----------posted on behalf of Valerie Lange-----
It never really occurred to me that whatever projects we do in school for example, in PR Tactics and PR Corporate is a simulation of the real word. After a month of internship in my agency, I find myself involved in project very similar to those that were done in school.
It starts from the very basic brainstorming and planning. At the agency where I did my placement with, there were active brainstorming sessions. Regardless of what team each person belonged to, when there was an upcoming pitch for new business, the whole office would come together (even the GM) and come up with key messages, strategies and tactics to present to the client when pitching for new projects. I was quite surprised how it was so similar to the group projects done in the university and how in the “real-world” they adopted such strategies. What struck me the most is that there were cross team discussions. For example, the fiancé industry team would be involved in a project that belonged to the consumer products team. I feel that it is interesting because the perspectives and ideas will not be confined to that of industry experts but by involving members from other teams will also help to give out-of-the-box inputs.
Coming up with ideas and plans is most probably the easiest part. (Taking into consideration that there are many creative people contributing their ideas) The part following the initial brainstorm phase brings the challenge. This following phase also differs most from school projects. This phase is the Research and Development stage. One can have fanciful and extravagant ideas but applying it into reality may not always be easy or feasible. In a school project, we do not have to put “words into action”, but in the “real world,” the action carries the most weight and value.
At times, unfortunately, great ideas cannot be actualized because it is simply not feasible. This brings me to my next point, networking and building a reservoir of useful contacts is of great value especially in PR, one will needs to exhaust all possible contacts to make things happen. Having good contacts will make life easier and sometimes having a friend who is capable of pulling some strings is like striking the jackpot. It does not hurt to ask a friend for a certain resources he or she has, especially when Goggle does not have a good answer to your questions.
In school projects, we often do a lot of planning and idea generating, but very seldom the events we plan on paper actually come to life. On the other hand, in professional placement, the actual event is the highlight and peak of the communication plan. When there is an upcoming event, everything else seems secondary and all energy and resources are focused on the event. It was really exciting for me to witness my first event, which was a product launch. It was a big event and our efforts of pitching the event to the media resulted in a good number of media personnel who turned up to attend the event. It was quite a sense of achievement to see the planning I had been involve in turn into reality and actually appearing before my eyes.
Many would think that the end of the event means everything would simmer down. However, the amount of follow up work that needs to be done post event is just as tedious. A speed debrief must be submitted to the client two hours after the event to summarize how the event went, highlights and key leanings.
I do recall a lecturer sharing her experiences with us pertaining to the chaos that comes with an upcoming event but it was really something to witness and be involved in an actual one. I feel I got a real taste of PR and the amount of effort and hard work that goes in just to get in the news.
Interesting reads: http://www.romyr.com/PRinsights/PR_effectiveness?cs_lang=en
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