Momentum's 10th Anniversary Pink Ribbon Ball

After weeks of planning and organising Momentum's Pink Ribbon Ball has finally arrived. The Pink Ribbon Ball attracted over 400 guests and featured a banquet dinner, live auction, testimonial speaker, raffle prize, live entertainment, Belle of the Ball competition and Prince Charming award. The events mission is to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. The night turned out to be a huge success and one of the best Pink Ribbon Ball's thrown so far. I found it a very rewarding experience to see all the hard work pay off and produce a memorable night for a worthy cause. It also showed the importance of public relations in creating these events.

Some of the public relations activities used to produce the Pink Ribbon Ball included:

• Media Releases
• Newletters
• Sponsorship Proposals
• Advetorials
• Flyers
• Banners
• Speeches

These activities were inexpensive and critical in producing publicity and increasing ticket sales leading up to the ball.

On the night of the Pink Ribbon Ball I was in charge of the volunteers to ensure all tasks were completed on the checklist. This involved placing the corporate signs, name place cards, auction catalogues, menus, raffle tickets and ballot bidding on the tables. However, there were a few mistakes with the name place cards so I had to print more by going to the Hyatt's Business Centre. Therefore I tried to take initiative and solve most of the problems on the night to ensure Barbara wasn't continually bothered by easily fixed mistakes. I also took charge and briefed a journalist from The Sunday Times STM about the night's special guests, performers, speakers, awards and auction items.

After the room was set up I was in charge of the guest list where I helped guests find their seats and made sure all special requirements was met. Overall the guest list was successful as the only problems were a couple wanting to sit with their friends on another table. I was pleased with this as I had been updating and following up on the guest list leading up to the event. After all guests were seated the volunteers were instructed to circle the room in case anyone had any questions or problems. Barbara told all the volunteers not to stress if they didn't know the answer but to be polite and find someone who could help them.

The other task the volunteers had were to inform guests about the raffle where guests could win two business class tickets to any Singaporean Airlines destination and to collect the raffle tickets. The raffle had a few issues as people weren't aware they cost $50 as it wasn't written on the tickets. Therefore next year we've taken to note to make sure the price is clearly stated on the raffle tickets. After the raffle tickets were collected we assisted with the live auction by taking the winner's details and handing out the item vouchers. Every item was sold in the live auction raising substantial funds for breast cancer research.

Overall the evening went relatively smoothly and all guests enjoyed their night based on the congratulations Momentum received after the event. I improved a lot of my public relations skills organising this event and look forward to perfecting my skills in my last few weeks at Momentum.

Stay tuned to hear about Momentum's next event the Melbourne Cup Luncheon!

Thanks,

Ashleigh Mills
14843011

All good things must come to an end

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. It’s been a fantastic two or so months of interning at The Freeform Foundry and now I face a bittersweet moment as I reflect on the intense coming of weeks that dawn, with reports to write, essays to research and of course more readings!

I do believe that Professional Practice has equipped me with the skills to excel in the public relations world and I cannot wait to put it all to practice when the whirlwind of my last semester of university studies is just a fleeting memory.

The Freeform Foundry was definitely the most unique workplace I have ever come across, and I’m saying that in a positive way! A small boutique consultancy of around 11 employees in the west-end of Fremantle, Freeform for short is full of young talented and creative minds. There is always a very relaxed feeling in the office, with most wearing jeans and t-shirts, which made my transition into the public relations department of the Freeform very comfortable and easy. I gained a huge insight into the lifestyle of a public relations consultant in a boutique firm; multi-tasking is definitely your best friend!

As this is my final blog post, I’d like to take this time to list a few key lessons I came across during my internship.

•      Communication is key!
•      In this digital world, speed and dexterity are everything
•      Social media is all about being transparent
•      High writing standards and skills are a must!

Although all my reflections are mostly positive, I must admit this past semester has probably been the most difficult out of all. Completing Professional Practice with three other units has been intense to say the least, however I wouldn’t of had it any other way. I have met some amazing people during my internship, and am proud to call myself a permanent employee at The Freeform!

I wish everyone all the best in their final days and good luck for the final report. I cannot wait to take on the public relations realm with of you talented Curtin graduates!

To finish my last post I’ve posted a few photos of my time at The Freeform that I hope you enjoy. The first is our blackboard the week before the AFL Grand Final, an office of designers and being located in Fremantle made this week one to remember. The second photo is a few of Freeform’s employees on our new wooden desk, hard at work of course!  

Best of luck,

Rachel Chandler.

Fremantle Dockers Photo-shoot

On the 25^th of September, I woke up bright and early to attend a photo shoot for a full page spread in the West Australian in support of Programmed sponsored Fremantle Dockers. I had been told about the photo shoot the night before at around 11pm and so had no idea what to expect.

I arrived at the Programmed Burswood office at around 7am and then went with Communications Officer, Kate Sossi, as well as three other employees to the studio in City Beach.

When we arrived at the shoot we all had our make up and hair done (including the men!) and put on our Programmed and Fremantle Dockers gear.

We were photographed in groups, with my group being the second shot. The studio was sectioned off and so there was no visibility of what was happening with the first group, but we could hear yelling, cheering and rock music.

As the time approached for our shoot we were all a little nervous, however, we were briefed on the idea behind the shoot and were shown images as to what it would look like. We were asked by the photographer to scream and shout as if we “were in a pub watching the grand final and the Dockers just won.”

After numerous shots at different angles and in different positions the photographer was finally happy and it was “a wrap!”

It was a really cool experience to be involved in a photo shoot, especially because it was a full page spread in the West Australian.

Despite the little time, Kate pulled the massive shoot together and got it done overnight. This efficiency just goes to show that as a public relations practitioner, you need to be quick on your feet and very assertive – regardless of what might get thrown at you. This also reinforced what I’ve learnt in my PR units at uni i.e. that public relations practitioners need to be good problem solvers and must not panic when they are thrown in the deep end. It also reinforced that having a contingency plan is a must – e.g. in the case of the photo shoot, if something was to happen to the photographer, who would take the shot that was required by Saturday, or who would be in the shot if someone backed out. All these things need to be considered.  Kate was also really great at helping those being photographed relax and be less nervous as she was just lightening the situation by making jokes and being silly. This also goes to show that you need to be a good people person to be in public relations. This also reinforced what I learnt in my PR units that your communications skills and people skills are of utmost importance as this is really a key part of the job – to communicate.

I have attached the photo (me far left) from the Saturdays West Australian below. Sadly the Fremantle Dockers were not victorious over the weekend, but there’s always next year!