Second internship wraps up- 20/20 MSL

I decided with the extra time I had, to take up another internship, and luckily got one with 20/20 MSL, a public relations agency. Once again, I have never done any PR work (just a bit of press/reporting work before) so thought I'd give it a shot!
I was offered an at home position to write various articles for this agency. Although writing has never been my strongest point, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to hone up my writing skills while staying at home. Various topics that I wrote about (with research of course) included smart homes, green environments, construction booms, sustainable cities, and the concept of neighborhood. Each essay requirement was about 800-1000/2000 words. Doable I thought...

I just now completed my final article and sent it in for editing. Hoping to take a look at the final published articles very soon! I did gain a whole lot more confidence in my writing through these assignments over these past few weeks. I also learned how to conduct thorough research while managing time wisely. These are life lessons that I will carry with me in whatever it is I pursue.

This summer has definitely been a productive one! Looking forward to more opportunities yet to come for me...

Wizcraft Summer Internship Comes To An End....

So it has been a successful journey for me at Wizcraft. 
I interned there for almost two weeks and it has been an interesting learning experience for sure!

Although this was mostly an office job, I learned the entire process of planning an event for various clients. 
From indoor activities to weddings to award ceremonies, Wizcraft plans everything! 
As interns we were responsible for meeting the clients' needs. 
By attending my very first business meeting with a client, I got to learn exactly what to say and how to act in front of the client.
A client's needs are very important for every event management agency, because it ultimately leads to the event's success or failure.


Attending my first two events, one of which was a conference and the other a wedding, I learned different aspects of event management. 
Mostly, I learned how to act professional. 
As representatives of Wizcraft, it was extremely important to perform our designated jobs and nothing more. 
We were not allowed to interact much with the clients, and were expected to remain in the background.

Now that I have a much better idea of event management, I realize this is what I want to pursue. However, I'd like to be in charge of organizing and planning events. I prefer to be more in the forefront. Perhaps, I'll get that chance in the near future through the experiences I've gained here....

Day 9 and Day 10: Another day at the office

Mostly venue searching for the ongoing event and another one coming up real soon...


I had to call some more hotels and resorts for venue searching. We are still looking for a large enough venue to accommodate over 200 people. We ended up calling several locations and asking for various details regarding the event. The most important detail is of course the cost to make sure it fits the client's budget. The location should also be in a convenient area for the client. If it is extremely far away, transportation is another aspect to consider. If there are any kind of deals or benefits given, then that should also be mentioned to the client. 


All this information must be put together in a power point presentation for the client. Several venue options should be given so that the client is not stuck with just one choice! Pictures, floor plans, and amenities mentioned always help to brighten up the presentation. While contacting the various hotels and resorts, we did face a few challenges. Of course, some of them were too expensive while others didn't have the required space. An event management agency's job is to overcome these obstacles before presenting information to a client. 


Less challenges = Happy clients = Successful Event! :D


This event will be taking place at the end of July. 

*In venue hunting, several options and all the necessary details should be provided in order to satisfy the client. The less challenges the client has to face, the easier their job becomes!*

Day 8 spent at another mind-blowing event!!

Although today was a Sunday, we got to attend another awesome event organized by Wizcraft! This event, a wedding was very uniquely set up. All interns and employees were needed to make this event successful.

When I first got to the venue, the preparations were still being conducted. I was able to see how the decorations were put up and how the space was being organized for all the guests. There were several people that were needed to make this event grand and successful.

As an intern, I practiced an important aspect of event management known as crowd management. Crowd management is exactly what it reads. The job is to usher in guests and manage the general crowd. The hostesses were mainly responsible for welcoming in guests, and we were responsible for making sure they did their job. Before the briefing meeting, we had to make sure all the hostesses looked presentable and were placed in the appropriate locations. The hostesses were responsible for welcoming common guests as well as celebrities and ministers. We needed to be in charge of running things smoothly. Although there was some confusion (which is common during an event), we had to get everything under control and keep things running.

Mostly, crowd management required us to stand the whole time (or about 4 hours), so it was slightly exhausting…

Crowd management, although it doesn’t seem like much, is a very important job of event management. As there were many celebrities and ministers present at the wedding, it was our job to treat them in a special manner. Occasionally, I had to monitor other venues and make sure the hostesses were doing their jobs well. They had to keep smiling and welcoming the guests in a pleasant manner. All in all, we were responsible for setting the first impression for the guests at this wedding.

The event lasted for about 4-5 hours. It was a really unique experience. Not only because I witnessed a traditional ceremony, but also because I contributed to organize it. 

Here’s a pic of me all dressed up for the event:

*Crowd management can be a small job, but it is a key feature of event management to keep things ORGANIZED and PROFESSIONAL.*

Day 7 at my FIRST EVENT!!!!!!!!!

So I attended my very first event today! And had an absolute blast!!

I had to arrive at a hotel where the event was taking place. The job was quite simple. It was to hand out microphones to audience members speaking at a conference. Along with that, I got to hear many inspirational speakers speak. The theme of the conference was: India is Changing, We need to Change to Win. Majority of the time, I was standing and listening to the speakers. Twice, I got called up to present bouquets to the chief guests. We also had to distribute some packages to the audience members. 

What I learned is that as an intern at Wizcraft, I was representing the company so it's very important to remain professional. Proper dress code is required. Since this was a corporate conference, we had to dress in formal attire.

I had to remain focused and alert at all times in case something was needed by me. Communication between other interns and representatives is also very necessary during an event. The event should flow smoothly without any errors. Luckily this was a rather simple conference which lasted the whole day. But, a great presence of mind was needed at all times. After the event ended, we were provided lunch (which is always nice). :)

I enjoyed my first experience at an event. I got the chance to learn about an interesting topic of discussion and also speak with a few people. As a Communications and Journalism student, I wanted to   seize this opportunity to the fullest, which I think I did. Looking forward to attending more upcoming events in the future!

*As a representative of Wizcraft, professionalism is expected by every employee or intern in MANNERISMS, ATTIRE, and CONDUCT.*

Day 6 goes well...

Another day of venue searching went well today. I continued to work on putting together a list of venues for one of the ongoing projects of Wizcraft. It's very important to be specific when doing this type of work. I researched online and found several options, but all the necessary details must be provided. 


There will be another event happening towards the end of this month as well, for which there's not much time to prepare. So, it was my responsibility to search for venues again. I had to call up the locations and ask for a floor plan, amount of space available, and research the costs. Then I had to put all the information together in a power point to send to the client. The information needs to be specific (again) and be as thorough as possible. This sets a good impression of the event management agency. Everything needs to be made easy for the client through our suggestions. Otherwise, it just does not work! 


It was an interesting learning experience today. I had to adjust and understand how the whole process of venue searching works. The information that we search must serve the client's needs, whether that may be a large, open green space, a conference hall, a banquet hall, a resort, a large theatre, etc. The most important thing is to keep the client happy. 

*A successful event only occurs when the client's needs are served and the client is content.*

Day 5- interesting activity

One of the events Wizcraft is working on, is an ongoing one since the beginning of this year. There are many ‘Wizzes’ (employees) hard at work to make this event successful. The head Wizzes for this project are responsible for planning and coordinating all the activities and updating information on the website. They are constantly checking their emails or answering phone calls to keep everything organized.

To ease their stress a bit, I try to contribute in any way possible. Today, I spent the whole day researching potential convention centers (in each city) to hold the final part of the event in September. The convention hall needs to hold anywhere from 1000-3000 people. I am putting together a list of various halls in each of the 9 cities. This is one of the many steps needed for the preparations for the final part of the event. The grand finale has to be BIG and has to go off with a bang!

*Strong COORDINATION leads to good ORGANIZATION leading to a successful event.*

Day 4 at my first meeting

So the IIFAs (Indian International Film Awards) just ended this past weekend in Singapore. Wizcraft was the agency behind this whole sh-bang!

For the past few years, Wizcraft has been organizing the IIFAs in different locations from London to Toronto, Malaysia, and now Singapore. Many representatives of the Wizcraft team were present at the IIFAs this past weekend, and one of them was the General Manager of Wizcraft in Chennai, who I met today.

From our very first meeting, he asked me to pitch him some ideas to re-create the traditional lighting lamp ceremony conducted during inaugurations here in Tamil Nadu. In the limited time I had, I had to be innovative and think out of the box. Some of the suggestions I came up with included using incandescent lights, Christmas lights, or lights from cell-phones instead of the traditional candles. A little different, but think he liked the ideas...

Anyway, then I was asked to accompany him to a meeting. Being my first meeting, I was a bit nervous. I brought along a notebook to jot down notes and we ended up at another agency to plan an event.

Although I mostly listened and took notes, it was so cool to hear the different ideas being thrown around. Ideas were needed for pre-promotion, post-promotions, MC options, venue, and date fixing.

*Event planning is a step-by-step process. But it mostly begins with brainstorming IDEAS.*

Day 3...

One of the most common softwares used for graphics designing at Wizcraft is Adobe Photoshop. It can be used for various things such as cropping pictures, retouching, painting, adding icons, and editing videos as well. Today, however our graphics designer used another type of software (I don't recall the name) to design stage layouts.

Many of the events that Wizcraft organizes require stages for performances, ceremonies, hosting, etc. There is an event happening in Amsterdam soon. So today I got to see our graphics designer create the full layout of the stage for that event. It was pretty cool.

There's also an event happening this Sunday that Wizcraft is organizing. The layout for that stage incorporated a dance floor, floral stands, seating areas, etc. Software was used to draw out each design in different shapes and sizes in a particular pattern. It gave an accurate image of the final stage product. These layouts will then help the clients to visualize potential options for the stage patterns, eventually re-creating them based on their own preferences.

Here are some cool photoshopped images (found on Google):
                     

       

               

                      

*VISUALIZING can help in planning. Use of various softwares can be necessary to do so.*

Day 2 at Wizcraft Internship

In day 2 of Wizcraft, I got to play a bit more of an active role...


Today I got the opportunity to show my creative side. I worked closely with one of the employees to help create written briefs for one of the activities of an ongoing project. 
Now, I helped to write a few creative reminders for participants for a contest.


It said: "Calling out to all musical geniuses, hope you've been working hard on your compositions. Bring out the Mozart in you!" Or..something to that effect.
The graphics designer then created the final layout using Adobe Photoshop software. It was laid out on a black background with splashes of color and musical instruments surrounding it. With a funky feel to it, the final draft turned out to be pretty awesome! 


This final draft was then sent to the head managers of the contest. I'm hoping they like it. 


Other than that, the rest of the day included observing and learning. I am looking forward to some more creative hands-on work to do in the future...

*CREATIVITY plays a key role in all aspects of event management*

My Internship at Wizcraft (Chennai)- Day 1

What is Wizcraft?
Wizcraft Entertainment Private Limited is one of the world's largest event management agencies with offices established all over India, UK, UAE and other parts of the world. Responsible for organizing events, Wizcraft aims to integrate creativity with knowledge, communications, and technology to produce spectacular events, such as the International Indian Film Awards (IIFAs) as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2012.

Why Intern Here?
Well, I'm majoring in Mass Communications and Journalism. So far, we've learned lots of cool things relating to advertising, public relations, reporting, TV, and radio! I suddenly had an urge to explore the event management sector. I've always liked organizing and planning projects, through community and student leadership programs. On top of that, I like to see the end result of all the hard work.
That's why I decided Wizcraft was the perfect place for me to share my experiences and explore the possible options!


So how was the first day?
It was an interesting first day, mostly a learning experience. 
I met with the account manager here at the Wizcraft branch of Chennai. 
Before I began the day, I went around introducing myself to all the other workers/interns. A few had been working there for several months whereas others just barely started. Each team manages different kinds of events. 


Basically, as an event management employee, one is responsible for working on the themes, budgeting, planning the operation, designing the stage layout, and various aspects of each event. Then it is put together in a power point presentation and sent to the clients for approval. There's also work on websites, data planning, updates, and coordinating through phone calls and emails.


Although I wasn't able to contribute directly today, I was able to observe, ask questions, and learn bit by bit. Hoping I can learn even more from today onwards, and then soon be able to apply in real life. 

Let's see how it goes!

*Every aspect needs to be properly planned. And for that, people need to be behind it.*