It might be crazy, but it's worth it in the end.

Hi everyone..

So as I mentioned in my last post, a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to attend the event that we at Momentum Forum Events had all been working very long days on, the Medaesthetics International Woman's Day Luncheon.

From what I'd seen, this event was going to be huge with over 300 attendees including the Honourable Julie Bishop, Dana Vulin and Australian bachelor Blake Garvey. We had spent weeks of long office hours to make this day more spectacular than ever before and that dream was about to become a reality. After spending so much time making sure that even the finest details were taken care of, one would expect that the day would be smooth sailing and that we could kick our feet up and watch the day unfold before our eyes. Well how wrong was I..

We were all told to meet at around 8:30-9am to start setting up as the event was set to start at 11:30am. Well 10am came and went and we were still unable to enter the venue as another event had run late. Finally we were let into the venue well after 10:30am only too be greeted with the chaos of about 40 staff trying to set up this event for over 300 new guests. Although well out of our job description for the day, we were told that the chair cover company was definitely unable to cover 300 chairs in less than an hour so we all had to hike up our skirts and give a hand while simultaneously making sure tables were set to perfection and taking last minute phone calls from guests and newspaper companies that were interested in attending.

The guests were finally allowed into the venue only half an hour later than planned. The rest of the day consisted of running around to make sure guests were seated and happy in their chosen seats, making sure that all hosts had everything that they required and finally being able to squeeze in a 10 minute break to eat some of the delicious food.

I definitely learned that there is no such thing as being too prepared. No matter how many times you have gone over the details and no matter how many back up plans you have, you can't always control every situation, especially those that are beyond your control. Being able to think on your toes and take initiative during a crisis is a very useful skill to have as you don't even need to be working in a crisis management role to experience a crisis that may be detrimental to an event or organisation.

In the end, the event however was more spectacular than I could ever have imagined . The entire day was covered by all major media outlets with television stations flying in from other states to attend on the day. What made it even more spectacular was that the entire day was hosted to raise money for the Momentum for Australia charity as well as to raise awareness for the "Kiss Violence Against Women Goodbye" campaign.

I would like to leave you all with a short video showing the highlights of the incredible day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPt2qhOaxeU&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1

Call the police!

This post reflects the fact that no matter how hard your prepare for an event someone unforeseeable can happen. At the end of last year we had our main event the amazing Beaufort Street Festival!!

This event was organised by an external company due to the large scale of the event our 'little' organisation couldn't cope. However we still had so much word to do we sold 'Recipes to Ramble' Cookbooks made my business owners and residents along Beaufort Street. On the lead up to the big day I had to 'run' hundreds of cookbooks to different businesses along the street for them to sell on festival day, I wish I knew this before I came into work I wouldnt of worn heels!! I was unbeliabely hot as these books were heavy... however one thing I learnt in PR is your always going to have to do less exciting jobs and doing this all day was one of them but I did it with a smile! The office was so busy the phone was ringing every second with numerous jobs needed to be done and emails that needed to be sorted...I absolutely LOVED being in the thick of it. The theory of time management was needed as I had to act fast as we were running out of time with the event the next day. The festival was amazing I spent a large part of it updating social media forums spreading awareness even though it was so packed we really didnt need anyone else coming! 

The second event I was involved in was very interesting and unexpected. It was our first sundowner event of 2015 and all our business members and residents were invite. I spent the weeks before promoting the event in our newsletter, social media etc and organise a list of RSVP. I was secretly so excited to attend as Barry Urquat a famous marketing guru was presenting a talk on how we can all work together to drive consumers to Mount Lawley. The end was packed with over 60 members and the event was held in a large area out the front of second ave IGA. Barry was 10 minutes into his speech when a shoplifter decided to steal a basket of meat and make a run for it right through the crowd nocking down one lady and pushing into another 5 while yelling horrible things... luckily one of our members caught him and we moved them around the corner while someone called the police to sort the situation away from the rest of the members. The guest speaker continued to speak like nothing had happened which was good as it diverted the problem fast and the show went on!

1st Sundowner event of 2015

The theory of ethics played a huge part, clearly this man had mental issues and was homeless which was sad to see as we are all there drinking champagne and eating amazing food. I needed to use a sensitive manner when addressing the issue. The police sorted out the situation and it was over fast everyone was fine and the show ended great with an interesting story to tell after. After experncing two major events I learnt alot but the main theme was you can never control what happens at events and need to act fast to diverert any problems and thats exactly what we have learnt in crisis management. 

Has anyone else experience the same crisis management control in their internship? 

Thanks Lexi