A warm hello!
Early
on, and quite to my chagrin, I was tasked with drafting press releases to help
generate event buzz, build culminating industry interest and increase
opportunities to see (OTS) in my first weeks/months. The releases were drafted
for newsworthiness and personally distributed to senior writers at various
business desks. Weeks of polite persistence paid off when Bernama/Borneo Post
and Business Times Malaysia picked up on the topical news/event. At May’s HR
event, reporters from The Edge Malaysia and The Malaysian Insider were also in attendance
and interviewed corporate head honchos on the sidelines.
July’s
five-day oil and gas event was graced by the Deputy Minister of Finance
Malaysia. Since I was the only PR go-to on the team, I had the cherished
opportunity of drafting the Deputy Minister’s opening speech. For rookie me, it
was a proud moment when the Guest of Honour (GoH) gave his opening address. And
counter to expectation, the draft was largely intact with some additions. The niche
event ran smoothly except for one hiccup. What transpired was that a press
meeting was called for last-minute and hastily arranged. However, the GoH left
the event premises following his address before reporters could arrive. One
reporter became understandably crusty and visibly annoyed on hearing a missed
opportunity and began quizzing which rival papers had turned up at the venue
and if any had scored an exclusive.
So this was my first unpleasant experience
dealing with media. Personally, I was most apologetic and deeply regretful that
the journalist(s) missed out on the scoop. As a poor alternate, they were handed copies
of the GoH’s speech. Hence it was more than a surprise when Bernama/Borneo Post
and Business Times covered the story/event/issue the next day.
All
in all, it was exhilarating to involve in both events, especially to witness
ideas/knowledge exchange and corporate bigwigs network, validating prior weeks
of effort.
These
indelible first-hand experiences were for me PR in action and greatly motivating.
By Eunice
Curtin Singapore
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