Sponsorship in action!

Update! I’m now well into my internship and am finally getting a good idea of what Dine for Life is all about. Knowing the core ideas, values and purpose of the organisation is very important in public relations. Working in non-for-profit also poses some challenges but is also immensely rewarding.

The past few weeks I have been putting my gift bag pitch into practice, which has been daunting, terrifying but very satisfying. After practicing reading and saying the pitch to fellow co-workers, I made my first phone call to a local brand I thought would be appropriate for Dine for Life’s goodie bags whilst also be open to the idea of donating 250 individual products to a charity. I tried to be as confident as possible but quickly became nervous when the company began asking questions I wasn’t sure I knew the answers to. Knowing exactly what your organisation needs, why they need it and what we can offer the contributing company was essential to securing a sponsor.

After modifying and correcting my pitch I continued with phone calls. Because Dine for Life is 100% non-for-profit, meaning everyone is a volunteer and we cannot offer any money to our sponsors, the work can be quite difficult as you do not hold much power, when establishing relationships. After several bad responses, begging and pleading for sponsorship can be quite disappointing. Then finally success! After much persistence and pitching the ‘yes’’ started to roll in. My fellow events intern Sonja and I acquired five gift bag sponsors for Perth and six for the Melbourne event which we are also working on. The products are local, gourmet and artisan foods that align with Dine for Life’s purpose and mission.

When pitching to these sponsors, I had to explain what we could offer their company in terms of public relations benefits. I stated that each organisation had the opportunity to showcase their product to a wide demographic including; the hospitality industry; corporates; top chefs from 10 of Melbourne’s most prestigious restaurants; a number of media personalities as well as the general public. I also said that Dine for Life is a well-recognised charity across Australia and their brand will gain exposure through print and social media.

So far acquiring sponsorship has been both daunting and very rewarding. I have learnt that it is very important to knowing the core ideas, values and purpose of an organisation and that working for a non-for-profit can be difficult as you have little leverage and not a lot to offer.

Until next time,

Siobhan Herne

16153123

Summer Series - The Presets at Hotel Rottnest

The weeks are flying by at Zaccaria Concerts and Touring. We have been incredibly busy in the office lately with the finalisation of Kate Ceberano's WA tour, having sold sell-out shows in Perth, Albany, Bunbury and Mandurah. My last post described how we were experiencing difficulty with selling these shows and there was a chance of cancellation, however we pulled through and all concerts were a success.

Following on from this, we have been busy with the planning stages of The Presets at Hotel Rottnest as part of Rotto Live summer series - a subsidiary of Zaccaria Group and Hotel Rottnest together as partners. We announced The Presets exclusive WA performance last week and are promoting it with the tagline "The ULTIMATE Sunday Session", which my manager Pam and I decided on as a catchy and effective selling point. This particular event is safe in terms of ticket sales - at Zaccaria we know it is going to sell out because of the nature of the performing artist and the location, time of year, weather - so aside from sales, our main aim of this campaign is to raise awareness and hype of our brand Rotto Live and also our main company, Zaccaria Group.

The artwork my manager Pam and I came up with as the official promotional poster of the event

One of the main ways of raising awareness of this event and hence the Rotto Live summer series and Zaccaria Group, is by gaining the support of a significant sponsor. A key way of getting a sponsor on board is to design and develop an effective proposal, with the aim of winning the sponsor company's support because of the exciting content and details revealed in the proposal. Zaccaria's Marketing Manager Pam delegated to me the task of designing and preparing the proposal to send to Telstra Thanks in support of The Presets at Hotel Rottnest. Telstra Thanks is a promotional branch of Telstra, aimed at Telstra customers and poses as a customer loyalty program, much like Virgin's Velocity Rewards system. Telstra Thanks offers their customers the advantage of pre-sale tickets as a way of saying "thanks for being with us", where customers are able to redeem points and benefit from other loyalty-type promotions. For Zaccaria, having Telstra Thanks as the major sponsor of this event is a huge deal - we are having our event and our brand sent to Telstra Thanks WA customer database of over 50,000 people, which for us means a sell-out ULTIMATE Sunday Session at Hotel Rottnest. For Telstra, they invest a significant amount of money into our event which we use to help promote the event. Telstra then gains from the brand association with not only Zaccaria Group, Hotel Rottnest and Rotto Live, but also with The Presets.

So the preparation of this proposal to Telstra Thanks saw me conduct significant research on The Presets to develop a profile for the group, so that Telstra Thanks could identify in one or two paragraphs the significance and prestige of The Presets. I also had to search for recent artwork and photography to use in the proposal for the design and layout, which I developed in Microsoft Powerpoint and saved as a PDF - a very effective way of producing a succinct, professional looking proposal. The proposal also included tourism information on Rottnest Island and the WA market, so as to "paint the picture" for Telstra Thanks and basically outline the environment of the entire event on paper for them, to create an idea that would be as visual as possible.

After finishing the proposal and sending to Pam for review, we sent the proposal to the directors of Zaccaria for final approval, and then e-mailed the final version to the sponsorship and marketing coordinator at Telstra Thanks. Much to my delight, the proposal was successful and we now have Telstra Thanks as the major sponsor of The Presets at Hotel Rottnest. My research and copy on The Presets was also used on the Zaccaria website - check it out here to see a snippet of what I came up with.

With this sponsorship locked in, the next task was to start planning the radio and television campaign. Pam and I considered 92.9 and Nova93.7 as the key radio stations we would use for a radio campaign - however we had to choose one. To choose between the two, we liaise with the sales and production team at both radio stations to describe the event at hand, to which the radio station responds with their own proposal. Their proposal will include types of activities they will utilise to promote our event, timeframe, implementation, description and budget. From these proposals we are able to determine which station to use - in the instance of The Presets at Hotel Rottnest, Pam and I decided on both as we could target a significant share of our desired market. Listen out for our radio and tv campaigns in the next couple of weeks!!

There will be a lot of ticket give aways on both radio stations too, so make sure you tune in. Both proposals from 92.9 and Nova 93.7 were about 15 pages long and detailed some impressive campaign activities - here are a couple of pages from Nova 93.7's proposal.

I have found working on The Presets to be challenging and satisfying as I was only given the morning to come up with the proposal that was submitted to Telstra Thanks. I have found that most tasks in this environment are bound by time constraints and it is extremely important when researching or producing any work for publishing or professional, external submission, that it be correct and written tailored specifically for the target audience.

The hands on experience I have gained at my internship has been invaluable and really reinforces how important public relations, external relations and communications are imperative for business success, particularly in the music and marketing industry. Zaccaria have asked me to stay on after my internship, working for the company until the new year. I am excited to keep learning and gaining practical experience after the last three years of theoretical learning!

Til next time,
Delta

Managing sponsors through a crisis!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been interning at an equine welfare organisation called Second Chance Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation based in Bullsbrook.

Together myself and the Fundraising Coordinator have been busy planning a Fundraising Gymkhana, which for all those who aren't involved in the equine world, a show with fancy dress, games, show jumping and hacking classes. Hence it has something for everyone. 

I have been busy organising sponsors for the day as well as securing media coverage, with a number of newspapers preparing stories as well as photographers and journalists coming from WA's very own Perth Rider Magazine. It was all running very smoothly, until disaster struck and we were forced to cancel the Show, which was mean to be held on the 22nd of September in the suburb on Wungong.

Luckily due to the warning we gave many of our suppliers and the host venue, the charity received most of their investments into the event, back.

We sent out a number of media alerts and contacted journalists and editors first hand to tell them the bad news and to make sure no one drove all the way to the venue grounds on the day and found that it has been cancelled that way. We emailed all the Second Chance members, posted an alert on our Facebook page as we all the website and a number of forum pages.

It was my job to contact all the sponsors and tell them the extremely bad news. 

I did a mixture of emails, phone calls and letters, depending on how professional the business were, how eager they were to get on board and how they had approached the sponsorship. Many small businesses preferred personal phone calls whilst other "chain" establishments regarded the emails and letters as professional so they can easily record the situation.

Out of the 16 sponsors we had for the show, 14 of them understood the situation and were eager to be contacted about sponsorship for future events. Because we contacted them promptly, professionally according to their desire and gave them a large warning period before the event, majority were happy with how we handled ourselves and the image of Second Chance.

We issued the stock that was sent to us by the sponsors extremely fast, hand delivering it in some circumstances, whilst refunds and receipts were sent within 24 hours of the news going out.

Hence because we acted swiftly and transparently we minimised any negative impacts that could be placed onto Second Chance and have secured relationships with these businesses for the future. 

Negotiating Sponsorship

Leading up to Momentum's two annual events the Pink Ribbon Ball and Melbourne Cup Luncheon we've dedicated a large amount of time into securing and promoting sponsorships. Some times it seems as if we send out hundreds of sponsorship proposals only to receive little or no response. While this can be disheartening when you spend hours researching sponsors and personalising sponsorship proposals it's the reality for a charity organisation.  Although this has given me the opportunity to improve my writing skills and learn how to write a good sponsorship proposal that will attract potential sponsors.

The tips I have learned are:

• Don't use the words charity or sponsorship first in an email else it will be deleted.
• Personalise every sponsorship proposal directly to each potential sponsor.
• Always start with who the organisation is and what they are doing before flattering the potential sponsor.
• Always make sure sponsorship proposal conditions are correct else sponsors may be confused about what they should receive in return and demand more benefits.
• Never email all sponsors together without BCC all their addresses as you reveal your contact list and invade their privacy.
• Follow up on all sponsorship proposals to keep them aware of who you are and what you do.

But even if you write a good sponsorship proposal it doesn't guarantee anyone will sponsor you because there are numerous charities all vying for sponsors attention and companies only want to sponsor events or causes that will be beneficial to them. Momentum's CEO Barbara McNaught understands this as everyone is a business first and foremost so nothing is for free. This fact surprised me as I believed sponsors would donate items for free to the auction at the Pink Ribbon Ball but actually sponsors receive the reserve price back and the rest goes to the charity. But without these sponsorships Momentum would be unable to run these events to raise funds for any of their worthy causes. Therefore sponsorship contracts need to be mutually beneficial to ensure Momentum can support their cause and the sponsor can receive their moneys worth back in publicity. This involves actively promoting their association in all marketing materials and promoting their services to Momentum's members.

I conclude that sponsorship requires strategic negotiation but is extremely valuable when the right organisations come together.

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.

Finding the key to sponsorship in a charity context

For my internship, I thought the most rewarding experience would be to help out a charity or non for profit group, and I was correct.

Firstly, Second Chance Horse Rescue is a non for profit group dedicated to equine welfare throughout Western Australia. The organisation was established in 2006 and has rehabilitated over 120 horses, whilst improving the lives of countless others. Many of the horses that come into the charity’s care come from abusive or neglectful homes.

 The group rely heavily on the public’s donations and support, many volunteers help at fundraising events and foster the horses in care until they are adopted out. Many of these horses take years of rehabilitation and handling until they can be safely adopted. Gaining knowledgable foster carers is a major problem the organisation faces, this is an area I will be addressing later in the internship.

However organization is holding their annual Beginner’s Horse Show on Sunday the 22^nd of September at the Walangarra Pony Club in Wungong. I was trusted to create a sponsorship proposal and research potential sponsors.

Drafting a sponsorship letter was difficult as I have never done anything life that before, I had never created one throughout my uni life, luckily I found a large degree of examples on the internet to gauge the type of template that was needed.

So I got busy in  drafting up a sponsorship letter, coming up with sponsorship levels and guidelines. After that was set, I brainstormed with the committee in what benefits the organisation could offer to potential sponsors.

We came up with four levels offering a range of benefits from Facebook and website advertisement, printed advertisement in the show guide on the day of the event. Ring sponsorship turned into our largest offering as well as a free stall at the event for businesses.

The final sponsorship proposal was then submitted to the committee and that’s when my research began. Having been in the equestrian industry for most of my life I had a good idea to what businesses I should approach. I sent letters and emails to a range of stock feeds, tack stores, horse studs, vetinaries, riding schools, trainers, horse breakers. The committee agreed to focus on the equestrian industry for the time being.

My next dilemma would be to approach the committee in sending sponsorship proposals to local businesses in the Wungong area, it would mean alerting the sponsorship proposal but it might open up another key market.

We realised by invoking emotion and sympathy into these letter we got a better response by the equestrian community.  One slogan we used was "Help us to help them", we also used a number of before and after photographs depicting successful stories that the organisation has achieved. By creating sympathy for the horses and the conditions they are in, we realised the community was more willing to give. By seeing a photo on an unhealthy horse we received a greater reaction then by writing about it. I guess in this situation a photo does speak a thousand words. This approach was never been used before and we have seen a dramatic increase already in the number of sponsors compared to last year. 

After all it is a fundraising show.

I’ve had a very good response so far with many of the higher sponsorship spots already gone.  It felt great knowing that this proposal and my contribution may save a number of horses in the future. The funds raised will help provide the best medical care, training and general rehabilitation for the horses surrendered into care. It was great to know that the efforts I helped produce will give a horse a second chance at life.

Below is Second Chance's Ebony before and after she was rehabilitated 

Evaluations: the end but also the beginning

I’ve just completed the evaluation for an event and it has been a very rewarding process. I can see positive results from the hard work and am able to see how we can improve on future events.

I am also helping with planning for ‘Fruit and Veg September’¹. I usually love the feeling of starting on a new project however this one felt a little overwhelming. The ‘2 Fruit and 5 Veg’ message seems simple, but the statistics highlight the challenges we face:

•  World Health Organisation attributes 1.7 million deaths per year due to inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption, making it one of the top 10 health risk factors face globally.²

• According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012 yearbook only 6% of Australians eat the recommended daily serves of both fruit and vegetables.³ 

So where do we start… by looking at past strategies and their evaluations. This helped me see what has worked in the past and what hasn’t. It helped identify local public perceptions and barriers to adoption of the 2 and 5 messages. I was also able to see where grants, donations and sponsorship have come from and what types of stories gained media coverage. After looking at the evaluations I didn’t feel so lost and was able to start setting goals and planning for ‘Fruit and Veg September’.

Just as they taught us at university, in strategic public relations the evaluation is not only the end of a cycle but the start of the next one.

 

1: http://www.crunchandsip.com.au/celebrate-crunchsip/fruit-veg-september/   

2:  http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/fruit/en/index2.html

3: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1301.0Main+Features2362012

Moriarty's concert- The work behind it!

Hello all,

In my third post I would like to talk about Immedia's first major event of 2013 which was Moriarty's concert in Mauritius. Immedia's team organised that concert mainly for 'melomanes' and also with the aim to enable Mauritian public discover and appreciate their music. I was happy to be part of the organisation of the event as I got the opportunity to learn a lot about the PR work behind it.

As I said in my first post, a press conference was held to inform the media and hence the public about the forthcoming event. Thereupon I was asked to write a media release which was to be sent t media outlets by mail as a form of follow-up. Moreover I collected news articles about the band's concert in Mauritius which we also used as a form to measure our communication strategy.

In less than two weeks almost all the tickets were sold out. My supervisor told me we also needed to distribute tickets to our sponsors as the agency promised to do so before all the tickets were announced 'sold out'. He added that as an agency we cannot beak our promise to them as it can damage the organisation's reputation and that of course, it is not ethical.

I also got the oppotunity to go to 'Conservatoire François Mitterand' of Quatres-Bornes, where the concert was to be held, two days before the 'jour-j' to see if the preparations were going on smoothly.

The tasks I undertook on the day of the event, just a few hours before the start of the concert were: assuring everything was okay with the technical preparations (lights,sound,effects...),getting to know the team working on the preparation of the concert (technicians, musicians,...), checking if all the seats were well numbered, installing Immedia's banderole with the team ( even if you're a PR person, you've got to have muscles! Since it is a small team, like my lecturer said in PR 220 class, no one else is going to do it for you!) and welcoming the guests.

All I have to say about the management of the event is that it was a wonderful experience. The concert ended up being a huge success and I was glad that the entire team's days and days of efforts were rewarded. Also, I attended one of the most beautiful concert in my entire life. That's how fantastic it is to be a PR person!

Divya G.

Corporate Collective- Dining With the Big Cheese

Day One of the Fremantle Dockers internship; and what a day it was. Coincidently on my first week of placement it so happened to be one of the Dockers largest home games of the year, the Starlight Children Foundation Purple Haze game (Fremantle vs. Essendon). For the past 11 years the Fremantle Dockers have had a partnership with The Starlight Children’s Foundation and in honour of this partnership host a home game dedicated to raising funds for the foundation and its worthy cause. Subsequently the Dockers host a pre game charity auction lunch involving all of the associated Dockers sponsors (Big Cheese) as well a few special individuals who have previously and continue to support both the Dockers and Starlight.

So back to my first day.. Waking up like a kid on Christmas I jumped out of bed and made sure I was ready for an action packed day with my Coordinator. Having been informed the night before that we were hosting a function I spent the morning pondering over breakfast what kind of function it would be. Again by coincidence the day before it had been announced that legendary Essendon coach James Hird had been accused of partaking in drug use, how very scandalous! Not such good news for Essendon, however potentially brilliant news for the Fremantle Dockers Marketing and PR team.

Thinking back to my essential PR planning tools I immediately came to see the good and bad of the situation. A wise lecturer once told me that an issue that arises that may at first seem potentially damaging to your organisation, however if interpreted correctly could be utilised to a fantastic competitive advantage. So number one first lesson in media damage control; do not associate yourself with another’s problems when it is not directly connected to your organisation. Given we as the Events/ Marketing department would be directly communicating with the MC and media trained players to attend the event it was to be made very clear that absolutely no comments would be made in regards to the Essendon incident.  

Now you can guess at why we were told to disassociate ourselves from Essendon’s unfortunate series of events. Do not make comment, stay out of the frenzied media debate, simple. However, the other side of the story is not so clear. How does Essendon’s woes work at a competitive advantage for Fremantle? In terms of Marketing and PR function the media frenzied whipped up by national and state would direct what was predicted to be one of the highest rating games in the Southern Hemisphere apart from the Grand Final of course- In other words the whole of Australia would be watching the game on Friday anticipating what James Hirds’ next move would be. Would he crack under the pressure or would he rise to the occasion?

But I digress, back to the pre-game function. All and all the function was a huge success. A charity auction was held with all proceeds going to the Starlight Foundation and a very worthy cause. Players auctioned the items with a special mention going out to Chris Mayne, the auctioneer extraordinaire! Our MC was very entertaining keeping up the witty banter throughout the two hours that the function was held for and I must say the food was delicious once I figured out it was actually ok to be the intern and eat just like the other guests, phew! And finally you would be pleased to know that no mention of the Essendon debacle left our MC’s lips. Well maybe just once, but that can be our little secret right?! 

On a bit of a sour note Essendon defeated the Dockers, so yes James Hird held up quite well in fact. Oh well you can’t win them all, great game I say! 

A taste of working in events

A couple of weeks ago I had a tremendously exciting time at my work placement attending and helping out at not one but two Scitech events! One was the adults only evening, Scitech After Dark, that I had done promotional work for. The other was a Rio Tinto Partnership Day where the collaboration between Rio Tinto and Scitech was celebrated.

Both events were a tremendous success with tickets for After Dark selling out and the Rio Tinto Partnership Day saw both Scitech and Rio Tinto families alike having a fantastic day out enjoying the range of exhibitions and shows that had been brought along to the Claremont Showgrounds. 
This event was planned after Rio Tinto’s declaration they would be renewing their partnership with Scitech for a further five years showing the decade long partnership is still going strong.

At the event I spent the morning with Scitech photographer Miles as he made his way through the venue setting up shots with children interacting with Scitech staff and exhibits. It was my job to assist with setting up shots as well as interviewing children’s parents. This involved ensuring photo release forms were signed as well as identifying what area families were from and discussing what parts of the day families were enjoying the most, in order to gather any quotes that could possibly be used in a post event press release.

This was fast paced and I had to work quickly but efficiently – ensuring that I didn’t miss collecting the details of any children before moving onto the next shot – but also making sure I was having calm and enjoyable interactions with the families rather than making them feel as though they were being rushed. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and valuable experience.

That evening it was time for the next event – After Dark. After seeing that a blurb I had sent off to the Weekend West had been published in the events listing of Seven Days I was feeling pretty positive about the heavy promotion that had gone into the night. And it definitely paid off!
Hundreds of science and sci-fi enthusiasts wandered the floor exploring the exhibitions – many of whom were dressed in their best impressions of various science fiction characters. It was incredible to see everything come together and all the visitors enjoying themselves and embracing the theme of the evening.

To top the evening off we had social photographer Cheyne Tillier-Daly respond to a media alert I sent out the week before who then came down and took photographs for the West Australian on the night. These were published in the Wednesday paper on 17 April.

Putting My Game Face On!

Sunday the 31st of March was the first home game for the West Coast Fever!
After spending every Wednesday in the office for the past 5 weeks I was itching to see everyone’s hard work pay off and finally be a part of such an exciting large scale sporting event.

I arrived fresh and ready for action at 8.30am on Sunday morning. The game didn’t commence until 11.10am but there was so much to do prior to the game. The first thing we needed to organise and set up was the ‘Business club. The West Coast Fever Business Club is a new initiative for 2013 which has been designed as an exclusive corporate networking club allowing business members and sponsors the chance to network and enjoy exclusive parking and catering at the exclusive pre match function. In preparation for this I helped Denise (Marketing Coordinator) and Daniel (Marketing Manager) set up signage around the stadium and in our Business Club room. The majority if this included setting up tear drop banners and pull up banners as well as making sure the PowerPoint presentation and microphone were ready to go!

At 10.00am business club members started to turn up, I stood at the door and greeted the members as the came in and ushered them into the room. At around 10.15 speeches were made by the coach, Norma Plummer and also the business club ambassador and previous player, Susan Fuhrman. As members mingled and enjoyed food and drinks I went around and collected business cards for the business card raffle. I managed to speak to the chairman of Netball WA, the Chief Executive Officer of the Water Corporation and other representatives from our sponsors including Rosendorff, Nova, Telstra and the Sunday times. I also did a quick head count to see how many people attended the event for our reference and for future comparison.

After an hour of mingling and eating the business club members made their way down to their seats to watch the game. The business club had been a success! It ran very smoothly and we received some good feedback from people. What a relief! But the work for me and the marketing team had only just begun. I then helped pack up all the signage and clean up the business club room.

We then made our way down to the courtside and managed to watch the second half of the game. I felt very privileged to be sitting courtside, watching what unfolded to be a fantastic game of netball! The West coast Fever won 80-53 over the Northern Mystics. It was Fever's highest ever score in the ANZ Championship, beating their previous best of 67. Everyone was on high and so happy with such a big win, what a great start to the season!!

After the game the players came over to the stands to sign posters and other merchandise Denise and myself made sure that all the players had a permanent marker, and that they distributed themselves round the stadium evenly, we didn’t want any fans to miss out! Whilst this was going on, I also kept an eye out for Emily (Media and Communications Manager) who signaled me to send players over for interviews with FOX Sports and SBS. I then assisted in packing up the remaining signage and making sure everything was collected, tidy and in our storage container which is located out the back of challenge stadium.

 After the game the players and netball WA members as well as fans are all invited down to the boulevard in Floreat for post-game drinks and socialising. After everything was packed up and done at challenge stadium I made my way down to The Boulevard for some well-deserved down time. Daniel, The marketing Manager (and my boss) bought me a drink for all my hard work for the day, but I made sure I only had one and kept things professional. Finishing up, I left the boulevard around 3.00pm and went straight home for a nap, I was exhausted! What a day!

Today’s game day experience allowed me to realise the importance of networking and building relationships with an organisation’s members and its sponsors. Being a part of the business club has already given me a chance to make some valuable industry contacts and I am looking forward to developing my relationships with these individuals as the season goes on.

Today’s game also made me appreciate the amount of organisation, preparation and hard work it takes to pull off a sporting event like today’s game. It really requires a dedicated team of individuals pulling together to make everything run smoothly. Bring on the next home game for the fever! Let’s hope they can make it another home game win!

Rebecca

PS: If anyone is interested in coming to the games, you can find tickets and fixture information at

http://www.westcoastfever.com.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=Main

Event PR - SurfStitch SurfAid Ball 2013

During my internship with SurfAid, a large part of my role has involved working with both the PR and Event Management departments on the inaugural SurfAid Ball in Sydney. This year the event was held at the spectacular Star Entertainment Centre, which overlooks the harbour and Sydney CBD! Tickets were sold to over 400 guests, with the event being attended by several Australian surfing legends, it was an incredible experience to be part of.

Prior to the event it was important to consider all our major sponsors and VIP's attending the event and incorporating these into the photography and videography briefs. Maintaining positive sponsor relationships is vital to non-for-profit events, as these allow companies such as SurfAid to put on nights such as the ball, which raise much needed funds and awareness for a great cause.

One thing I like to do before arriving to events is having a print out of all the VIP names and their positions along with a small headshot so that I am easily able to recognise these faces and make we get the right images captured on the night. I then liaise with the photographers and videographers and run through the media brief and the VIP list to make sure we all familiar on what needs to be done and can then communicate effectively on the night.

Other important part of setting up for the night was to make sure all sponsorship material was placed appropriately on the tables (this took a long time as you can imagine with 400 places to set) but was vital to maintain relations with event sponsors and promote their support and brand on the night.

Prior to guests arriving the media board was set up in a pre-determined location, although on the night the photographer and myself has to make some last minute decisions regarding lighting but thankfully it all worked out! Once people started arriving it was my job to greet guests and usher them to the media board and get their photos taken (tougher than it sounds not too many people like getting their photo taken it seems...) writing down names to match the images and also making sure the photographers and videographers had copies of the names.

There are so many parts involved with an event that all come together as an essential part of making the post event media process a lot easier! I have learnt a lot from this event in regards to the fine (but crucial) details that need to be regarded to ensure that media, sponsors and guests are kept happy. This is so important as this means that future events will have these past positive relations to draw from and can then build on these to make future events a further success. Event PR is definitely an area I want to pursue in the future!

Newbie In The Workplace

Public relations internship is definitely an essential path in helping students to land lucrative positions in the field. It provides us opportunities to be involved in the decision-making process rather than just theoretical learning, more importantly it allows us to get a vital experience in the real world working environment. 

The role of being an intern-assistant in Momentum Forum Events associates with many challenges which include multitasking, fast and creative thinking, stimulation and effective communications. It is so much more than being a coffee girl in the office who manages minor tasks for the boss such as arranging schedules, printing documents and getting break beverages. The variety of my daily work tasks involves the following:

·            Managing incoming email inquiries

·            Researching and sourcing potential sponsors

·            Helping to prepare sponsorship proposals

·            Liaising with venues and suppliers

·            Communicating with the media

·            Aiding in the development of media releases, radio advertisement scripts etc

·            File management and data entry

·            Producing electronic newsletters and other related documents; and sending to database contacts

·            Assisting in updating the Momentum Forum Website

·            Event assistant

Since this is my first office-type job I struggled at the beginning. I need to type faster; I was so nervous I could not spell the words; I was not sure how the email system works etc etc… Although I was so new I was picking up fast. I remember once the boss told me ‘you’ve done well today’ at the end of my shift I was really happy. I could not explain the brilliant feeling when I looked through the work tasks I had done for the day – there were big amounts of sponsorship invitation emails, contacts lists and more. 

The biggest thing I learnt during the first few shifts of my internship is that quality is definitely more than quantity – the fewer the words the better. People in the real business world are extremely BUSY; no one would have the time to read through your 40+ pages document, sometimes I wonder why us university students do it so much. The success key is to be straight to point, I have now totally comprehend why they say it’s all about quality rather than quantity. I couldn’t help it wondering if Barbara – CEO of Momentum has even read through the 29 pages media strategy plan I conducted for her two weeks back as I started my internship. I think the best way to approach strategies is to go straight into the innovative ideas and benefits; I have some ideas regarding the use of active social media event promotion, I need to think about an effective way to communicate the pitch.

Another issue I have come across with during the first days of my internship associates with professionalism and confident. I can be a very shy person in the new environment; sometimes I totally lose my confident and speak in a very soft voice. There was a time I was asked to make a phone call to confirm a corporate contact detail with one of the manager’s assistant, I spoke so quietly the person over the phone could hardly hear me even after I repeated myself numerous times, it wasn’t professional. After the phone call my boss told me that I must speak louder and be more confident. “If you don’t speak with confidence you have no value, how would people listen to you when they can’t even hear you” my boss said. She was extremely right. I need to work on my self-confident and overcome the language barriers. Barbara is also an immigrant and she has a Polish accent, but she always speaks in a strong and persuasive tone. I want to be an independent and powerful woman in the workforce like her.

The learning journey can be tough but there is so much to gain. I must challenge my limits and surpass them. 

Not-for-profit doesn't mean no business

Hi, my name is Alfinda Agyputri and I recently started my internship at Baptistcare. I'm working under the Events Officer Laura McRae in the PR & Marketing Team, or what they call "Strategy and Innovation Department". I'll be interning here for 10 weeks, doing two days a week on Mondays and Tuesdays. I work at the Support Services Office, which is the main office, in Welshpool. 

In my final year of studies, I realised my interest in not-for-profit sector compared to corporate or consultancy because I prefer being committed to a cause rather than a business or a company. I chose Baptistcare because being a Christian I like the idea of working for a Christian organisation. Baptistcare is also student-friendly, so I thought it would be good for me to be interning with an organisation that actually puts effort and care in mentoring the students. 

I used to think of not-for-profit organisations as being small and having "minimal organisation", but it's certainly not the case with Baptistcare. It is an extensive organisation with more than 1400 staff, 13 residential aged care facilities and 8 retirement villages, as well as disability services and community aged care spread across metropolitan and regional WA - and the organisation is still growing.

Baptistcare main office in Welshpool

I began my first week on 4 February. I attended the weekly team meeting where they went through everyone's to-do list for the week. So my tasks were:

1. Update the media contact list

So far Laura has been relying on email addresses she found on different media websites, but she wasn't sure if the press releases she sent ever reached the right people. Laura also asked me to look at options for media monitoring services because Baptistcare doesn't monitor its media presence. I suggested to do media monitoring internally because it was too expensive to outsource it to another company. 

2. Interview two clients for stories to go on Reaching Out, the quarterly magazine. 

One of them is a father with two young boys with autism who recently moved into a new home. The other one is a resident at one of the aged care facilities who was reunited to an old friend she hadn't seen for 30 years through the Baptistcare's 40th Anniversary advertising campaign. Having done a second major in Journalism, I really enjoyed writing interview questions and thinking of the story angles we could do.  More story ideas came in and I was asked to interview people for three more stories. One of the stories has been published on the Baptistcare website and issued as a press release. You can see it on news or media releases.

3. Think about how to utilise some free paintballing tickets that were given to Baptistcare by a sponsor

4. Think about re-working Baptistcare website

We had another meeting to discuss the Baptistcare Annual Recognition Award Night to be held in September. We looked at different venue and theme options, and discuss various concerns that need to be addressed based on last year's feedback. After that Laura asked me to proofread the sponsorship document for the event. I gained an insight into event planning in the real world and what is involved with obtaining sponsorship.

My first week has given me a taste of doing PR in a real organisation. I learnt how to communicate with people both internal and external to the organisation.

Alfinda Agyputri

14977363

Curtin Bentley

Different chanllenging experiences through internship

How is everyone? I think most of you have finished with your placement? This week I have been putting a lot of effort on poster designing as The Global Good Foundation are going to celebrate its 5^th Birthday on the 3^rd November!

We went to see the venue and now it's my job to get the poster done so we can send it out as an invitation! 

We have decided that there will be a separate party for the kids, so visitors can bring their children along. This is the poster that I made for the kids party!

On a different subject, I had the opportunity to go to Parliament house with Tanya Dapagne, CEO of Global Good Foundation, to do a Minute of Noise with Members of Parliament on the steps of Parliament House. It aimed to let people know that it is ok to speak out about situations of domestic violence!

This was really a great opportunity for me to widen my horizons by seeing all the members of Parliament in action!

Tanya brought me to meet up with one of our providers who sponsored us with T-shirts at a really cheap price. Tanya said it is crucial for public relations to bargain, as well as keep a good network with our sponsors; it is really important to an organization, especially for a non-profit one.

Therefore, Tanya assigned me and another event management intern, to go and ask for sponsorship from local business as we are looking for vouchers or gifts for a raffle and auction. I found this task really difficult since shopkeepers were quick to refuse us on account of numerous people asking for the same thing every week.

We had been practicing a lot on how to approach and persuade them to donate some prizes for us. However, we didn't even have the chance to speak. This was quite demotivating.

I hope I will experience some success next week! Good luck everyone!

It's Spring think Pink!

Media Release to Published Article

My supervisor and CEO of Momentum Forum Events, Barbara McNaught head that two men from Perth were going to attempt to climb Mt Kilimanjara next year to raise money for Breast Cancer research. We immediately contacted the two men to see if they wanted to come on board with Momentum and come to the Pink Ribbon Ball to help promote their cause. The two men, Ryan Thompson and Greg Chapman both from Acton Southern Suburbs Real Estate both agreed to attend the Pink Ribbon Ball in pink suits to help promote their cause and help gain publicity for the ball. 

After they agreed, Barbara instructed me to write a media release promoting the fundraiser and the ball. This was quite daunting as I had not written a media release in a long time but was up for the challenge because I knew it would be great publicity for the ball. Once I had completed the media release, Barbara checked it and we had to think of a catchy headline. We agreed on "Men in Pink" and then sent the media release out to Barbara'a media contacts. We sent the media release to The West, The Sunday Times and the Western Suburbs Weekly newspapers. 

Almost immediately Linda Parri from The Sunday Times, a sponsor of the PRB replied and said she would love to write an article. We gave her Ryan and Greg's contact details so she could ask them a few more questions and organise a photograph for the article.

A few days later, on the 9th of September, I was reading The Sunday Times when I stumbled upon the article in the Confidential section. I couldn't believe my eyes that something I had written and helped to produce was printed in the newspaper. The article look wonderful, I was thrilled that the hard work had paid off and was in a great position in the newspaper!

More exciting news for Momentum!

Each week it feels as if we are sending out hundreds of sponsorship emails asking organisations to become a sponsor of Momentum Forum Events. Sponsorship is a crucial element at MFE as this makes the events possible. The emails get sent to large organisations including mining and oil companies, banks, car dealerships, wine and beer houses and financial companies. Finally, we got some exciting news! Savoir Faire Cosmetics decided to come on board with Momentum as a Diamond sponsor.  Savoir Faire also came on board with the naming rights for the International Women's Day event in 2013 and a Diamond sponsor for the Pink Ribbon Ball 2012 and the Melbourne Cup for Canteen luncheon 2012.

Savoir Faire Cosmetics infuses global expertise with personal experience to fashion a line of cosmetics that delivers what it promises with elegance. Their make up range offers the choice of sheer to intense lasting coverage, ensuring their products re the perfect complement to your everyday life and beyond. They recently gained the naming rights to the Savoir Faire Perth Fashion Week and were the makeup brand used for all of the shows.

After liaising with the Savoir Faire team back and forth over email, the contract was created and once signed, SF officially become Momentum's newest sponsor. This meant I had to activate their sponsorship by putting in place all of the benefits they received as a Diamond sponsor. This included updating the website by putting SF in the competitions pages, adding the SF logo to the PRB flyer, reprinting the flyer with the new logo, sending the new logo in the correct elements to The West and The Sunday Times for the print advertisments and sending out a new e-newsletter announcing the new sponsorship to the data base of 8000 people. 

Point & Pay

After a series of advertisements for the PRB were published in The West, The Sunday Times, STE and the Western Suburbs Weekly, the final two were published last week, Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th which included the Point & Pay barcode (see image below). This was very exciting as I never knew how the barcode worked but was excited to see if it would see us more tickets.

Now that the final advertisement for the PRB have all been published, we are now still trying to sell as many tickets as we can! The hardest part of my work at MFE has been trying to sell tickets as this year it has been incredibly slow. 

I look forward to more exciting news next time.

Elizabeth Thomas
14848799