Putting theory into practice

Before starting my internship I had the perception that I would be answering phone calls and getting coffee. How wrong I was! Only 10 days in and I have barely had a minute to spare. I had no idea that the coursework throughout my degree would provide me with enough insight to handle numerous challenges and really put theory into practice.

I have been fortunate enough to have landed my internship at Corporate Sports Australia, where my role as an intern is to assist in the organisation of WA’s largest sporting event, the Chevron City to Surf for Activ. This year is the 40^th anniversary of the Perth event and the second year the event will be held in Karratha, Geraldton, Albany and Busselton.

Even though I have been so busy, I have tried to delay my first post as there is so much more yet to come!  So far only the Karratha event has been held with Geraldton, Albany and Busselton coming up over the next few weeks. Then in the last weekend of August, the Perth Expo will be held along with the Perth Chevron City to Surf for Activ where approximately 50,000 participants are expected. So as you can imagine, I will have even more to reflect on over the next month.

So far I have been involved in organising the regional events by creating post event surveys, event guides, press releases, MC notes, Facebook posts, encouraging corporations, sporting clubs and schools to create teams as well as responding to participant enquiries. I have also had the privilege of being responsible for the entertainment at the regional events and have booked in several talented musicians, dancers and face painters. I never imagined I would get so much experience in such a short amount of time!

Not only have I learnt how to put theory into practice, I have also learnt the importance of communication. Rather than sending an email, the Corporate Sports Australia staff suggested making a phone call as not only does an email prolong the communication process, but it’s difficult to get the feelings behind the words. This is particularly important with an event that supports a good cause whilst also building a relationship with the community. I could definitely see a change in results after taking this approach. Initially I sent several emails to corporations to encourage them to register a team with no response. However, once I picked up the phone I could see an immediate change with corporations wanting to be involved and register on my first call! Please see the links below to two articles I found to be an interesting read about the importance of telephone communication:

http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/11/dont-send-that-email-pick-up-t/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-telephone-communication-business-22150.html

I have learnt so much in such a short amount of time. Even though the next month will be extremely busy, I can’t wait to see how the events unfold. It’s so rewarding knowing I am actually involved in tasks that will have an impact on the success of each event. Even more exciting is the fact I’ll be going to the Busselton event in a few weeks!

Until next time,

Sophie