Open Day was held on a beautiful sunny Sunday, and everything went better than we could have planned for. We got to the University about an hour and a half before people were due to arrive, as there were still things to be set up. On the day, everything went as planned, and my role was mainly to help manage any enquiries coming on through social media channels. Myself and another lady from the public relations team, were also tasked with managing the social media, in terms of raising awareness of events, taking photos, and we even managed to get #OpenDay trending.
The day was amazing, with each of the educational departments at Curtin having massive marquees, and entertainment everywhere. Nova arrived, as well as a petting zoo, 10 roving entertainers, two bands, a human soccer table, a human venus fly trap and food everywhere.
We managed to have more attendees at this year's Open Day, than any other previous event. We had 17,500 people arrive, and thankfully, there was no need for our emergency response action plan.
The week after the event, Asha and I attended meetings with many of the people/departments involved in Open Day. These were to note down any suggestions for the following year, to thank everyone for their effort, and to brainstorm ways we could out do ourselves next year.
The event was great, and it was amazing to see all our hard work come together. However, it did mark the final fortnight of my time with Curtin's Marketing and Public Relations team. I have had so much fun, and I found working within a big organisation, which include a huge number of people from different departments, coming together for the one project, really enjoyable and exciting. During my time here, Asha and I attended many meetings with people from Marketing, Public Relations and Media departments, and everyone was always encouraged to voice their ideas, including me. Asha was an amazing person to work with, and I can't thank her enough for giving me the opportunity to help her. She showed me how important being organised is, and just how much you can achieve when you are.Working with the Curtin team was so enjoyable, and everyone is so good at what they do. What I took from my time at Curtin was, how important good communication is within such a big organisation. It takes a lot longer to get things done, when you're working with so many people, but the end results, can be, and were great.
Showing posts with label curtin events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curtin events. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Open day is looming..
In the few weeks leading up to Open Day, everything we'd been researching and preparing for, was being locked in. A lot of time has been spent on the phone with different companies, to make bookings for Open Day. We've been locking in entertainment including bands, roving entertainers, carnival rides and a petting zoo!
Practical items on the day such as portable toilets, and furniture has all been booked. Asha and I have also met with a gentleman from the company who we've hired the marquees from, and we've made a mud map of where everything needs to go. The marquees are enormous, and because of their size, need to be set up a week out from the event.
Asha and I also made lists of any signs we would need for the day, and sent them off to the company who would make them for us. Signage for the event needed to be made for Open Day, in order to let people know where certain activities were being held around the campus. It was also my job this week to proof, and proof again, the program, before it was being sent to the printer.
Other practical jobs, such as making up rosters for the volunteers on the day of the event, as well as meeting with student ambassadors, to discuss their roles on the day of the event, also had to be done in the weeks leading up to the event.
Finally, an important task Asha and I completed, was meeting with the Operational, Health and Safety Officer at Curtin University. She discussed with us any risks that may occur, through the activities, and plans we had for the Open Day. In the meeting we noted everything she said, and we made a document filled with information on how we would go about avoiding these risks, and what we would do in the case that they were to occur. Another aspect of the meeting was to make an emergency response document, that included phone numbers of who to call, if something was to go wrong on the day.
Doing all these tasks, helped me realise just how much effort, time, and money, goes into preparing for an event the size of Open Day. Our to-do lists never seem to get any smaller, no matter how much we get done, however, lists and recordings of what we have done, and on what days, has helped me to keep track of our progress over the past month.
Practical items on the day such as portable toilets, and furniture has all been booked. Asha and I have also met with a gentleman from the company who we've hired the marquees from, and we've made a mud map of where everything needs to go. The marquees are enormous, and because of their size, need to be set up a week out from the event.
Asha and I also made lists of any signs we would need for the day, and sent them off to the company who would make them for us. Signage for the event needed to be made for Open Day, in order to let people know where certain activities were being held around the campus. It was also my job this week to proof, and proof again, the program, before it was being sent to the printer.
Other practical jobs, such as making up rosters for the volunteers on the day of the event, as well as meeting with student ambassadors, to discuss their roles on the day of the event, also had to be done in the weeks leading up to the event.
Finally, an important task Asha and I completed, was meeting with the Operational, Health and Safety Officer at Curtin University. She discussed with us any risks that may occur, through the activities, and plans we had for the Open Day. In the meeting we noted everything she said, and we made a document filled with information on how we would go about avoiding these risks, and what we would do in the case that they were to occur. Another aspect of the meeting was to make an emergency response document, that included phone numbers of who to call, if something was to go wrong on the day.
Doing all these tasks, helped me realise just how much effort, time, and money, goes into preparing for an event the size of Open Day. Our to-do lists never seem to get any smaller, no matter how much we get done, however, lists and recordings of what we have done, and on what days, has helped me to keep track of our progress over the past month.
Team Work
I've been doing my professional practice placement at Curtin University within the Public Relations and Marketing Department. I have been working directly with the Project and Campaign Consultant, Asha Selvendra.
Our main focus was Curtin's Open Day. We were in competition with the four other major tertiary institutions in Perth, who were also holding their Open Days' in the week surrounding Curtin's, so not only did we have to make sure everything was organised in time for the event, we also wanted the event to be fun, innovative, and entertaining. Our main priority in the first few weeks has been the program for Open Day.
I have worked with all the different education departments within Curtin, Health, Science & Engineering, Humanities, CBS, and in order to sort out the program/guide for visitors on the day. I have been finalizing lecture and activity times, to make sure everything that gets printed in the program is correct. The design coordinator within the marketing department, Angus Souter, has also been working with the graphic designer in charge of the design for the program. Asha and I have been meeting with Angus, to finalize designs for the timetable for activities and lectures, maps, and other images that will be included in the program.
My first two weeks really showed me how massive a job planning Open Day is, and how important it is to be very well organised. Small tasks such as the program, take up so much time, and involve a lot of team work and coordination with separate people in order to get the job done. Asha and I have spent a lot of time meeting with different people to ensure that the program is printed on time and correctly.
Our main focus was Curtin's Open Day. We were in competition with the four other major tertiary institutions in Perth, who were also holding their Open Days' in the week surrounding Curtin's, so not only did we have to make sure everything was organised in time for the event, we also wanted the event to be fun, innovative, and entertaining. Our main priority in the first few weeks has been the program for Open Day.
I have worked with all the different education departments within Curtin, Health, Science & Engineering, Humanities, CBS, and in order to sort out the program/guide for visitors on the day. I have been finalizing lecture and activity times, to make sure everything that gets printed in the program is correct. The design coordinator within the marketing department, Angus Souter, has also been working with the graphic designer in charge of the design for the program. Asha and I have been meeting with Angus, to finalize designs for the timetable for activities and lectures, maps, and other images that will be included in the program.
My first two weeks really showed me how massive a job planning Open Day is, and how important it is to be very well organised. Small tasks such as the program, take up so much time, and involve a lot of team work and coordination with separate people in order to get the job done. Asha and I have spent a lot of time meeting with different people to ensure that the program is printed on time and correctly.
Monday, October 4, 2010
ACEN Conference Happenings
Hi All,
One of my main responsibilities while working on the ACEN National Conference 2010 was to produce the conference booklet which will included the conference program, and plenty other helpful information for the guests and delegates attending the conference.
The Friday before the conference I went into minuteman press and picked up 210 conference booklets (which looked too awesome) and by Sunday the two other interns, Jim Elliott (our supervisor) and myself were busy running a bit of a production line to put together 210 conference bags. 210 doesn’t sound like much, but its amazing how much time and space it takes, especially with all the little bits and pieces that we were asked to include into the bags. From the amazingly brilliant conference booklet (I made it), to the equally exciting City of Perth brochures (City of Perth have done well for themselves with those brochures, I was impressed) to the little things such as a note pad, and many many pens which ill be using for years to come.
At this stage, it seems to be the cool thing to insert a photo ( possibly of the conference bag). However, I shall not conform and you will not get to see this conference bag I speak off!!
And then Tuesday came along, woke up with a sore throat and a runny nose, and was at Curtin by 8am for the first day of delegate registration at Curtin University. Luckily I had my soothers with me combined with plenty of tea and coffee that was provided for the conference to keep my sickness from taking over.
Tuesday was not the first official day of the conference, there was only two of us manning the registration desk and helping delegates find their way to their workshops and around campus. Later that day we also had to make sure everything was set up and ready to go for Wednesday.
Wednesday is when things started getting really busy as we had to register the majority of the guests, help with any inquiries, as well as help presenters pre-set their presentations onto the computers in lecture theatres and other rooms used for the conference and deal with any other issues that pop up on the day. We had some Volunteers to help us out and they were absolutely great, however the three interns (Matt, Tash and myself) still needed to make sure that everything is running as smoothly as it possibly can.
Thursday and Friday were more of the same but not as busy as the Wednesday, simply because guests started getting used to the Campus and the way the conference works.
One of the things I learnt from this conference is that every little aspect of an event or a job someone does is important, there are no “not significant” aspects and that was demonstrated through the conference when a microphone did not work and a whole session was put on hold which could’ve potentially delayed following sessions and all of that was caused by a dead battery. This goes to show that attention to detail and getting the all little things done is what contributes to the success of the project as a whole.
All in all, there were no major issues that we had to deal with and the conference was a success. Plenty of positive feedback was given in relation to the work done by Jim Elliott and the three student interns and I was very happy to see that my booklet was used by all the guests as a source of information and even happier to receive a few compliments regarding the book.
This is it for today, I hope that by now most of have at least thought of starting you report.
Goodluck!!
Issa Maimoun.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
PR393@Curtin - Award for Excellence ceremony!
Hey everyone!
It’s great to see how everyone’s almost done with their internship. My manager was just asking me the other day when would be my last day, and upon checking the calendar I realized that I’ll be ending my internship exactly one month after I started. Pretty fast, isn’t it? I don’t want to imagine the nostalgia that’s going to hit once I submit my report. :(
Anyway, enough of digressing – let’s move on. I read back on my previous post and realized that I’ve forgotten to do a short introduction of what the department I’m interning at does – my apologies! Well, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m carrying out my internship at Curtin’s Business School’s (CBS) External Relations. That said, my department deals and maintains relationships with external stakeholders that are important to CBS. That includes CBS alumni, representatives from various organizations that CBS liaise with for events, members of the CBS Advisory Council and Boards of our respective schools, and many more. External relations also takes charge of CBS student chapters – setting up of such chapters and bringing its members together through events.
Since my last post, I’ve had the opportunity to attend an event planned by my department – The Awards for Excellence ceremony. It recognizes the cream of the crop, or to be more specific, the most outstanding student from each school. It was certainly a rare opportunity for me to be present and to experience such a prestigious awards ceremony.
Unfortunately, by the time I started my internship, the event planning was well underway so I only managed get a glimpse of the end of the process. I was asked to give assistance to put the door gifts together. The door gifts were chocolate truffles from Lamont’s, placed in a simple black box with a pretty red ribbon. It goes perfectly with the black and red theme.
That's quite a bit, isn't it? This is only what I've done. We had two other persons helping with this too! Nonetheless, it was really fun.
On the day of the event, I was asked to help set up road signs within the school. I don’t know how most of you would feel about doing something like that, but for me, I was just glad I could play a part (even if it’s the tiniest
bit) in helping put the event together. So I assisted one of the marketing girls (they’re the planners) while we ran around school putting up signs . They even hired one of those huge electronic/digital road sign (the one you would see on campus near the gym). They definitely put in a lot of thought into every aspect of the event. From what I’ve heard, some of the visitors commented that that was their first time not getting lost on our campus. WAY TO GO! :)
Here's a photograph of what it looked like, so you have a better image how it was like. It was held at the John Curtin Gallery, which is near our university's bookshop. It was my first time being there. The place looks amazing. It's a pity I haven't had the opportunity to explore that gallery - it sure looks interesting! As you can see, even the lights were red. Everything looked really, really good!
And of course, a photograph of the pretty boxes! :)
I thought these pictures would make my post more interesting, hope you guys enjoyed looking at them.
What about you guys? I'd love to hear if you have any interesting events to share. :)
That's all I have to share for now. I'll be back soon.
Til then
Signing off, Michelle.
It’s great to see how everyone’s almost done with their internship. My manager was just asking me the other day when would be my last day, and upon checking the calendar I realized that I’ll be ending my internship exactly one month after I started. Pretty fast, isn’t it? I don’t want to imagine the nostalgia that’s going to hit once I submit my report. :(
Anyway, enough of digressing – let’s move on. I read back on my previous post and realized that I’ve forgotten to do a short introduction of what the department I’m interning at does – my apologies! Well, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m carrying out my internship at Curtin’s Business School’s (CBS) External Relations. That said, my department deals and maintains relationships with external stakeholders that are important to CBS. That includes CBS alumni, representatives from various organizations that CBS liaise with for events, members of the CBS Advisory Council and Boards of our respective schools, and many more. External relations also takes charge of CBS student chapters – setting up of such chapters and bringing its members together through events.
Since my last post, I’ve had the opportunity to attend an event planned by my department – The Awards for Excellence ceremony. It recognizes the cream of the crop, or to be more specific, the most outstanding student from each school. It was certainly a rare opportunity for me to be present and to experience such a prestigious awards ceremony.
Unfortunately, by the time I started my internship, the event planning was well underway so I only managed get a glimpse of the end of the process. I was asked to give assistance to put the door gifts together. The door gifts were chocolate truffles from Lamont’s, placed in a simple black box with a pretty red ribbon. It goes perfectly with the black and red theme.That's quite a bit, isn't it? This is only what I've done. We had two other persons helping with this too! Nonetheless, it was really fun.
On the day of the event, I was asked to help set up road signs within the school. I don’t know how most of you would feel about doing something like that, but for me, I was just glad I could play a part (even if it’s the tiniest
bit) in helping put the event together. So I assisted one of the marketing girls (they’re the planners) while we ran around school putting up signs 
Here's a photograph of what it looked like, so you have a better image how it was like. It was held at the John Curtin Gallery, which is near our university's bookshop. It was my first time being there. The place looks amazing. It's a pity I haven't had the opportunity to explore that gallery - it sure looks interesting! As you can see, even the lights were red. Everything looked really, really good!
And of course, a photograph of the pretty boxes! :)
I thought these pictures would make my post more interesting, hope you guys enjoyed looking at them.
What about you guys? I'd love to hear if you have any interesting events to share. :)
That's all I have to share for now. I'll be back soon.
Til then
Signing off, Michelle.
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