NEEKAH STRICKLAND
Representing Griffith University was a big deal for us as we interned at one of the largest free music festivals in Australia, Blues on Broadbeach.
As final year Communication students, the importance of gaining real life work experience is essential and it seems we found the perfect gig!
Anson Lam, Risako Asahi, Seline Taylor, Wai Yeung and myself, Neekah Strickland, were given the opportunity through our degree to report and experience the Blues on Broadbeach in action from 19-22 May.
Our course convenor, Stephen Stockwell, was on site with us and made sure we constructed quality material and sub-edited our writing.
Our roles were to boost the festival’s publicity by producing artist reviews and stories, taking photographs and contributing to their social media through Twitter.
This increased our writing abilities on a broad spectrum, benefiting our proficiency in regards to social media, journalism and marketing.
Not only has the festival been a magnificent chance to increase our knowledge on the way a festival works but it has also been a lot of fun in the process.
My peers and I were able to experience world class blues acts, such as Big Daddy Wilson, Genevieve Chadwick, Felicity Lawless, 8 Ball Aitken and more.
The eight to ten hour days based at the Broadbeach Alliance boardroom have been worth it as we have been given a taste to what it’s like to work in a professional setting.
We have had contact with a variety of festival staff members including event managers, security officers, communication experts and photographers.
My favourite part of this Communication internship has been being behind the scenes of the festival and understanding how much effort and hard work goes into ensuring its success.
It is amazing that such an internationally recognised event pops up on the Gold Coast and then is gone.
I will cherish this internship and will apply the capabilities and experiences it has given me throughout my future career and endeavours.