Strengths
The strengths include networking opportunities from a professional point of view as well as a social point of view where students can meet other students, this could help them find part-time jobs that will help them get on their feet and manage their daily expenses. This could also help them get a potential fulltime job. When it comes to social networking students can easily make new friends and connect with them to bring comfort into a new environment because they would relate to each other’s experiences.
The event will introduce students to Melbourne’s multiculturalism where they may see representatives of themselves, this will eliminate home sickness as this would connect them to their home countries. Students will adapt to the society a lot better when they have a friend from the same country or a different country to go through the journey with them. The event will help them meet students from all around the world with different believes and values. Connecting with other people provides a sense of community, that feeling of connection can enhance mental health which will reduce depression, home sickness and fear. Ultimately improve their living standards.
Federation Square is known to have different successful culturally diverse programs that involve international, local and national visitors as Melbourne. Federation Square is globally known as a place where tourists and locals come together to celebrate events, learn and connect with people. It is a place known to have memorable experiences (Fed Square Pty. Ltd.. 2020). A hundred million visitors and has been named the 6th
best public square in the world. Federation Square has a various range of food and drinks (fedsquare, 2019). Federation Square a well-known landmark/tourist destination, the event can also enjoy the benefit of being marketed through the location itself, which will therefore assist with attracting potential international students (event brief). Federation square is located in an area where it is easily accessible to public transport as most international student would not be able to drive in Melbourne because of the restrictions and the rules which may be different to their country.
Weaknesses
The weaknesses include the capacity that Federation Square is able to hold, it can only hold 800 people in the area, although there are around 200,000 international students that come to Melbourne from at least 170 countries (Study Melbourne, 2020), therefore there will be a limited amount of tickets to sell and not a lot of students can attend the event. The limited space for specific information centers will not allow room for a lot of students to attend it and as a consequence it will also be hard to hear the speakers or view the stage. The cost of tickets, international student struggle to find jobs as soon as they arrive, as a result students will refrain from attending the event because they will have to pay for the tickets, food and drinks. When the event is advertised locals might see the event and would come along, this will restrict the amount of tickets left for international student as well as it will reduce the space in the event itself.
When it comes to the event itself there are budget constraints for the whole event and it will make it hard for the organizers to help provide the best experience for the students. Due to the location being a high traffic area this can cause safety issues, security would need to be on high alert in this area. There is limited access to free car parking abilities around Flinders Street and Swanston Street.
References
Fedsquare, 2019,
Fed Square is Anything But Square,
fedsquare, [online] Available at: https://fedsquare.com/about> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
Study Melbourne, 2020,
International student experience,
State Government of Victoria, [onine] Available at: https://www.studymelbourne.vic.gov.au/about-study-melbourne/international-student-experience#> [Accessed 29 April 2020].
Fed Square Pty. Ltd.. 2020. Disability Action Plan – CEO introduction. [ONLINE] Available at: https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets-fedsquare/uploads/2016/11/Fed-Square-Disability-Action-Plan-2015-2020-Public-04.11.16.pdf> . [Accessed 29 April 2020].
Limited capacity (800)
Cost of tickets.
Budget constraints.
Due to the location being a high traffic area this can cause
Limited access to free car parking abilities
Not an authentic experience as they intended it to be because the international students will have the opportunity to socialise with other international students but not with the locals of Melbourne.
Security coz of high traffic area…..
Limited space for specific information centre only limited people attend it and it would be hard for them to hear, view of the stage
Open air- Melbourne weather- it could rain…..
None international student might come along which will reduce the space of the ticket amount for the international student.
Because the students will be studying different they might not meet them again because they might have different interests.