Q&A with Lochlin Highet - Kilmarnock's new media guru

How is everyone getting on without having Killie to watch? Fine, I hear you say. Fair enough, it is after all only ten days until everyone is reunited.

Blink and you’ll miss it. That’s the feeling I get from this winter break. The Premiership may be off for three weeks, however, the Scottish Cup is back next weekend, so most of the players and staff return to training tomorrow.

While there haven’t been any changes in terms of the squad with the transfer window open, there has been some movement off-field with Lochlin Highet replacing Andy Fitzsimmons as the club’s media guru.

Lochlin is a familiar name and face to many of the Killie faithful, however, I spoke with him about his new role and what he hopes to achieve while working for the club. Enjoy!

How much does it mean to work for the club you love?

It’s an honour working with Kilmarnock having grown up as a fan. I’ve supported them since I was a wee boy and my papa took me to games. It just went from there. I got the opportunity to work for a local paper as the sports editor which was great to cover the club. I first joined when Steve Clarke was in his peak years. We finished third that season and we got a trip to Wales, obviously not Europe, but it’s been great covering the club over the past few years. I got the chance to switch sides and it was a no-brainer. I’m delighted to work with such a great community club. It’s a great time to join with things going well on and off the park.

When things are going well on the pitch it must make things easier working off it?

For sure. It makes things a lot smoother and simpler. Even things such as putting a tweet out, if things aren’t going so great, even though I’ve not experienced that yet on this side, it’s a lot harder to drive content and website traffic. It’s a lot easier being part of a club when things are going well, so long may that continue.

Made the jump from journalism to PR, how are you finding that so far and has that always been your ambition?

It’s early days but I’m enjoying it so far. I’m not one to look forward too much in terms of my career, I’m going to sound like a football manager but I’ve taken it day-by-day and month-by-month. I honestly didn’t really think about the future, but the opportunity came up and just the way things were with my old job it was a good chance to make the switch. The way the world’s going, I think club media is a great thing to be part of. Everything is modernising with things driving forward which is exciting. It’s just a different aspect of looking at things in a professional sense.

For those who don’t know what your role as Media Officer entails, can you give me a run down?

The main focus of my job is website and social media output and taking the lead on anything relating to that. Anything coming from social media is pretty much from me, working alongside Scott Symington who is the Multimedia Executive. On matchdays, I make sure the manager and players are where they need to be before and after the match. Arranging media calls after the match, and pre-match during the week too. Keeping in touch with the media, dishing out press releases. Basically, my job is keeping the media in the loop and trying to ensure the club is always painted in a good light. On the other side, the manager or players, if they need to know anything that might be asked in a press conference, I need to make sure they’re not being blindsided by that. There are proactive and reactive elements.

READ MORE: A review of Kilmarnock's season at the winter break

Has it helped you settle in being familiar with Scott & Gregg McEwan?

They’re fantastic. Gregg, the General Manager of the club, is so switched on with the way things work. He’s got a lot of experience in football. He’s no stranger to the media side of things, marketing, everything really. Scott, he’s a wiz with anything video or picture-related. I’m sure the fans are appreciative of the content that’s been produced in the last couple of years. That’s when he’s not running on the pitch before full-time! All of the staff are great here, though. I knew a lot of them before arriving but there were others I didn’t. There’s so much that goes into a matchday behind the scenes you don’t even realise. Everyone does their job perfectly.

Any words of wisdom from Andy?

He was great. He was fantastic with his handover. I shadowed him for a couple of games before coming in and then he was really detailed by putting everything in a document before I took over. It’s kept me right and I’m still referring to that every day. He did his job so seamlessly, as did Scott McClymont before him, so it’s about carrying on their good work.

What do you want to achieve in your time at the club?

I want to get fans more engaged, especially on social media. We are a community club and we need to show that. A simple thing like replying to a fan’s tweet. I want fans to feel as though they’re part of the club, whether it be with behind-the-scenes content or getting to know a player through features, I want everything to be inclusive.