Cherry's Note
Do the things that worth for you to do!
"It such a pleasure to be part of this dynamic, teamwork and challenging working environment. Though we are just an outsider that help out for their one day event, I believe that it is a worth spend mid-term break for choosing the option to go for the opportunity."
Volunteer Experience: Ps Live
1. Preparation
We have arrived to the venue earlier than we have expected to the place named “Cooking house.” The place looks like a normal living area with a bit of modification for the interior design and furniture and it can be considered as a luxury house in my first impression.
We have been told that event is going to be held exactly in this venue whereby the media specialist will come to attend cooking competition that held by Columbia Asia. As a volunteer under Ps Live, we have been getting the privileged to be part of the event organiser crew for a day. Journalist, reporter and photographer will be our guest include the CEO and its stakeholder of Columbia Asia.
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Setting up the banner as the request from the client, so that invited guest are able to identify and notify the location of the event properly. Bunting and stander are being given by the client to decorate the whole venue, so that it enhance the professional competition atmosphere in the venue.
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Flower crafting is the first ever experience that I have gone through in my life. I have never can imagine that I am doing it and it takes me *artless people to cut, decorate and position it properly on the white transparent glasses. It seems challenging for both me and my peer, however we managed to find the way after being guided by our one-day colleague.
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The original table is very plain with its typical white colour, therefore team has set the dine-in table properly with the sufficient and colourful utensils. A bottle of mineral water, empty glasses cup, plate mate, glass mate and high absorbent blue-coloured tissue and a bottle of crafted flower has been set up on the table. Voila for the end image of the decoration! In addition, not forgetting the voting card that each media will be entitled to, as their media choice award.
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Timekeeper is a task that I have been in charged on, so that I am able to remind everyone that it is the time for them to move from one session to the other. Though in fact, it just an additional and alternative in case everyone is too busy in handling their role during the event processes.
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Waitress as to help out in serving the food sample to the media and judges. Distributing 9 sample of food and clean up the dirty plates will require a lot of energy to go back and forth from the first to the second floor. I am secretly counting it as the part of the exercise for myself and enjoy if a lot.
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Assistant of the Master Ceremony where we are going to showcase the prize to the Chef as the excitement opening to the media personnel too. You can find me in the picture that is showcasing the awesome silver pan to the champion of the day.
After so much preparation and decoration on the venue itself, we have come to an end of the preparation where the briefing session will wrap up everything. We will gone through the assigned role with the transition of it in between the scheduled session accordingly. Trial and error has been found during briefing, each of the crew remind each other roles and open communication in between has helped to avoid unnecessary misunderstood.
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On the other hand, Media Relation Practitioner will come upon and greet the media personally and direct them to have a seat. After the arrival of all necessary VVIP guest, chef and media personnel, finally the Master Ceremony that act by the General Manager of Ps Live, Mr. Josh officially start the event according to the agenda.
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The foremost session might be the opening speech of the CEO of Columbia Asia, one of their client. Then it continue with the introduction of the Chef that is going to compete for the title of the Delicious Healthy Food Dishes that is meant to Diabetes patient.
2. Execution
Our main role is to greet the media personnel that is coming to attending the event and has to stand by 30 minutes prior to the official event to be started. The Star, Utusan Malaysia, Malaysia Kini, Sin Chew Daily, different field of bloggers and the other 20 media representative has been listed in the registration check list.
Press kit with different kind of languages, such as: Malay, Chinese and English has been given to ease the journalist in their write up. It consists with the agenda, booklet about Columbia Asia Hospital, Speaker and judge profile. Meanwhile, from the Columbia Asia side they have provided goodies bag that consists of sticky notes, mini first aid kit and mini notebook to their guest.
3. Closing
Cleaning up is the most common thing that every organizer will do after the post-event. The cleaning process is very fast, as every single of us has done it effectively and efficiently. Next, they are continue to do briefing session for tomorrow event as they are going to spread the free food of all those chef dishes to all patients of Columbia Asia and at the affordable price to visitor of the Columbia Asia hospital.
It is well said on the work life balance, so right after the event, we are dropping by to Ps Live office and have a great time with them for a dinner in wonder mama restaurant.
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The competition will be done on the second floor of the building and a bell ring of the clock-in will be done by the CEO of Columbia Asia. The first 15 minutes of the competition, all media are allowed to take a picture and observe the competition progress. The other remain 30 minutes will be continue with the speaker from the medical field on the first floor. Basically it is going to cover about the diabetes disease in order to give the insight for the media in their public awareness article write up.
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Lastly, the voting session with its result has come out with the almost competitive result in between the competitor. Prizes has been given and the photographer of the media is taking the picture of the participant of the competition to end the day and the whole event itself.
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After 45 minutes, the food presentation time to the judges by 9 Chefs that comes from the different states in Malaysia. It looks gorgeous from the picture that they queue up for the food display session. In the following the food serving to the media will be given out in a consecutive row with the plating that has been given with the number to avoid biasness.
Insight to myself!
Though I have helped out a lot of event prior to this volunteer work in my Extracurricular Activities in my university life. However, it still an eye opening for me as the first time to work under the PR agency company outside Taylor’s University event. Maybe the above roles that has been assigned to might not be a complicated role or it may sounds like a lower level of job scope, but it gives me an insight on doing variety thing in just one day event.
It is not a typical corporate world that we have seen in the mainstream media, whereby the team is very small and close to each other as a family. A feeling of being welcomed or being seen as the part of them really makes me enjoy to work with them even though is not being paid. It proves that whatever theory that you have learnt and heard from your academic class might be helpful, but again it is the experience that matters. It is the combination of both that will help you in applying it in the real working world.
