Gameday - Challenges and Preperation (2)

My second entry into our reflective blog this semester, is focusing on how much I was able to learn from working during my first gameday experience for Netball WA/West Coast Fever.

The days I was involved leading up to the game, I was primarily working with community newspapers to generate coverage at a grassroots level (which certainly gave me a chance to work on the things I picked up studying Media 250), but was able to observe from a distance at all the work that goes into organising an event like this! It's actually quite staggering, there's so much to do and I picked up alot in terms of the event management techniques and skills that are utilised when planning things for gameday.

As I mentioned, this week was mostly spent getting in contact with local newspapers and trying to generate coverage, which has since seen some success and I look forward to improving my skills in this area. Liaising with journalists and building community relations is certainly a skill in PR that I've always expected would be valuable! 

I also had the chance to put my media-release writing skills to the test, and thankfully I've managed to produce some good material that has been released surrounding some exciting things the Fever have been doing in terms of sponsorship and promotion! 

I was eagerly awaiting gameday, as I knew how fantastic it would be in getting the opportunity to see how it all comes together. As I worked from the media bench, the most important thing I got out of it on Sunday (aside from seeing the Fever notch a massive win at Challenge Stadium infront of their home fans) was the ability to actively observe. I was able to see how my supervisor coordinated everything on the day, moving players and coaches to speak to Fox Sports when needed, looking after the journalists in attendance and getting them the talent they needed to write a good story post-game - as well as writing the match report as things progressed. It was all happening so fast, and a good chance to soak it all up and see how works. Although it was fast-paced and a little intense at times, I really enjoyed it. I'll be experiencing the same thing this Sunday at another home game and I can't wait.

In terms of the Public Relations aspects of my internship, I feel like I'm learning a great deal everyday. Gamedays are really only a small portion of the work that goes into a sporting organisation like Netball WA, but it was awesome to see it all come together like it did. Just having the chance to be involved with it and watch how it all goes on when dealing with players, fans and a live broadcast is something I'll appreciate. Organisation is key, and finding solutions to overcome obstacles that arise when arranging events like this is of massive importance. Hopefully there's many more opportunities during my internship to pick up the knowledge needed to have success in the PR/communications industry going forward.

Tom 

Public Relations Internship, 2nd Blog For Cancer Support Association, "Events and Unforseen Database Issues"

Blog 2, Week 2. 16th to 20th of September. Week 2 continued much the same as week 1 and I was beginning to see the first of the major planned campaigns for November/December. These would include ticketing and marketing for the fundraising event featuring the “Diana” movie, the campaign for which would start on the 18th, there was also I buzz around the Sustainable living and organic gardening event which was held on the 16th of September at 10 to 1130am. Although I was not truly involved in either because I was tasked with providing social media posts for the events as well as others such the Sound Healing program and drafting of preliminary posts for the “You Are Beautiful” campaign. I was excited to see the inner workings of the YAB campaign because it is quite a public program with giant black and white photographs of cancer survivors being presented in some of Perth’s central parks to raise awareness for cancer sufferers and to publish their inspiration stories. This kind of program really highlights the structure of CSWA’s events, they have one long term event on at all times (YAB) and this is then supported through split smaller events run by marketing and fundraising. I would come to realize that a problem with this kind of system was that there is no confined member/donator database with certified names, emails, addresses and numbers, contact details are done very much “on-the-fly” from event to event and this impacts on whether events go out at the right time as well as basic retaining of members. At this stage I think I can safely say that although CSWA has some awareness in the community, it would still be considered emerging into its niche market of a wellness/support provider.