WEEK 3: The 2012 National Budget Speech Botswana Event

Name: Boikanyo Dudu William

Campus: LUCT

Hello everyone,  I'm back to share with you my experiences during the third week of my placement. The third week of my placement was "the week" for the 2012 national budget speech event which was delivered by the minister of Finance and Development Planning Botswana Mr Kenneth Matambo also known as the briefcase man. The  public usually call him "the briefcase man" because during the budget speech day he carries a briefcase which is believed to have the budget speech inside. This event attracts a lot of attention both from the media and the public as the public are usually eager to find out how the financial budget is going to affect them whereas the public servants will be waiting to hear whether they will get a salary increment or not.  

Minister of Finance & Development Planning (Mr Kenneth Matambo) walking into parliament to deliver the speech.

While preparing for this event I learned that events are an essential part of public relations. "Events make a stronger impact on attitudes and public opinion than simple communications", said Canfield & Moore, 1979. An organisation's image can easily be perceived through the events it has, the public get to see the ministry in different ways depending on their thoughts about the events. For example after the budget speech event some of the public called the ministry's toll free telephone line congratulating the ministry for a great budget thus in their eyes the ministry had a good image.

The day of the event was on Wednesday so on Monday and Tuesday the ministry's and the Botswana Parliament public relation practitioners worked together towards making the event a success. Its tradition for the annual budget speech to be delivered  in the parliament and in the presence of the president, all members of parliament, special guests and the media. 

It was our duty to see who will be attending the event, which media outlets will be present and allocated them space to setup their equipment. I am very proud to have being part of the team that prepared for the annual event as I feel important and that I am making a difference in the country because of public relations I believe I have a purpose in life. 

During the day of the event we arrived early at the parliament so that we could greet the special guests as well as take their pictures for the ministry's website and publications. I was very excited on this day as I had the opportunity to see the who's who of Botswana live not from television nor newspapers and it is all thanks to being a public relations practitioner. This was a lifetime experience and it has made me  love the idea of taking public relations as a career even more.

Thank you for reading, until my next post

Boikanyo