It’s the evening of Sunday the 3rd of August and the event we have been working on for the past few months has come to a close and what a success it was. This years Curtin Open Day attracted record numbers, the sun was shining and the day ran smoothly.
When I arrived in the morning I felt immediately the positive vibe that would echo throughout the day. My role on the day itself was to over see the Fun Zone and be the first point of contact for any problems that may arise.
I arrived early and helped Andi and Chris Kelly - the entertainment contractors, set up for the event. Soon enough the entertainment for the event arrived. I got to see everything I had booked for the area in the flesh and watch it all come together. On the day I had primarily an events manager role as I had to make sure everything ran smoothly in my area and help bump in and bump out the event.
I followed a running sheet like the ones we first learnt to use in PR techniques and I applied knowledge from this unit and previous work experience. Before I had assisted on large scale events but never been the primary contact. The day was exciting and I found ran exceptionally smoothly - I like to think this was because of our planning. I also think this was because of the committed nature and efficiency of the volunteers, without them an event such as this would not have ran as smoothly as it did.
The animal farm, the circus performers and the roving entertainers arrived. Upon reflection I can’t believe the variety of people this event allowed me to work with, as I walked around I got to see all the components we had booked come together and the satisfaction was intense.
Here are some photos from the event:
Roving entertainers
Bucket basketball
A little pig from the animal farm
Markets Under The Pines
The Fun Zone
Seagulls interacting with characters
The event itself was the least stressful day of the internship, although there were small problems - team work and problem solving eliminated these easily. I had to make direct calls to the electrical and organise power for a variety of acts, along with helping to smooth out a few minor hiccups with the bouncy castle.
To see an event as large as this come together was an overwhelming feeling, it was like all the meetings, ideas and bookings all merged as one. The day drew record numbers and the reception from the general public and Curtin staff was all positive.
I found that my internship was primarily an events and project management role, but on the day I can see how vital events are to the art of public relations. Curtin Open Day helps communicate to the public Curtins values and overall image, it involves strategic employee communication and team work, it is about creating and maintaining relationships with a variety of stakeholders - which is exactly about what the core of Public Relations is all about.
