Amidst the costume and the colour, the pageantry and theatre, five business students from Griffith University will be working behind the scenes at the Gold Coast Renaissance Faire thisweekend (May 2-3, 9.30am-4.30pm).
A popular annual festival of high arts and culture staged at Broadbeach, the Renaissance Faire captures the spirit and revelry of Shakespearean times with swordsmen, archers, merchants, buccaneers, dancers, artists and acrobats bringing Pratten Park to life for two days.
It’s an event not without its logistical challenges and organisers are grateful for the input of interns from Griffith’s event management and marketing programs.
For the students it is an opportunity to get some valuable hands-on experience of what it takes to run an event and make that event a success.
“I chose to do an internship because it is a great way to step into professional life,” says Camille Chantelot (21), who is studying a Master of Business, majoring in Event Management.
Camille has focused on event promotion since she got involved with preparations for the Renaissance Faire.
She anticipates other skills she has developed in the classroom like leadership, people management, time management and customer service will come into play on the day of the Faire when she will be dealing with volunteers, entertainers and the public.
Masha Marjanovich, project coordinator for the Gold Coast Renaissance Faire, values highly the input of the interns.
“They are very motivated, very enthusiastic and very hardworking,” she says.
“They are also flexible and adapt well to the work area where they are needed at any time. They are very well spoken and coming from a marketing or event management classroom background, they are well placed to present the Faire well.
“Their skills are very much in line with what we need.”
Interns’ duties are far-reaching and present them with an insight into the full spectrum of event management and event promotion. They gain important insights in areas such as research, industry networking, marketing and publicity, and the value of individualised follow-up contact.
“The challenge is timing,” Masha says. “It is important for us to ensure we don’t overwhelm our interns, particularly as we get to crunch time in terms of organising and preparing. It’s important to remember that they also have university to consider.”
For Paris native, Camille Chantelot who is studying an accelerated postgraduate business degree, the internship is another student opportunity that should be fully engaged. “I am keen to finish mystudies and jump into the professional world,” she says.