Cruising through my last day

Time sure does fly when you're having fun... yes, having fun! I actually didn't expect my internship to be as fun and rewarding as it has been, and I'm hugely grateful that it has been.

I think I'm finishing up my placement at the right time, as it has definitely hit peak-stress-levels among the the other staff. Everyone is going 100 miles per hour getting everything sorted for the events to start next week. Due to this, I haven't got much tasks to do today, which is odd because I'm more than willing to help them out. Although I do understand that most of the things that they are handling right now is completely out of my league.

I have been helping Ivo a lot today - the creator behind all the Motorplex and Speedway TV commercials. I've just been doing camera checks and small office jobs for him to keep me occupied.

I have learnt so much over the 6 weeks I have been here, and also have had the chance to incorporate almost everything (yes, everything!) I have learnt in class into real life situations. It's been amazing and I almost feel ready to work for real... almost! Professional communications, liaising, creating PR plans, the numerous documents I created are only just a few examples of the tasks I have been undertaking. It's also amazing to see that my ideas I put out in my PR plan are actually getting used in real life!

I feel like over the past few weeks I have been accepted into this small family at the Motorplex and I'm so happy and honoured to have spent my professional placement here - I couldn't imagine doing it anywhere else.

Small beginnings

If someone told you that they work for the 'Perth Symphony Orchestra' what would you think?

I thought finesse, class, composure, elegance and a glamorous office space to work in. Well I was wrong about that last part. Whilst Perth Symphony Orchestra (PSO) does encapsulate a realm of sophistication in their events and performances, behind the scenes, this takes a lot of work and sometimes you have to compensate the seemingly big ideas in your head and start out small.

Take their office for example. As the tight team at PSO says "it's a broom-stick cupboard in there". My first day at PSO felt very warm and intimate and that's not because of the broom-stick cupboard. PSO has a team (not including the actual orchestra itself) of no more than 10 people, now including myself. In terms of managing it's public relations, they occasionally work with a local public relations consultancy.

PSO/NSM Office AKA Broom-stick cupboard (Room 2)

PSO/NSM Office AKA Broom-stick cupboard (Room 1)

Knowing this I initially thought that my role as the 'PR Intern' would be rather insignificant. However after a couple of days with PSO I quickly learned that there was no such thing as a 'small role' and that I have many roles within the organisation. To top it off, I now have two interning roles at different organisations.

The other organisation I have the pleasure working with is North Street Music (NSM). NSM is a music management company that manages PSO whilst running it's own events such as Song Lounge, Chamber Jam and professional workshops for musicians.  

At first it seemed difficult separating the work load for NSM and PSO as what was required to do for one organisation seemed to be the same for the other. However it became apparent that there were huge differences when completing tasks such as event listing and researching content for their social media accounts.For example NSM has a completely different target public compared to PSO. Therefore the channels which we use to promote events will differ to attract each organisation's desired publics. 

One similarity between PSO and NSM is the pace at which they work. I absolutely love it. Working in a small team means that all ideas are taken on board; decisions are made quick and are effective immediately. I am also lucky enough to work in an industry which I am passionate about- music. 

I'm looking forward to tackling the next few weeks and embracing the amazing opportunity which I have been given.

It's time to step up to the challenge!

Hi everyone.

I am currently doing my internship at a company called Momentum Forum Events, a small company responsible for some pretty big events including the Annual Pink Ribbon Ball and the Perth Pet Expo (my excitement levels for this event are going through the roof!). 

I had heard a lot from previous students about what they had done while working there, much of which consisted of liaising with sponsors and exhibitors for various events, which meant a whole lot of making phone calls and I am unreasonably terrified of making phone calls (Ill let you all know how that turns out). However this internship meant finding a role which would challenge me and push me to new limits so I decided that this was the role for me. 

I stepped into this internship not having any idea what would be expected of me which quite obviously made me a sack of nerves on my first day! I got thrown straight into the craziness as the first event (the International Woman's Day Luncheon) was only a few weeks away and I had to be prepped on everything and everyone that this event was about. Considering every single event held by Momentum Forum Events is HUGE, it was a lot of information to take in and once I had my very brief but comprehensive introduction it was straight into the work. I remember my first day feeling as if I had only been there for 2 hours by the time I had finished an 8 hour day. 

I very quickly had to learn to think on my feet as we regularly got called together to brainstorm ideas for new ways to make the events better. It is always very exciting to see my ideas get used especially knowing that hundreds of others will get too see and experience my ideas also. I also very quickly learned that time is very sacred in this crazy world of events and somehow you have to learn how to squeeze 15 hours of work into a small 8 hour day. The day doesn't start at 9 and end at 5, especially as the event get closer. We regularly found ourselves not even realising that home time had come and passed.

As much as what I thought I knew a lot about events and PR, I quickly got reminded about everything I still need to learn to make it in this crazy world which I will share with you in the weeks to come.

I'd like to leave you all with a quote to keep you motivated to take on the challenges in this exciting time of our lives:

Until the next post...

Taila Sheppard
16109948

All good things come to an end

This week was my last week as an intern at Evolve Events and what an experience it has been!

There is an endless of things that I am taking away with me from these 20 days, things that I have learnt about myself, learnt about the industries and learnt about my future. 

Here’s a list of some of those that I think a lot of interns can relate to and agree with:

o   Working in the industries of public relations and event management is no predictable journey. In fact, judging by my experience with Evolve Events I can guarantee that every day in my future in these industries will be entirely different and that is where the fun is!

o   I am not made for a desk job – I need to be out in the field! I have been fortunate enough to learn this during my internship and not after getting a proper job, so thank you Networking WA for teaching me this!

o   University cannot teach you everything you need to know but an internship can certainly lead the way. I am grateful for having the opportunity to complete an internship at a company of dual nature – public relations and events management – providing me with hands on experience in both industries.

o   Public relations and event management are complements to each other. These two industries can be independent, or combined to produce some amazing results. Chances are if you’re working in one industry you will cross over to the other somewhere along you journeys. Pretty happy to say I have a future in both of the industries!

o   Communication and being proactive is key! If anyone thinks that from a public relations degree they will be able to sit around and be spoon fed, that is absolutely not the case. If you want to be good and what you do and successful in the industry you need to go and there and get yourself known; the more people that know you, the higher the chance of them liking you (how can they like you if they don’t know you?!)

o   Be willing to go the extra mile. Again, you need to step out of your comfort zone. I certainly did that working at the Greens WA event where everyone knew everyone and I was the outsider, ‘the student’, but I learnt a lot, I made new friends and by the end of the weekend I felt pretty much a part of everyone!

o   Don’t settle if you feel like you can do better or improve. My first company was not my best choice – not because it didn’t teach me anything because it definitely did, but because I felt like there would be another place that could teach me more about the work I was more passionate about, and there absolutely was.

So there you have guys, the shortened version of what I have learnt. I sure everyone will walk away from their internships with a list a lot longer than that one and I am positive that this internship experience has given us the once in a lifetime opportunities to work with people in great positions, giving us life long memories and invaluable wisdom for our future as Public Relation officers and Event Managers.

Reyhan Oz

16167111 – Bentley Campus

Challenges of an Event Planner

Doing my internship at Networking WA gives me the opportunity to experience a PR and Events Management background – which is perfect for my own PR and Event Management degree.

Today was an event management kind of day – Networking WA is currently working on the planning of the Advanced Dental Artistry Charity Ball: Supporting Parkerville Children & Youth Care (more information through here or on the flyer below).

One of the challenges that came up was the event – being barely a month away – hasn't sold nearly enough tickets as it should have (have a read about Parkerville Children & Youth Care to learn more about their work). As my supervisor explained that every element of their job has been fulfilled in terms of planning and coordinating however the company benefiting from the event has not done very much to sell tickets - this made me think there is only so much you can do as an event planner to get the event out there, but that shouldn't really be your responsibility unless you have been employed to do so... then as an event planner:

- How do you ensure maximum ticket sales when you shouldn't really be worrying about maximum ticket sales? 

- And if you don't reach a good number of ticket sales, well this clearly affects the event and its success... but who would be to blame?

Thankfully, as I have mentioned, Networking WA is a company of both events and PR background, and they have been able to incorporate their PR skills into increasing awareness of the event and hopefully in turn increasing ticket sales!

For those reading that may be interested in attending the event click on the links below for more information and remember it is for a great, great cause – 100% of proceeds go directly to Parkerville Children & Youth Care AND you get a 3 course meal and complimentary drinks along with all night entertainment!

For background information on Parkerville Children & Youth Care  

For event information on the Charity Ball or check out their Facebook Page

Reyhan Oz
16167111