Hi everyone!
My name is Prue Kraft and I am doing my placement at the Association for the Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA (Guide Dogs) in the Community Relations department. I have just finished my third day at my placement and already I appreciate the importance and benefits of this placement unit! I know we heard it all in the modules, unit outline and even from other students, but this unit has got to be THE MOST USEFUL experience for me as a budding Public Relations Practitioner.
During my first few days at the Guide Dogs it became very obvious that in this not-for-profit organisation, and I'd assume not-for-profit organisations in general, very few people do a huge mass of work, and staff within the team are thinnly spread between mutiple tasks. But what I did notice in this environment is that everyone is always more than happy to help out where ever they can and get involved in projects to help lighten the load. Further, everyone within the team is very considerate of one another, always making sure everyone has taken their lunch break etc. I think this contributes to the warm, friendly and inclusive atmosphere that exists within this team environment. Not to mention the Association's retired Guide Dog, Gidgie, who hangs out in our office and is always up for a cuddle or two!
Understanding the environment and nature of not-for-profit organisations really enabled me to see the bigger picture behind every task I do while on prac. For example, I spent most of my first day stuffing 500 quarterly Guide Dog News newsletters in envelopes to be distributed to their stakeholders. While the team were apologetic for giving me the task and reassured me that my time on prac wont consist entirely of stufifng envelopes, I was more than happy to help as I knew that 1. this was a vital part of their communications plan and 2. I was freeing up half a day of work for the team to do other equally important work.
My second day on prac saw me delve right into public relations at the Guide Dogs. First off, I interviewed the Director of Corporate Development on an event he is taking part in. I then had to write the article up based on this interview to go on to the Association's website. At this point the advice of many of my tutors came rushing back to me, with one statement ringingly loudly: "ATTENTION TO DETAIL". While I have written many press releases in my time at uni, it was only now that I fully understood this! I needed this article to be complete, interesting, accurate, and most of all, fit within the style and tone of the rest of the organisation. With these points in mind, it took me longer than usual to write my article, but the hard work payed off because it went straight up onto the Association website!! This was probably the best feeling ... EVER! Compliments from the team and the Director also made me feel pretty happy with myself!
So, if there is anything I have learnt on my first week of prac, it would have to be one of two things. 1. ATTENTION TO DETAIL! and 2. Listen to what tutors say, they really do know what they are talking about!!!
2 comments:
I am also in the not-for-profit sector and feel that working in any not-for-profit organisation you come across a lot of similar experiences. There always seems to be an unending abundance of work to be completed, and people from all departments come together to make sure that it gets finished. I believe this is due to the fact that when the underlying goal of the company is not profit oriented, it gives greater meaning and understanding to your contribution and therefore people are more willing to go above and beyond their personal duties.
When it comes to envelope stuffing, or in my case database updating, it may be a day of not so exciting work, however I think everyone will soon realise that you do eventually get to move on to the kind of work that we are all hoping for.
What a lovely place to find a PR placement Prue! I know exactly how you feel when it comes to not-for-profit organisations because I am undertaking my internship at the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, which is also one. I think this sector of public relations is perhaps the nicest environment to work in – if I can say so at this early stage in life – as I imagine it is the least cut-throat in the industry. Overall I think we have the advantage of generally being on the public’s ‘good side’ and I honestly feel like I have contributed in a positive way to society through my work. It does make you feel warm and fuzzy inside knowing you are helping a good cause. I think teamwork wins out over competitiveness and this is an extremely important factor in this sort of organisation. There is also a lot of work done without claiming overtime and the work environment feels like one big family…you even have a pet dog in yours!
I must commend you on your positive outlook on mundane tasks like mailing newsletters. I think you have really begun to understand the big picture of the organisation and it really is an important aspect of teamwork, which you pointed out. I think that some people go into their internship thinking, “What can I get out of this organisation?” but I think you learn more if you go in thinking, “What can I put in to this organisation?” In regards to the newsletters, does your organisation have an electronic version to send out via email? PMH Foundation are currently looking into a website called MailChimp.com that would enable them to send out, customise and monitor an electronic newsletter. Perhaps it is something your organisation might consider looking into as well? In the long run it seems a lot more cost-effective and gives you the opportunity to monitor how many people read the newsletter. You can also apparently customise the letter to suit different kinds of stakeholders or the different interests of your audiences which is always a good thing :)
Glad you have had a chance to use your interview and media release writing skills already. I agree that the skills we have learnt in this area will come in handy for a lot of tasks we do in our internship. I am looking forward to reading more about how your internship is going and the things you have been learning.
Good luck!
Caitlin Choveaux
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