"Welcome to Western Australia"....to up to 5000 from over 70 countries!

In my initial "induction" post, I mentioned the opportunity I would be getting as an intern at the Department of State Development to assist in the preparation for the upcoming LNG18 Conference and Exhibition....and in today's post, I would like to give you a greater understanding of what this task will entail.  There is no denying it will be an incredible learning curve - even for someone who has been in the Department for several years.  However, it also promises to be such a creative and exciting adventure!

Recently, I had a meeting with Dione, the Project Manager within the Department who heads up the coordination, design, materials, messaging and plan for the Department's booth at the Exhibition next year.  Listening to the work that Dione and her team have to do leading up to the Conference and Exhibition, I simply felt....overwhelmed! The Exhibition is a public relations dream! Combining creativity, logic, intelligence, savviness, media awareness - to be able to welcome up to 5000 participants, from approximately 70 different countries in the world to an exhibition on oil and gas - means that all staff members working on this significant project (including me!) will need to draw on all of their public relations skills.  This is interesting, given many staff members are Project Officers - some not 'trained' or 'schooled' in public relations.

Dione ran me through my main task that is designed to fit as a puzzle piece into the Exhibition.  I will be responsible for using my creativity, resourcefulness and budget to prepare the Department's videos for the booth.  Sound simple? Think again!

Try to imagine the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, filled with thousands of people at any given time over the course of the conference, surrounded by booths set up by private companies, and needing to stand out, hold attention, present interesting information, showcase Western Australia in the best possible way, and ensure that the videos tell the story of not only oil and gas in Western Australia, but other industry growth, recreation, facilities, lifestyle, opportunities, culture......! Dione has provided me with the challenge:

"We have a short time to get a person's attention, and we don't want that person to see the same footage numerous times."

There are constraints along with that - the budget that I need to manage wisely, use of the Premier's time for filming (also to be managed wisely!), available and usable footage from other agencies and companies (bearing in mind that all footage needs to be culturally sensitive).

Hearing Dione speak about LNG18 and my task in the big picture though, I can't help but feel excitement growing in me.  This is such a creative task!

Over the next few weeks, I need to develop a Project Plan that articulates my ideas - but also the logical steps of putting those ideas into action.  Where will footage be sourced? What new footage should be shot? How would I make best use of the budget? How would  make best use of everyone's time (including the Premier's)? What would I want to teach the international audience about Western Australia?

Stay tuned.....I have a feeling there will be experiences and learnings to share from this project!