Events and the role of PR

Hello everyone,

I could read that most of you have already completed your internship and I could see that you had a fantastic time during your placement.

I am currently doing my internship at the International Students Committee (ISC) at Curtin University. When I first started looking for an internship, I really wanted to be involved with events’ management and at the start of my placement at the ISC I wasn’t aware of the events they organised so I didn’t expect being involved in any.

I was therefore very excited and enthusiast when I was told that I would be part of the organisation of the ISC’s biggest event: the Multi-Cultural Week held in October of this year.

The first thing I learnt was that organising an event is a huge commitment and can start as early as 5 months in advance. I didn’t imagine that it can take such a long time to prepare an event but I was glad at the same time as it meant that I would be able to contribute.

I also realised that organising an event is not the job of only one person. It might be different when you work at a consultancy, but at the ISC, every member has role to play. The convenor, the event’s officer, the marketing officer and the PR officer work together to ensure the success of the event. I noticed that everyone was working on the same project and although I found it a bit confusing, I realised that it was the best way to produce the best outcome.

The Multi-Cultural week is an event dedicated to promote multiculturalism during 5 days, where each continent is represented. At the end of the week a closing ceremony is held, Pasar Malam, and gathers all the continents together. Pasar Malam means “Food market” in Malay. Different foods from around the world are therefore available during the night, and culturally diverse performances are present to entertain the crowd.

This is a huge event to organise and after being briefed on all the different aspects and details that have to be considered I realised that 5 months were indeed needed to put everything together. In the early stages of the event’s preparation, performances and food stalls for each day and for the closing ceremony have to be searched.

I realised that an integrated team was essential to ensure the success of the event. The Public Relations role at this stage was similar to any other members. Working with other departments and sharing works and ideas is what make a successful event. Communication is crucial and all the interpersonal skills learnt at uni come into play.

Although I won’t be an intern at the ISC during the final stages of the event’s preparation, I will still give a hand to this fantastic team as I found this project really motivating and I can’t wait to see all our efforts come to life.