Backstage Experience in Event Management

Working on the marketing of a seminar was one of the most exciting projects of my internship at Odysseus Public Relations. Activities related to the seminar lasted for practically the whole six weeks of the internship. That intensive backstage experience gave me invaluable insights in event management practices and the various Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) mix tools including public relations, direct marketing and Internet marketing.

A promotional photograph for the seminar
featuring Mike Sharman

The event was a full-day seminar on Social Media Marketing and How to Create Great Content on Social Media. It was held on the 26^th February 2014 at the Angsana Hotel, Balaclava, Mauritius. A South-African professional, named Mike Sharman, came specially to Mauritius to share his experience with Mauritian professionals. Mike Sharman has more than seven years of agency experience, and has successfully implemented traditional and digital communication campaigns for a large variety of businesses. Moreover, he is the winner of the Prisa Prism Gold Winning campaign 2013 – Social Media Category. Click here to view one of the viral online campaigns that Mike Sharman and his team made.

For the marketing of the seminar, I benefitted from a crash training course on how to market the seminar from the project managers of the company themselves. Direct marketing (via promotional emails and phone calls exclusively) was the main IMC tool used to promote the event to the targeted market. This method has proved itself to be the most effective one for such a type of event. I was given a list of potential clients to contact and had to sell the seminar to a maximum of them. This experience made me realise how hard it might be to deal with and convince professionals to consider a proposition. Finding the right words and arguments to convince them was a considerable challenge. I experienced there instant communication practices as opposed to the well-planned and well-thought public relations communication activities.

Angsana Hotel Reception

On the seminar day, all the planned logistics went on relatively well. Odysseus Public Relations, a long-established organisation in event management, effectively managed the event and proposed a high-standard seminar experience to the attendees. The Five-Star Hotel hosting the seminar was an ideal venue for such a corporate event. The conference room and its facilities, the catering service and the venue itself made of the seminar a complete success and enriching experience. 

Angsana Hotel Conference Room

Finally, a surprise, which might appear as a total bonus for some, was the greetings made to a famous Indian couple who was in holidays at the Angsana Hotel – Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. 

So here is at large how my backstage experience of the management of an event was. I totally enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading J

Sonia Monty

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