These are excerpts taken from the Briefing paper and the final Reflective Essay.
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the sole governing body of professional surfing. As of this year (2014), the ASP sanctions all events on the World Tour. Although the ASP has been crowning the World Champions since 1976, 2014 marks the first year that the ASP has ran all events on the World Tour, (in the past some events were run by organisations such as Quiksilver and Roxy, who now only act as sponsors of the events). (ASP World Tour 2014)
The Association of Surfing Professionals is an international organisation comprised of employees passionate about the sport of surfing and ensuring its receives the promotion it merits and the recognition and celebration the professional surfers deserves. Not only does the ASP work tirelessly from the first World Title event in March, to the final Event in December, but all year around to ensure professional surfing is promoted and encouraged world wide. The ASP is dedicated to surfing; inspiring both professional surfers and spectators to get involved in the sport and support the organisation.
Any potential expectations I had heading into this internship vanished on the first day. It was a faced paced, energetic and lively work place, and I was so excited to work alongside professional individuals who obviously loved their job. I was inspired from day one, the public relations team were incredible friendly and welcoming, which made the craziness of the media workshop a little less daunting.
This internship experience definitely taught me the importance and vitality of working as part of a team, an essential element to a successful event (L’Etang, 2013). More so, it allowed me to a feel a great sense of accomplishment and achievement, seeing the event though from start to finish, and working alongside people who genuinely love what they do. Most importantly, the experience has taught me how much I love working as part of team and enabled me to learn new ‘skill sets’ that will continue to enable throughout my career, regardless of which field I choose.
As internships go, I am fairly sure this one is up there for one of the best opportunities I could have had. It showed me how much planning goes into a worldwide event, and how vital the Public Relations team is. Much more, it showed me the importance of positive energy in the workplace, and the benefit of working with such an uplifting and inspiring team (Cameron, 2012). This is so important in the industry as PR practitioners must have a positive attitude to ensure this is projected out onto those supporting the event.
This internship allowed me to apply the theoretical knowledge I have gained over the past three years of undergraduate study and apply it to a practical setting. Quite simply, it was a great opportunity to be able to be involved in such a huge worldwide event, and I am grateful for everything I learnt whilst interning at the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro 2014.
Brigitte Schmidt S2801152
Life as an Intern at The Quicksilver and Roxy Pro 