Working at St Marys Youth Center - Essay Example

of the Working in Events A: Progression since Interim Stage The experienced gained from working at St. Mary’s Youth center has helped me to be immensely knowledgeable. I have been able to clearly understand the different concepts used and followed by the youth center in relation to event management. Understanding the nature of the job has improved my flexibility in terms of creativity and on the spot thinking. Moreover, the experience has given me the advantage of working in an environment that requires responsibility as a leader. With most of the workers been volunteers under 18 years of age, the center, has enhanced my leadership skills in terms of working in teams and supervising. Positive attitude and the ability to withstand critics is another skill that has enhanced my skills set and ensures that I can work well under immense pressure. Timing is a factor when it comes to event management and as an assistant event manager, learning to ensure the event is on time is crucial. The youth center is mainly involved in youthful events; the nature of this demographic has enhanced creativity in terms of the events. Communication is important in achieving successful events, which is crucial in regards to the demographic (Gregory, 2010). I have learnt to establish a systematic approach to events by establishing schedules, tasks, and responsibilities involved in the completion of tasks. This experience has allowed me to look into the goals and objectives related to events management as a course. In addition, it has allowed me to look into the strengths and weaknesses in character in regards to my choice of career. As I assess these strengths and weaknesses, I have developed an ability to critically evaluate my work ethics and relations with others. B: Objective Self-Assessment My experience working at the youth center has impacted and perfected my skills in approach, communication and positivity. Teamwork is an essential part in event management, and working at the youth center has improved my relations to other employees. Event management jobs require one to be detail-oriented, organized, energetic, nurturing, and flexible in order to be successful as an event manager. Therefore, working in the youth center has allowed for more understanding on the type of work an event manager does. As an assistant event manager I have learned the importance of been organized in terms of suppliers and time management. The setting of St. Mary’s Youth Center’s organization culture is made up of teamwork and non-hierarchal type of management. This environment has given me the confidence to put forward proposals on different events that the youth in the community can be involved in. Through this role, my skill in writing good events proposals has improved my communication skills in written and verbal communication. Learning to assign duties during the coordination of planning the event has improved my sense of leadership. Moreover, having good leadership skills and maintaining the same temperament without becoming emotional has been a lesson well learnt. Working at the youth center has exposed me as a leader in managing and coordinating teams of people with different ideas. It is important to note that, leadership in any field is important as it helps to enhance communication to subordinates and senior management alike. My experience in planning, organizing, and coordinating a team has made me a team player in every way. Communicating to clients requires etiquette and friendly tone to keep the client comfortable; this is a lesson I have learned well from working with youths in the center (Allen, 2010). I have been equipped with presentation skills in form of media and using conferencing presentation techniques. Delivering a well-understood presentation that is simple enough to be understood by clients is important in event management. This skill will ensure my future clients benefit when they receive my services. Public relation is another aspect of event management in the youth center; it was important to relay information to the target audience with catchy titles attracting crowds. Public relations in event management ensures clients are kept informed by ensuring updates of contacts (William OToole, 2009). C: Discussion of Transferability of Learning from Level 4 To 5(Year 1 to Year 3) Study Event management and planning require certain skills including accounting, which is crucial in attaining the correct budget. Budgeting in this case allows one to operate within the financial limits entrenched in the budget of the event thus no overspending. Financial skills are among the most crucial in ensuring success in event management. This skill will enable me to write well-structured financial reports in regard to suppliers and materials required to ensure success in event management. Event planning can be voluntary and can also be taken in business concept. Therefore, understanding these concepts will ensure future success in ventures for profit maximization. It will be important to run feasibility studies to identify problems and opportunities in successful event management. This skill will help me to define the goals and objectives of events proposed by clients to materialize the event. A good feasibility study will help in better decision making; this will improve my skills in cost effectiveness when it comes to facilities in the event. Moreover, it will be important to write a business plan, which consists of proposals and plans for critical management of events. These skills will be critical for an event manager in order to help in managing and coordinating the different aspects of event management (Allen, 2010). Critical understanding of all the course subjects is essential as they all form a part in ensuring success in event management. Operations of event management are crucial but to be of great success, they must be geared towards enhancing customer satisfaction. From the placement, I noted the importance of customer satisfaction due to return clients with immense donations. Marketing is another essential and crucial part of event management. At the youth center, I learned it was important to market and spread the word on different events. As an event planner, it will be important to understand the elements of marketing, especially in events to ensure every client is satisfied (Tum & Norton, 2009). The skill set gained in the youth center has helped me in becoming more confident to voice my opinion on certain issues pertaining to events. This part of the placement leads to improving my skills by allowing changes in different aspects. The youth center provides an environment that has clear set guidelines; it has taught me to be detail oriented especially in regards to consent forms by guardians of volunteers. This aspect has highly improved my management skills. Time management in relation to event management is important to ensure clients are served promptly in order to eliminate any instances of impatience that may lead to dissatisfaction (Pernecky & Luck, 2013). D: Summary for Benefits from Employing Organization St. Mary’s youth center truly benefited from my placement in the organization. My skills and knowledge in business administration and event management has significantly influenced some of the activities in the youth center. Voluntary placement means its free, and my evaluation is that, all those I have interacted with at the center have gained from my high qualifications in theoretical knowledge in events. For any employing organization, an employee adds great value to achieving success in the organization if he/she is competent enough. The youth center targets youths in its events; even though the ideas shared during this time were not implemented, they will be archived next time. Employing organizations continue to benefit from work force with constructive ideas; they can also ask employees to comment on the different aspects of the organization based on their experiences when working in its premises. A bipartisan evaluation on management, employee relations, and customer relations will greatly influence improvement of the organization (OToole & Mikolaitis, 2011). Although it is important to relay fears or problems experienced working in an organization, senior managers made it hard to ask questions and seek answers. The problem of employee relations with management was strenuous, and this made the job harder, especially in decision-making. Generally, organizations gain trained personnel who require only supervision to enact certain actions in the work place. It is important for organizations to have work placement programs as they expose the organization to new talents. Having trained and competent staff will help the organization to meet its business objectives. The organization should also recognize diversity in the work place. This helps organizations to fill vacancies with trained people from diverse backgrounds for the purpose of improving the work environment (Baum et al., 2009). Employers may not have a budget that allows work placement, and this may hinder them from accepting placements (Bowdin, Allen & Harris, 2012). Many employers may view the time constraints in supervising a student as a burden to their work force. However, it is worth noting that , linking with institutions and subsequent potential student requires time and effort, which is not in line with the business. The above hindrances are common in organizations when it comes to work placements and internships. Nevertheless, managers must understand the importance of having work interns in the company to improve on business. E: Future It has been a great honor to work at St. Mary’s youth center for my placement. It has opened my eyes on the practicality of event management, especially as a platform for applying my theoretical knowledge achieved from my Business Administration course. The experienced has greatly and immensely introduced to the practicality of events away from theory. The kind of learning I attained on the job or ground, especially in relation to following guidelines in an institution has helped align my growth in the event management industry. In future, I will need to enroll to project management course in order to improve on skills required to be successful in the event management industry. The placement has improved my skills, which will help me in future to coordinate and manage the event. Undertaking project management training will give me an advantage in event management, as it will include accountability and establishing clear communication together with a diverse pool of knowledge in the events industry. Working in the youth center has allowed me to understand more about the event management skills. In terms of my learning, the placement has improved my theoretical outlook of event management. It has allowed growth in creativity, communication skills, and working within a team as a player and leader. Professionally, the placement has catered to improving certain techniques and skills that have helped in my personal development. Consequently, the placement has enhanced my people skills with interaction between clients. How to respond is key in ensuring clients remain loyal to an organization. Working in events placement has been an experience of a lifetime. It is an important part of up-scaling skills and knowledge gained in learning. Although there are downsides to such placements such as the tendency of employers ignoring student placement for lack of time, its importance is something that many learning institutions must understand. Work placements are important for students, as they provide training and practical knowledge in the field. Without such placements, students from learning institutions may find it difficult to find jobs in the job market where exposure is always an added advantage (Pernecky & Luck, 2013). Through this placement, I have come to understand my strengths and weakness and how to use them to be successful. Each placement must be able to relate to a person both professionally and personally. Individual development is important through work placements. Students and organizations need to come up with ways to ensure all students get this type of experience. It builds on the importance of course units and developing future outcomes in terms of career growth. This will especially assist many students’ transitioning to choosing their majors in the final year of college. Nevertheless, a work placement provides an overview of expected skills in the learning fields in university. Reference List Allen, J 2010, Event Planning Ethics and Etiquette: A Principled Approach to the Business of Special Event Management, John Wiley & Sons, NJ. Allen, J 2010, Marketing Your Event Planning Business: A Creative Approach to Gaining the Competitive Edge, John Wiley & sons, NJ. Baum, T et al. 2009, People and Work in Events and Conventions: A Research Perspective, CABI, MA. Bowdin, G, Allen, J & Harris, R 2012, Events Management, Routledge, London. Gregory, A 2010, Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns: A Strategic Approach, Kogan Page Publishers, London. OToole, W 2011, Events Feasibility and Development: From Strategy to Operations, Routledge, London. OToole, W & Mikolaitis, P 2009, Corporate Event Project Management, John Wiley & Sons, NJ. Pernecky, T & Luck, M 2013, Events, Society and Sustainability: Critical and Contemporary Approaches, Routledge, London. Silvers, JR 2009, Risk Management for Meetings and Events,Routledge, London. Tum, J & Norton, P 2009, Management of Event Operations, Routledge, London. Read More