Sunset - Chapter Three

So as my placement at Sunset Events drew to a close I began to reflect on my time there. While most of my experiences were positive and educational, I also encouraged myself to think about what I felt were the negative experiences of my placement. This way I could see where Sunset Events could improve the experience for future interns. I immediately identified the most apparent problem as communication within the organisation.

I have read blog posts by another volunteer from Sunset who had a negative experience in her placement as a result of the attitudes of others at Sunset. While my experiences were different and generally more positive I can see where her frustration arose. The staff at Sunset Events are masters of patience, tolerance and communication with their external stakeholders. But when it comes to volunteers and even their own colleagues their patience and knack for communication seems to fall short.

I first noticed this in my more tedious tasks at Sunset relaying messages between staff with appropriate working materials. When the information I was given was not adequate I was treated as if I obviously should have known what other information was needed for a task I had only just learned was necessary. This sounds vague, but one example is from during my placement at the One Movement for Music festival. It was here that the Artist Liaison asked me to pick up some family/under 18 registration forms for under 18’s in the touring parties from the Box Office. Upon my arrival at the Box Office I was met with frustration because I hadn’t asked exactly who they were for. As it turned out, it wasn’t even necessary that the box office knew who they were for as all information is recorded on the form anyway, but still I was met with frustration.

Another example of poor internal communication is something I know the other volunteers at Sunset will understand. In the interests of making their document print faster, the staff at sunset sometimes cancel large print jobs without informing anyone. Which when you need precise numbers can be very frustrating.

This may come across as picking at straws but I wanted to address the negative as well as the positive experiences of my placement. And as far as the negative goes, Sunset Events most significant weakness seems to lie in internal communication.