Showing posts with label #firstevent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #firstevent. Show all posts

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Putting Practice to the Test: My First Event!


After weeks of planning I finally got to participate in one of Event and Conference Co's own events! The Creativity in Practice Workshop showcased some of Perth's most creative minds, who gave guests their own top tips on how to run flawless events. The workshop was targeted at event planners, wedding planners, EAs and PAs, and anyone interested in all things creative.

The event was held at Mercedes College- a unique but central location- on the evening of Wednesday May 18. Throughout the workshop I had numerous jobs to fulfil, including assisting with the set-up and pack-up of speakers' presentations, directing latecomers to the workshop from the carpark and handing out refreshments. Having worked on the planning of this event for the past two months, it was extremely rewarding to see the whole thing come together. Being an interactive workshop, it was also interesting to observe the different techniques and tips that the speakers/vendors in the event industry utilise to ensure their event is a success. 

above: Bites By D creations.
above: Michael Algeri, of Micktric Events, speaks to guests about the importance of lighting at events.

The workshop itself also allowed me to gain a further understanding into the events industry. As I said in my first blog post, I've never really had much interest in the event industry. But now that I've had first-hand experience in coordinating and planning an event as a team, and have been able to execute it successfully, I'm beginning to reconsider. Working as a team, the task seems a lot more manageable than it does daunting, and researching the finer details is almost exciting. This experience has increased my level of interest so much so that I found myself considering whether I would make the same decisions that had been made for this event, as I would with my own event. 

It's really interesting to note how much my views on the events industry have changed over the course of my internships. I really enjoy planning and putting together the events, as they are always different and can challenge you in all sorts of ways depending on the event. They also allow you to exhibit a more creative flair than what you would be able to whilst writing media releases. I really enjoyed working on this workshop, as it not only allowed me to exhibit my professionalism and work ethic whilst running the event, but it also gave me the chance to learn more about working with vendors, and what kind of vendors would be suitable of various events.

Let's see what the next event brings!

Until next time,


Clare
17095543
Bentley Campus

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

First Big Event: Website Launch Party


Half way through my internship and myself and the two other interns I was working with, had the daunting task of putting together a website launch party for the Steph Audino brand (talk about nerve-racking).  Everything from booking a venue to organising catering, choosing a guest list to creating invitations and everything in between. Although all the prep work for the event was super stressful, yet thoroughly exciting (am I right?) the most intimidating part of the whole event was making sure we upheld the Steph Audino reputation.

Steph Audino (the person) has the most radiant and positive personality, which is reflected in the Steph Audino brand. She has built strong relationships with the media, the Perth fashion industry, ‘perthonalities,’ bloggers, hair and make up artists and clients. Therefore we had to make sure that her reputation was not tainted by any means pre, during and post the Steph Audino website launch event.

Fast forward to the night of the event. Everything that needed to be taken care of was and now was the patient wait for guests to arrive; kind of like the calm before the storm. My only expectation for the night was to expect the unexpected. For the most part everything ran smoothly (surprisingly, however I’m not complaining), there were some minor hiccups behind the scenes, with running orders of the evenings schedule but nothing the guests would ever have any clues about (winning).

Overall I thought the event was extremely successful (and completely different to writing an event strategy in a PR plan).  The event was featured in the STM, The West Australian, on Perth blogger’s sites. Photos of the event were posted all over social media, particularly Instagram, which we know is extremely important for any brand in the new age media market.  

Post event, when we were re-capping on the night in the studio. Steph gave me a piece of advice that I could not only implement in the running of an event, but in all aspects of PR.
“It’s not about what goes wrong that defines the night, it’s how you handle it that decides if it was a success or not” – Steph Audino


Attached are some photos of the event: