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Graduate gets creative on the Queen’s Baton Relay

BCU Alumna Rianne Karra, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Art and Design in 2020, enjoyed the biggest year of her career so far thanks to her pivotal role in the Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay as part of the Commonwealth Games.

Rianne worked as a Creative Content Coordinator for the Games, capturing photos, videos and interviews to be used across the Commonwealth Games social channels.

We caught up with Rianne to find out more about her role in the Games.

Tell us about your role in the Commonwealth Games?

My job title was Creative Content Coordinator for the Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay as part of the Commonwealth Games.

Birmingham 2022 was the 16th Baton Relay, where the Baton travels across all 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth. The Queen placed her message to the Commonwealth inside the Baton at the start of the relay, beginning its journey on October 7, 2021, from Buckingham Palace and ending it on July 28, 2022, in Birmingham at the start of the Commonwealth Games.

I created, edited, and produced content from the relay alongside a team of seven other Creative Content Coordinators, with wider responsibilities of helping the Batonbearer Operations team.

What were your responsibilities?

As a content creator, I worked closely with the Commonwealth Games Associations in the 72 nations and territories of the Commonwealth. Helping to assist with the planning of their relay in terms of what content capture and documentation was needed from them, for myself and the team to be able to edit that content, from photos, videos, and interviews, to be placed on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games social channels.

Whilst on the relay around the home nations and England, I was able to film and produce content, including Instagram stories, TikToks and highlight videos as well as interviewing athletes and Batonbearers.

My role also included assisting the Batonbearer team, who were responsible for the Batonbearers, the individuals selected to carry the Baton, in England. My responsibilities included helping keep track of the Batonbearers, placing them out in their positions before they received the Baton and chaperoning the under 18 Batonbearers.

When I took on this role, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to see what I could achieve. From learning new skills, collaborating with other creatives, meeting new people, and exploring the different parts of my job role.

What was it like working at the Commonwealth Games?

It was incredible. A fantastic opportunity where I got to work with individuals and communities across the globe. In my eleven months working there I really saw myself grow as an individual and learn so many new things. It was fantastic seeing my home city transformed, it was colourful, and it came alive in those ten days.

I met so many incredible people from my time at the Games, people with inspiring stories who are changing the world and helping others. The people are what made the job amazing, from fellow colleagues, members of the public, the volunteers, spectators, Batonbearers, and Commonwealth games representatives etc. From the start to the end of my time there, everyone came together to have fun, to be united, to celebrate culture and diversity, especially when we spent so many years having to be apart.

The Games was such a large-scale operation and being able to contribute a small part was very rewarding. It was genuinely an experience like no other.

What were your favourite things about being involved with the Games?

I will probably never have the same experience again. I really loved connecting with others, being able to travel around with the incredible Queen’s Baton Relay team and celebrate the amazing and inspirational people who were our Batonbearers.

Being able to represent Birmingham and showcasing who we are as a city and what we have to offer the world was something very special. The games in themselves were phenomenal, in the way they brought people together whether that be for sports, the arts or just to have fun in the city; there was something there for everyone. I walk away with so many good memories.

What legacy do you hope the Games will have on Birmingham?

If people didn’t already know about Birmingham, they do now. We are definitely on the map. I like to think this city has left an impression on those who visited or watched the Games and people have felt the warmth from fellow Brummies.

Birmingham is incredibly diverse, resilient and creative and that was truly reflected in these Games, and this will continue beyond these Games. This is just the beginning for Birmingham, the Games showed that sport and the arts can bring people together and the continued unity of the people and communities in this way would be a wonderful legacy.

What was achieved was phenomenal and Birmingham should be proud and celebrate that as I know these Games will have a lasting impression for generations to come.

What are you up to now and what are your future plans?

I have recently started working at UNBOXED, creativity in the UK. UNBOXED is a once in a lifetime celebration of creativity across the UK with ten brilliant projects that have the arts, science, technology, engineering, and maths at the heart of them all. I am really looking forward to getting stuck in with these projects for the next few months.

I studied Art and Design because I enjoy being creative and I plan to carry that love of creativity through to all my future endeavours. I really enjoy working on live events and projects so hopefully more of them too!