Hi there, I'm back once again. Hope everyone is coping well. So much has been happening and has happened that I can't wait to fill you in. United Nations Association of Australia WA Division (UNAAWA) has certainly been kind to me and has provided me with experience that I thought I could only dream of. Talking to people about how much I have experienced and learned makes me feel like I have aged tremendously over the past few weeks. Trust me I have not, or maybe just a couple of wrinkles from the never ending planning but it all adds up to the experience that I have garnered.
I had to work at the office as well as move around to meet people such as migrants and Women leaders. At office, one of my main tasks was to manage incoming mails and enquiries that were made through phone calls or e mails. This I can say was one of the hardest tasks simply because of the questions people used to bombared me with. This tasks really thought me how to deal with a myriad of people and from this, I know one thing for sure and that is "it takes different people to make the world go round."
Besides this, my tasks was also to arrange meeting times and also attend meetings. I had to plan a time, date and venue which suited everyone. All this sounds so simple and easy on paper compared to doing it in real life where people have different opinions on things and when everyone does not want to come to an agreement, the whole burden is on your shoulder to promptly think of a back up plan. What I learnt in previous PR studies such as conflict management and effective communication definitely came into practice. It was a nice experience being in the shoes of a PR practitioner and taking charge to make sure everything goes on well and as planned. After all the ups and downs it feels so good when you have completed a tasks successfully and things turn out the way you want it to. Working with the team at UN AAWA was a terrific stepping stone and I won't be able to thank them enough for the support, guidance and teachings they have given me all the way. Appreciate the opportunity a lot. That is all for now.. Till next time.. Cheers
Tania
2 comments:
Hi Tania,
I wanted to highlight this specific sentence that you said in your post "All this sounds so simple and easy on paper compared to doing it in real life" as it is so true!
For example, when I have had to call people for the event that is tonight, to have their contact details for invitation purpose, I can sound simple as I have only to call and get the information. But, I have the responsibility to have the exact person contact details and to be sure 100% that the person who is giving me this is sure too and is giving me the right information, as the contact details would be written on the invitation envelope.
Moreover, for some people who were not in the database, I have had to find a way to get their number so as to call and get their contact details, such as facebook, the directory.
Each 'simple' task hide several hours of work to be able to achieve it properly.
Cheers,
Elodie Charoux
14103265
Charles Telfair Institute
I completely agree with both of you about the difficulty of planning events, meetings or anything and getting people to respond quickly if at all!
Trying to organise volunteers to put together merchandise at my placement has proven to be a lot more difficult than I could have anticipated. People run on different schedules and seeing that put in practise has definitely made me much more aware of planning and following up on responses.
Sounds like we have all learnt a good lesson in terms of chasing up responses - otherwise people are often happy to let it go!
Good luck
Bec Curtin
13946236
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