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.

Hanging up my AAA lanyard for the last time as an intern

All good things come to an end, and it has come the time to bid farewell to Mellen Events. After the craziness of Future Music and Good Life Festivals and spending 6 days straight on site, I was given a few days off to rest. I spent the next few days curating all my budgets and all my receipts with purchases and orders to be sent off to the Future Music office over in Melbourne. Obviously everything had to match, down to the last cent and this proved way more difficult than I imagined, as everything is split up into precise codes and categories to be paid properly. Paperwork was clearly not as glamorous as the other parts of the job.

In the week after Future my mentor had also finished her last day at Mellen Events and had immediately flown to Melbourne to help out with Victoria's Future Music Festival. Meaning I was somewhat left in the dark as to how to tackle sending out these budgets and how this would be effectively translated to accounts at the Mushroom Group. I also had to chase up all the staff that worked for me on the day of Future Music and Good Life, with tax forms and staff forms as they had to be paid for their work as soon as possible.

Ironically enough, a few days ago it was announced by the Mushroom Group that Future Music Festival will cease to exist within Australia as it is not profitable. Am I surprised? No. The sad thing is they believe the large scale music festival as an event is becoming extinct world wide, with Australia at the forefront of this. Why? With Australia being as remote as it is, transport fees are outrageously high, labour cost is high and international competition is fierce. Artist fees and hire costs continue to grow each year and entertainment companies are reaching a point where putting ticket prices up every year is simply not an option, as people slowly but surely stop attending these events due to financial pressure. Not an ideal article of news to hear after you have experienced something so life changing and something you could see yourself wanting to get into career wise. I do believe there will be a shift in popular music events within the live entertainment industry, with more focus and money being put into solo live music shows (take a look at the Perth Arena's success). So all hope is not lost.

So what happens now? I was lucky enough to build a great relationship with the Mellen Event staff, and have been given some paid casual work with them when it comes to some of their events. A few examples being an Evening on the Green concerts, Paul Simon and Sting concert, Rodriguez and Angus and Julia Stone etc. However their season ends after the warmer months, as they do not hold music events in Winter (can't argue with Mother Nature).

As I have mentioned throughout my blogging this was not entirely a public relations internship, which I realised after having begun. However I have definitely been able to effectively put into practice all of my skills learnt within my public relations units including my writing skills, communication and negotiation skills, organisational skills and time management skills. At the end of this experience I have come out with great references, a lot of great stories and a polished resume, which I am ecstatic about. I would still like to polish off my public relations writing skills though.

I look forward to reading how others finished their internships, and what they think "comes next" for them?!

All the best everyone!

Billie

My first event role

Following on from my last post, I just wanted to share how my first big event experience went. This year I was allocated the job of being VIP Manager at Future Music Festival, held at Joondalup (HBF Arena). This like I previously mentioned sourcing furniture, food suppliers, toilets and decor as well as much more. At first glance the title VIP Manager sounds awfully glamorous, but it incurred me working approximately 80-90 hours over 6 days straight on site. However I would not change a thing. Except I should have worn more suncream.

Not fully understanding what I was getting myself into, I walked onto the huge site on day 1 where I had to do a safety induction, as yes, I was indeed on an area similar to a construction zone and could very well get injured. I got to don hi-vis gear every day, operate buggies, eat pizza for just about every meal, use a drill, rushed trips to Bunnings and Ikea, have my ear glued to a two-way radio, instruct teams of volunteers, arrange make up and hair stations, co ordinate VIP staff, arrange decorations and furniture lay outs and create spaces where hundreds of people would walk in and out of on the day of Sunday the 1st of March. Something I will always treasure was getting to watch and be an integral part of a team that essentially built a music festival from nothing, and getting to meet so man different individuals, all with different roles and backgrounds come together for a common purpose. I would also like to add that I was 1 of about 3 woman on site for majority of the time (such a male dominated industry).

On the day of Future Music my day started at around 7am (after little sleep the night before) where I had to be there to meet the last of my furniture suppliers and food trucks to bump in before the vehicle ban on site. I was promised a team of 5 volunteers and had 2 actually show up (Gumtree advertisement reliability for you) to help me set both Sunset Club and First Class Lounge up. What made life more difficult is that these areas were at polar opposite ends of the arena from each other. After me believing my brain was going to combust from stress, I managed to get everything set and ready before gates opened at 12 noon and 40 000 people poured through.

My day basically consisted of attempting to resolve any issues that arose and making sure my staff were okay. Whether this be problems such as toilet leakages (multiple toilet leakages), audio tech problems and even to dealing with overly drunken patrons and security issues. Throughout the day my call log had approximately 200 phone calls logged (in-going and out-going)and I didn't get to eat a bite of food or sit down until about 7pm. Both VIP areas were a great success and people filled and enjoyed the spaces throughout the whole day. I believe I got home after 1.30am.

Unfortunately I didn't get to recover the next day as I worked at the Under 18's festival Good Life the next day. Only this time I had less responsibility and was dealing with close to 20 000 juveniles and about 300-400 attempted fence jumpers.

New Found Respect for Events Management

I have always been an avid music follower. A "channel flicker" in the car so I don't miss out on anything. That embarrassing girl who sings to pop music in dead lock traffic. Music soothes the soul.

I have been lucky enough to land an internship at entertainment events company Mellen Events in Claremont late last month,which works solely on music festivals and musical events. This is no generic office internship. I am working as part of the operations and communications part of the Mellen team, with my first big "gig" being Future Music Festival 2015, held at Joondalup Arena.

My first week, apart from learning 12 new names consisted of me conducting online research as I will be organising the VIP areas (Sunset Club and First Class) for Future this year. This meant researching: food caterers, furniture, decor and everything from port-a-loos to hairstylists. It has taken me a good week to realise just how important my job actually is and just how much responsibility it entails. Which has made this first two weeks fairly stressful but also invaluable.

My first week also saw me make a lot of contact with all different kinds of companies and people, communicating through email, telephone and face to face. Putting my communication skills to good use, as each person/company would need to be approached differently depending on what was being discussed i.e. making furniture enquiries versus approaching hair stylists for a contra-deal on working at the show. 

A typical day at the Mellen office could consist of emails and phone calls all day. It could also consist of site visits and meetings (next post on HBF Arena). Creating schedules, run sheets, contact lists and most importantly creating an event from essentially nothing. I've quickly learnt events is a very spontaneous and fast paced environment. You could spend a whole day or even a few days on a task, only for someone to change their mind or for something to not be approved, and you have to begin all over again. There is no doubt in my mind I am getting real life experience and real work experience within this office.

My mentor Ash, began as an intern too, and stepped into an Event Manager role when she finished her internship. I have such respect watching her juggle a million jobs at once, and work the immense hours she does. She often reminds me however that she lacks a social life because of it.

Large scale events are definitely not for the faint hearted or the softly spoken. Long days of 15+ hours and sleepless nights are a given, and you have to think on your feet. I am very excited to see how the next few weeks pan out and how this event comes together.

In terms of traditional public relations, I am not sure how relevant this internship is. However what I may lack in writing traditional documents i.e. press releases and media releases, I feel I am gaining experience in communication skills/liaising and event management skills. Which is something I have always had an avid interest in.

Billie Reason