Bright and early start but well worth it....

This weekend I volunteered at the Gold Challenge event and had an amazing time! I was given the role of sports presentation runner. In this role I was a runner for the team in the sound and technical box, as well as for the commentator Rob Walker, whose voice you may recognise as he regularly commentates on many sporting events including athletic competitions and the on-course commentator for the London Marathon.

Up bright and early (with my alarm set for 5:30am) I made my way to the Olympic stadium, I was lucky enough to be able to see the whole event and a lot of the behind the scenes work going on. This allowed me to gain further knowledge of the industry and a real insight into how problems can be caused and solved in the face pace environment which is events.

The event had various celebrities present, with the likes of Paul Potts, Spellbound from Britain’s got Talent and also Dionne Bromfield performing.  All of the runners were truly inspirational all raising massive amounts of money for their charities. A final surprise on the day was a marriage proposal from one of the participants in the race, it was a complete surprise to everyone, including his now fiancé (of course she said yes!). There’s even a news article about it; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17577353 . I have to admit a little tear did come to my eye.

I would recommend volunteer work experience to anyone who is interested in events management, not only does it give you the invaluable experience needed but also allows you to make contacts, put your knowledge into practise and most of all have fun, And yes it will be worth the early starts!

Final assignment and visit to the Olympic stadium

A slight apprehension but also relief flooded over me as I clicked the submit button on my final assignment of the year. The assignment was a research proposal for next year’s dissertation, and I have to say it has been one of the hardest this year….save the best till last as they say. Although it was difficult with the right reading and research, as well as asking my tutor about 500 questions each tutorial, I got there in the end.  Although this may mean my assignments are all finished for the year, I still have the dreaded exams in May to revise for, but before I start all of the revision, myself and my fellow event managers are off for a celebratory drink and making the most of this lush weather!

This weekend, on Sunday 1^st April 2012, I am extremely excited about volunteering at the Gold Challenge. The event gives people the opportunity to complete a variety of different challenges; these involve the 2012km challenge, Olympic sport challenge and a gold challenge in a gym. Participants raise money for various charities whilst completing their challenges. The event will include various performers; have some participants completing their challenges on the Olympic track and a parade around the Olympic stadium finishing on the track for all the participants who have been raising money through different challenges prior to the event, giving them the chance to have a unique experience inside the stadium.

 

All the information about the event can be seen on the website: http://www.goldchallenge.org/index.php

Prior to the event I have been given some training about what role I would be doing, about the event and also getting a tour of the Olympic stadium and areas of the Olympic park which will be used for the event. Although there is still work going on down at the site it was an amazing experience being able to walk round the Olympic stadium and actually getting to walk on the track and yes, whilst I was walking on the 100 metre track I did pretend I was Usain Bolt. Unfortunately I am not able to show any pictures from inside the Olympic stadium due to the works still taking place inside the park and the privacy surrounding the park but I feel extremely lucky that I have been able to see these areas, and even walk on the ground which the athletes will use in the Olympic Games. I will keep you updated how the event goes J

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/02/bbc-sportsrights

The Big Presentation!

It was time…..the big presentation! After working and preparing on the group project since September, the pitch was finally here. The project was based on the brand LUSH, as a team we had to create, plan and pitch our ideas for the brands stand at the Mind, Body and Spirit Exhibition.  The project was lengthy and took a lot of work from the team, encountering a few problems along the way. But, we pulled through and working right up until the final day running through our pitch constantly. After practising for most of the day, and having lectures in between, it was our groups turn to pitch. Nervously we made our way to Hamilton House, following the signs to the LUSH presentations. We then set the room up with our presentation slides, a mood board, model and various other elements we had created to highlight our idea to the client. Then it was time to call the client in to pitch our idea.

 The presentation went really well, all members coherently put across our ideas and thanks to the hours spent practising no one went wrong. Also, as we were very familiar with our idea we were able to answer all of the questions asked, something we were all worried about.

I was so relieved once the presentation was done, and although there was months of work spent on the pitch it was a really interesting project which I will take a lot away from. Now just to wait for the results, hopefully all the hard work paid off in the end…..fingers crossed!!!

Here is the mood board which our team created for the pitch, which symbolises all of our ideas. What do you think our theme was?

After a few well deserved drinks with my fellow event management students to celebrate the pitches being complete, the next day I was back in the library getting on with all the other assignments.  

I also have been to another gig, in complete contrast to my usual choice of genre; I went to see The Wanted at the O2. I took my younger sister, who also happens to be a massive fan of the band, along as well as a shopping trip to Westfield’s. She travelled up to London to stay with me for the weekend from my hometown and I had a great time as it’s always nice to see the family; who I haven’t seen since the Christmas break. The gig was proper pop gig with everything you would expect from the band. The only thing I would say is that I think I still might be slightly deaf from the screams of the hundreds of The Wanted fans in the arena that night!

 Source: http://thewantedmusic.com/gallery                                                                              

Here we go, blog number one!

So at the moment things have been a bit hectic juggling the numerous assignments which I have due in over the next month, seeing me in the library and computer labs has been a regular occurrence, but slowly I’m making my way through them.  Also there has been serious practise for a group presentation which I’m doing next week; although nervous our group has put in lots of work to make sure it’s the best it can be, so fingers crossed all goes well. As well as University assignments I’ve also been working and have been in contact with various event organisations and charities to get myself some work experience and offer my help to the charities involved , my diary is my life saver to stop me forgetting everything!

But it hasn’t been all work and no play; I have been attempting to have a social life. I recently visited the Event Production Show 2012, this is a trade show aimed at the events industry at the Olympia in London. Whilst there I made sure to check out the exhibitor stands, watched some of the singers who performed and attended one of the seminars which the event had to offer. The seminar was about the trends and spends of the Olympic games and what affects its set to have on not only London but also the events industry. A discussion from a panel of industry experts which included representatives from various event related companies and also the commercial director for EC&O venues (they oversee the events at the Olympia where the show was and various other venues). The seminar gave me some interesting insight from the events perspective about the impacts the Olympics have had leading up to the games, currently and trends thought to be happening after the games. Whilst the seminar was happening I was frantically taking notes about everything they said as it was extremely relevant to my studies and also gave me many ideas for topics for my dissertation which I am giving loads of thought into at the moment!  I really enjoyed the show and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the events industry, another plus point its free to attend you just have to register.

Source: http://www.eventproductionshow.co.uk/

  

Also something I was extremely excited about was going to see Snow Patrol at the O2!!! It was an amazing night and Snow Patrol definitely lived up to my expectations and were giving me the chills through most of the gig, and I was having to hold back the tears when they sung a beautiful duet with Lissie (who is amazing in her own right) of their song Set the Fire to the Third Bar and of course Chasing cars!! An amazing night!!!! 

Source: http://www.theo2.co.uk/event/snow-patrol-2012-20120210.html