Media Release Weekend Recap

What a crazy weekend all for 20 seconds of fame, not that I am complaining :)
This was my fourth trip over east for ReachOut work and I like to think I have all the details down from arriving at the airport to catching a cab from the airport and making sure to get the most out of my trip.

I spent Friday morning doing an assignment and trying not feel anxious about flying out that afternoon, I left for the airport at 1.30pm and flew out at 3.20pm. The flight was fairly uneventful, I watched 1.5 movies and chatted to the person sitting next to me. I arrived at 10.30pm and caught a taxi to my hotel, but it turned out within 1km of each other there was two hotels of the same chain with a similar name. I got directions to the other hotel and decided as it was so humid and there was lots of people around I would walk, of course I quickly got lost (no sense of direction) so I managed to flag down a taxi and eventually got to my hotel and checked in. I was feeling very sticky due to the humidity so I grabbed a shower and went to bed.
I struggled to sleep as my body clock was telling me it was far to early to sleep but I managed to get a few hours.

The next day I woke up and got dressed, I had all of Saturday to explore and I wanted to make the
most of it. In my mind I knew what I wanted to do but at the same time I wanted to go with the flow and see what happened. I looked up directions to a museum on my phone and figured I would grab breakfast along the way as it didn't open until 10.00am and it was only just after 9.00am. I stopped at a café and grabbed a ham and cheese croissant and sat down to enjoy it, while responding to some Facebook messages. I continued on my way to the museum and found it easily, I paid the entrance fee and started to

explore. It was four stories filled so many awesome and interesting things, everywhere I turned I saw something interesting. I spent the morning there before exiting through the gift shop (I purchased a small vase and reusable shopping bag) and deciding to enjoy lunch at the museum café.

I had no idea what to do after lunch so I started walking and tried to get my bearings, I walked through china town and eventually found a Coles where I bought a drink and a couple of other items.

I walked back down to where my hotel was and realised that there was large park/square bordered by cafes and restaurants next to it, so I walked there and grabbed some gelato before sitting down to people watch. I eventually made my way to the Maritime Museum and checked that out, by this point my feet were killing me and I just wanted to sit down. At the playground there was this stream where kids were running through and parents were sitting with their feet in the water so I took off my shoes and put my feet in the water and it was amazing. I eventually made it back to my hotel for an hour or so before I went out to dinner.

I was trying to find a place on the square where a solo diner wouldn't look out of place that wasn't too

expensive and casual, I eventually found a burger place and it was amazing. I ended up ordering the classic fried chicken burger and fries and both were amazing. The fried chicken didn't taste oily and was crisp which made the burger and the fries were freshly made (not frozen like the ones you get at McDonalds) and were the best I have had. I wanted to try one of their frozen custards but I was so full so I had to pass.
I came back to the hotel and decided to have a quiet night as I knew that the next day would be full on.

The next day, I got dressed ready for the media release, I had been told not wear anything too bold or
with too many patterns so the safest bet was to
wear my ReachOut shirt, jeans and black flats. I walked to a café for breakfast and ordered the 'breakfast bruschetta' which was really nice and filling, especially as I wanted to have something substantial for breakfast as I wasn't sure how long the media release could go on for.
I checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the ReachOut offices as I had to be there at 10.30am. I caught up with the CEO Ash, T the media release person and met Bec the other person who would be sharing their story. I had been told that there could anywhere from no TV stations to 5 TV stations in the office, so when 2 TV stations showed up it was a relief. We had a quick briefing with how the release would go and then it started.

Ash spoke to both of the TV stations together and gave a statement to do with stats regarding the research. Then afterwards the TV stations set up in 2 separate areas and Bec and I each gave an interview one on one with them. I went with SBS first and was asked various questions about my experiences with bullying and who I turned to for help. I also had to do some 'acting' like pretending to work on a laptop.
We then switched and I went with channel 10, which was much the same questions along with some 'acting'. All in all it probably took an hour - an hour and a half from start to finish and I couldn't believe how much work goes into behind the scenes of a media release.

As I wasn't flying out until much later that afternoon I decided to catch a cab to check out some markets near the harbour and did some more shopping.
I caught a cab to the airport and started my journey home, the flight was fairly uneventful and I arrived home at 6.10pm ready to settle back into my routine.

I had so much fun and I am SO thankful to ReachOut for flying me over all for my 20 seconds of fame and getting to share my experiences.

SBS interview is here and the Channel 10 interview is here    .