During my internship with SurfAid, a large part of my role has involved working with both the PR and Event Management departments on the inaugural SurfAid Ball in Sydney. This year the event was held at the spectacular Star Entertainment Centre, which overlooks the harbour and Sydney CBD! Tickets were sold to over 400 guests, with the event being attended by several Australian surfing legends, it was an incredible experience to be part of.
Prior to the event it was important to consider all our major sponsors and VIP's attending the event and incorporating these into the photography and videography briefs. Maintaining positive sponsor relationships is vital to non-for-profit events, as these allow companies such as SurfAid to put on nights such as the ball, which raise much needed funds and awareness for a great cause.
One thing I like to do before arriving to events is having a print out of all the VIP names and their positions along with a small headshot so that I am easily able to recognise these faces and make we get the right images captured on the night. I then liaise with the photographers and videographers and run through the media brief and the VIP list to make sure we all familiar on what needs to be done and can then communicate effectively on the night.
Other important part of setting up for the night was to make sure all sponsorship material was placed appropriately on the tables (this took a long time as you can imagine with 400 places to set) but was vital to maintain relations with event sponsors and promote their support and brand on the night.
Prior to guests arriving the media board was set up in a pre-determined location, although on the night the photographer and myself has to make some last minute decisions regarding lighting but thankfully it all worked out! Once people started arriving it was my job to greet guests and usher them to the media board and get their photos taken (tougher than it sounds not too many people like getting their photo taken it seems...) writing down names to match the images and also making sure the photographers and videographers had copies of the names.
There are so many parts involved with an event that all come together as an essential part of making the post event media process a lot easier! I have learnt a lot from this event in regards to the fine (but crucial) details that need to be regarded to ensure that media, sponsors and guests are kept happy. This is so important as this means that future events will have these past positive relations to draw from and can then build on these to make future events a further success. Event PR is definitely an area I want to pursue in the future!
1 comment:
Hi Stacey,
Wow! What an exciting evening it must've been for you. Sounds like you're doing a great job at staying organised with your VIP headshots (I'll remember this for next time!). I myself have worked in the fashion events industry before and I know how hectic and stressful ushering guests into an event to have their picture taken can be!
One thing I found that made the whole process a lot less stressful and chaotic was getting VIPs through this process into the event as quickly and as efficiently as possible... It seems they always just want to get in and socialise! So make sure before they arrive that the photographer is organised and ready to go, and that there is an organised system of ushering guests through the photography stage into the event. This will make it all run a lot smoother and keep your VIPs happy.
Sounds like your internship is very fast-paced and exciting! I look forward to reading more blogs of yours,
Aimee Smythe
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