Done and dusted

Hi all, how is everyone doing?

Well this is it, yesterday was my final day at the MS Society. 22 days done and dusted, I did an extra 2 days because I hadn't been keeping count of my days and before I knew it I had gone over 20 days! Seriously, did anyone also feel as if time flew by so fast?

At the end of the day we had a lovely afternoon tea with cake and I got a little certificate of appreciation and a MS broach. It was a really lovely gesture. I'll still be helping out at the Step Up for MS event in June though which I'm really looking forward to. Not loving the 6.30am start though!

So for my final post here I guess I'll just do something along the lines of lessons learned?

Well for one thing, I've learned a few skills I feel will be valuable for almost any job, not just PR orientated.

Using Excel for one thing. From day one of the work placement, using Excel spreadsheet was on the cards, I'd never really used it before but now I don't know what I would do without it. Working in events management really needs clean, easy to read and detailed documents and Excel really is the key.

Mail-merging. It's a small thing but this little skill would certainly be required for any office job.

Telephone calls. I feel a lot better about making phone calls now, I've found out that you really need to know your information and details before you make calls of any kind so that you sound professional, can answer any queries and not waste time getting to the point.

Taking rejection gracefully. From my stint with the MS Readathon stall at Carousel, I've learned that even being polite and non-pushy won't stop people brushing you off. Some people simply don't have the time or energy to stick around to see what you want.

Highlights
Meeting all sorts of really lovely people, including a number of MS volunteers.
Helping out at the official media launch for the annual MS musical.
Sitting in on a meeting at Central Park where event logistics were discussed.
Playing Bosko, the MS Readathons book-loving mascot.

Overall its been a fascinating and eye opening insight into the world of public relations within a not for profit organisation. It's been great to experience how PR is used to generate income and I certainly feel like a better, improved version of me since I began PR393.