My reflections on Week 2: 4 days before the major event at Casela

Hello everyone, 

In this blog post I will be sharing with you how my second week at Medine Limited went by. As usual I made daily media clippings, but alongside this was the coming up of the Laying of the foundation stone of the state-of-the-art recreational facility at Casela, along with the resumption of preparations for the forthcoming Fun Day. 

As far as the Fun Day was concerned, I was in charge of calling up the various types of logistics and confirm quotations with them. These included logistics such as tables and chairs, specific colors and size of t-shirts, water dispensers and their bottles, tents and/or marquees, mobile toilets along with its manpower. 

One might think that this task is very easy, however it does happen that even when you call them up and they ask you to send them a request for a quotation via e-mail, they either do not revert back immediately or simply ignore and/or forget about what you need from them. 

Eventually the follow ups felt like absolute 'nagging'. But this is how it goes and this is how the work is done - by constantly reminding them that you need a quotation from them and if they could kindly revert back as soon as possible.

Also very important in these situations is staying calm and polite while communicating. Even if someone would be rude or cold on the phone, I would still be very patient and courteous. This is something I learnt on my own and which is basically a natural reflex, if I may say. 

When this was done, I was then in charge of the chase up calls of Medine Limited's media list for the event at Casela on the 15th of February 2013. 

Once again, I had to call up several times to get in contact with the distinct chief editors. Even if messages were left with secretaries, I had to make sure whether the chief editors actually received the message or not. This felt like contacting the logistics all over again. Even so I did what had to be done even if it meant calling more than 3 times, over and over again, as my supervisor needed a final list of the media houses that would officially be present for the event. Knowing that I was able to help as much as possible with a major event definitely boosts one's will to work even harder.

Beside this, I had to follow-up the presence of particular ambassadors and ministers so that we could produce a final list of guests against the original list made prior to the event. Essentially, when it comes to a guest list, I personally think that one should always remain realistic. Why, do you ask?

Well simply because, even if invitations have been dispatched or sent either by e-mail or fax, it in no way means that all the guests will show up on that particular day. This is where follow up calls are of utmost importance, to check whether someone on the list is in fact going to be present at the event. In this case, what I noticed was that most of the distinguished guests may or may not call to confirm whether they will: Attend or Regret. 

Eventually, the event took place on the 15th of February 2013 and tomorrow I will mostly be doing media clippings in relation to the event. 

Additionally, what I would also like to say about my second week as an intern, is that it showed me how professional practice is as important as theoretical practice. 

Maybe some of you might have thought of getting an internship only for the sake of completing this unit, but am sure by now if you have started your internship and love what you are doing, you have to admit that this is a journey full of surprises, experience, tact, a neat way to make new contacts, a very good way to know where you stand and what you would want to do after you are done with your Bcom or Mass com and build your own professional personality - in other words, how you would like to be perceived and chosen by a future employer. 

For the time being, this is all I had to say,  stay posted for upcoming photos of the ceremony which took place at Casela and also maybe for other imminent challenges in my next blog post.

Wish you all a nice week ahead,
Take care, 
Geetika Boyjoo 
Curtin ID: 15172402
Charles Telfair Institute, Mauritius