Opening my mind as Curtin's 'Open Day Intern'

Hello there fellow PR 393'ers!
I thought I would attempt my first blog in sub sections, to make it as interesting and as insightful as possible for you to read! So here we go:

What placement am I doing?
I am currently doing my PR placement at Curtin University itself, as an 'Open Day Intern'.
Open Day is Curtin's largest scale annual event hosted on campus that allows for prospective students and the general community to explore the university and to gain an insight into what university life is really like. Not only is Open Day a good opportunity to collect course related information, attend sessions and meet lecturers and current students, but it's also a great event to enjoy the entertainment, have fun and to soak up the booming festival atmosphere.

& why?
This is part of what influenced me to apply for this internship - the fact that I attended Curtin Open Day last year for the sake of it, to meet up with friends and ended up having a great time. That, and I have always taken a strong interest in studying the events side of public relations, as well as attending events for recreation. It made a lot of sense to apply for this position when coming across it in the PR student chapter emails, as I am already employed at Curtin as a 'Student Ambassador.' As part of this mostly voluntary role, I have been highly involved in Curtin's new 'Make tomorrow better' marketing campaign as well 'Future Student' events such as expos, campus tours and high school presentations. I used this experience and those networks, as a building block into Curtin's Open Day internship - I guess that's what happens in the real world, you land jobs through networks and previous experience!

The tasks so far
I have completed 9 days in the role, and during that time I have been involved in risk management (researching quotes for first aid vans, sitting in on meetings), researching activities for the 'Fun Zone' which will include rides and activities for both children and all ages, organising signage stock take and orders, editing the Open Day program, as well as liaising with potential market stall holders, and internal staff.

Sitting in on meetings with several stakeholders has been a huge part of the role, including internal staff:
- faculty marketing representatives
- properties staff (for the identification of construction zones)
- website editors (trialing of the new Curtin Open Day mobile website)
- Map designers
- Publications staff

External contractors:
- signage representatives
- Town of Victoria Park
- individual fun zone activity contractors

The 'Fun Zone' area, which will be made up of 8 or so activities, will be primarily my responsibility on the day.

Interesting things I have learnt & will take away with me after this unit
- When organising a large scale event, it's important to put yourself into the minds of the target market. ie. Visiting a huge campus and having no idea where to go. What do I want to see? How would I get there? - then organising the program, signage and activities accordingly.
- Smooth running of an event cannot happen unless all people involved are regularly communicated with and informed of what's required. This is crucial as many of the new staff at Curtin have never been to an Open Day.
- Risk management is huge. Every single activity / market stall / food outlet must consider the risk implications.
- The program goes through several rounds of editing, before the electronic printing of the document and after.

I look forward to the coming weeks of this placement, and will be sure to update you on further experiences. I hope you are all enjoying your placements too!

Regards,

Sarah Mullen
Bentley Campus
14308662