Photography is the latest trend everyone is getting into. Many students or even working adults are creating their own Instagram page or some has already established a few projects on their own. Since photography is a fun and interesting activity, I have decided to spend my Saturday with the children from Rumah Ozanam. This event is sponsored by Canon and Great Vision, a non-governmental organization. With that being said, the charity event did ended successfully. We held a simple photography workshop with the older children while the younger ones made photo frames. At the end of the day, the children were given opportunities to have their photos taken and printed on the spot.
I have always been interested in events management and am always keen to organize one in relation to charity. Studying Diploma in Mass Communication did help me in improving my skills in organizing such events and dealing with other collaborations. For example, I had 2 subjects called Publicity and PR Campaign Strategies. For those subjects, we were assigned to handle KL Alta Moda, a high fashion event. All the knowledge like communicating with high profile clients, recce venues and crisis management  that I have gained from the lessons in class have helped me in my process of planning for this charity event.  Before I carry out the event, I had to liaise with the photographers, the children’s home and the PIC from Great Vision. The whole process was smooth since I have done the same during the high fashion event.
By applying what I have learned, it resulted in a successful event and all of my objectives were achieved. However, just like any other plans there will always be challenges. One of my main challenges would be getting the manpower as most of the volunteers’ schedules clashes with the event date but it did not really affect the event on a big scale. I still managed to pull off the event with the number of volunteers on that day. Another challenge would be the miscommunication with the home. Different caretakers gave different information and it affected the part of the program. Out of the challenges,  what I learned is that we must always double check to ensure that the program outline is confirmed and even though it will change at the last minute, we should be efficient in adapting to the changes and always ensure that the event schedule is neither too tight or too easy flow.
There are always rooms for improvements and I believe that all events are different and they give me different meaning or experiences. Each one has taught me something personal and professional and therefore I am always grateful to all the events I have organized.

(This article is written by  Quek Pek Yin, a graduate from Diploma in Mass Communication)