PR in Events... My initial experience

An Introduction:

Anyone who is close to me will tell you the same thing. I have no interest in pursuing the events management side of PR. I have made that abundantly clear through my anger-fueled rants and rage-filled speeches on the topic. Yet through an interesting turn of events I have found myself in that very situation. I have found myself working as an unpaid intern for an events company in Perth.

How did this happen you ask? Well, I was strong-armed into it. I was strong-armed by an extremely kind, caring, charismatic and assertive woman who extended her hand to me and asked "Do we have a deal?" And, of course, being the way I am I chose not to tell her the truth (which was that I had already been offered a position, which I intended to accept, and that the only reason I showed up that day was out of respect and not from a genuine interest for the position). So I awkwardly accepted her offer. And so began my internship at an events organisation.

So yes, I was surprised to find myself in this position. But what I found more surprising was that this is the best position I could have possibly landed for myself (you'll find out why later on). The organisation in question is responsible for at least one of the most well-known events in Perth.  My boss can fill an entire function room and sell out a ball through her personal contacts alone. She is full of so much life and energy. I am so grateful to have been 'strong-armed' into making a commitment then and there. Because otherwise I would not be having anywhere near the amount of fun that I'm having with this placement.

First days of placement:

The beginning of my placement had been quite slow. Which I really enjoyed. I now realise that everybody's placement begins that way. I would show up in the morning, open up my computer and begin sending invitation emails to a long list of contacts in an excel spreadsheet. Then a note would be made on what date I'd contacted them and they would be colour-coded if they responded with a 'yes', 'no', 'maybe' etc. The invitations were to the 2016 Silver Pet Prints Perth Pet Expo. They were aimed at pet businesses around Perth: kennels, photographers, even live animal shows for entertainment. The list was comprehensive. Every now and then Barbara would share an idea or tell a story about something, but they days were spent pretty much just sending emails.

It is hard for me to provide an in-depth reflection on such simple work. But I will say that I was really happy doing it, I would be happy just getting coffee all day. I did learn that this year will be the 3rd ever Pet Expo, so I gained a real insight into the amount of research and time that went into finding so many different businesses to contact. Events is definitely something that you must be passionate about to pursue, because the work can be monotonous and people are constantly being chased-up for late payments, or clear responses. Nobody wants to say no so sometimes business owners will perpetually 'be in a meeting' or 'checking with the higher ups for confirmation' rather than admitting they are not interested in attending. So the skilled events manager must identify when to cut their losses while balancing persistence; they must be respectful, yet convincing; they must be charismatic and natural when speaking to customers/clients/sponsors, and hit key selling points in that same conversation.

I guess if I've learned anything from it so far it's that ultimately it's all sales. It's no different from when I was door-knocking, but now we are trying to convince people to fund or attend an event instead of donate 'a dollar a day' to a charity.