The big day had come – the day of the Murdoch Staff Sports day which Unicredit was sponsoring. I loved having the responsibility of making decisions and being in charge of the running of the day, but at the same time I kept thinking that if anything that went wrong it was on my shoulders!
The night before the event my heart sunk as I saw the weather forecast of thunderstorms and hail! The next morning the day began with my fingers were crossed for sunny weather, a 6am wake-up and an hour drive to Murdoch University!
On arrival I met up with the sports manager to check if the event was still running and I was assured that the staff would play through the rain. The gym was scattered with colour and costumes – with each faulty sporting a different team name and theme.
After a quick set up of our stall and a brief from the manager to the teams the sports were ready to be played.
Throughout the day the Unicredit team and myself handed out branded stubby holders, cans of soft drink, water and jelly beans to wet, but excited, Murdoch Staff. From time to time some of us would leave the stall to take a walk around the grounds, handing our drinks to those who had not had time to come inside – but also to keep an eye on any outrageous costumes, over-enthusiastic staff, or huge stacks on the courts so that we could give out $100 cash prizes at the end of the day.
After a nail biting leader ball final the day had ended and the staff began to head up to the tavern for a sausage sizzle, drinks and announcement of prizes. Everything was organised for the speeches, we had chosen our winners, got our $100 vouchers sorted out and had our speaker ready to go. But after a smooth running day something was bound to go wrong – and it did! Unfortunately the Murdoch Unicredit Branch Manager, and also our chosen speaker, had to leave early to close up the branch – leaving me with the job of making a speech and handing out the prizes to a crowd of over 300 people – oh and I only had 5minutes until the announcements was due to start!! I didn’t have time to write out a speech or give too much thought to what I would say so I basically had to wing it! In the end it turned out ok, and although it may not have been my finest public speaking moment, everyone got their prizes and the day ended on a positive note.
Ohh the joys of event management!! ;)
Catherine Tenardi
4 comments:
A great event you handled right there, this shows how far you have come to be able to let every situation under control. The weather was bad but you made it happen. Iam really impressed with the last minute speech, as a PR professional you should always be ready for anything to happen in your events and be prepared with plan B. Great PR skills you showed.
Wow, you gave a speech, thats my favorite aspect of PR and I guess you did well because you have good communication skills.Sometimes you have to go with the flow and know that man makes the position and not the position making man...I'm so delighted you managed to contain the crowd......All the best:)
Catherine!
Sounds very scary, having to speak in front of so many people, I dont think I could have done it!
How did you go though? I bet it was all very smooth.
Goodluck for next weeka!
Hi Catherine,
What a day you had! It must have been a great feeling to be able to say that you had organised everything. That's a fantastic opportunity and I'm sure that everything you have learnt in the last 3 years has helped you with the organisation of the event.
Well done on doing a speech last minute! Being able to spontaneously come up with a speech and present awards to that many people really is a skill! Very impressive!
All the best for the rest of your placement!
Victoria
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