Keeping buzz-y

Over the last two and a half weeks I've been involved in a number of different communications endeavours at Scitech. It's incredible to experience first-hand how much preparation, organisation and effort goes into the promotion and delivery of each and every exhibit, exhibition and event at Scitech. The end of August and beginning of September saw the Scitech After Dark: Top Secret event and RoboCup, two completely different events targeted towards opposite demographics and organised by the same amazing group of people.

RoboCup has by far been the highlight of my placement so far. 400 primary and secondary school students flocked to Curtin Stadium on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 August for the WA RoboCup. RoboCup is an educational initiative that aims to foster and promote shared learning, development and research in the world of robotics to students across Australia. The WA competition saw robots dancing to music, playing a game of 2-on-2 soccer and negotiating challenging obstacles in a specially built arena while performing a rescue. The event allowed networking opportunities with journalists and photographers, as well as, yet again, incredible insight into the support Scitech gives as a not-for-profit organisation to the education of children. Social media was used to promote Scitech's involvement in the event across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter platforms, as well as a media release in the lead up to the event, and a post-event media release with photos and a list of the winners, sent to local newspapers in a number of different circuits around the state. RoboCup was supported by Rio Tinto, also a major sponsor of Scitech. 

Scitech After Dark is a unique, biannual event showcasing Scitech's current exhibition in an atmosphere created specifically for those aged 18 and over - NO kids allowed! On this particular occasion (August 31) the event was themed 'Top Secret', inspired by James Bond and based around the espionage exhibition by the same name; guests went undercover with their trench coats and spy gear to solve the mystery of the stolen computer chip. The night encouraged "fun without the kids" and as usual the popular event was just a few tickets from selling out. Unfortunately I was bedridden with the flu for the event, which in all honesty I was really disappointed about, but I assisted in some of the communications preparation which certainly impacted the success of the night. Media event listings were distributed to local online websites, family and adult-oriented, a media release was written up as well as a draft for a post-media release. We also lined up a competition with Experience Perth in which promoted the event on their website and allowed three viewers the chance to win 3 x double passes to the event. Photo's from the night were uploaded to FaceBook and it definitely looked like an enjoyable night was had by all!

As well as working on events, I've also been exposed to more behind the scenes communications tools used at Scitech, such as Joomla for website management. I was given the opportunity to write an online article for the Scitech homepage (www.scitech.org.au) about a new exhibit launching in anticipation of the October school holidays, 'The Visible Hive'; a live bee hive that allows visitors to observe what really goes on inside a bee hive and the roles each kind of bee plays in the 'bee world' (bees can even exit and re-enter Scitech through a clear tube allowing visitors to observe the neat processes of pollination). I'm now experienced with adding content, media and formatting to online websites while following the tone of voice and theme preferred by Scitech to appeal to both young and mature audiences. Unfortunately, because the exhibit hasn't been launched yet I can't provide a link to the brief website article, but it will be published and ready to be included in the appendices of my report. I'm also currently working on a media release for the bee hive in preparation for the launch. Writing content for both the website and the media release was a lot of fun; even though I was writing for varying audiences the vocabulary was playful and I was encouraged to use as many bee puns as possible!

With the October school holidays coming up, the communications team have many plans in place to push their exclusive holiday programs, promote new exhibits and enhance awareness and involvement on the closing exhibition. I've sent out media event listings, as well as a media release to local newspapers for their 'school holiday' sections, and even content for both 'What's On at Scitech' for the City West Newsletter, and a Scitech ENews article through the use of 'MailChimp', another web content management program.

I've also been working on each of Scitech's social media platforms but that's an ongoing project, and this blog post is already long enough! This Friday (20th September) is scheduled to be my last week on internship, so I will post a final blog outlining my final achievements, experience and performance afterwards.

That's it from me for now, over and out 99!

Natasha Weeks
Curtin University, Bentley

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National Science Week!

National Science Week was from the 10th-17th August, and it was crazy. I was unable to find the chance to write a blog entry over the last few weeks due to my typical hectic schedule juggling work with Uni with my placement, but thankfully I wrote myself some fairly thorough notes so that it was still easy to share the experiences.

As the largest state with  diverse population, National Science Week works to showcase the science, technology, engineering and innovation that drives our communities and our economy; it is an annual event, which this year incorporated a new range of events and activities celebrated through art, film, comedy and theatre (National Science Week 2013).

Scitech's involvement in National Science Week included the festival event on Saturday the 10th August, and Science Cafe on Wednesday the 14th August. National Science Week Festival was a day of celebration and family fun, incorporating science, education and entertainment for all ages. It was also a great way to introduce some of the headlining organisations showcasing their science endeavours over the week. The day kicked off with a live broadcast of the 720 ABC Perth breakfast program, followed by interactive science displays by local organisations. Dr Chris Smith from The Naked Scientist also provided some entertainment! Fundamentally, my role for the National Science Week Festival was mainly carried out post-event through media event listings sent to local websites promoting events and places to visit around Perth, and making up a list of scheduled social media updates to add to HootSuite touching on the daily highlights of National Science Week.

Science Cafe was an event held in Winthrop Hall at UWA for 300 secondary students from schools around WA - completely different atmosphere. Students were invited to spend morning tea with around 80 inspirational scientists from a range of organisations including UWA, Curtin University, ECU University, Murdoch University, Scitech, DEC, CSIRO,WA Museum and SKM. Sarah Lau from the Chem Centre hosted the event, which gave students the opportunity to speak one-on-one with scientists to find out what inspired them to take up science and where their science careers have led them. Chris Smith from The Naked Scientist, also made an appearance at this event as a keynote guest speaker. My primary role at this event was to liaise with the photographer and assist him in getting quality photographs of a balanced range of schools across several media circulation areas. Part of this was making sure students had their name tags on display so that they could be identified later. I also assisted my supervisor, Charlotte, with noting quotes by guest speakers as potential leads for the post- event media release.

The week following Science Cafe, Charlotte and I sorted through the photos that were taken at the event (part of being a NFP means time is frequently consumed performing such tasks), put together the post-event media release and emailed it through to relevant media contacts! 

Phew! Getting a behind the scenes look at the impact of NFPs on education and science in younger audiences was an awesome and very rewardable experience!

That's it from me for now, until next time...

Natasha Weeks
Curtin University, Bentley

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Go bald 5.0 Launching

Hello everyone,

Today, I am going to share about the GO BALD 5.0 LAUNCHING event.

On the day, I was assigned to registration counter. Other than helping baldies to register themselves, I will also need to distribute the event mechandize (T-shirt, pledge card, badge and wristlet) to all the participants. 

Through the event, the organizer SCCS hope to raise fund and create awareness among the public about children with cancer. 

This was the first time SCCS collaborate with higher education institution to hold such meaningful event. 

Curtin Sarawak was honored to have the chance as part of the charity.

In our Pro Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Ian kerr welcoming speech during the event, he mentioned that although the university is formally supporting Go Bald for the first time this year, it will certainly not be the last!

There was hundreds of people turned up at the event to support 38 participants who had their heads shaved. 

Among the 38 participants, two were girls, Ngiam Loke Ming and Alvina Wong. They said they were fully aware of cancer children in Sarawak and they wanted to show support by going bald.

For me as a girl, this decision is difficult. I admire them for their courage! SALUTE!!!!!

Enjoy the pictures~~~

Group Photo before the Launching started

Group photo of baldies

Loke Ming was getting bald.

Bravest girls in Curtin Sarawak

Kindly Regards,

Joanne Ting 

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Where do we stand?

Hello World!

Just a quick recap;

I am currently doing my internship at a Media and Public Relations Communication Consultancy firm. In my previous post, entitled “Unlearn what you learn!?”, I talked mostly about the gap between what we learned during the course of our studies and what really happens when working in the PR industry.

So back to today’s post!

Recently, I had the opportunity to take part in a conference held for one of the company’s client. The consultancy was in charge of the pre-event communication process with the guests and was also present on the day itself for recording purposes and last minute fine-tuning.

The communication activities included checking if invitation emails had been received, whether the individual had gone through the formalities, and if ever the person was not free, try to find another person who could attend and record the contact details.

On the day of the conference itself, we were present to finalise any last minute issue related to the conference. We also welcomed the guests, ensured that their attendance was recorded and distributed name tags and branded goods.

The main experience I gained from this event was how a consultancy interacts with a client organisation. However, I also realised that the potential and importance of PR may still not be properly understood nor maximised by some firms. The issue is that PR may sometimes be seen as only a tool for one-off/one-way communication and not as a boundary spanner between a company and its public.

Though there’s one important aspect to consider in this particular context, the PR role is being endorsed by an external party and not by an internal department of the client company. Thus, it could have led the client to perceive the consultancy as only a short-term service provider who caters for their immediate needs in regards to this particular conference.

It nevertheless does shed a light on the relationship between a consultancy and its clients. Consultancies do have long-term clients with whom they work on a regular basis and where they act as boundary spanners. However, they also have other clients who may only require their services on singular events or on an as per-need basis.

Thus showing that PR consultancies role may vary and that even though the idealistic role of the PR practitioner is portrayed as being those who create and sustain a relationship between an organisation and its public, in some cases, the practitioner’s role would depend largely on the actual relationship between the organisation and the practitioner, and ultimately what that organisation expects from them.

So that’s it for today.

Hope you enjoyed the post.

Until next time, I wish you the Best!!

The World of Events

Blogger: Grace Akang

Company: Promaco Conventions

How it all began!

At the start of the year I have just came back from a long and deserved holiday from Indonesia. Commencing my return to university, I yet have gotten a placement for my PR 393 unit. As this was my last semester, it was impossible for me to delay anymore time. Trying to find a placement was difficult, positions were either filled, or the companies were just not interested. By week two of being back at uni, I still have not gotten an internship. I've applied to many PR companies and event companies, and no luck. I was freaking out! 

Thankfully I was a member of the PRSC (Public Relations Student Chapter) at Curtin and they email me on a regular basis on any internship positions available. Because my main passion was on events, I wanted a placement that had some form of events management. At the end of week two, the unexpected happen. I received a phone call from an event company and they were interested in me. Just as I thought all hope was gone, my luck started  turning around. I booked an interview, researched about the company and I was motivated than ever to get this placement. 

Promaco Conventions is an event company that specifically deals with high scaled corporate events, mainly conferences. I told them about my situation and the internship program I need to complete for Curtin and after meeting Livia, the managing director of Promaco, she agreed to take me on as an intern for 20 days. I was ecstatic and so excited to learn more about events and the world of events. 

My first week at Promaco.

Livia agreed to take me on for 20 days and my timetable was twice a week, Thursdays and Fridays. My first day at the office I was placed in my own cubical and a list of 'Things to do' for the day, the week and the month and also other projects. I already knew that this internship was not going to be breezy, but very busy. Livia also explained that she has six events for the year and three so far for 2013, so she needs all hands on deck. First day and I was already taught a lot, it was such a roller coaster ride, but an enjoyable one. I felt so professional and trusted, as I was responsible for my own tasks and Livia expected me to work as hard as I can to get all the tasks finished and up to her standards. By Friday I was already given one major project for an event that will be held next year. I was responsible for a  sponsorship plan for the event. This means writing up a plan of what potential sponsors will get in return if they sponsor that particular event. I was both overwhelmed and over joyed as it was something new and exciting. I couldn't wait to start and see what I can come up with. 

My first week was both busy and exciting and I got the opportunity to put the theory I learnt at uni into practice. 

I'm more excited to see what other plans Promaco has for me and what other projects come my way.

What ever it is, I'm glad Curtin has implemented this unit, as it really is an experience for our future. 

Till next time,

Grace Akang :)

Straight in the deep end

So the first day at my work experience placement will definitely be one to remember.

I walk into the office fifteen minuets early to make sure I make a good first impression and after a ten minuet briefing I find myself sitting in a meeting with a client listening and note taking all about their website design and where value can be added. While learning this was extremely interesting and exciting for me at the same time I was so nervous to be dealing with a client straight away, thank goodness my supervisor was hosting the meeting and I was just sitting in.

I picked up on what the client was wanting from their website, and was later shown by one of the website designers how to go into website back ends to add in text and images. I really enjoyed doing such a creative job on my first day.

Later I was shown how to do something they call SEO reports, Search engine optimisation. This means where a client’s website sits in search engines such a Google and Bing, this is found from keywords attached to their websites that potential customers may type into search engines. The higher up on the Google search page the client’s website sits the better. They do this report on a monthly basis and each month they use Google Adwords to research what words are being searched most and add those to the websites keywords to better their SEO position.

My last job of the day was to assist the Marketing executives in preparing for four expos they have coming up in the next couple of weeks for four of their different clients. This was the highlight of my day as it meant I got to go shopping! Only to office works and Big W for all the stationary items needed but it was still fun and I learnt all about how to prepare for an expo along the way from my trusty supervisor. Once back at the office I got to gift wrap personalised gifts for a conference on Friday. I was also given the down low on why giving personalised and branded gifts are so important. Which is, “to wow the client,” so they do not forget you, the trick is to give a quirky unusual gift to make the customer think about it and relate it back to the company it came from. For example today the gift was for a company who turns 30 this year so we will be giving those who go to the conference a clock that has a magnetic board attached to it that you can write on and rub out as many times as you want. On all the boards I wrote “Happy 30th Birthday” and set the times on the clocks before wrapping them up.

So all in all I had a very busy day, and my brain is over flowing with information, but I really enjoyed it and can not wait for my next few weeks.

Until next time,
Emeline

It's all over!

Hello (for the last time!),

It's been a while since by last post, but upon the conclusion of my internship at City to Surf, I've been madly catching up on all my uni work I missed! I though I'd take the chance to reflect on post event challenges and successes, as well as the overall experience.

At the conclusion of the event, after packing up all of the signage and labelling it to be returned to the sponsors, it was back to the office ( i place i hadn't seen for nearly 2 weeks!). It was nice to be back in an environment where i knew all the faces, and everyone was in such high spirits thanks to such a successful event!

The Friday was very casual and easy going, with very little "serious" work to be done. There were a few sponsorship issues which required attention, such as complaints from a few that their signage allocation on the day didn't match what was agreed upon in the plan. Sitting alongside my supervisor Alicia, we discovered that in fact the signage WAS correct according to the plans that were signed off on. This was frustrating (and a little nerve racking as I was terrified I'd made HUGE mistakes!) as they turned the blame on us for things that were a mutual mistake.

After sorting out these minor issues, I had the chance to read through the post event survey responses from participants. This was both rewarding and frustrating as there were plenty of wonderful comments, commending the event and labelling it faultless, but then there were the complaints. I managed to sort through many which were regarding signage and this was when the anger and disappointment really hit. Numerous participants had written on their feedback that there were "no kilometre markers". I can assure everyone who is reading this blog, that there were kilometre markers at EVERY single kilometre mark for the 42km, 21km and 12km distances. I know because I watched my crew load them into the Ute the night before, and saw them blowing in the breeze as I drove to the event early Sunday morning. This was such a frustrating situation (as the girls in the office and the other interns would know by now!) for me as I had done SO much hard work, and no one seemed to acknowledge it, instead complained that it didn't exist!

I realise this is the nature of events, that not everyone is going to be impressed and there's always going to be people who into the event with a negative mindset, but I was still a little hurt that they would say this- especially the huge number of people who said it! Continuing to flick through responses I also found some wonderful comments regarding the on course entertainment I had sourced, with one participant even saying the musician gave him goosebumps (the musician was David Lazarus in case anyone is wondering). It was so rewarding to read these comments, and I couldn't help but phone those who performed and thank them personally, before writing a letter of thanks, including quotes I'd pulled from the survey. I really hope when they received those letters, that it put a huge smile on their faces!

Looking through the hundreds of photos was our next task of the day- such a strenuous working day i know! it was so nice to see all the photos out on course, as I was located at the finish oval all day i didn't actually get a chance to see the race in progress. Seeing photos of all the signage was the most rewarding as all the hard work had paid off and it look fantastic!!! I was so proud of the crews who had followed the plans and instructions and got the signage out perfectly!

Overall, i had the most incredible time at my internship. I learnt SO much about the industry, as well as about myself! I definitely know that events is my area of passion, and I would love to pursue a career in event coordinating or directing for sporting events. If I had the chance, I would certainly do another placement with City to Surf, and am hoping they'll allow me the chance to work with them again next year!

That's all for now, I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my placement as much as I've enjoyed reading about yours!

Sarah Ball

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(Bentley Campus)

Going Global

Hi everyone

I work full time at Minter Ellison Lawyers and have been fortunate to complete my placement in my current workplace.

My role is Business Development Executive and my core duties include providing marketing support to our Real Estate and Disputes division. This involves identifying profile raising opportunities for our legal staff, including speaking at conferences, identifying sponsorships and if there is a hot legal topic in their industries, making sure that we are informing our clients. This may be through events or newsletters.

Our Events and Sponsorship Coordinator has been on leave for the last fortnight, and because I am doing my placement I have been fortunate to look after events and sponsorships during this time. So I have some really exciting things to share with you over the coming weeks!!!

But first things first, if any of you read the newspapers you will have seen the recent media attention our firm has received. The Perth office will be combining with Global Law firm, Squire Sanders. As you can imagine it has been a hype of activity in our department of late, below is just a taste of what I have been involved with;

- Preparing media packs for journalists who were interviewing our Managing Partner and Chairman

- Involved in the internal communication annoucment to staff

- Setting up meetings for our key clients to ensure good client relationship management

- Using our CRM to pull a list of clients to disseminate an announcement letter

- Involved in meetings with key industry associations that we sponsor

It really has been an exciting time for me! The most interesting take out from this media attention is how critically important the content of your media release is. Below are links to some of our coverage - interested to hear your thoughts!!

http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/wa-company-news/minter-ellison-in-us-merger/story-e6frg2s3-1226109258658

http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/special_reports/archive/2011/08/25/western-front-squire-sanders-chief-on-the-firm-s-australian-strike.aspx

http://www.thelawyer.com/squire-sanders-partners-vote-in-favour-of-aussie-tie-up/1008971.article

Curtin Open Day will be fantastic!

Greetings fellow PR students,
I hope everyone's placements are going well!

I'm sure you've all seen the giant marquees being set up around Curtin uni on the Edinburgh Oval as you drive in through the Kent Street entrance? They get me excited every time I drive in, as it means Curtin Open Day is getting closer! In fact it is now just 3 days away! I have been checking the upcoming weather forecast for days now, it it looks like there will be rain on the day...but fingers crossed that it doesn't rain all day!

Even though I may have just completed my last day as an intern in Curtin's corporate communications office, the work and experience is far from over! I will have responsibilities on the day - taking the role as the 'key contact' for the Fun Zone area that I have spent months organising. This basically means that with the work phone I have been provided with for the day, I will be taking calls from any Fun Zone contractors that have any general queries, difficulties finding their way onto Alcoa Court or into Curtin (which is very likely - just remember how lost we all got on our first day at uni!)

In the last two weeks since I have posted, my jobs have been very focused on liasing with the Fun Zone contractors, organising and collating information from the Student Clubs expression of interest forms, creating and laminating signage, creating contact lists, organising mobile phones for workers and creating 'information packs' for Open day volunteers and contractors to ensure smooth running of the event and to endorse further understanding about their individual roles on the day.

On monday I was lucky enough to witness Ann Paterson (director of corporate relations & development at Curtin) be interviewed by Curtin FM in the studios. This is where the work of public relations became very evident, where Ann had to focus on delivering key messages such as the date (Sunday 21st august), time (10am - 4pm), location (Curtin) and that the event is the ultimate place to seek all the information you need about university life, courses, to speak to academics and current students as well as to have fun at a community event. Although the demographic of Curtin FM listeners is more middle aged to older, the aim was to have these listeners inform their high school aged children or grand children of the event and to attend as families.

The last few weeks have been very interesting, my role as a Curtin student ambassador and an Open day intern have overlapped several times. Ambassadors who are taking a very significant role at Open day have put together a 'flash mob' dance, where we plan to break out into spontaneous choreographed dance on the day. I used my intern role to liaise with the event coordinator to organise space and speakers for the flash mob. I also got to dress up as a 'light bulb' mascot for a photo shoot, to be printed in an open day based article on the front page of the Canning Times! Public Relations officers had set this up.

So to sum up this blog, my involvement in the event has sky rocketed in the last few weeks, and I will be sad to see the end of it.
But I am very excited to see all the hard work come together, and I strongly recommend it as great event to attend! Hopefully the weather is good, and everything pans out smoothly on the day.

Stay tuned for my final blog - it will include photos from the day!

Sarah Mullen
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Bentley Campus

only 2 weeks to go!

Hi All!

I'm now half way through my internship at the City to Surf- and things are really picking up! I was having my doubts at first and wasn't enjoying the jobs I was allocated very much, however after sitting down and voicing my concerns with my supervisor, I've been given a LOT more responsibility and subsequently I'm enjoying my time there more and more! I definitely recommend anyone who is feeling the same to speak up, turns out they'll be a lot more impressed with your work and contributions than what you thought!

With the event now only 2 weeks away, things in the office have become hectic to say the least. The past week has been spent assembling race packs (almost 40,000 of them!!!), responding to an uncontrollable influx of emails, and being briefed about our roles on the day. This week saw the event guide that i worked on be released on the web site, which was really exciting to see my own work being put up for everyone to see.

I was also offered an extremely exciting opportunity for the event this year, which has far exceeded my expectations. I've been allocated a position, which they are introducing this year, as the signage manager. Basically, I'll be in charge of all the sponsorship signage for the entire course (for Esplanade Park, St Georges Tce, the entire course, the 4km start at Floreat, and the finishing precinct at City Beach). I'll need to check it in as it's delivered, then manage crews who need to put it out on course- it's VERY specific and different sponsors have different signage, then make sure all the signage is returned to me after the event. This is a HUGE task! I feel extremely privileged to be allocated this role, as they believe I am competent enough to manage it- definitely makes you feel more confident in your abilities! To be right in the action of the largest sporting event in WA gives me a real burst of excitement, as it's a lot more exposure than I ever expected.

It's nice to see what everyone else is doing and to read about their amazing placements too!

Until next time,

Sarah Ball

Bentley Campus

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Opening my mind as Curtin's 'Open Day Intern'

Hello there fellow PR 393'ers!
I thought I would attempt my first blog in sub sections, to make it as interesting and as insightful as possible for you to read! So here we go:

What placement am I doing?
I am currently doing my PR placement at Curtin University itself, as an 'Open Day Intern'.
Open Day is Curtin's largest scale annual event hosted on campus that allows for prospective students and the general community to explore the university and to gain an insight into what university life is really like. Not only is Open Day a good opportunity to collect course related information, attend sessions and meet lecturers and current students, but it's also a great event to enjoy the entertainment, have fun and to soak up the booming festival atmosphere.

& why?
This is part of what influenced me to apply for this internship - the fact that I attended Curtin Open Day last year for the sake of it, to meet up with friends and ended up having a great time. That, and I have always taken a strong interest in studying the events side of public relations, as well as attending events for recreation. It made a lot of sense to apply for this position when coming across it in the PR student chapter emails, as I am already employed at Curtin as a 'Student Ambassador.' As part of this mostly voluntary role, I have been highly involved in Curtin's new 'Make tomorrow better' marketing campaign as well 'Future Student' events such as expos, campus tours and high school presentations. I used this experience and those networks, as a building block into Curtin's Open Day internship - I guess that's what happens in the real world, you land jobs through networks and previous experience!

The tasks so far
I have completed 9 days in the role, and during that time I have been involved in risk management (researching quotes for first aid vans, sitting in on meetings), researching activities for the 'Fun Zone' which will include rides and activities for both children and all ages, organising signage stock take and orders, editing the Open Day program, as well as liaising with potential market stall holders, and internal staff.

Sitting in on meetings with several stakeholders has been a huge part of the role, including internal staff:
- faculty marketing representatives
- properties staff (for the identification of construction zones)
- website editors (trialing of the new Curtin Open Day mobile website)
- Map designers
- Publications staff

External contractors:
- signage representatives
- Town of Victoria Park
- individual fun zone activity contractors

The 'Fun Zone' area, which will be made up of 8 or so activities, will be primarily my responsibility on the day.

Interesting things I have learnt & will take away with me after this unit
- When organising a large scale event, it's important to put yourself into the minds of the target market. ie. Visiting a huge campus and having no idea where to go. What do I want to see? How would I get there? - then organising the program, signage and activities accordingly.
- Smooth running of an event cannot happen unless all people involved are regularly communicated with and informed of what's required. This is crucial as many of the new staff at Curtin have never been to an Open Day.
- Risk management is huge. Every single activity / market stall / food outlet must consider the risk implications.
- The program goes through several rounds of editing, before the electronic printing of the document and after.

I look forward to the coming weeks of this placement, and will be sure to update you on further experiences. I hope you are all enjoying your placements too!

Regards,

Sarah Mullen
Bentley Campus
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The End..but not quite!

My final blog now!
The last few weeks of my prac have consisted of a lot of recruiting and informing volunteers of their roles on the day of the HBF Run For a Reason. My co-worker, Bob, and I spent a morning at ECU Joondalup talking to a Sports Science class about volunteering as prac students or volunteering at the HBF Run For a Reason with TriEvents. During this hour, I gave a small speech to the students about my work with TriEvents over the past few weeks and how my prac has been a fantastic experience for me. I spoke to the students about the networks I have made in the Sports Events Management industry since I began working with TriEvents and how working in the “real world” is something I have gained much more knowledge from than working in a tutorial.

One student from this class is now doing her prac studies with me and she has been assisting me with making phone calls and recruiting more volunteers. Ashley and I have updated databases and emailed hundreds of people detailing briefing times for the volunteers and their times and locations on the day of the WA event. The next couple of weeks before the big event are full on, as we recruit final volunteers and get busy placing them along the course.

To be involved in such a respected and well-liked Sports Events Management organisation as TriEvents was a great benefit for me as I learnt so much more in a real life environment than I have in previous semesters in class. Being asked to work with TriEvents as a casual staff member after my prac days had finished was an honour for me and I have thoroughly enjoyed being the Volunteer Co-ordinater for the HBF Run For a Reason.

It took me a little bit of time initially to adjust to the environment in the TriEvents office (understanding the personalities and positions of my colleagues), however the satisfaction of being appointed a relatively large project and being given so much responsibility has been great experience for me in this industry.

I can’t wait for the Run For a Reason (Sunday 22nd May)..it is set be a fantastic event! Having some real life experience has been fantastic for not only my degree but also for my confidence – to be able to walk into an office and meet new people every week has been great for me.

I hope you have all enjoyed your prac experiences, and thanks for sharing mine with me!
Mel

Settling In

Hi Guys, Mel here again! This is my third blog and also my third week at TriEvents; the Sports Event Management organisation at which I am doing my prac. During this week, I began to use my initiative more and went straight to my desk to begin sending out and replying to emails. I was finally given my own email address and felt as though I was becoming a part of the TriEvents team. I spent the week beginning to get my head around my newly assigned task of HBF Run For a Reason Volunteer Co-ordinater, updating databases, registering volunteers and meeting with my co-worker to discuss possible recruitment plans and sending more letters to possible volunteers. My co-worker and I discussed the use of social networking sites such as facebook to recruit volunteers and we felt under the pump when we found out we needed to recruit 350 volunteers for the event. This was made much easier when another supervisor told us we had plenty of charity volunteers and helpers from last year who were already on board this years’ event.

During my fourth week at TriEvents, I attended another Hillary’s Triathlon – TriEvents’ final Hillary’s Triathlon of the season. On the day I assisted in setting up, directing participants, taking control of the kids’ triathlon bike sector and of course, packing up at the end of the day. This event was a great event and it was (as always) well worth the early start when I got to watch the satisfaction on the faces of participants as they crossed the finish line.

I came back to the office on the Tuesday following this event and really felt comfortable coming in to the office and knowing exactly what I had prepared for myself to do for the morning. I’m learning far more about the Events Management Industry and the workforce than I did in my classes.
I hope you are all learning great things from your prac experiences..
Until next time,
Mel

Early Starts & New Projects

Hi guys, Mel here. The part of my prac which I am going to discuss with you today was the most exciting moment during my prac as of yet. It may not seem like anything amazing - but for me, it was a step towards learning Evens Management to a new degree. Before I begin though…I am doing my professional practice at TriEvents; an Events Management company which organises sporting and fundraising events throughout Western Australia. During my second week of prac, staff at the company were busy getting organised for the HBF Bike Hike for Asthma, to take place on Sunday 20th March. I had already been told to arrive at this event at 6am so I was looking forward to that early start! I spent my first day that week finishing a task from the previous week, calling a large number of schools and encouraging them to participate in the event.

My second week of prac consisted of a few extra days because of this event, as I was rostered to work in the HBF shop on the Friday and Saturday before the event on Sunday. I arrived at the shop at 8.45am and spent the full day there on the Friday, and spent half the day there on the Saturday. The work at this shop consisted of learning the computer system, registering new participants, and finding race packs for participants who had already registered. I couldn’t believe that out of the amount of people taking part in this event, I saw just one person I knew throughout the whole weekend! I obviously don’t surround myself by particularly athletic people!

It was so interesting to see how organised TriEvents was in setting these shops up. They knew it would get busy at a certain time of the day and they had staff rostered for those times. They had every race number set out and easy to find and they had back-ups for everything that went wrong. The people I worked with in this Subiaco shop on these days were volunteers and were so nice and welcoming, ready to have a joke and help out whenever they could.

The ride took place on the Saturday and I had been told to arrive at 6am. I was told to go to “Joondalup” – it could have been anywhere in Joondalup and I had no specific place I was told to go, so I drove around for a while (luckily I was early) and found a volunteer tent. I sat in this marquee for an hour, waiting…waiting… No other volunteers arrived till 7.30 and I was highly regretting not asking more questions – I could have slept in for an extra hour!! Apparently I had been given the wrong time, but the atmosphere when participants raced through the finish line was worth the early start.

The second week of my prac had been a big one and the event had run very smoothly. They gave me jobs such as handing certificates to race winners, keeping the stream of people running through the finish line running smoothly, and ticking off other volunteers as they came through the marquee.

The Tuesday after this event, I found myself back in the TriEvents office, where my supervisor asked me to stay on for after my prac days were complete for a new project – the HBF Run For A Reason, an event for which I have now become the Volunteer Coordinator. This was great news for me as it has given me what I feel is a great responsibility and purpose for being a part of the TriEvents team. I met with the previous Volunteer Coordinator for this event (who has now left TriEvents) and a co-worker, who updated me on the requirements of my project and a vague plan of the way the following weeks would turn out. Since then I have been recruiting volunteers for the big event, calling schools, uni's, bigger clients, Scouts, recreational and Rotary Clubs, sporting teams, volunteers from the event last year, and many more people. I have printed, folded, enveloped and sent many letters to schools and emails to interested volunteers have been countless!

More to come soon on my prac as Volunteer Co-ordinater for the HBF Run For a Reason!
Mel

Event management- more than meets the eye

Hey guys,

Ben here with my second post. Today I wanted to talk about events management, fundraising and speech writing… all of which I worked on for a fundraising event for Rocky Bay. The particular event I was working on was called the AHG (Automotive Holdings Group) corporate golf day. The golf day has long been one of Rocky Bay’s major fundraising events. What makes the event even more fantastic is that it was the initiative of AHG managing director Bronte Howson. Bronte’s vision was to raise $1million in 10 years. With this year being the eighth year, AHG and Rocky Bay could see the potential for that target being reached in 8, as opposed to Bronte’s previously envisaged target of 10 years.

My first day at Rocky Bay saw me attending meetings with Joondalup Resort representatives and the AHG PR team. As a first day, I could not have asked for anything better. Firstly the networking was an invaluable experience. Secondly and more importantly was the sense I got of how much work goes into an event like this.

Over the coming weeks, my role was based more on the publicity elements of the event. Many of the ladies I work with have a lot of experience with marketing and fundraising but not as much with publicity and promotion. My roles included developing and improving the media contact list as well as writing a press release promoting the event. I would also be involved in further meetings with the AHG team regarding the auction on the night, which allowed me to meet the MC and auctioneer on the night, David Christison. David is the former news director at Channel Seven and also presented the sport for a number of years. Being from a journalism sided PR background, the chance to meet David was very exciting… again the networking was great.

One of the more exciting assignments I was given in organising the event was writing a speech for the CEO of Rocky Bay. Given that I am only doing 1 day a week, I was effectively asked to write a speech for the CEO on my fourth day- daunting but very rewarding to have the team put their faith in me. My expectation of what would be read out on the night was something that drew on what I wrote but wasn’t essentially my words. To my surprise, the CEO did in fact read out my speech. To this day it’s probably the most satisfying moment of my internship.

All in all the event went smoothly and we did hit the $1million mark by raising more than $180 000 on the night alone- the most raised in the events eight year history.

Until the next post,

Ben

Busy Times

Hey everyone, I’m Mel. I started working at TriEvents as a part of my prac work a while ago (64 days to be exact), but life has been so full on that this is my first blog! TriEvents is an Events Management company in Osborne Park which I became involved with through a contact who is a major organiser of the Rottnest Channel Swim.

On the first day of my prac, I walked up some stairs in a hidden building on Hutton Street, took a seat in the waiting room and was brought into the office; a small room with five desks for the staff and another three rooms with an office for each of the Event Co-ordinaters.

I walked into the room, saying a friendly hello to those already at work (I hate being late to places so I was super early for this one!), and I was greeted with a very quiet 'hi' from one of the workers. After briefly meeting my supervisor, I was put to work: “Mel, can you ring every school in Perth on this list and ask if the Physical Education Department is keen to get any students involved in the HBF Bike Hike for Asthma?” From this moment, I understood what previous Public Relations prac students had meant when they said I’d be given the repetitive, far-from-exciting jobs that no on realllly wanted to do but someone had to do. I was given a desk, a phone and a script and off I went, calling over 100 schools in my bid to recruit participants for one of TriEvents’ most well known events! Although I was tired of repetition by the end of that task, I was sent off to bag race bibs, participant numbers and timers for participants in the following weekends’ Hillary’s Womens 2XU Triathlon Event.
I have included a link for you all in case you feel like perusing the site and checking out this event!
http://www.womenstriathlon.com.au/

Anyway, following my first day of prac I was given tasks for my next two days of work (My supervisor and I had planned for me to come in to the office twice a week). I really enjoy the fact that Events Management means everything is well-organised and planned as I am a planner from way back! I arrived at Nodes Park in Hillary’s at 12pm on Saturday 5th March, where participants in the triathlon (to take place the following day) would be coming to pick up their registration packs. This was the day I begun to get a feel of the enormity of preparation that goes into events that aren’t even particularly well-known. The following day I was at Nodes Park at 5.40am (early, as usual), ready for a full day of handing medals to race participants and registering last-minute participants. The event was great fun and the satisfaction on the faces of participants when they crossed that finish line was incredibly rewarding to watch – pity I could never be bothered to actually participate in one!!

The event was over and I was back in the office the following Tuesday, where I found myself focusing my attention back to my list of schools and the HBF Bike Hike for Asthma which was to be held on Sunday 20th March. I emailed every school and then rang them to check they received my email and by this time I had definitely had enough of repeating my script over and over!
From my first week at prac, I learnt that regardless of how small the work I was being given was, I was learning so much more than what I had been learning in class. I know my prac was more on the Events Management side of things rather than PR, but it was really interesting to get an idea of the work that is put in that goes relatively unnoticed on the day of an event. I enjoyed my first week of prac and actually looked forward to coming back the next week!
An update on how the following week went is to come…
Hope you have all enjoyed your prac experiences
Mel

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.

Stakeholders- it's about pleasing everyone.

It has been a while since my last post, but I thought I should update everyone on what has been going on at the Retirement Village Association.

For the past few weeks we have been pretty busy with two events- Demystifying Retirement Living and Operational Intelligence. The first event was a seminar for prospective retirement village residents to gain information about different villages and the industry itself, whilst the second was for village managers and officials to learn about budgeting. The two events gave me a great chance to see both sides of PR within the industry as well as gain industry knowledge from both sides.

The weeks coming up to the Demystifying Retirement Living seminar I was able to be involved with all the planning of the event. The small tedious tasks such as calling people who registered their interest and confirming their attendance, making show bags and name badges were all on the top of my to do list. Throughout this time it made me realise how important it is to prioritise tasks and be efficient with your time. I have found so far that nothing is overly complicated (task wise) yet usually extremely time consuming. Though both seminars where highly successful, I did learn that no matter how much you prepare little things can go wrong and instead of dwelling on these things you should learn from them and move on.

I have be so amazed how relevant the stuff we have learnt is within the industry. I am loving being able to put my writing ability in to practice. I have also realised how skills such as time management and prioritising are imperative within the industry.

I am quickly learning that a member based organisation means you have to try your best to please everyone which quickly results in being stretched in a hundred directions and often PR is under regarded. As I am working with the regional manager and national membership manager, her time is split between advocating the industry, increasing membership and maintaining relationships with prospective residents, members and industry specialists and the list goes on. No two days are the same, which is both exciting and exhausting. Every key stakeholder that the RVA has identified wants something different from them, not to mention every member- though working for a simultaneous belief- want something for themselves. So in this case, I think PR is about pleasing everyone to the best of your ability whilst still trying to keep the business objectives at the fore front of your mind. It's not an easy task

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!