Internship at AIDS Concern Organization Your Specific

¶ … Internship at AIDS Concern Organization

Your specific contribution to the project and your role in undertaking the various project tasks and event:

The internship period at AIDS Concern proffered many opportunities to participate in social prosperity and well-being. Events like charity walks, awareness gatherings and creative steps including making of promotional materials were a part of this memorable experience.

An overview of these events is as follows:

A Walk against AIDS at Lamma Island

The Lamma Island Charity Walk was the first event we arrangedwith the purpose of spreading awareness regarding Aids. For this event, Iwas mainly responsible for promotion in the university. Before carrying out the task, I prepared a draft on how I planned to conduct the promotional campaign which was reviewed and revised thrice by the host organization in order to follow the most appropriate plan. According to the finalized plan it was agreed that booths will be arranged in the university campus, brochures will be distributed among students, an online page will be developed on Facebook and people will be encouraged to invite others once they became members themselves. Picture of fb

For the promotional campaign, I needed lots of material that could interest people to participate in the event. Therefore, Iwent to Chai Wan, a representative of AIDS Concern, and picked up 200 different promotional materials. Promotional material was to be disseminated and used within the university campus which could not be done without the permission of university authorities. I obtained consent from the Student Development Office and on receiving affirmation I designed the booth and made it public. By this time, I was not alone in the feat; instead, a team of 5 members helped me. Negotiation was done among the team members as to how we would persuade people about the importance of participating in the walk and what benefits they would gain after the event. A time table structured by me was decided dictating which time slot each member will work in so that burden of the task could be equally shared. Picture The actual day was a busy one. I was stationed at check point 3, a place before the final destination. On arrival of the participants I welcomed them warmly and asked them general questions about AIDS for constructive discussion. Afterwards red ribbons were distributed among participants, which was a sign of their unity in the fight against AIDS. After a short stay the participants carried on with their journey towards the final terminus. I now joined the participants and helped in Prize Distribution Ceremony followed by packing and clean upofthebooth.

A New Look to the AIDS Concern Leaflet

My next task was to redesign one of the promotional leaflets of AIDS Concern. I worked with Haky to use my creative skills, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to give the leaflet its innovative look.

pic

Designing AIDS Concern Christmas E-Card Comment by Amna Ijaz: [A picture of that leaflet can be pasted]

The significance of this task for me is that I designed a Christmas e-card for AIDS Concern solely on my own. I designed the layout of the e-card, composed it and worked towards its final production with review and revisions on the way.

Designing Chinese New Year E-Card Comment by Amna Ijaz: [A picture of that e-card can be pasted]

This was the fourth task that I carried out again all on my own. I proposed an idea for design of this e-card, developed it and with review and revisions on the way, I gave it a final form.

Red Ribbon Angel Event, 2013

For this fifth and final task I was person in-charge and was responsible for all progress and planning of this event. The Red Ribbon Angel Event was organized for the purpose of fund raising and public awareness. For this event, I first met with the host organization to draft its promotional plan. Afterwards, I approached over 60 merchants for fundraising, distributed 500 event guides on the street promotion day and 200 during shop promotion, designed the Red Ribbon Angel Event's promotional material and helped in arranging the angels and devils closing party.

Finding the sponsors was indeed the most challenging part of organizing the Red Ribbon Angel Event as we had to approach at least 200 companies in total. To complete this task properly I allocated merchants to each of my team members keeping in mind what company they would be best able to interact with. I was responsible to contact 60 of those companies for sponsorship which undoubtedly proved to be a hectic task. To keep track of where my progress was in this matter, I prepared a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with columns for company name, current contact details, whom to contact, best time to contact, calling status etc.as a template for all the group members to use. This removed most of the confusions that were generated due to changed contact numbers. At the end of the sponsorship campaigning, 3 companies on my list agreed to hold meetings with AIDS Concern while 15 companies were highly interested. I presume the template I made not only aided us in working in an organized manner but will also prove to be a reliable future reference for AIDS Concern so they contact only prospective parties for a similar purpose in the future with updated contact details.

Pic excel

On the actual promotion day, I stationed myself in the Central District which was the most bustling place and distributed 500 copies of event guides among people. The promotional plan I made for this purpose was greatly innovative; supportive words and photos were collected randomly from people in the streets on the street promotion day. Afterwards, a collage of these photos was generated by me to be uploaded on Facebook. The aesthetic sense behind this attracted a lot of people.

PIC CONSOLIDATION

For shop promotion, I contacted shop managers either by mail or by visiting the shop directly to ask for permission to place the event guides in the shop. From about 30 shops that I visited, 21 were willing to help in distribution of event guides.30 guides were provided to each shopkeeper.

Pic 7 eleven

A party was arranged to close the event, which was called the Devil and Angel Party. I was the only student intern participating in this event; for that day, my role was helper, and carries different duties such as welcoming the guest, help to the lucky draws process and disseminate the gift to all the guests. In order to raise the ticket sale, I also publicized the event with the help of a friend who is expert at organizing parties. He used his network to invite a great number of people for whom I suggested an entrance fee. That entrance fee was meant to go into charity for AIDS Concern to aid further in its upright causes.

Pic party

Your evaluation of your own performance in the project

I am satisfied with my overall performance in the internship as I employed by best capacities in each and every task assigned. I ensured that every project was completed successfully on time and all promotional material for AIDS Concern and its events was circulated in the public for targeted awareness. Here are some points to emphasize my good performance and dedication during the internship:

Pre-Internship Study of AIDS Concern's Conventions and Objectives

Before starting my internship at AIDS Concern, I carried out thorough study of the organization, its aims, working codes and environment so I would be able to settle in soon without any lag period. This beforehand study proved really helpful during my internship period. For instance, when I was assigned the task of designing leaflets and e-cards, I was already familiar with the conventions that were being followed by AIDS Concern in such communication modes. Proper understanding of the image that was expected from AIDS Concern and its workers helped me in drafting plans for events, their promotion and also to have them accepted by authorities of AIDS Concern.

Interaction with Representative of AIDS Concern during Internship

Detailed and ready interaction between the junior and senior members of any organization plays a significant role in the smooth performance of all of its activities. During my internship period, I kept myself in close contact through text messaging and phone calls with a representative of AIDS Concern, Willis xxx. Her guidance enabled me to fully understand what was expected of me as an intern at AIDS Concern so I could plan things in compliance with its regulations. During the Red Ribbon Angel Event, I kept Willis updated of my team's progress in contacting prospective sponsors and their responses. She discussed methods of persuasion in view of her own experience and pointed out certain elements that could make our task more efficient. Thankfully, a steep increase in the number of interested companies occurred after we applied the persuasion tactics she deliberated with us. Comment by Ayesha: Full name should be there.

The constant contact with host organization not only helped me through my projects but also kept them updated of my doings as an intern and increased their confidence in me. No misunderstandings or mistakes on my part were declared by the organization till the end of the internship and I bid farewell with a happy and light heart. After the internship, I and Willis still keep in touch with each other; she wants me to treat her as a friend rather than a boss or manager. Also, I was invited to the Aids Concern volunteer party in May by Willis.

Incorporating Logic, Creativity and Innovation in Every Task

It is very important that the internee complies with the conventional ways of the organization with which they work. However, at AIDS Concern I did also incorporated something contemporary from my knowledge of media and communication with the conventional ways and the amalgamation of old and new ways was always appreciated by the host organization. For instance, the original plan for street promotional strategy of the Red Ribbon Angel Event was to take photos and arrange the pictures separately but I suggested a collage. This indeed enhanced peoples' interest in what we were promoting when we posted the consolidated picture to Facebook. Also, setting up a booth in university campus to advertise the Lamma Island Charity walk was a new idea for AIDS Concern. My stance behind the booth in such a place was the fact that students are often prone to experiencing sexual problems without having anyone to share them with. In our culture, even parents are not open to discussions of this nature. Through the booth we were able to enhance enthusiasm of students to join the AIDS Concern's charity walk and also attract students to give them a free condom as a sign of the need to remove their inhibitions and stop treating relevant discussions as taboo in order to protect themselves from sexual problems like AIDS. Link these two sentence together. Comment by Amna Ijaz: Done. Remove.

By this Paragraph below, I want to say that I'm good a develop list for different purpose, where I have all necessary information updated, and this list will be passed to aids concern for their future convenience. Is the information appropriately delivered? Comment by Amna Ijaz: Remove. Important amendments have been made.

Organized performance of Tasks

Organization is an important part of making a project fruitful. Thus, every task that I carried out was done with utmost organization on my part. All data was enlisted in order to leave record of all activities for AIDS Concern. For example, to make Red Ribbon Angel Event known among people, I suggested distribution of event guides in different shops, bars and clubs. All outlets that were meant to be targeted were enlisted. Since AIDS and sexual education is treated as a taboo, keeping related promotional material in shops, cafes etc. is not encouraged by many owners. This problem was handled by directly contacting the owners and having a healthy discourse about the importance of this type of campaign in order to make Hong Kong a safer and better place.The list was constantly updated keeping a track of shop owners who were interested in joining our cause so they could be contacted later on when required. The method of enlistment was also employed during the search and persuasion for prospective sponsors. This organization of data during work not only aided us to keep track of what we were doing but will be helpful for the future ventures of AIDS Concern too. The organization can use this list to have an overview of which shop was willing to help in a similar future event where Aids Concern can have their promotional material placed. It will be both time sparing and efficient.

Pic shop list

Your views about how your own performance can be improved

Utmost perfection does not exist, and there is always room for improvement. It is popularly said, "Improvement begins with I." This experience has pointed out many aspects where I could make myself better.

Incompetence in Computer Skills

I was involved in several card and leaflet designing projects in which I was bound to use software including Adobe Photoshop and illustrator. However, on every such occasion I had a strong feeling that the end product I composed could have been better and also produced in lesser time. This occurred because of incompetence in software skills. I would improve my skills by watching more online tutorials and by reading PS/Illustrator-related books or by actually taking a course on graphic designing. Because these are important skills we should have them in order to work in the field of media and communication.

BetterPhotographySkills please make it as a paragraph thank you! Comment by Amna Ijaz: Remove

To make memories or to make events popular, photos are required. Similarly, AIDS Concern needs people who can take photos for its events' promotion. Fortunately, I got to try being a photographer as well. However, I felt that my photography skills were not competent enough. I sometimes could not catch the right moment or was not sure about the best angles in a particular situation. Sometimes I looked at a photograph taken by me and felt that the postures of people in it could have been better if I knew how to guide them. In order to improve this skill, I should first learn the concept / skills from a professional book and practice with my own camera. Taking photography classes would be beneficial too, since it's an important skill.

Your evaluation of the group's performance in the project

Charity Walk -- A Difficult Mission

The Lamma Island Charity Walk was the first task to be assigned to us as interns. Since, we were just new to the field our skepticism and self-doubt about performing such a big event was at its peak. All of us wanted to do our best and conflicts were bound to arise in work distribution and decision on how the event could be executed and promoted. However, one group meeting did the magic and an agreement regarding these matters was reached for the best result. All the team members had been assigned their individual duties that they fulfilled well before time. Hence, on the actual day of the Lamma Island Charity Walk we were well-prepared that brought us immense appreciation from the participants and host organization.

Initial Incompatibilities in the Team Members

At the early stage of the internship at AIDS Concern, all internees were unknown or knew little of one another. Most of us came from diverse cultural backgrounds and spoke different languages. Therefore, initially it was not possible for us to communicate effectively. Moreover, most of the interns were active in academic and curricular fields due to which time management became difficult, which many differences and quarrels were brought up. However as time passed all misunderstandings were cleared through our constantly negotiation. And one good thing is that as time passed, understanding between members also increased and we were ready to compensate for one another. Wherever we could, we tried our level best to maintain a working atmosphere where moral support and friendliness was ample.

Moreover, as interns we felt that it was our duty to follow the rules and regulations of AIDS Concern at all times, which we did. However, at same time we were also not afraid to share our contemporary ideas and suggestions with the organization.Which was appreciated and often an amalgamation of both was employed that yielded better results.

Considering AIDS a Taboo

AIDS is, unfortunately, strongly associated with 'bad' sexual acts, which has given it the status of a taboo. If we do not discuss a problem, how will we ever solve it? At the start, even some of our team members were a bit conservative regarding the way the host wanted us to talk to people and spread the message of AIDS Concern. Lacking creative idea about promotion of aids related event were the main problem at this time. However, on meeting people who were inflicted with the disease all of us realized that they were no different from us except for that fortune had not been by their side and they cannot be judged by the stigma associated with their disease.