The beginning of my Public Relations Internship

My first couple of weeks of Public Relations Internship have certainly been an interesting one. Where to begin? Well on the semester break i started emailing organisations and i was fortunate enough that within the same day of emailing i had a call back from United Way WA. With in a few days after that call i was officially an intern.

Firstly a little about United Way. Basically it is a not for profit organisation that works with corporate companies such as Bankwest, Chevron and Westpac (to name a few) and links them with community based charitable organisation. They create opportunities for people and organistations to give, advocate and volunteer. To give an example the other day i went along with United Way WA and a group of Bankwest employees and we cooked fresh food from scratch and served it to the homeless in Perth. Bankwest funded the project and paid their volunteers to spend a day volunteering in the community. I went along to help and to also create media opportunities about the days proceedings. 

So far i am really enjoying my time at my placement. Though i have found that United Way WA has really lacked in its Public Relations sector this year, which is good for me because it means i have lots of work to do. Everyone i work with have been so busy with organising new campaigns and volunteering opportunities no one has had much time to focus on publicity and the media. Within my first day i started on writing media releases and creating templates for media kits to send out to the media on the latest volunteering achievements.

United Way does so much for the community and they have so much opportunity to gain more support and awareness. At the moment I am creating social media strategies and media releases to boost the creditability of the organisation and to also get their name out into society so people and companies are aware that such an organisation exists. Soon i will also be working on the media aspect of this new campaign that is soon to be launched called Paint the Swan REaD. I will be writing media releases, talking to journalists, helping to create logos and to also create social media opportunities to promote the campaign.

I feel that my internship is the beginning to my future in Public Relations and i am excited to see what is next.