Monday, 21st September 2015
Welcome to my first post!
My name is Jared and I’m a public relations
student in my final semester at the Bentley campus. I am almost half way
through completing my internship at the Hyogo Prefectural Government Cultural
Centre (Long name I know).
Haven’t heard of it? Check out this link:
My placement (Hyogo Cultural Centre – for
short) is a non-for-profit cultural centre that is administered by the Hyogo
Prefectural Government of Japan. It was constructed to commemorate the 10th
anniversary of the Hyogo - Western Australia sister state relationship in 1992.
Its major aims are to promote Japanese
language and culture, provide Japanese resources, language classes and conduct educational
cultural seminars, workshops and activities for all ages and professions.
Interning part-time at this small centre
has been a rewarding experience so far and in my opinion fairly unique!
Without a public relations department and
only a small number of coworkers, I have had opportunities to do a little bit of everything. My superior probably would not consider
herself a public relations officer, but the work that she does is often public
relations related, and I am learning a lot about the centre, Japan-Australia
relations and of course about public relations practice! I assist the centre with social
media, event management, newsletters, awareness building and other
administrative work. Whilst initially daunting I feel that I have been able
thrive in a constantly changing environment despite the challenges. I have been working on my own project
that I’ll discuss in a future post.
So far the following is what I hope to achieve post completion of my internship:
So far the following is what I hope to achieve post completion of my internship:
- Confidence in my ability to work in the public relations field
- Discover what I want to do in the future with my public relations education
- Highlight and improve my weaknesses and reflect on my strengths
- Build upon my current skills so that I can prepare myself to move onto the next stage of my life whether that be further study, consultancy work or something completely new
If anyone is interested in the centre please like their Facebook Page for more information!
I find the fusion of non-for-profit and government fascinating. Is anyone else in an unusual placement? Comment below!
Regards,
Jared
4 comments:
Hi Jared,
I am also at a Government placement, but yours definitely sounds more unique than mine! It's cool to see someone undertaking their PR placement somewhere different, in comparison to your regular PR firm. It just goes to show there are PR roles and opportunities all over the place.
I'm curious, how big is the Japanese community here in WA and how easy has it been to promote the Japanese culture?
Good luck with the rest of your internship!
Greta
Thanks for your comment Greta! I'm glad someone has read my blog! How's your internship going?
The flexibility of pr is what attracted me in the first place!
The size of the Japanese community in WA is something that might be hard to explain. Certain people may only be here temporarily due for employment reasons, have recently moved here or have been here for a number of years. The Japanese community in Perth however is quite activity and we often have a number of passionate members at the Centre.
What I can tell you though is that there is a large "Australian" community in WA that is interested in Japan, especially those of university age. Promoting awareness Japanese culture is easy, however the challenge is engaging individuals in cultural and community activities. Many like Japanese Anime and travelling to Japan but few really go out of their way to meet other people other than for language practice. However I will try my best to change that!
Good luck with the rest of your internship too!
Jared
Hi Jared,
It sounds like you have found a very unique internship placement. After going to Japan in 2012, I have always been fascinated by their culture and would love to learn a bit of Japanese over the break. Does the Hyogo Centre do any Japanese night classes for beginners?
Goodluck with the rest of your internship and I hope you achieve all of your goals.
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
Usually only Thursday during the day unfortunately! But if you are interested in learning just visit the Centre whenever you can. They'll be able to help you
Jared
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