Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone is enjoying their placements.
I have just completed my third week at PPR and I still feel like there is so much to learn still. There have been a number of different events occurring this week at PPR. There are countless RSVP lists floating around – it is confusing at times what list belongs to which event. The major event I have been involved with is for a client who has a Chinese delegation arrive to perform a groundbreaking ceremony on a mine site in the State’s mid west. Two of the consultants sitting near me have been heavily involved in the running of the schedule for the delegates. The schedule is for seven days and includes sight-seeing around Perth – quite a large task to handle. It has been a great opportunity to hear what needs to go into such an enormous event, it is quite extraordinary! From car hire to specialised paper sourcing, it has been done for this event. I have only played a minuscule part in this event by performing a few small tasks for the consultants. Firstly I helped locate all the travel pack items from different store locations, which was quite a challenge as Woolworths didn’t seem to stock large amounts of two of the products I was seeking, which I found very surprising. The second main task I performed for the event was to remove stickers from two spades that will be used in the ground breaking ceremony. Some of you may think that this is quite an easy task, well! Whoever’s idea it was to start placing stickers on shovel handles and heads isn’t on the Christmas card list for this year. Armed with orange oil, I managed to take off all the stickers with a lot of pure muscle and determination. It was quite an achievement when they were both cleaned and ready to go!
I have continued to work on tasks from previous weeks which still need updating such as the forward features list. I have also begun updating a calendar for investor relations which sets out all of the conferences on mining, oil and gas both in Australia and internationally. This calendar is then used to present to clients to see if they are interested in attending different conferences either as delegates or exhibitors. This task may take a large period of time to update as there are over 150 different conference details to obtain but it assists the consultant greatly so I am more than happy to learn these small tasks.
As it is getting closer to the Christmas period, PPR held its client and media Christmas Party at the Avery in the city. I was asked to cover the administration desk while people left to the venue. So this week I have learnt how to take calls, transfer calls and take messages. I managed to get the hang of it quickly but there are some challenges involved. There are over 50 different transfer numbers to know and within those 50 different numbers there are four different consultants named David – very confusing at times. Even though it isn’t PR based work, I have enjoyed learning administration duties.
Three main things which I have learnt this week are;
1. Confirm, confirm, confirm – it is vital when organising an event to confirm everything! From car hire to floral arrangements it is important to know exactly what you need for the event.
2. Flexibility - It is also important to be flexible when organising an event as most of the time the client will change their mind and want sometime different or want more of a particular thing. So it’s important to have the resources to fulfil their needs.
3. Media connections – Having connections within the media and maintaining those connections is vital in gaining editorial positions in publications. Also being able to convince the media that the story you are pitching them is worth chasing. Here are some tips on how to gain that media coverage http://www.prdaily.com/mediarelations/Articles/9819.aspx
Looking forward to next week and attending my first PPR event.
Deanne
Bentley Campus
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