Last week I was a volunteer at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide Awards in Scotland. This is a big event for the Scottish PR industry as the best PR agents are awarded for their hard work.
As it was a formal event, I had to dress up.
It was interesting to attend the award from backstage. There are so many people involved in such a big event. When I arrived at the Sheraton hotel with the other PR students volunteering for the events a few hours before the event started camera men were testing their gear from the back of the room while caterers were given instructions about their responsibilities.
Our first tasks were to help out with putting quiz cards, brochures and pens on the table before the guests arrived. Some of my fellow students were tasked to register the guests when they arrived.
We were all told to tweet from the event. So I did:
Interestingly my tweet about the opening was liked by The Church of Scotland.
To learn from the best
Three of us were responsible for handing the trophies and envelopes with the names of the winners to those who were announcing the winners from the stage. Since I am not familiar with the PR industry, this gave me an opportunity to see the best PR practitioners up close and learn the names of the best agencies. I am looking forward to read the winners case studies when they are published, as it is a great way of getting inspiration and learning what makes a campaign successful.
After my duty as a trophy handler was over, I enjoyed a free meal before I attended the after party. As I have not been wearing high heals for a while, my feet hurt. Luckily had our meal in a separate room, so none of the guest got to see that I took off my shoes while I was eating. I guess that is one of the advantages of working backstage. Hopefully nobody noticed that I changed into boots for the after party.
Ina N. Moe 