Going it alone!

At the end of last week I received my first individual project and I am very excited! One of the Junior Event Coordinators is going on annual leave and needs somebody to take over one of her projects. The project is for Perth Centre for Photography (PCP); a not for profit organization providing Australian photographic artists an accessible playing ground to both display and sell their work.

PCP has recently relocated to their new premises and it is my task to assist them in their opening night. The opening takes the form of an exhibition and auction and will occur tomorrow night!

Coming in half way through a project is difficult particularly when there is little time for a handover. I just had to jump in and use my initiative to get myself on track. My first task in taking over this project was to create an event brief, a running sheet for the evening and a volunteer schedule. This helped a lot to know exactly where I was at and where I needed to go.

I then needed to liaise with the current suppliers and find new ones. Being a not for profit organization PCP is running on a very tight budget therefore it is my task to find as many donations for the event as possible. A party hire company in Perth is supplying glasses, wine buckets and tables which is fantastic. Alcohol is being donated by Little Creature Brewery and Madfish Winery. I have organized a private caterer to donate their time and to do the food at cost. European foods is also donating cheese and nibbles.

It is also my task to assist those who are speaking on the night with writing speeches and making sure that everybody is thanked and happy.

It is amazing what can be organized in a short amount of time and the amount of people who are willing to help along the way.

The event will commence at 5.30 tomorrow evening with the arrival of VIPs and potential sponsors. It is very important for me to create an event that will attract sponsors for PCP and potential buyers. It is essential that the event is portrayed in up most professionalism and PCP is promoted as positively as possible.

My greatest challenge with this project has definitely been the small pool of funds in which I have access to, however it is easily overcome through donations and kindness. Another challenge that relates to the budget is the client’s perception of what is and isn’t needed for the event. Trying to convince a client that they need something that will cost them, when they do not particularly understand the necessity. I have been very lucky with my client; my input is always welcomed and taken on board.

I have been working closely with one of our in house graphic designers on the project and she has done a fantastic job in creating invites, brochures, catalogs and signs with limited time and budgets. My manager has had complete faith in me to manage this project unsupervised and that has been very empowering.

I am very excited to see the outcome of my first event tomorrow evening.