Managing Director, Communications manager, Businnes Development Executive....Oh My!

A couple of weeks ago saw me start the beginning of my internship. I am very lucky to have the opportunity of carrying out my internship with the Perth Wildcats. If anyone knows me personally, they will know I am not the sporty type at all but that's what excites me about this opportunity. I get to be pushed outside my comfort zone whilst gaining experience and knowledge in an area I am not that familiar with.

Before initiating any contact with the Wildcats, I had been to the first and last game of the season at the Perth Arena. As well as loving the game itself, I was so intrigued with what went on behind the scenes in bringing the event together. There was so much going on besides the basketball game such as the cheerleaders, the mascot, the entertainment, the music.... it all appealed to me so I began looking  into how I could complete my internship with the club.

It began with an email to the Communications Manager Jorden Teo, who was nice enough to call me in for an interview and from there let me know that I was welcome to carry out my internship with them if I wanted to. I jumped at the opportunity.

My first day I was so nervous. The club is at The West Australian Basketball Stadium in Floreat where the Wildcats play and the staff members have their office. I was taken into the office by Sonya, the secretary to the general manager, Nick Marvin. She took me around the office, introducing me to the other employees and informing me of their position as I met them. I was then taken to the marketing department to start my first task. I was told to call those who had made an enquiry on the website about membership and from there was to direct the potential members to the marketing department.  I was then shown how the main phone works and how to answer the phones when they rang. I had other jobs such as being involved in a campaign with one of the Wildcats sponsors to hopefully decrease the amount of single seats left in the arena once the season starts. I found this to be very informative and interesting.

Whilst sitting at the front reception I was exposed to many different people such as the players themselves, sponsors of the club, the dancing studio in charge of the cheerleaders, the photographers from the West Australian who take pictures of the players, hosts from radio stations who come to speak to the Managing Director about how the team is going etc. This is most definitely my favourite part as I get to see how the club obtains sponsorships and maintains their relationships with these sponsors and how they handle the rest of their stakeholders.

After a few big days of meeting everyone and knowing my way around the office, I was asked to attend one of the SBL (State Basketball League) games to create more awareness for the Wildcats as well as sell merchandise and hopefully increase the amount of memberships to the club.

I arrived and felt very nervous but excited. It was a lot more laid back than I thought. We got to watch the games whilst handing out information about the club and various membership options. It was interesting to see that this is one of the ways the club gain members and promote themselves to the public. I had never been to a SBL game but it was an all over great experience and let me bond with the other staff members.

I'm looking forward to my next few days at the club. I'm still a little nervous to go in as I'm dealing with big names in the basketball community such as the captain, coaches, owner, players and staff members but I'm both eager and excited to go back.

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed letting you all in on my great experience :)

Nicole Winthrop