Fitting In

Hi everyone,

At the end of March I started my work placement in the promotions and events department at ANZ on St Georges Terrace in Perth. To begin with i was a little bit apprehensive as i honestly did not know what to expect when I walked into the very chic doors of the ANZ executive office. I am happy to report that it is not as daunting as I first thought, and I have been able to fulfil the roles I have been given. I am completing my placement with Ivana Brekalo who is the Events co-ordinator for ANZ WA; she is lovely and has made me feel very welcome so far. At this point in time I have not been assigned one major project to complete; rather I have been working on a range of different tasks including the monthly ANZ newsletter, end of year Christmas event, the Cancer council relay for life and some smaller responsibilities.

On the 23rd of March I was a volunteer at ANZ’s most significant event “The ANZ Annual Economic Breakfast”. I assisted with the administration tasks which involved handing out name tags, collecting raffle tickets and setting brochures on the numerous tables. I thought the event was a huge success as everything ran smoothly (or so I thought!). While there were no major problems at the breakfast Ivana explained some of the minor hiccups that could have been amended. The major issue which stood out to me was that apparently Dixie Marshall was a little bit too familiar with the room of professionals and had used a slightly inappropriate tone while she was hosting the event which made some people uncomfortable. At the time I did question whether Dixie’s role had been scripted and if that was the case, the comments were intended to add humour to break up the economic material, I was glad to have it cleared up. I am very grateful for being able to assist at the breakfast and on reflection I can appreciate how much responsibility and stress is placed on Ivana leading up to, on the day of and after the events are conducted.

Throughout the short time I have spent at ANZ I have had the fortunate opportunity to meet and work alongside John Atkins who is a very well connected man in Perth and holds the role of chairman of ANZ WA. Through meeting john I can fully appreciate and understand how important “networking” is for generating potential business and clients for ANZ.
I’m looking forward to volunteering at the next event “West Coast Fever Netball games” of which ANZ sponsor and support.
Will give you all an update soon!!