The countdown to Curtin Open Day begins!

Hi everyone! I’m Lucy Quaggin.

As last semester drew to a close and I began to prepare for my final semester at university I knew it was time to start looking for a placement for PR 393. Over the years I had engaged in work experience from a variety of areas from fashion and event companies to boutique consultancies and I wanted to try my luck at something new.

I inquired about doing my placement at a university, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to surround myself with like minded individuals and work for an institution that I truly believe in.

Out of nowhere on the same day an opportunity for a position as Open Day intern arose, I thought it must be fate. I applied and had an interview and the next week I was delivered the news I would be spending the next few weeks at part of the team for Curtin Open Day 2014.

My first day lay ahead and I was both nervous and excited for the weeks that lay ahead.

As I arrived at the Future Students office at Curtin University I was greeted with a sea of friendly faces and introductions.  Each staff member seemed to assure me that on this internship I would be having a lot of fun, the office seemed scattered with past graduates who to had once been in my role.

Asha Selvendra, the project manager had interviewed me two weeks ago and today when I arrived I was keen to get stuck into the planning that lay ahead for Curtin’s largest recruitment event. First off I was set up as a staff member at Curtin; I had my own Open Day email and desk. After previous internships of coffee chasing and data entry, I was excited to have gained a hands on role for PR 393 as it already felt as if I was part of the organisation.

I was given a list of a variety of tasks which I was to organise on an online project management site called Trello. I set up this website and organised the tasks which I would be working on over the next few weeks I was interested to find out more about “Markets under the pines” and the Fun Zone.

Asha soon explained to me that one of my main tasks would be to organise the Fun Zone, I would have liaise with Andi Kelly from Spirit events to choose and book entertainment for Curtin Open Day – the Fun Zone is an area located on Alcoa Court which has previously had a petting zoo, bouncy castles and sumo suits. I spent the morning researching acts, games and activities which would put my own touch on the events at the Fun Zone.

Asha then detailed me on the meetings for the rest of the day; this would be an opportunity for me to network and learn about the workings of Curtin University and what goes in to planning an event such as Open Day. Already I can speculate that the department at Curtin seem to be quite like the bits of a puzzle they cross over and connect to make up a bigger picture. 

Organising of event of such scale is a massive job, it takes more than just the PR element. As I looked at the meetings that lay ahead I could see that the team came from across all departments from course advisors, to the marketing department, events and sponsorship management, site services and faculty heads.

By the end of the day I had a taster of the weeks that lay ahead and I looked forward to the tasks I would complete, the people I would meet and to see this event through from start to finish.

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Lucy Quaggin