"It's perfectly normal to completely fuck it up on your first day..."

“I am so tired, I can hardly type these worfs.” 
― Lemony Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival

I have come to the realisation that before this week, I had no idea of what it was like to be truly tired. Over the course of 3 days, (Wednesday, Thursday & Friday) I worked 31 hours in total. It has, in all honesty, been hard, but such an exhilarating experience, and despite my bruised and battered feet (they've actually turned yellow!) I couldn't wait to return today. Albeit, being very relieved I didn't start until 10am...

So what did my 31 hours of work involve? 

The Front Entrance of 8 Northumberland

Wednesday
Gemma (the other intern) and I met with Ellie, one of the event managers, and we were briefed on what we were going to be working on for the next three days, as well as a quick "walk-around" of the venue. We were told to set up buffet stations in the OBR (Old Billiard Room) and the Annexe, which involved finding 250 mugs, slim jims (glasses), plates and cutlery, as well as service cutlery and a range of beverages for each of the coffee breaks.

The Old Billiard Room

I've realised I am definitely someone who doesn't enjoy not knowing where everything is, and having to rely on people who were essentially for us as event staff, was annoying and time consuming. But now I have learnt where most things are kept and the next event set up will be so much faster! Once our stations were set, we were told to set the Ballroom upstairs for the actual event.

To explain what we were setting up for the event, its probably easier to provide some info about our client!

Skillsoft is a provider of on-demand training and e-learning solutions for companies, governments and education agencies. Skillsoft's event was a conference for 250 guests, allowing members of various businesses to integrate, and learn about the services skillsoft could offer to them.

The Ballroom, with a capacity of 600. 

The conference required 23 round tables, seating 9. On each table glasses, bottled water, cordials were placed for the guests, as well as 8 Northumberland notepads and pencils. I realised, after the event and having spoken to a few of the guests, that its the small elements of the event that are often appreciated the most, with them commenting on how they loved the cordials on the table, which were a welcome change to the water.

The last part of the set-up was in the Salon, arranging tables for 24 VIP's, who would be having breakfast, coffee and lunch separately to the guests. Whilst setting up the VIP tables, I was taught how to box a table using a tablecloth, a skill which i'm sure will be etched into my brain by the end of the year. For those who don't know, (and because I'm terrible at explaining) i've found this video on how to properly box a table.

Thursday & Friday

Having finished all the set-up the day before, Thursday mainly involved managing the event itself, and learning how the staff at 8 Northumberland carry out all the tasks involved. Even though it was an early (7am) start, it was great to also get really stuck in, and at one point I was serving coffee and tea to the VIP's in the Salon! It was a long day, but the client seemed SO happy with everything we did for her, and we were told she'd booked to have the event with us again next year! GO TEAM! 

Friday involved the first day of going through our 'Intern Handbooks' and learning how to use the equipment, set up meeting rooms, and generally go through our daily tasks. It is definitely a lot to take in, but I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy this year!

Watch this space!