Tuesday, November 12, 2013

THE BIG THING!!!!!!!


THE BIG THING!!!!!


I remember the first time I was introduced to my boss when he mentioned about me joining the team is the right timing as there will be a big event coming. I was excited as it could lead me to a better exposure and learn a lot from it.

The event I was a part of was the Mahathir Global Peace Award. Mahathir is a big name in Malaysia. He is an icon to many Malaysians for serving as Malaysia’s Prime Minister a few years back. He was the father of development. To top the exciting part, Jacob Zuma, South Africa President was also invited for the event. This may sound cliché, but it was definitely a once in a lifetime project.

The process of sending media invites prior to the event was hassle I must say. I had to make calls to hundreds of important people to confirm their attendance. Being those important people, they would have the personal assistant or people closely working with them to represent. I was transferred to so many calls and only managed to get a few yesses but many turned downs.

The office was chaotic and everyone was just so busy handling his or her own parts. The media team has to make sure the invites are sent out, the press kit is in order, the boss likes what he sees, approvals from the top management and that is just to name a few. It was a lot of stress for the media team as the event was approaching and there was just so little time.

I remember the day before the event where me and the other intern had to bring the press kit to the hall, which is a 15min drive from our campus. We finished work at around 9pm and rushed to the respective place. It was again, chaotic, as the big boss was around to make a last check regarding the preparation.

I had to stay until 12am to make sure that everything was in order and that the press kit is ready for tomorrow’s big event.

The next day was even worse. I had to deal with the media and the turned out was impressive. A lot of media houses came and show their support for the event. It was the real thing. The real deal. The event went smoothly but sadly I did not get the chance to have a picture with the VIPs. It was tiring, full of adrenaline but the good kind!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I love events like this, it must have been such a learning experience for you to assist with this event.

I understand what you were saying about struggling with the leg work of the project; calling hundreds of people and not having hundreds of positive responses in return can be incredibly frustrating.But I also found that having to do tasks like that helps you make connections and network. Usually if you are well acquainted with the "little" people, you get shown a ladder to the "big people".

Having another President in attendance must have done wonders for the publicity for the event! International News must have covered it! Having the right guests in attendance can change everything!

Quite jealous I have to say!