University of Surrey Event Management lecturer working on the event of a lifetime
Friday 3 August 2012
University of Surrey Event Management and Tourism lecturer Donna Chambers says she is experiencing first-hand the best event case study with her role in press operations for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Based in beach volleyball at the grand Horse Guards Parade venue, Donna is getting to experience how the event is run, knowledge she is sure she will use when she returns to lecture at Surrey.
She says: “It’s good to have this for cases; I can see how a complex event works and how it has developed over time as a process and a journey.
“It’s been a journey for me too, applying to volunteer over a year ago, getting training and being here now at the real thing.”
Donna has had a chance to see Great British men’s and women’s teams compete this week, including University of Bath graduates Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney in their win over Canada.
Donna says: “It’s always good to cheer on GB when I can. I’ve learnt a lot about beach volleyball, it’s interesting to watch. The atmosphere is good, it’s like a party.”
As well as the sport, Donna is helping the international press covering the event, working in the press tribune where journalists, photographers and broadcast station themselves for the sport.
She said: “My role is to ensure the area is only used by press and that they have everything they need to do their job. We distribute the results from the matches, as quickly as we possibly can.
“It’s interesting to meet different people, people from the BBC, from other countries, I even saw Boris Johnson today.”
As its summer, Donna can do the majority of her university work from home, juggling it around her beach volleyball shifts. You can imagine she’ll have some stories to tell when she returns to her students in September.
By Ruth Faulkner, for Podium News.
