Wrapping Up

Well, This is Day 21 of my placement...so I have officially made the requirement to pass this unit. I'm not finishing up here until next week, because next weekend is Groovin the Moo. Which is the final festival of the season for Sunset Events. So I will spend next week helping put the final touches on everything, then head down to Bunbury (Funbury!) for the event next week. I don't mind staying on for a couple extra days.

I don't mind at all. I have finally started feeling comfortable here at Sunset Events. I read some blogs from another student who did their placement here and didn't have a great time. And I can understand. It's taken me 2 months of being here 3 days a week to actually feel like I am part of the company, and not just an outsider. But I suppose that is what happens in any workplace when you start a new job. It takes time to adjust, learn how the company operates, understand your role and that of those around you, and for everyone else to get to know you. Like starting a new school for the first time. There were times when I would sit at my desk here and feel bad for having to constantly ask if I could help with something because I was so bored out of my brain. And there were other times when I was busy, SO busy all day and really left feeling satisfied at being productive and making a difference.

I have discovered that all offices have those days where not much happens, and you spent a lot of time on Facebook, or Googling "puppies". I can honestly say that having been here for 2 months has REALLY taught me a lot more about the workforce than classes ever prepared me for. I feel a lot more prepared for a job in the real world now. And no, I'm not just saying that because we are supposed to. It took me a few weeks to really start enjoying my placement, and now that I have started loving it, its time to leave. But it has made me very excited for the possibilities for employment in the near future. Not to mention terrified as well. Everyday I go online and check out new job listings, then become disheartened when I see that every single one has a minimum experience requirement. But for the time being, nothing can extinguish the excitement I have for being launched into the grown up world with a degree, and some real life experience.

The Big Day

Well, after months of planning (which I came into the tail end of) West Coast Blues n Roots festival happened on Sunday. And I have to say, went of without a hitch. Well, only a few minor ones. Even my communications manager (who I assist) said that this was highly unusual, and things never normally run so smooth. After learning about events in classes at uni, and hearing stories from the team at Sunset, I was expecting a 20 hour day of chaos and craziness. It was still a long day, I was on site for 14 hours. But most of it was enjoying the fruits of our labours, chilling out backstage and listening to the amazing artists. The only hiccup was the diva-ish antics of headliner Bob Dylan (which was expected), but threw us a but when he announced a total blackout on all cameras in front of the sound booth on his set. Having already checked in our media and photographers, we then had to scour the 20 000+ crowd to find the 35 photographers and tell them that under no circumstances were they to photograph Bob Dylan. This took a while, and mostly everyone was behaved. We were spotting during his set and only had to tell off a handful of photographers who tried to sneak close to the stage. Luckily Mr Dylan didnt see them or we could have had a riot when he walked off stage and didnt return. But luckily, it turned out ok. What did I learn from my first big event? Never have expectations as to how it might run. There is so much planning that goes into an event, and everything is organised down to the very last detail, but there will ALWAYS be something that is missed, or some variable which changes (like weather or the diva antics of artists). There was so much potential for disaster at the festival, but whether due to our good planning, or sheer luck, everything worked out perfectly. This week has been interesting as we sort through the (mostly good) feedback, and start compiling the media reports for stakeholders. But I can happily say that West Coast Blues 'n' Roots was not only a huge success for Sunset, but was a lot of fun and a huge eye opener for me.

Its been fun working here at Sunset, as I'm drawing closer to the end of my placement, I find myself wanting to stay longer (which I think I will). It took me a few weeks to get a feel for the company and how they operate, and it took a while for me to find my place here. But as I get more established, I am given more important jobs, and I am feeling more like part of the team, rather than an outsider just here for a short holiday. I can honestly say that this has turned out to be a fantastic experience. I can definitely see myself working in a similar role to this. its fun, exciting and challenging, and I am glad I chose to spend my time here at Sunset Events.

PR within PR??

I am now halfway through my placement (Day 11 to be precise). And it's become very interesting. We are have three music festivals over three weekends. Starting this Saturday. So the office is an electric mix of excitement and stress and tension as everyone runs around like crazy trying to get it everything finished. Its very last minute, events planning. They work for MONTHS and months to plan and organise things, but then its only in the last 2 weeks that it all seems to happen. I suppose its just the tying up of all the loose ends which shapes the whole package and you can see a tangible result. Today I started thinking about what we learn at university about events planning, and what I've learned working at an events company. I was always under the impression that event management/planning was under the wide umbrella that is Public Relations. But over here at Sunset, its the opposite. Public Relations is only one part of the whole thing. An important part, no doubt, but still, only a part. Although, having said that I can see that any PR department or agency uses events as part of its overall strategy. So my conlusion is; Events can be a separate entity to PR, and it can also be a small part of PR. Which is why I think events management is so interesting. It can be as large or as small as is needed, depending on the scale of the events. This week I have been very busy with last minute details, I have done everything from design a run-sheet for the day, to spending half the day laminating (that was fun). There's a lot of sheer information which needs to be distributed to punters, staff, stakeholders and the media, and its been our job to get that out. With only one person in charge of all communications, its very very busy, but it means I get a lot of work and hands on things to do. And next week, I get to spend all day at West Coast Blues 'n' Roots helping out backstage, running the promo's and generally helping make sure the event runs smoothly. It should be amazing fun, and I will let you know how it all went!

First Two Weeks

Well, I have just finished day 4, week 2 of my internship. Im working at Sunset Events in Fremantle, which I must confess, I'm pretty stoked about. I emailed them on the off chance that they might be looking for someone, and followed up with a phone call the next day and they basically said to come on down! I am a huge fan of most of their music festivals so this was a dream opportunity. My first day was a bit nerve-wracking. I was told by Janelle (communications manager and my supervisor here) that the dress code was "casual as", so I thought I would be cautious until I knew exactly what that meant. I showed up wearing nice pants, a singlet top and ballet flats, to find most of the office in boardshorts, t-shirts, summer dresses, thongs, or in the case of most of the directors, no shoes at all. The Sunset offices are in a little shed in fremantle, with the main part of the shed holding various paraphernalia from past festivals, leftover burger rings, gigantic plastic cows, parking signs etc....and then half the shed is converted into offices. Theres an office "dog"...no, literally a dog. He is the "site manager" and spends most of his time sleeping in the sun.

As you might interpret from my descriptions, the office is a very casual, fun, exciting place to be. But thats not to say not much work goes on. Because its such a small company, there is only room for 5 full time employees, and when they get busy, contacted workers come in to help out. I report directly to Janelle, the communications manager who is in charge of ALL communications including PR, Marketing, Media, Brand Management, Artist liasions, and a lot more. Everyone else does everything and anything. My first few days included a whole heap of activities including updating and creating Facebook pages, creating and updating a master spreadsheet for media interviews fr West Coast Blues and Roots festival which is coming up. The interviews take a LOT of time and effort to organise so this is an ongoing process. I have also been engaged in organising photos of past festivals, have created an entire section for the website about their SE Eart programme, been in charge of a photographer competition being run at one of the festivals in Margaret River, and a whole bunch of other things.

What I have learned so far, is that you never know what to expect, but its best to be on the safe side until you know for sure. Ive also learned that the music industry is a LOT of hard work. Everyone here works their butts off to make things happen.

Im looking forward to the next 6 weeks of working here.

My professional placement at sunset events( 4th day)- Lara Oblowitz

Hey all,
I began my professional placement at Sunset events at the beginning of March.
I was very excited that I was able to get the opportunity to gain experience in the field of events management.
I work at sunset events on mondays as an office volunteer. I not only answer the phones, run errands, but so too have been working on upcoming events that Sunset Events are organising.
I spent my first two days looking up media contacts for marketing and PR opportunities for a festival called one movement that is to be held in October of this year.
I am not really learning by doing at present but more through observation, which in itself is amazing. I have observed the effort and massive organisation Sunset events , like any successful events management company goes through when preparing for events.
The upcoming festival that I am going to be assisting with is Blues n Roots which is to be held on April 18th 2009. I will hopefully have more to reflect on it in the next coming weeks and am very much looking forward to experiencing it all.
Lara Oblowitz-13375678