Student placements in regional events
Sport and Event Marketing is a second-year course offered to undergraduate students in the Faculty of Business. The course examines the application of marketing concepts, tools and models to the marketing of sports, festivals and events. Gayle Mayes, the course coordinator, arranges placements for students with sport and event businesses and operators as a major part of their assessment and applied approach to the course.
Fifty percent of the assessment involves attending, observing and then assessing the marketing and promotion of an event. Practical experience in the industry is also essential if students wish to pursue a career in the events industry and event organisers are very keen to have USC students placed with them, so it’s a win-win for everyone involved. A wide variety of opportunities with regional and international events such as the Noosa Jazz Festival, the Noosa Multi Sports Festival and the Noosa Triathlon, the Mooloolaba Half Marathon, the Woodford Folk Festival, the National Road Cycling Championships and the Gympie Muster are available.
Local, regional and international events feature as examples and case studies in the course and teaching methods include presentations by guest speakers, panel interviews, workshops, debates, student led research and occasional discussions with elite athletes such and media and sports marketers and announcers from the industry.
By engaging local and regional event organisers as short-term placements for enthusiastic students to work as volunteers, the demand for casual event staff is met, the students gain invaluable experience and a reference for their portfolio, and they gain great satisfaction from contributing towards the growth and sustainability of the industry.