From office to on-location... all in a days work

Hello everyone,

This post is a little out of sync because for some reason the draft did not save!
Today I wanted to talk about the days where I would work on-location and then return to the office to complete things of vice versa.

It's an interesting feeling arriving in city early, before everything is open and people have started moving.
On one occasion we were in Central Park for a conference on Homelessness Prevention Week. It was a morning convention and it meant setting up and providing morning tea for attendees (including Lord Major Lisa Scaffidi), laying out name tags, setting up flyers and banners and making sure there were microphones and other IT prepared and ready to go.
Once the conference was over we packed down and headed back to the office to de-brief and finish up tasks just like a normal day. It's disorientating when you go from a fast paced morning to a slow afternoon.
But I think this was one of my favourite things about working in events. It meant days got mixed up and changed around and not every day was the same.

Did anyone else have this experience?
Did you enjoy being on-location?

Bridgette

Am I industry ready now? A reflection of industry placement

My time at Event and Conference Co. has come to a close and I feel like I have learnt a lot.

But do I feel ready to enter the Public Relations Industry?

Working for Event and Conference Co. as an intern was an eye opener into the way a small events businesses work. The business had minimal paid staff and quite a few interns. This posed it's own challenges and benefits.

While I felt comfortable knowing I could talk to the other interns and bounce ideas around, the owner of the business, however, having so many interns producing work meant everything needed to be proofed and reworked in more detail than, I think, if the work was produced by professionals. It meant I had less room to fail and I needed to learn to produce industry quality work quickly so she didn't need to review my work so much.

I learnt a lot from my industry placement that I only knew in theory before starting my placement. I have more confidence in myself and the skills I have learnt while at Curtin University. I now know for certain I chose to study a profession I will enjoy and excel at. I do not think small business event work is where I see my career path heading but working in that environment taught me a lot and gave me to tools, knowledge and experience to know where I want to head and know I will succeed in the Public Relations field.

How was your industry placement experience? Do you think the area you interned in is where you want your career to focus? Or, like me, did it show you you want to pursue other areas of public relations?

Over and Out,
Bridgette

Practice makes perfect: Perfecting a Media Release

Throughout my time at Event and Conference Co. I have had few chances to write media releases. One of the main reasons I chose an event based internship for this placement was because I presumed there would be many opportunities to work on my media release writing. While I've been busy enjoying completing lots of other work, the lack of media release writing has meant I haven't had the opportunity to gain confidence in my writing and my ability.

This week, Event and Conference Co. has been working with the City of Armadale and Perth Kilt Run to host the 2015 Perth's Largest Kilt Run. I've been researching prices for prizes, announcers, completing risk management plans and, I wrote a media release!

The core of a media release and important information is quite easy to write, but the headline and lead paragraph? I struggled. As a journalist, I struggled not to write it in an unbiased and 'newsy' way. I would then over compensate and it would come across selling the event too hard. I worked hard and eventually submitted a copy my supervisor was very impressed with.

I found this article quite handy to look over while writing the media release.
5 tips to follow when writing press releases

It's was very satisfying feeling when my supervisor is happy with the work I produced. Did you find that too? I'd feel proud that it was up to industry standard.

Did you have more opportunities to write media releases? Do you think it helped your confidence in writing them?

Bridgette

On Location; interacting with the public and clients

With a 6am city start, you'd think I'd feel exhausted - but I feel exhilarated!

Today was the first time I was on-location for an event with Event and Conference Co.. Their client, the notoriously delicious Miami Bake House, is opening another store on Forrest Highway and wanted some momentum and media attention. Event and Conference Co. have created KangaArt; Unique Art you're bound to love. A campaign where local WA artists paint 20 life-size fibreglass kangaroos, which will be installed along the highway as bright and colourful icons bounding along the road, straight to the new Miami Bake House.

This morning, I met with Event and Conference Co. at 6am in Enex 100 building to help run the event. 12 of the artists would paint the kangaroos in the middle of Enex 100, so pedestrians could watch the roos 'come to life'.

While on location my tasks were:

1. Assist artists, refill water jars for them, make sure they have everything they need. Be nice and helpful! Get to know them, show an interest in what they are doing so you can in turn share with interested guests.

2. Man the desk, speak to people who show interest, manage the competition (people can enter on the ipad provided) and give flyers to anyone who approaches the desk. No need to approach people, this is not allowed. Only if they come to you.

3. Whereby press/media arrives and Rebecca or Adriana are not around, call us.

4.Ensure any paint spillage is cleaned up immediately. 

5. Be an ambassador for KangaART and Miami Bakehouse (check out the facebook pages, know all there is to know about both brands).

6. Ensure the site is safe at all times, remove trip hazards and contact Rebecca or Adriana if you are unsure about any potential hazards or if any issues arise.

7. Contact Rebecca if the artists don’t show.

I had a great day and I really enjoyed interacting with the artists and learning about their work. It was interesting to watch the progression of the kangaroos from plain white fibreglass to colourful, eye-catching and unique pieces of art.

How do you feel about event work? Do you prefer in-house work?

Day One: a glimpse into the 'Real World'

Hello everyone!

My name is Bridgette Stephens and this is the first of four blog instalments to reflect on my internship experiences at Networking WA/Event and Conference Co. I am studying a double degree in BArts Journalism and BCom Public Relations at the Curtin Bentley campus.

As I began searching for an internship to work at to complete this Industry Placement Unit, I thought about the sort of Public Relations work I wanted to gain experience in, and where I saw myself working in the future. As I reflected on previous work experience I had done and units I'd taken throughout my course, I realised event management and media based work had been my favourite. So, when I found Networking WA/Event and Conference Co. I thought I had found the perfect fit.

The interview with the owner was brief and I was nervous to start the following Monday. I so nervous to start, I arrived 30 minutes early and sat in my car waiting for 9am. I think I expected to be overwhelmed with information, but my first day was, really, just a step-by-step process of getting myself connected to the server, being shown by other interns where to find jobs to complete, who to send completed work to, and how to label it. I felt a little more comfortable knowing I would be interacting with other interns who were also at Curtin University.

The majority of the work I will complete for the duration of the internship will be done independently and sent through to my supervisor at the end of the day. With so many assignments at university completed as group tasks, I think it will be interesting to complete them independently.

Did everyone else have the same experience as me? Or did you have a more fast-paced first day?

Bridgette