Olivia Nelson (commerce)
Commerce student Olivia Nelson put her passions to work at WildPlay Element Parks, capturing exciting video of ziplines, rope courses and bungee-jumps for marketing.
Promoting outdoor recreation
If you visit WildPlay Element Parks Victoria on a hot summer day, you’ll be greeted by excited adventure seekers testing their limits on the aerial adventure courses or practicing their axe-throwing skills, all tucked amidst an evergreen forest filled with dappled sunlight.
Commerce student Olivia Nelson was part of the action, capturing video footage for television and digital advertising as a co-op student videographer. “I got to be behind a camera doing what I love,” says Nelson. “Sometimes that meant recording while riding a zipline high in the trees!”
As a Vancouver Island-based company, Wildplay has been hiring co-op students for the past sixteen years, and works hard to make sure they feel like part of the team. “It ‘s not often that the CEO of a mid-to-large scale company makes a conscious effort to get to know the intern by name and connect with them on a personal level,” says Nelson. “I work with such an amazing and dedicated marketing team that has made this co-op so enjoyable for me.”
The impact of co-op
As Nelson’s supervisor, Assistant Marketing Manager Kat Craats—a former co-op student herself—sees firsthand what co-op students bring to the organization, like creativity to capture new footage at the park and editing expertise to deliver polished videos.
“We recognized a need to develop our video advertising tactics but didn’t have the capacity to bring someone on as a permanent member of our marketing team,” says Craats. Olivia helped fill the gap, bringing her past co-op experience as a graphic designer and web programmer to the role.
In the true spirit of WildPlay’s mission, Olivia’s advice to other students is simple—“Go explore! Pursue something you’re curious about, but not sure of,” she says. “Step out of your comfort zone.”