Royal Show!

The Royal Show takes over Perth every year in September, and this year I was given the opportunity to attend the event as part of the WAEC team. This was only the second time I had attended the event, and first where I was doing so on behalf of a company.

Our stand was located at booth 324 within the Silver Jubilee Pavilion, close to gate 5. The WAEC had a stand on each day of the show, however I was rostered on for one shift between 8.45am and 3.15pm on Tuesday 27^th September, a day where I would normally have just been in the office.

Our main purpose of the day was to check customer enrolment and to ensure their details were up to date, whilst getting new people on the roll that previously weren’t. As well as this, we provided people with the chance to update their details by signing the necessary forms, distributing information flyers and answering general enquiries.

As a way of drawing people in, we provided special incentives for those checking their enrolment. Each person who either checked or confirmed their enrolment via our laptops at the stand was entered into a raffle to win a daily prize of a $50 IGA gift voucher, and a grand prize of an IPad Air 2 32 GB.

Unfortunately the weather on the day wasn’t great, and as a result none of the stands were that busy. We however found that traffic increased in the afternoon, and that was when we got most of our business. The reason for this I feel was because we were located inside, and people wanted to get away from the rain!

I think that I was rostered onto what was the quietest day at the Royal Show, as adults and parents were back to work and the weather was pretty average. Having said this, I still enjoyed the experience to work at the Royal Show, as I have never worked there in an official capacity before.

Attending events is a big part of some PR work, and the way in which you can engage with audiences and communicate your messages in order to ultimately reach your goals is an important part of the field.

Of course it would have been great to work on one of the busier shifts, but I feel that by working on a quiet day it made me work harder to try and get people to check their enrolment, and engage with customers. These people skills are an important part of PR, as establishing and maintaining relations is a key aspect of the profession. In this connection, I feel that by attending the Royal Show as part of the WAEC, it has helped me to develop those skills.

Me at the Royal Show!