A day out of the office!

Over the past few weeks, I have been focusing and collating information and quotations from various hotels as one of our clients, is intending to host a breakfast seminar for 100 people here in Singapore.

This opportunity of planning an event excited me as I find it interesting! After listing out and collating the different proposals and prices, we sent them to the client for their final decision. After much consideration, the client decided to go with Shangri-La Hotel, located at Orchard.

Last week, my colleague and I headed down to Shangri-La, to do a site visit, and at the same time, discussed with the events’ coordinator on the layout and necessities needed for the event. The contract was then sent to us the next day. After discussion and confirmation with our client, we finalized the contract and secured the location!

This was the ballroom that I did the site visit at and booked. 

(Source of photo: Shangri-La Singapore)

Another thing in relation to this that I am working on is the checklist. Basically, the checklist consists of items needed for the seminar, its due date, and who would be responsible for the item. Doing this, reminds me of projects I have done in school. Next thing on the list is to book shuttle buses for the client’s guests to transport them from one hotel to another.

As smooth as it may sound, there were plenty of ups and downs while planning and securing a location. As there would be a 4-day event held at MBS during that period, most of the guest would be attending that event and would be staying at MBS. Our client initially wanted a hotel that is located closer to MBS as it would be more convenient for the guest to head over for the seminar.

I faced plenty of difficulties while searching for a location as most hotels located near MBS were all booked out during that period, and we would be placed on waitlist and would only be notified a month before the event date. Another difficulty encountered was the clash of choices. There were some locations that we felt was perfect for the event, however the client rejected it, as they did not like the venue. I then searched for more venues slightly further away and managed to come to a conclusion with the client and secured the booking with Shangri-la Hotel eventually. 

Before heading to Shangri-la Hotel, my colleague and I travelled to parts of Singapore to deliver books from another client to various media publications. This was my first experience going around delivering items to the media. However, I was disappointed, as I did not get to experience meeting and speaking to the media as we were only allowed to drop our items at the front desk counter. I feel that meeting and speaking to the media would give me a better experience and understanding the PR industry better.

This is me carrying the items that were delivered to the media

Nonetheless, I believe I would have another opportunity to expose myself to the PR industry and learn from these experiences.

Till then,

Sheryl