Event Management Students Host an Online Event

by Indiana Jansen (Bachelor of Event Management student)

Every year the International College of Management, Sydney (ICMS) hosts the annual Corporate Partner Thankyou Event to thank their industry partners and sponsors for the amazing contributions they make to the College as well as the wonderful internship job opportunities they offer students on work placement as a part of their Work Integrated Learning (WIL) subjects.

This year however, with the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and the circumstances surrounding the current regulations prohibiting large gatherings, ICMS was unable to host their annual face-to-face celebration. Because of this, the industry training team turned to the Event Planning (EVT201) students to create its very first ICMS COVID-19 safe virtual event.

This Bachelor of Event Management subject introduces students to the broad event planning principles and project management skills. It aims to engage students in the hands-on planning of a chosen event concept, and the use of event industry tools to plan their chosen event. Students will also learn how to interpret an event brief and demonstrate their planning skills for a real event.

This being the first ever virtual event for ICMS our class were unsure of the procedures and tasks involved in hosting an online event. Our goals were broad; to successfully complete the tasks leading up to the event on time, to try and curate an event that felt intimate for the attendees and essentially ‘break the barrier’ between the 2D computer screen and the speakers and clients. Ultimately, we wanted to create a meaningful and thoughtful event for the ICMS partners and sponsors.

The Event Planning class were given a brief of the expectations going forward with the event, with this we were able assign tasks to each student, myself included, and with these assignments we were able to work collaboratively and utilise our teamwork skills in order to curate the perfect virtual event. We analysed the risks involved as well as creating scenarios if there happened to be any technical difficulties or absences on the event day.

Creating and hosting this event had a profound impact on my classmates and myself. We had the opportunity to develop and learn new skills in regard to technology and running an online event; as well as being offered the opportunity to build our team-working  skills and create an environment of collaborative unity.

With the succession of the ceremony we were given positive feedback and reviews from the speakers, our peers, and the partners. This experience was an exhilarating learning opportunity for all of us especially because, for the foreseeable COVID-19 future, events like this will be the only available and safe way to celebrate and say thank you. Creating this event enabled us to learn how to put on virtual events and gave us real life experience in the field of events and online virtual events.

ICMS gave us a phenomenal opportunity to showcase our skills as event management students and give us “real world” experience through the creating of this event. Douglas Garske; our lecturer said, ‘ICMS has been so supportive of my students and me – building on their belief in giving access to industry experts is important in providing a well-rounded education in the event industries’. This cannot be expressed enough, and the students of our class are proud and grateful to have be given this experience and to create an event for ICMS partners that is meaningful and significant.