You can't control Mother Nature!

Contingency planning in event management

Hi there,

I hope everyone is going well with their internships, I'm definitely feeling the stress of end of semester. How is everyone’s progress with your internship report?

In my last blog post I reflected on the role PR had in the promotion and communication of the 2015 Perth Garden Festival event. I also mentioned that I would be working on another event that Corporate Sports Australia (CSA) have been contracted to operate – The Big Campout. Unfortunately the event had to be postponed as it was scheduled to be held outdoors at the WACA during the previous weekend’s treacherous weather conditions.

After some debate about whether the event should go forward, the Event Director made the executive decision based on the information we had with weather forecasts to postpone the event. As the event is owned by a NFP foundation called The Fathering Project, the purpose of the event was for fathers to connect with their children by camping overnight on the prestigious WACA ground. The cricket ground provides little shelter for weather and as dangerous weather warnings were issued, the team at CSA absolutely saw the need to reschedule the event for a later date, benefiting all stakeholders.

The decision was made only three days before the event was set to take place which presented CSA with the issue of ensuring that all ticket holders were notified about the cancellation of the event on that weekend. As the event had to be rescheduled due to unforseen weather conditions, ticketholders have been given the option to request a full refund of the ticket purchase or use the ticket later at the rescheduled event for which the date has yet to be set.

We were able to utilise their electronic database to issue a newsletter/eDM (electronic/email Direct Marketing) communicating the changes of the event information. As we were also concerned with the timing of the cancellation, I was responsible for sending SMS messages to all ticket purchasers, further informing them of the changes.

The communication of the message was successful as no ticketholders went to the venue on the original scheduled day of the event. CSA now have the challenge of liaising with WACA representatives to organise another appropriate time to hold the event and then once again make contact with ticketholders to notify them of the updated event time.

Moving forward, I have only two days left of my internship - I can’t believe how fast time has gone! Working mainly on the communication in relation to events, I have been busy assisting with the creation of the post event report for the Perth Garden Festival which will be released shortly. The report analyses all aspects of the event to determine the success of the event measured against the key goals and outcomes determined in the early planning stages of the event. Sponsors are particularly interested in this information to determine their return on investment.

For the remainder of my internship my role will now be centralised around preparation for the upcoming Chevron City to Surf to Activ marathon series – CSA’s largest events. I have been working with the marketing and media coordinator to map out the public relations and marketing timeline, as well as reviewing the many sponsorship contracts to ensure all the agreed communication terms are met.

If anyone has any friends who are completing the PR Internship unit next semester, CSA are currently looking for six interns to work exclusively on the City to Surf. I can absolutely recommend this organisation for completing an internship – I have learnt so much from them and my experience has been invaluable. For more information comment below, or you can view the official advertisement here through Curtin CareerHub.

Wishing everyone luck with their reports and end of semester – we’re nearly there!

Until next time,

Megan