We are all aware and have been taught since our very first
step to University that the notion of due time is paramount. I’m actually on internship
at Flymates Ltd and the very first day was a rush…Deadlines everywhere! Deadline
for the press release, for the upcoming event, induction day, newsletter among
others…
Upon my third day, my Supervisor assigned me the
responsibility of their next event – a career and guidance event to be
organized from head to toe.Lot of pressure for a newbie intern, but I
immediately felt a sense of integration and an opportunity to put theory in
practice.
I recalled my Public Relations Techniques unit classes and
set up an event plan. The event plan was "the tool" that really helped me when
planning the event. I divided it into three categories “pre-event planning”. “Event
day” and “After event” and I also planned a well established checklist. Not to say, I really enjoyed doing the event planning.
Everything was running smoothly, but then the ultimate
deadline issues started culminating itself when the designer with whom I was
working with on banners for the event was unreachable! I was pressured as the banners were a must-have for the event and if I failed I would be considered as inefficient.
Finally, the designer responded, we work on the design with the help of the Boss
and the designer managed to finish the banners on due time – that is the day of
the event itself.
Among other strategies set up to reach the target audience I
proposed to set up a Facebook event page which I entirely managed under
supervision. This allowed me to put in practice my Public Relations skills of
social media. For this, I also recalled my Design classes and created
teasers and makes use of hashtags and captions.
This experience was very fruitful. I learned the importance
of effective teamwork, being meticulous but above all the importance of a well-established
event plan in order to meet deadlines. I thus largely recommend everyone planning to work on an event to establish an event plan.
The sad part of this experience was that I had not attain the event physically as I was immediately assigned to work on a video due the next day itself with
the designer at the office.
 |
| Event set up with banners on each side. |
Until next time.
Doralie
Charles Telfair Institute.
Doralie
Charles Telfair Institute.
2 comments:
Hi Doralie,
I got you when you said that due time is paramount. Working on an event is a lot of pressure, isn’t it? I know the struggle ‘cause I’ve been working on Caritas event too. I’ve got no time to spare. I remember on my first internship day, I was solicited to make a lot of phone calls and to share some ideas on the most proficient method to design the invitation card. A couple of days, I was assigned to write a compelling press release to announce the launching of Caritas new documentary to send to the media. It was a lot of pressure because it was imperative to catch the media attention since it was the key to attracting them to the event. Putting into practice what I have learned in my PR unit, notably the ‘inverted pyramid’, really helped me in making the press release newsworthy.
This experience was productive indeed. I was given the chance to deliver a speech during the event in front of the media and the audience, it was a challenge for me. I felt privileged and grateful to Caritas in light of the fact that what I am learning there will help me a lot in my future career.
At the end of the day, the lesson I have learned from this internship is that time management is crucial. Without time management, I would not have been able to write a press release, to make phone calls, to confirm guests’ presence, to proofread checklist, and finally to write another article after the event with testimonials in due time.
Collaboration is everything in PR.
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” – Henry Ford
Happy to see that we both had the chance to work on an event.
I hope that in the near future, you will be able to attend an event.
Best of luck!
Hello Doralie,
I totally agree with you that in the world of Public Relations, time management is something very important. Everything you undertake has to be prepared meticulously. Its great to see that you used a planner to set out objectives to respect deadlines. This is surely the gorgeous thing to do if you want to spare some time.
At Elite Voyage, I have not personally planned any event yet but I was assigned to draft texts on hotels based in Seychelles to publish it later on the website. The list of hotels was phenomenal as it was a time consuming process in relation to research and information cross-checking. But still, I've got a planner by my side to dissect every important factors concerning the hotels within an approximate time frame. This eventually helped in reaching deadlines and making most of a productive day.
Well, I repeat it again " Time management is valuable " as it presents every tasks we are assigned upon the due date!
Hope you are now more at ease with preparations and plannings.
Cheers!
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