Hello everyone.
This was by far my favourite week as an intern. I
attended my very first international conference and it was great. I must admit
that I did have apprehensions at first. I knew very well that I’d be the
youngest person there and it tends to be a little (or VERY) awkward. Moreover,
as mentioned in my previous blog post, the International AVH Symposium gathered
businessmen and researchers who work in the sugar
industry and who met in order to contribute to the advancement of the knowledge
on sugar. I clearly felt out of place, especially when the researchers started
to give lectures about the performance of sugar factories and refineries, with
all the technical terms and mathematical formulae.
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| Mr John Field, Senior Technical Director at Carbo UA International, making a speech on "Energy Management in Cane Sugar Factories". |
However, I had a rich learning
experience by observing how the setup of the event was done and what needed to
be done throughout the conference. It made me realise to what extent Public
Relations involved doing a bit of everything; taking photographs, acting as
Master of Ceremony, and so on. For my part, I assisted with the registration
before the conference took place and it was actually a great way to make first
contact and a good first impression.
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| The registration point in front of the conference room at Holiday Inn Hotel. |
Even if the conference was for people
who had interests that were different from mine, I nevertheless took this
opportunity for networking at the dining buffets and during the visit to the
Omnicane Refinery, called La Baraque. It turns out that the people coming from
different parts of the world were actually keen to know more about me and what
I was doing at Omnicane. It was also an occasion to share our mutual experience
and to discover more about the lifestyle in our respective countries. Many of
them also had a good sense of humour and these people actually contributed to
the fact that my experience at the conference was much more interesting than
what I had initially thought.
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| Omnicane's sugar mill at La Baraque. |
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| One of Omnicane's employees showing samples of molasses, vinasse, and neutral alcohol at La Baraque. |
One of the men whom I talked to worked in the Public
Relations sector and he told me that his organisation was currently facing a
crisis. He asked for advice and I was thus able to show my knowledge by telling
him the Dos and Don’ts which were so often repeated by our lecturer. For example,
“Do not downplay the issues”, “Never say ‘no comment’” and “Organise a media
conference”. (Click here for a few other Dont's in a crisis situation). We exchanged a lot and I realised, more than ever, that
the different PR units will greatly help us in real life; for instance, the
crisis simulation that we had to deal with in Media Relations 250. The PR
Professional told me that he had a similar training at work and that it was
indeed very challenging.
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| One of the exhibition stand at Holiday Inn, on the occasion of the 22nd International AVH Symposium. |
As my internship is coming to an end, I must say
that I have gained confidence in my abilities and that my experience comforted
me in my choice to pursue my career within the PR field. I hope that you are all
enjoying your adventure as interns. Mine was sweet as sugar.
All the best,
Haddiyyah
