Event day goes by in a flash

On Sunday August 4 I arrived at Curtin bright and early, 7:30 am! Open Day was finally here and I was extremely excited to see everyone’s hard work come together but a little sad to end my time with Asha and University Marketing. The final week of my internship was a blur of meetings, final confirmation and what felt like hundreds of emails a day!

Many of the Fun Zone suppliers were arriving between 8 – 8:30 am and I had to be there to ensure they knew what to do and where to go, fortunately there were very few problems! A few days before Open Day I had compiled information packs for each supplier and sent them via email so they knew what was happening, how to access their area etc. Andi, our entertainment manager, was extremely helpful with handling the talent and activities on the day.

There were only a few small hiccups, such as St Johns Ambulance driving into the wrong area and having to drive all the way back around campus to the right area. I also had to direct Nova through heavy traffic and crowds up into John Curtin Forum, which was quite scary!

The Fun Zone was extremely popular, we ended up having a circus workshop alongside all our other activities which visitors of all ages absolutely loved! I also managed to book Vintage Photobooths at the last minute, their carnival themed booth was a huge hit. Coordinating and managing the Fun Zone definitely taught me the importance of through preparation and keeping a constant line of communication with external stakeholders – we had done so much preparation prior to Open Day that the Fun Zone basically ran itself.

Despite bad weather for the week leading up to Open Day, it was a very sunny and warm 23 degrees! It was a little annoying as we had invested so much time and effort into accounting for the possibility of rain, but we really could not have asked for better weather. The day came together very well and it was amazing to see the scale of the event and the huge number of people who attend.

Asha, my boss & the Open Day Project and Brand Consultant, was definitely the best boss I have ever had! She has taught the importance of time management as she definitely practices it on a daily basis. Asha is so organised, she is always on top of everything and aware of what’s going on which is an important part of why Open Day runs so smoothly. Despite the fact that the week prior to the event was busy, it was never stressful or difficult to deal with anything, which is something that Asha fostered within the work environment. I am definitely happy that I chose to complete my internship in corporate communications instead of consultancy, it was amazing to see how the marketing and public relations team behind such a big brand works and how smaller teams within Curtin came together to work on the Open Day project. 

(Written on August 10, 2013)