So after weeks of preparing for the Mike Stewart and Sarah McKenzie Concert with WAYJO it had finally arrived!
Since I've been at WAYJO I've been set tasks focused on the Mike
Stewart and Sarah McKenzie concert. There are three events in which we had to
prepare for: a schools excursion concert during the day, the big concert at
night and the VIP's event before the show.
One of the major roles I was given was in regards to the Mike and
Sarah for Schools Excursion. For this concert I spent my days liaising with
teachers across the metropolitan Perth area. This was a very scary task for me
as I was not yet use to calling up people I didn't know. It was soon after the
first few phone calls that my confidence had sky rocketed as I found the most
efficient ways to communicate with teachers. What I learnt was that teachers are
very informal in communications, preferring a more relaxed environment. I also
noticed that they’re not always on top of things, so they really appreciate
reminders and direct communications such as phone calls. Many hadn’t even
gotten round to checking their emails from the previous month!
Finding out about my audience was really helpful as I discovered
what they wanted to hear and how they wanted to hear it. Talking to the
teachers was actually quiet rewarding as they were very receptive to an open two way communication flow about the event. Now I understand the value in what
my tutors and lecturers have taught me throughout my degree; that getting to
know your audience in every aspect allows you to maintain and create a strong
positive relationship with your stakeholders.
It was such a shame that I was unable to see the Mike and Sarah
for Schools Concert and appreciate the results of my communications but the
main concert needed all hands on deck! The day of the big concert was very
manic, I spent most of the day updating the final guest list and creating the
seating plan for the VIP’s. This was very exhilaration as my job was to
make sure that every guest was accounted for, and I was still receiving new
names up until the last minute! You could imagine my stress.
After the list was finally finalized I rushed to get ready and
headed to the theatre where I was to give out name badges and tickets
to the VIP's. If I thought handling the guest list was stressful then I was
very much mistaken. Many tickets had not yet been put into each guest’s envelope,
therefore tickets had to be manually found and accounted for in front of the
guest which was not ideal. From this experience I realized that no
amount of theory in the class room can prepare you for the stress and pressures
of running an event.
I spent many days focusing on; sending out event information to
websites, writing an editorial about Sarah McKenzie, designing flyers and other
related tasks. Therefore, it was such a thrill to see the event come together
and be a massive hit! I specifically remember hearing the words sold out at the
box office whilst attending to our full VIP guest list. It was such an amazing
feeling to know that all our hard work had paid off! Take a look at the following link for more
information regarding the main event: http://wayjo.com/event/mike-stewart-sarah-mckenzie-with-wayjo/.
I now look forward to getting back into the office and gaining
more experience in PR at WAYJO.
Goodbye for now!
Christina
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