Bindoon backlash

 Agricultural show season has officially finished for BAJV, the fourth and final agricultural show was located at Bindoon, located 84km from Perth. Bindoon has always been an interesting area for the organisation, with a lot of activist groups rallying against the business and their future plans in Bindoon. Being told that Bindoon would be on the more interesting side in agricultural shows in comparison to all the other ones, made me a bit uneasy about having to help run the show on Saturday but I was reassured any questions could be directed to those with greater knowledge. Friday came, we drove an hour and a half up to Bindoon to set up the show, this show was different as I was in charge of set up, the tent was larger then the others giving us a lot more room to play around with! Set up was easier and quicker than I thought, as I knew exactly what I was doing, securing everything down we closed up and headed to our accommodation for the night. Saturday morning came and this meant show day! The show was very relaxed and had a good community and country feel about it. Everyone was very nice and was interested in what we did and what we had to offer to the community. The day was filled with questions and kids playing with the diggers in the bauxite pit. This is what I was in charge of for the day, we had a competition running to see who could get the biggest scoop of bauxite into an ice-cream container, I would then weight it and take their details if they wished to compete in the competition to win a family movie pass. Photos of the activity can be seen below. 4.30pm came and we got to pack up and head back to Perth for the final pack up at the warehouse, it was such a long day and I was exhausted after but it goes to show hard work really does pay off, as the day ran smoothly and was a lot of fun!

Although they have recently closed potential operations in Bindoon as it was seem uneconomic for the time, a lot of people were still interested in what the company was doing and where they saw themselves in the future in relation to adding to the economy and providing jobs.

It was a great experience to talk to all the locals and get a bit more of an understanding for what it is all about. And about what consumers and local communities want, they just want the correct information, and to be honest and open.

 

The start of the Agricultural shows

Making progressive steps in my internship! Half way through my internship and I’m understanding how the business operates and where I fit in as an intern.  I was a bit lost for a while and didn’t know if what I was doing was right. With the agricultural show season upon us, I didn’t know if events really fitted into the whole public relations area, but handing in my 10 day update I was reassured that it was all apart of the job and to make the most of what I was doing. 

Finally being able to finish the companies facebook page and getting full approval to get that up and running, I was feeling positive about the impact I was having on the business. The facebook page was a lot harder then I thought because BAJV doesn’t have a policy that covers social media. Meaning there needed to be an alternative email created and used for the facebook page, to ensure it didn’t link with personal accounts. So I was pretty excited about it all when it was finally functioning!

I’ve also been able to participate and learn about all the efforts that go into organising events. BAJV participates in a number of agricultural shows and I was able to help set up their stand in Northam. It involved making site maps to show where everything was going to be located within their designated area, as well as a trip to their warehouse to organise and make a stock list for everything that would be needed over the weekend. I really enjoyed the set up as it was efficient and fun. You learn that the maps made are more guidelines then strictly needing to be followed. I very much enjoyed this and cannot wait until I’m able to participate in both the set up and the running of their next agricultural show in Toodyay in October.

So far I’ve very much enjoyed having some freedom to do my own thing but have also been stuck with odd jobs that need to be done. This includes tidying up work sheets, websites and spreadsheets. But it all adds to the job and to the experience!

Stay tuned! Hopefully next blog will update you about the agricultural shows! Or at least the lead up and preparation for them.