On Sunday I had the opportunity to be a part of the IAMS 1001 Donations telethon for the Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS), broadcasted on ShawTV. One of the electives I chose in the CreComm program was Live Television Production, a class that allows students to participate in a variety of different areas involved with organizing a telethon. I wanted to take this class because I watched the WHS telethon last year and it looked like a great time. Not only did I know I’d have a ton of fun in this class, but I was excited to get the opportunity to work on my on-camera skills while working towards a good cause.
I’ve been on T.V. a number of times for different things,
but lately in the PR major we’ve been learning how to be a part of an interview
with the goal of voicing your key messages. Although I took the role as the
interviewer for the latter part of the telethon as opposed to an interviewee
(as I’m most likely to be throughout my career) I still had key messages I
wanted to deliver in short and concise sound bytes.
In addition to hosting part of the telethon, a few
classmates and I were part of the fundraising team, as our class wanted to
donate funds to the WHS as well as time. Our fundraising team came up with the
idea of selling homemade dog and cat treats before the telethon as well as
during. We knew other people would want to take part in helping with this
initiative, so we invited different high school cooking classes across the city
to help us make treats.
It was an overall great experience and I know everyone had a
good time participating. Thank you to everyone who participated, donated,
adopted pets, or came down to the WHS to hang out with us. We all appreciate
the help and support from all those involved, and I’m looking forward to
watching next year’s telethon.
