project right now is our effort to recruit reporters in all areas of Scotland… So, if you are living here and you are interested in journalism - professionally or not, it’s a wonderful opportunity for you to have an unique experience. And if you live in the Edinburgh area, we might work together! :)

Dealing with deadlines is one of my weakest points - I tend to leave everything for the last possible minute and this always results in a lot of stress. I don’t like the feeling, I don’t like the panic attacks, I’m afraid of failing and I don’t really understand why I keep doing this. 

In the last couple of years, I’m trying to change it. Sometimes, it’s more successful than I’ve expected - I’m ahead with the tasks in my schedule and everything is calm and wonderful. It’s strange how my sense is telling me that this is not good and not right, and I keep doing it. My father says that it’s something he gave me - the laziness and the need to postpone important things… I don’t know, he might be right, but I’ll keep fighting… Oh, well, at least I admit it.