Creating New Momentum

Beginning any internship is nerve-wracking and exciting; and this was no exception with my first day with Momentum Forum Events.

It was a late afternoon at the Pan Pacific hotel, when I met with other Curtin interns to help set up the ballroom for the event of the night, the Men in Black Ball. 

This fantastic charity event is an annual dance-fest full of delicious food, good music and entertaining highlights thought the night with unforgettable guests (like Carmelo Pizzino from Dancing with the Stars and Soa ‘The Hulk’ Palelei, but I don’t want to name-drop).

The Men in Black Ball Flyer

The Men in Black Ball came about to raise awareness of men’s mental health and well-being. I found it amazing seeing this one idea, after many months of planning and organising, manifested itself that night. I didn’t really understand what it took to organise such an extravagant night, as I was there when it all came together; that’s why I’m looking forward to the next events (such as the Pink Ribbon Ball and the Silver Prints Perth Pet Expo) and being there from the beginning.

As I walked around collecting the raffle tickets from the elegantly set tables, feet aching from the discomforting and foreign feeling of wearing heels for too long, I found myself thinking that this is surreal; the thought of being a part of creating and putting something like this together throughout the internship.

Coming back home I knew that in the following weeks, working in the office, I wouldn’t be able to anticipate what each day would bring. To have the opportunity to be surrounding by so many different people and the variety of tasks that will become my responsibility is refreshing; beginning something new often is.

Admin Duties 

The Intern Desk

Administrative tasks are part of any job. A small office space houses some amazing work ethic, forward-thinking ideas, and hands-on things to accomplish. Barbara McNaught is the founder of Momentum, and is both relatable and inspiring. She really shows that you can take an idea and make it happen. To have a mentor like that is really humbling. She is also from Poland, so whenever we are alone in the office we often speak Polish, which makes me feel lucky to have someone else to talk with who knows this language.

Lately, I have been working a lot with spreadsheets; getting contact lists in order from the Men in Black Ball, and crafting emails to send out to potential exhibitors at one of the next events; the Perth Pet Expo. There is a specific colour code for the spreadsheets I use, which can get confusing if you don’t keep track of which person you emailed, which email bounced back, whose contact information was incorrect, who didn’t update a certain colour, and who was already emailed yet not marked as emailed and have doubled-up. No wonder spreadsheets have a bad reputation.

The Social Side of Media and a Piece of Advice 
Social media and its analytics have fascinated me since last year’s Transmedia Storytelling unit. Getting the chance to do a few social media posts and seeing how the number of people exposed to the links, posts and updates grows is really insightful. With Momentum, I observed from the start that every post on Facebook or every Tweet has a meaning behind it, and that it’s all about having a clear message you want to share with your target audience. Without ideas worth talking about, why use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram to strengthen your presence?

At another desk, working on spreadsheets,
social media posts and emails

Someone gave me some advice worth remembering when it came to doing the internship at Momentum, which I constantly remind myself of; take notes of anything and everything because every little detail counts. Deciding to take this advice, I now actively take notes of anything that I can write later in these blog posts or the final report. I found that having this sort of mentality helps in picking out key information or even skills that formulate themselves from doing various tasks; whether they be ‘desk-and-char’ based or completely hands-on.  

Coming into the compact office every week, I never know what I’ll be doing. From one side I find it unnerving (how am I supposed to prepare for the day??), but from the other side I see it as another learning curve. If I am able to learn something I didn’t know how to do before, then that’s the key thing I want to get out of this work experience.

I hope everyone reading this is also enjoying their internships all over Perth as well as overseas, taking the PR world by storm! 

- Ewelina