Marie Majer studied Applied Cultural Studies at the Alpen-Adria University in Klagenfurt. During her studies, she specialized in art and cultural management and worked as a freelancer in art education at the Museum of Modern Art in Klagenfurt. She also worked for the public relations department of UniServices at the Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt. In addition, she supported the organization of the Rauriser Literaturtage with contemporary women writers. She spent a semester abroad at the Université Lyon II and the University of Urbana-Champaign, USA. Until February 2020, she completed the two-year trainee program in the Marketing and University Events Department of the Berlin University of the Arts.
 

The trainee program at the Berlin University of the Arts in the Marketing and University Events department was an excellent start to my professional life. I found the mixture of responsibility and support from my colleagues very enriching.
While organizing, implementing, and supervising the presidential events of the University of the Arts Berlin, I gained valuable experience in event management in cooperation with other departments of the UdK Berlin as well as with external service providers. Furthermore, event marketing (offline and online) and the distribution of communication media and invitation management were also part of my responsibilities.
In university marketing, I supported editing the new faculty brochures and acquired knowledge in standard application programs such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
I was also able to gain professional experience in organizational, strategic, and economic aspects (UdK Laden) and the social media sector while managing the UdK Shop and its various products from UdK Berlin Alumni and the UdK Laden Instagram Channel. I also helped update and maintain the UdK Berlin website for the marketing and central events department and became very familiar with the content management system TYPO3.
Furthermore, I completed the further education course Curating at the Central Institute for Further Education / Berlin Career College of the Berlin University of the Arts as part of my trainee program. As a result, I acquired in-depth knowledge in cultural marketing, social media, conception, and implementation of exhibitions and cultural financing.
In the context of Erasmus+, I got to know the marketing and event departments of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem and the Latvijas Mākslas akadēmija in Riga as a staff exchange. This experience was also very enriching, as I got to know marketing and event strategies and concepts of other European and non-European art academies and was able to take a broader perspective.
In conclusion, I can say that I experienced the trainee program in a very diverse, extensive, and enriching way. Therefore, a trainee program is very suitable for young professionals or someone currently in an orientation phase. It is the opportunity to get to know many areas of work, broaden and deepen one's perspectives through internal or external internships, further training, and orientate oneself as to whether the direction one is currently taking is the right one.
For structural reasons, marketing/event trainees cannot be taken on at the Berlin University of the Arts. Still, I have been supported in my professional career with tips and assistance.

As a trainee project, I conceived video interviews with the winners* of the President of the UdK Berlin award for master students* of Fine Arts 2019.
The President of the UdK Berlin Award is announced annually in the College of Fine Arts at the Berlin University of the Arts. Under the chairmanship of the President, a jury consisting of renowned persons from Berlin's art and cultural life and professors from the UdK Berlin has been awarding the prize since 1997 to three master students of a given year. The prize includes a monographic catalog and an exhibition.
For the video interviews, I worked out the concept (starting point, portrait of the Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten, interview questions to the gallery owner and prize winners, aesthetics of the videos, as well as the aim of the concept) and coordinated the dates with the artists, the Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten and the external filmmaker. The video interviews can be seen on the UdK Berlin website (section Marketing / University Events) and the Vimeo UdK Channel and offer the prizewinners* an essential opportunity to present themselves and their works of art on the Internet and to draw attention to their work.

From April 2020 to 2022, I was an employee in the marketing department at the Kleist Museum Foundation in Frankfurt (Oder). Since April 2022, I have been an advisor to the rectorate of the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin. My diverse and relevant professional experiences from the trainee program have been precious for my job.