on-the-GO! with a CSR event.

Happy New Year to all members of PR393 Reflective Blog! :D
Here's an overdue experience I'd like to share:

It was only my second week as the intern at GO Communications and already, I was exposed to the nit and grits of conducting a FULL-OUT CSR event for Kenny Roger ROASTERS!

The Wishing Tree Project is Kenny Roger's (our client) bit to help the less fortunate and my team was put in charge of helping them to manage and put together a small celebration for about 30 kids from a Care Centre whilst also drawing media attention. Prior to this day, media invites were sent out, confirmation of guests and celebrities were garnered and extra materials were prepared.

I was given the task of doing follow-up - calling each media person whom which has been sent with an invite to attend this little charitable event. As each editor or media person gave excuses on why they would NOT be able to make it, I began to worry that none might even show up! Then, one of my teammates suggested that I emphasized on the celebrities that have confirmed on their participation in this event. And so, I artfully inserted names like 'Daphne Iking', 'Atilia' (Malay jazz singer) and 'Vanessa Chong' (Amazing Race Asia contestant) into my conversations with the following media person and viola! I was fed with affirmative responses! Still, most declined politely, with reasons being "lack of reporters".

The show must still go on! I had utmost respect for my teammates as they scurried around a tiny Setapak restaurant outlet to set things up a few hours before the event - rearranging chairs, sticking labels, preparing game materials and hiding the newly-purchased presents under the table from child's view.

Sad to say, things were not as easy as we would want it to be. The CD-R containing the "Chicken Dance" song refused to play and one of the celebrities (Vanessa Chong) got the date of the event mixed up and was at Singapore at the time! Thankfully, my team leader managed to pick a random, catchy song from her vast music CD collection and so the 'Chicken Dance' was replaced with the 'Statue Dance' game. We got another lucky break when singer, Atilia brought along another local celebrity friend, Yasmin Hani!

The kids finally arrived. So did the celebrities and who would have guessed, a flock of reporters and photograhers from various media houses! I was placed at the 'Media Registration' table where I handed out media kits as well as small 'tokens of appreciation'. Its simply a small way to extend our gratefulness towards the media for taking their time to come, "despite their busy schedule and nagging datelines".

The whole event went on rather smoothly, with minor bumps here and there. Games like "Statue Dance" and "Pin the Chicken" were amongst the highlights and although things may look a little messy, most of the kids seemed to have had fun. After specific presents were distributed accordingly to each child, the modest event came to a close.

There you have it! My first ever CSR event hosting. Although I was only involved in the minor, itsy bitsy stuff, I still learned a whole lot! Would love to really immerse myself in more events but also be reminded of Murphy's Law where "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". But hey, as Dory from Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming"!

Cheers!
Mei Anne.