The dilemmas of charity events

On Sunday September 22, Second Chance will be holding their annual Fundraising Beginners Horse Show. I've been frantically searching for event sponsors. (read my last post)

With under a month until the show, it is going rather well. In the end the committee and I decided to split up the sponsorship package into four different levels with a range of benefits. We have had a great response to this already. We have been donated over $1200 of stock to raffle as well as donated funds. This is a great amount considering how new and how small Second Chance Horse Rescue is.

One amazing thing, international saddlery brand Wintec Saddles are sponsoring a raffle of a saddle on the day, which is worth over $1200. It will ensure a number of more event goers.

However we are now faced with a new problem, finding enough volunteers for the day. A horse show requires a tremendous amount of effort in setting up and organising, not to mention the early start on event day. Second Chance has so far emailed all their members and contacted everyone on their volunteer database. Unfortunately the charity hasn't received many replies. The even co-ordinator is even talking about post-poning the event, which is a much needed fundraising appeal.

So our dilemma is how to gain new volunteers...

My thoughts was to create a status on Facebook as I have seen this work in the past for a couple of local welfare agencies and over 8000 people have liked the page. Another thought was to advertise in the Western Australia's equine magazine Perth Rider, as they have a good relationship with the magazine's editor. Another thought was to create a volunteer document to send to local Agricultural Colleges as well Horse and Pony Clubs in the event area. So far these suggestions are being passed around the committee and the event coordinator. However I'm starting to feel Second Chance needs to offer some kind of benefit of volunteering, possibly a free sausage sizzle at the show, or a volunteers pin from their merchandise. However as being a welfare charity it is not a common thought to spend money on other things but the animals in care.

This placement has really shown how hard it can be, with being a welfare charity with no actual legal rights. As well as how hard the welfare industry is in WA, whilst working and competing with the RSPCA and gaining community respect. Being such a small volunteer based organisation with no permanent facilities and a large amount of foster carers around the state, it's hard for them to stand out and gain help.

So that is our most current dilemma leading up to the Second Chance Show in September. I have also been asked to write a feature article of some of their "success stories" for the Perth Rider magazine as well as a media release for the Comment News Community Newspaper about the show. Finally getting some practice from my Public Relations Techniques class.

I'll keep you posted on how sponsorship and the entire show goes in the next couple of weeks.

Groovin' the Moo 2013: featuring a lot of laminating

I have come to the realisation that event planning is not all fun and games. For me, I think I envisioned a more play in the park, party planning deejay-vu from when I was 5 years old planning my teddy bears picnic birthday party. This is most definitely not the case, as I have come to understand. Rather I have witnessed a few days of event pandaemonium leading up to the Groovin' The Moo (GTM) event that Sunsets was holding on the 11th of May in Bunbury, that was nothing close to fun and games!

The tasks that I was deliberated during these couple of days included a mass load of laminating. I can now say that going from not knowing how to laminate to professional laminator in about 2 hours is quite impressive. I was laminating event passes for musicians, media, staff and volunteers, staff contact and emergency lists, signs for cloak rooms, stage information, play time information. You name it I laminated it!

I was also in charge of label making, 'stickering' and 'lanyarding' all of the passes which gives access to the artists, media, volunteers and staff during the event. So if you worked at GTM and you had one of those amazing lanyards around your neck, I made it! I was also in charge of putting together an 'info point' document. This was a document with all the information needed for patrons. It included transport, taxi numbers, bus routes, Sunsets recycling initiatives, set times of artists, stage set up, venue map and FAQ information about tickets, what can be brought into the festival, what to wear and everything else that needed to be known.

I also worked with the staffing co ordinator to get together staff packs for everyone working at GTM. This was a task that involved printing out excel sheets of the people working at GTM, sticking them to A4 envelopes and placing their access passes and wristbands that they needed to work at GTM. This was a tedious task as you can imagine there are a lot of people working at a large scale event like GTM It was also one of the most important tasks in staffing as everything needed to be correct or else the staff would not have the right access passes and in turn cause issues on an already hectic day.

As a sat in the office on the Wednesday before the event, I noticed a lot of tension in the air, a lot of grunting, sighing and the occasional wail from someone. It seemed to me the stresses of event planning never ended. With such a large scale event, with countless people involved in different areas of business there was a lot of frustrations. The main issues seemed to stem from staffing problems and especially volunteers. The fact that the event was in Bunbury made it more difficult and the small storm like weather was not helping either. The weather however, was not going to stop this event, the weather was only going to deter people who were working and volunteering at event from coming. There was a lot of engaging phone calls happening with desperate plights for more volunteer and staff just days before the event as well as follow ups with vendors who seemed to be unreliable, clueless or un-contactable. Just writing about it makes me feel anxious let alone first hand dealing with the issues.

One of the things I love about Sunsets is their green initiative and shows their corporate social responsibility is that they bring to every festival they produce.  It is what really sets them apart from other events and music businesses the fact that they put a lot of effort into ensuring a green event that is helping our environment which is such a major issue in todays world. The Green initiative that was implemented at GTM was the 'Aluminium Can Recycling'. For GTM nationally they introduce a recycling program where $1.00 is added to the cost of every alcoholic beverage. Once you have finished your can, you crush it and take it back to the bar ticket tills for either, $1.00 cash back; or $1.00 off your next drink. This was to help increase the amount of waste recycled at GTM festivals nationally.

It was obvious that the event had taken a toll on everyone as I walked into the office on Wednesday morning after the event I noticed a lot of sniffly noses and absentees in the office. However, apart from the chaotic lead up, the event was extremely successful despite the weather, issues with staffing and other problems arising throughout the duration of the event. It just goes to show that even though a large scale event such as GTM has many issues and challenges throughout the set up stage, it is probable to say that with a collaborative team it is achievable to create a great event. I have learnt a lot through out the process of helping out and watching what has been happening and now fully understand the work needed to undertake major events.

With only a 5 or so more days left of my placement at Sunsets I have already started thinking about other places I would like to work in the future. I have been thinking of some place, that is the complete opposite to a business such as Sunsets just for the reason of furthering my experience and understanding different work environments.

Until my next and final post

Ella

The countdown is on!

SCOOPON OFFER

Due to extremely low ticket sales to the ball the Momentum team decided to run a Scoopon voucher for half price tickets to the Pink Ribbon Ball 2012. Scoopon members could purchase one ticket to the ball for $125 or two tickets for $250, usually the cost for one ticket to the ball.

This was a hard decision for Barbara to make as the cheap tickets meant they were selling for cost price and therefore she would not be making any money from the sales. As I do not use Scoopon I was unsure as to how well received the half price tickets would do on the discount website. Over the five days the deal ran for, Monday 24th of September to Friday 28th of September we were flooded with emails and phone calls with people wanting to redeem their vouchers! 136 people claimed the Scoopon voucher which brought the total guest attendance over 500 which was very exciting!

The Scoopon Voucher for the Pink Ribbon Ball 2012 on the Scoopon website

However, the only concern with the Scoopon vouchers was that once they bought the Scoopon voucher they were not guaranteed a place at the ball. They had to ring or email MFE with the voucher code to redeem the offer. There was then the concern that people would turn up to the ball without redeeming their voucher and therefore would not be on the guest list as they had not confirmed their voucher with MFE.

To resolve this problem we received a list from Scoopon with all the names of people who purchased Scoopon tickets so we were able to check who had not yet redeemed their vouchers. Once sorting through the list we were relieved to find that only one person who had purchased two tickets had not redeemed her voucher. Scoopon then contacted this lady and found out that she would not be attending the ball.

This meant that everybody who purchased a Scoopon voucher for the Pink Ribbon Ball had been accounted for and were included on the guest list.

TABLES of 10

Once the bookings were closed for the ball on Thursday the 4th of October it was time to start making up the tables of ten in the Bellevue Ballroom at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. This could only be done after the final guest list count which leading up to the week of the ball was constantly changing. There a few last minute people pulling out due to other commitments and illness and there were also a few last minute people purchasing tickets for friends. Once the total guest count was confirmed for 567 guests we then emailed PCEC with the total guest count and total number of tables we would be requiring which was 57 tables. PCEC then sent us through the floor plan with the correct amount of tables and it was time to start creating the tables!

We first started by placing the MFE table which included Barbara McNaught the CEO of MFE and her distinguished guests including the opposition leader the Hon Mark McGowan, the Hon Helen McSweeney and her husband representing the State Government, the U.S. General Consulat and the National Breast Cancer Foundation representative Kate Simpson. 

The MFE table was placed in the third row in a great position right next to the dance floor. We then placed the table with the MC's Alexa Coetsee from the Sunday Times and Mike Hopkins from Sky News, the two Auctioneers, the testimonial speaker and other important guests on the table next to MFE so Barbara could liaise with them directly. We then placed all the VIP tables which included sponsor tables and companies who had purchased a VIP Diamond table in good positions in the first few rows around the dance floor. Next to follow behind the VIP tables was the standard tables of ten and single tickets purchased. We made sure to put tables with breast cancer survivors in good positions as well.

We then placed the Scoopon ticket holders in the tables around the edges and at the back of the room. This is because they purchased the tickets at half price and were therefore not going to get prime positions. There were 16 tables of Scoopon ticket holders. The last table was the volunteers table which was placed in the corner of the room because we would not be sitting down a great deal!

This took a whole day just to organise who sat with who and where they would sit! Once the list of tables were complete, we sent the list to PCEC as they needed to print a copy to be used at the Ballroom entrance so people could see where they would be seated. However the list was never really final as during the days leading up to the ball there were constantly changes being made to the guest list. We also had to send PCEC a list of the guests including any dietary requirements they may have. There were many dietary requirements including Vegetarians, Gluten Free, No Soy, allergies etc. which had to be made clear to the venue. However as we did not receive all dietary requirements it was difficult to give an exact number.

MENUS, AUCTION CATALOGUES & RAFFLE TICKETS

We then had to confirm the Menus, the Live Auction catalogues and the Raffle Tickets so they could be printed as they would be displayed on every table on the night. The Menus were very similar to the ones used last year which made it easy. We had to confirm the blurb used for Brian Gardner Motors with John Gardner as they are the naming sponsors as well as confirm the blurb about the National Breast Cancer Foundation. PCEC would confirm the actual food served on the night. The NBCF were very specific about every time there logo is used, there needs to be the 'Proudly Supporting' written above it. We needed to go back to our artwork team to change this immediately. Everything else was perfect so the menus were ready to be printed.

The auction catalogues had to be confirmed with the auction item description, the reserve price with a photo or image included of the prize. There were 15 items included in the Live auction this year and each item had to have a photograph and description. Once confirmed the catalogue was then ready to be printed!

The raffle tickets were very similar to the ones used at the ball last year and therefore did not take long to produce. As the raffle item to be won are two Business Class return tickets to Paris, the raffle tickets look like boarding passes with the Singapore Airline logo used as they are donating the prize. Once the tickets were approved, 550 were ready to be printed.

VOLUNTEERS

As part of my role at Momentum, I also have to organise the volunteers for the ball on the night. Volunteers are a crucial part of the night as will help with checking and seating guests, selling raffle tickets, ballot bidding and silent auction forms and help as spotters during the live auction. As the ball will accommodate over 550 guests the volunteers will be helping with any queries guests may have and help to set up the tables before the night has started.

Due to my previous work experience volunteering at different events I already knew some people who would be interested and Barbara also had a list of people keen to volunteer for her events. I contacted the three people who I thought would be keen and they were all happy to accept and volunteer on the night. I emailed all 6 volunteers with information about the night; where to meet and at what time and what to wear on the night. Last year the volunteers wore customised t-shirts for the "Pink Ribbon Ball 2011" however this year we decided to just wear black cocktail dresses.

I am very excited for the ball and look forward to sharing my stories with you after the event!

Elizabeth Thomas
14848799

The world from inside a bear suit...

Loads of Work Behind the Scenes
One of the joys of working with an organisation that specialises in children is that there are a lot of fun activities you end up getting involved in. One of the biggest annual events put on by the PMH Foundation is ‘Wear a Bear Day’, which takes months of preparation. I definitely have a new appreciation for the work that goes into organising something like this! Next time you go to the shops and see a pen or badge at the counter to support some non-for-profit group, buy it!! Seriously, so much work goes into getting stuff out there!

The Value of Volunteers (and Social Media)

I have also come to appreciate how valuable volunteers are, without them organisations like the PMH Foundation cannot function effectively. Despite how much they are needed, to find people who are willing to help out is a huge challenge. I spent the week leading up to the big day hassling all my friends into volunteering to wear the bear suit and go out during the week to fill money tins with the Nova ‘Casanovas’ (check out pictures at http://www.novafm.com.au/gallery/wear-bear-day).  Some friends didn’t need convincing however. They were born to ‘be the bear’ (this is where Facebook events come in handy...social media definitely has a place in PR). There is nothing like enthusiastic volunteers, non-for-profit groups thrive on these kinds of people!

The Big Bear Day
Finally the big day came and it was my time to shine. I was in the city by 7am sweating it out in the bear suit while the other volunteers were freezing around me, literally shaking tins. I think I filled two tins in the time everyone else filled one…no one can resist giving money to a giant cuddly bear. I decided to milk the opportunity and bring out the best of my acting skills for the occasion. If dancing and getting down on one knee to beg for money doesn’t work, a ‘crying’ bear does. I felt like I had been in a sauna for hours but it was worth it just to see people’s reaction when they saw a big bear face peering in at them through café windows. Other volunteers were selling merchandise from a marquee and gave out balloons to the children. The Nova team were also there pumping music out the back of their Ute, which helped to draw crowds of people.

Lessons Learnt

In the city alone we managed to raise around $15,000 but plenty more came in later with the help of shopping centres and other partner stores who helped to sell merchandise. From the experience I learnt the value of volunteers and also partnerships with other organisations like Nova, food outlets and shopping centres. You really have to be able to sell your ‘cause’ well to inspire people to get involved and be enthusiastic about it. You need to be proactive and passionate about it yourself. Events requiring a lot of work before, during and after, involve a lot of teamwork and good communication skills as well. I will take all of these lessons with me into future PR practices, along with my amazing mascot-wearing abilities.

Note to aspiring mascot wearers: Don’t cross any streets while in your costume…you have no peripheral vision whatsoever.

Taking a break from actually being IN the "Stitches the Bear" suit

it's just not the same without Gravy... Part 3

Introducing to you… Gravy client number 3: The McComb Foundation.
The McComb Foundation is a burns research foundation founded by Professor Fiona Wood and operates as a not-for-profit. Gravy's main involvement in the foundation is organizing and managing every aspect of their annual charity ball – The Burns Challenge Ball. Other undertakings by Gravy include basic communication throughout the year via e-Newsletters, social media and website updates. However, most communication happens around ball time with relevant information regarding the event.
The Burns Challenge Ball 2012 will be held on Saturday, October 13. I have been with Gravy for about 9 months now, so have seen the last ball through and can’t wait to get this one on its way also. This year’s ball is particularly special because it marks the 10 year anniversary of the Bali bombings; where Fiona Wood travelled to and assisted in the emergency medical response for burns victims.

This week, Ivana set out a few tasks for me regarding our McComb contract. Firstly, there were ball related jobs to get done. This included updating the mail-outs (both by email and post) of the following documents:

·        Request for prize donations – this will be sent to both previous prize donors and potential sponsors and;

·        Request for volunteers – this will be sent to our volunteer database as well as selected university Marketing Schools calling for work experience students (including our very own PRSC, you may have remembered the email regarding the ball last year!)

As these documents had already been created for last year’s ball, they only needed a simple update of information.
Secondly, I was asked to find a multimedia expert or film maker to create a promotional video for our 2012 ball, using the footage filemd from last year’s ball. This film is intended to be used for promotional purposes via the McComb website and social media channels. As The McComb Foundation is a not-for-profit, the budget for this video is extremely small. Although Fiona hadn’t given us a particular budget to work with, I was set out to gather various quotes at the best price they could do for the foundation and thus work out the best solution from there. I contacted about 5 multimedia organisations, explaining to them The McComb Foundation and whether they could offer a discount and consequently be credited a McComb sponsor. I also took the initiative to contact various university multimedia departments and see if this is a project that could be offered to students as a work experience venture – surely it isn’t just us PR students that seek work experience! And apparently, it isn’t! Responses thus far are positive and will be discussed in a meeting with Fiona the possible path to go down.

My next task wasn’t ball related, but demonstrates how Gravy helps McComb in additional promotional ways to gain awareness and, most importantly, increased funding. McComb has recently had the opportunity to be affiliated with the wonderful initiative “Plates for Mates.” “Plates for Mates” is an initiative set up in support of the McComb Foundation and Matt Golinski, an Australian celebrity chef who, on Boxing Day, was in a horrific house fire which left him severely burned and his wife and three daughters dead. The foundation was set up by friends of Matt’s who aspired to support their mate through his recovery, whilst helping other burns victims – leading them to decide to partner with McComb. “Plates for Mates” has already received a huge media response (especially because one of the founders is MasterChef judge, Manu Feildel) which, in turn, also creates awareness for McComb. It seems as though most of my job has been done for me, right?! However, we wanted to push this as much as we could on our part also. This lead to my tasks of:

·        Creating a short newspaper style article which will appear on the McComb website;

·        Creating an email-out which was sent to our somewhat 600 person database (including sponsors, donors, supporters and previous ball attendees) and;

·        Telling the Facebook and Twitter world of the initiative via the McComb accounts.

Take a look below at the article I created for the website (alternatively, check it out on the website: www.mcomb.org.au)

 

And that is a very humble introduction of The McComb Foundation! However, there will be many more posts from me regarding McComb, especially as it creeps up to ball time in October!

Until next time…
--Sarah

communications community

Hey all,

For those of you still reading the last few incoming blogs - this is my final update. I've realised it does come a little late, but at least this way i can reflect on my placement.

I found that communications within my dept at Curtin are extremely crucial - as they are involved in so much community engagement if they aren't on the same wave length everything will crumble. As they are so a small department with little funding it is important that they communicate with one another to deliver a common message - this at times causes them some clashing and miscommunication.

"A mix of communication tools (one-way, two-way and interactive) is generally engaged in community relations programs. The tools reflect the four models of PR - press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric." (Grunig and Hunt, 1992)

It is vital that they begin to open their eyes to all methods of communications - as a lot of what they deliver seems to be quite one-way and it affects their success with students and volunteering. Which ultimately is a negative from the community that would otherwise benefit from their services.

As always - I had a blast and loved every minute of my internship..

Hope everyone else had as an amazing semester as I did.

Cheers,

Bec Curtin
13946236

Kieran Vanpraag - State Government Internship Program success !!

A big hello to the predominantly female presence in this blog and an ultra big pat on the back for all the lads that have stuck with their PR major, there seems to be quite a shortage of men in this industry for some reason!

So, this is my first blog (ever) and I hope it's a good learning experience for myself and throws a bit of helpful information your way as well.

As the subject reads, I was one of the 10 lucky students to be offered a State Government internship and I begin my adventure next Thursday. Although I have not been briefed exactly on my daily tasks and duties as such, the basis of my employment is to ultimately produce a conclusive document that outlines innovative strategies to retain and attract young volunteers to the Department of Sport and Recreation.

This will be achieved through conducting field research, focus groups, researching previous documents and strategies implemented in Australia and even looking internationally to find the most effective proven methods of securing volunteers.

I am very much looking forward to my working role and would encourage anyone who has not yet found their internship placement to seriously consider contacting Government departments and offering your services. I am not sure whether applications are still being accepted for the Internship Program but contacting Government departments through your own initiative would be looked upon quite favourably I would think and might just land you a position that was never even there to begin with!

I will end my first blog with a bit of advice passed down to me from a student who is currently doing this unit also. I won't name her but she will know exactly who she is :)

Quite simply she said, "The squeaky door gets the oil"

This can be easily applied to your everyday lives. If you apply for that dream job and miss out, don't close the door and rubber stamp failure on your head. Consider asking the employer if it is okay if you contact them once a month to find out about possible positions available. If the person hired happens to leave the job, you will more than likely be considered as you will be fresh on the mind of the employer.

Well, that is all for now but I wish everyone the best for this unit and hope that we all get a lot out of it including many stories, heaps of experience and a host of networking contacts that will help us in our first full time job after uni.

Take care and get back to study !

Kieran Vanpraag