All good things must come to an end

Yes, it’s that time…my internship has come to an end. I spent 20+ days working with Corporate Sports Australia to help assist with the organisation of Chevron City to Surf for Activ in Karratha, Geraldton, Albany, Busselton and Perth. It has been an exhausting but rewarding experience that I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of.

Having five events to organise in just over a month was extremely challenging, particularly when four of the events required quite a bit of travelling time. Chevron City to Surf for Activ is also WA’s largest sporting event with approximately 50,000 participants which means there is so much to organise.

Over 1,200 volunteers were required for the Perth event to make sure safety standards were met (e.g. ensuring cars do not drive onto the course). Therefore, briefing volunteers is very important to ensure they are knowledgeable of the course and the procedures in place. I attended several briefings with the Volunteer Coordinator and could see the time and effort it took just to brief the volunteers.

In addition, there are numerous marquees, signs and other equipment that must be set up for the course. Setting up the equipment and organising the volunteers requires so much organisation that it seems impossible to have time to organise anything else. However, even with a small team, Corporate Sports was somehow able to organise all of this while also organising the PR and marketing side of the event.

I was extremely impressed by their ability to organise such a large event while also organising four smaller events at the same time. Their ability to do this came down to several important skills: time management, team work, setting deadlines, prioritising and communication.

Being mentored by such an inspiring team has taught me so much. They took me under their wing and gave me several opportunities to take on new challenges such as operating the help desk at the Perth event, writing press releases, creating Facebook posts, updating regional event guides, creating regional post event surveys, booking entertainers for the regional events, creating entertainment briefs for each of the performers, as well as communicating with sporting clubs and corporations to encourage them to register teams.

Overall, I am so grateful to have completed an internship where I got to put my PR skills to the test. In addition, it was rewarding to know that my hard work was actually helping to support those living with disabilities (Chevron City to Surf supports the Activ Foundation). Knowing you’re making a difference to someone’s life is extremely motivating so I will definitely be looking out for any opportunities in the not-for-profit area.

The Activ Foundation handing out medals in Busselton

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your internships.

Sophie