Testing my organisational skills and putting them into practice!

In my previous blog I discussed that I was given a day to brainstorm social media and public relation ideas for the “Tourism Industry Exchange & Awards” event. So the day has come where I can test my creativity skills and physically put them into practice! A cool fact to know is when working at events you need to be able to commit yourself to all hours of the day! I was awake and ready for 5:00am, though I didn’t need to be at Perth Arena until 7:00am. However from previous experiences at events I have usually missed my breaks due to having to be everywhere at once, so I didn’t know what to expect this time! Previously a week before we were all debriefed on the event and each volunteer had been delegated a specific task. 

Once the event went live my task was to raise the awareness and explain the social media game to guests. Meanwhile in the (bump in) process which is code for "pre-event setup"we were given 6 hours to prepare before the event commenced at 1:00pm.

During those 6 hours we were given tasks such as:

1.  Ensure the venue is decorated accordingly, signage is utilized effectively, and layout is executed to perfection.
2.  Facilitate communication with key professionals, including venue management, exhibitors, guest speakers and equipment rentals to ensure efficient running of an event
3. Ensure everything was up to date according to the run sheet and event overview documents.

Evaluation

The overall running of the event was one of the smoothest and organised events I have ever volunteered for.  Every key milestone and deliverable that was scheduled to a specific time was in sync with the onsite event brief. The social media game was such a success as guests found it enjoyable taking photos and uploading them to their social media pages. Specifically university students and retailers loved being a part of an activity that involves interaction with other people. Approximately 90% of guests played the social media game and the remaining 10% guests were limited because they didn’t own a social media page.

After explaining the social media game, I would direct attendees to continue their fun to the Instagram area. However attendees were walking straight past the Instagram area and ignoring it completely. Therefore in order to make the Instagram frame more visible to attendees, I thought it would be best to physically carry the frame around. By reaching out, talking and interacting with guests which gave me the opportunity to also network with key industry professionals and share great conversations with like-minded people. 

As part of evaluating the events success it is protocol at ECC to conduct a survey immediately after the event. Below is a list of some key findings; 

Successes 

1. The exhibitors were pleased with their sponsorship opportunities which required the following; networking luncheon pre- event, opportunity to showcase their product with a 10 minute stage presentation, full page advert in the e-book, special features in the post-event newsletter, and a social media feature.
2. Every exhibitor was happy with the outcome of attendees as there were approximately 480 throughout the day.  
3. Exhibitors built new relationships with other like-minded professionals.
4. The event reached the specific target market segment such as retailers, restaurant and bar owners, hotel management, event managers, local government staff, inbound tour operators and university students. 
5. Exhibitors gaining media exposure by ‘The West’ and ‘Business News’.
6.   Exhibitors stated very positive feedback and testimonials stating that the ECC team were all very supportive, friendly, and helpful throughout the day
7. Attendees were pleased with the key guest speakers gaining an insight into the Perth tourism industry in which they claimed they would attend the event next year.
8.  Attendees were engaged with the event environment and culture in which was stated on testimonials that the social media game and the Instagram frame enhanced excitement and fun throughout the day. 

 Here are some images from the “Tourism Industry Exchange & Awards” event. 

Instagram Frame 

The Event and Conference Co team

The Social media game

Owner of Oh hey WA Aldie Chapman featured in Business News 

Follow me on INSTAGRAM @siobhansmith to gain more of an insight of my work experience placement!

Stay tuned for next time guys!! 

Thank you 

~Siobhan Smith ~

Testing my creativity skills and putting them into practice!

I remember in Public Relation Techniques one of our assignments was to create an event management plan overview for Perth Zoo. This was one of my favourite assignments that I had completed throughout the Public Relations course! I have always had a passion for creating different ideas for various events, and now I can test my creativity skills with Event and Conference Co.

The upcoming milestone is the “Tourism Industry Exchange & Awards” event where most of the deliverables are complete. I was given a day to brainstorm social media and public relation ideas for the event! This is a free industry event which is hosted by the City of Perth allowing those in the tourism industry segment to share insight knowledge, network with like-minded professionals, exchange information and experience the newest products. It aims to target key stakeholders such as Tourism operators, Hotel Concierges and Front of House staff, Hotel Management, Professional Conference Organisers, Event Organisers, Inbound Tour Operators, Visitor Centre Staff, Local Government Staff, Restaurants, Bars, Retailers, Executive Assistants, and anyone who regularly speaks to tourists.

I felt a little under pressure with time constraints, but I said to myself this is where I need to shine and test my creativity skills!! Out of the many ideas I created Rebecca and Anna decided to incorporate and modify two of my ideas into the event. It was called the “Social Media Game” and the purpose of this game was to boost each exhibitor’s social media pages throughout the day, whilst guests are able to go into the draw to win some amazing prizes!!!! It is very similar to how a raffle works, but just a tad more fun!!

This is how to play!

All guests receive a book when they enter the event which contains a number of tokens individually numbered, one red and one green.

1. Guests go to participating stands and enter the green token into the jar.

2. For a ‘bonus’ entry into the prize draw, the guests ask the exhibitor for their sign, take a photo with their sign and upload the image to their social media (Facebook, Instagram or twitter).

3. Guests must use the hashtag #perthtourism when uploading the exhibitor’s image.

4. Guests show the exhibitor their upload and enter the red token into the jar

5. At the end of the event our team will search for #perthtourism and decide on four lucky winners!!

Another idea I thought would be a fun way for guests to interact is to have an Instagram cut out frame. This opens up an opportunity for guests to tag themselves at the event and upload a fun photo of with their friends.  I know that any engagement I attend I would always feel the need tag myself in on Facebook, does anyone else do that??  On the Instagram cut out frame are the hashtags #perthcityaus and #pertharena as these are Event and Conference Co’s two major sponsors for this event. We also decided to include additional signs with fun tourism taglines for guests to hold up when wishing to take selfies!  

This idea was also another PR tactic to boost social media posts throughout the day for Event and Conference Co, City of Perth, Perth Arena and all the exhibitors.

Additional  PR tactics and marketing strategies that were incorporated into this event organised by Rebecca and Anna are as follows;

• Interactive website through online blogs
• Weekly newsletter sent to registered members and targeted clients
• Media release, fact sheets targeted to print media outlets such as; The West, The Australian, The Sunday Times
• Media placement also targeted to online channels such as; City of Perth, Town of Perth, What’s on When, The West, Total Travel, Perth Now, WA Today, Perth Tourism WA
• E-book which includes all the exhibitors that are participating in the event posted on Event & Conference Co website, whilst Exhibitors are also asked to share
• Networking with like-minded industry leaders who are willing to include a write up of the event in their newsletters and blogs on their website Corporate sponsorship such as City of Perth, Perth Arena
• Distribution of flyers through mail drop offs in specific suburbs such as Subiaco, Perth City, Mount Lawley
• Social media posts regularly through  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
• Type of venue (Perth Arena) which is a tourist attraction  
• A walking tour of Perth Arena  
• Guest speakers such as CEO of Sandalford Winery, Grant Brinklow, CEO of Busselton Jetty, Lisa Shreeve and City of Armadale Tourism Coordinator Economic developer, Suzy Parravicini 

Today I learnt meaningful insights on how PR tactics and marketing strategies are applied to a real event! I was also able to put my creativity skills to the test, but I guess I have to see how successful they will be when it comes to the day of the event!!

Follow me on INSTAGRAM @siobhansmith to gain more of an insight of my work experience placement!

Stay tuned for next time guys!!! 

Thank you 

~ Siobhan Smith ~