Invision Your PR Career
It is every public relations major’s dream job. One day public relations students will be clamoring for a position that many think is brimming with big money, high profile clients and a jet-setting lifestyle. Being an event planner, however, is far from these glamorous expectations.
Julie K. Bunkley, 26, is the owner of Invision, an event consulting company in Auburn. She graduated from Auburn in December 2003 with a degree in PR. She will have internship opportunities for those PR majors wanting to specialize in event planning and consulting.
“I feel a little weird that there are so many people that, apparently, want what I have. They want my job,� said Bunkley.
Bunkley says starting her business is something she doesn’t regret, but advises others that it’s not something to be entered into lightly. She is the product, the sales department, the marketing department, the accounting department, everything for her business. She says the actual planning of an event doesn’t require all these skills, but to be a one-person business you have to have them.
“Knowing you can do a job- plan an event- is one thing. Starting and running a business is quite another. It’s a little tiring.�
Her typical work schedule depends on the season. In the middle of fall wedding season, she usually works at least 6 days. She’s self-employed so she puts in more hours than if she were to work for a company.
“I try to tell myself that I take Mondays off, but if there is work to be done (and it is all at my house), I will usually be working.�
Bunkley originally came to Auburn because her boyfriend Dallas- now husband of four years- attended Auburn University. Though she was originally a speech pathology major, she switched to PR because she didn’t like her classmates and had experiences at internships that lead her to the major. Bunkley says she loves PR and would like to get her masters in it. She enjoys creating messages that will craft an image of an organization, event, or cause. The control over impression formation is really exciting to her.
While in school, she interned at U.S. Congressman Sonny Callahan in Mobile, American Red Cross and West Georgia Health Systems. The most important lessons she learned from her internships related to event planning was at Red Cross. There she saw how their fund-raising events formed and impacted an image of the organization.
She didn’t know she was going to an event planner until after she graduated. She just kept being asked to plan events so often she figured she could make a living on it. Though she didn’t start her business specially to plan weddings, they make up most her business now.
“So, I used to call myself an ‘event planner’ and now I am more of a ‘wedding planner’. While I enjoy weddings and can plan and manage a wedding well, I still feel like my true calling is in corporate events.â€?
Bunkley urges students to intern to see what really goes on in the different fields of the public relations industry. She says TV shows like “Whose Wedding is it Anyway?� don’t fully portray an accurate picture of her job because you don’t get to see the behind-the-scene work. Watching the planners manage the wedding party and handle situations on event days is something she does like to watch.
“A 20 minute showcase of one wedding (that’s pretty much what it boils down to on that show) doesn’t do justice to the hours that you will put in at the computer, on the phone, haggling with vendors, etc.�
Bunkley sees herself continuing to grow her business in the next five to ten years. She also plans to grow her family by an addition or two within ten years. Although she’s been working seven day weeks lately, she knows how important it is to balance her work and family life. Her next breaks are during Thanksgiving and Christmas. She plans to find time to finally bake and decorate the season with pumpkins.
“You should never decorate out of season,� says Bunkley. This isn’t surprising.
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