It's all about Perth Fashion Festival and MoMA this month!

Hello fellow Professional Practice students,

I have just completed my first week of Professional Practice at Professional Public Relations (PPR) in Subiaco. The thought of working with a large consultancy was quite daunting, but everyone was there were very nice and welcoming.

During this month of June, Perth Fashion Festival and the Art Gallery of WA are two of the important clients, as they have a lot going on. This week, I have been helping the PPR consultants organise materials for the upcoming client events.

Preparation for Perth Fashion Festival (PFF) 2012, which takes place in September, is underway. June is the month where all the organising for the event takes place. The main task I have been doing for PFF this week is media clippings. Similar to what we did in PR Media 250, but this time, I had to calculate the Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE). It was a little confusing at first, as I also had to take into consideration colour loading and page loading, but after a few days practice, I got the hang of it. Another task I had to do for PFF, was to update the media contact list. Because this is the time where invites for the the event start to go out, I had to double check that all registered peoples' numbers, emails and addresses were still current. Media contacts are regularly checked every three months at PPR.

Another client that I have been assisting the consultants with is the Art Gallery of WA. This month, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is coming to Perth from New York. Again, I have been doing the media clippings for this event and also searching for mention of it in the media. Next week is the media launch for MoMA and I will be working off-site at the Art Gallery of WA to assist with this event, which I am very excited about.

Lastly, I have also been doing a bit of research work for the Investor Relations sector of PPR. An Iron Ore client, asked to have an events calendar made and requested certain events to be included. I had a consultant ask me to do research on a couple of conferences he had never heard of before and get back to him about it.

This week, there was also a staff meeting. These take place every week to keep all employees up-to-date with what's been happening within the consultancy. The meeting was very casual and light-hearted. We even had birthday cake to celebrate someone's birthday! After the meeting had ended, I thought that was such a good way to communicate ideas and problems with each other and to maintain a good employee/employer relationship.

From my first week at PPR, I have learnt that in a consultancy, media clippings are very important as clients like to know how much the coverage they are receiving is worth. This was such a vital skill to learn. Keeping media contacts up-to-date is essential. PPR received some invite bounce backs and no replies. This can be a time waster, especially since they were already running on a tight schedule. Completing research in a consultancy means you are well-informed and have less chance of making mistakes. Lastly, an informed and happy consultancy means a successful one.

I can't wait to start my second week, especially with all the MoMA action happening!