Go The Extra Mile

Hi there!

Its Ramsha reporting in from Integrated Public Relations in Kuala Lumpur. 

So I am very nearing the end of my internship and let me start off this post by saying that it has been an exhausting and exhilarating experience. It made me realize just how different and fast paced the "real world" is. It also taught me another great lesson which is that going the extra mile never hurts. 

I know it sounds super cheesy and all but trust me on this and I am sure most of you have also learned this same lesson in your own experience. 

Going the extra mile ensures that you stand out above your competitors as well as in the view of your targeted audiences. You leave behind a standard to be followed that not many will be able to match and an image of that extra special something that makes the difference between "great" and "outstanding".

I myself saw the impact of doing this when Integrated Public Relations decided to personally reach out to those media outlets I have been talking about in my previous posts. 

So here is the backstory:

Integrated Public Relations was busy organizing the press event for the launch of the Belum Scientific Research Center at the Belum Rainforest Resort in the state of Perak earlier this month. In lieu of this we were planning to drive down to Perak from Kuala Lumpur. In preparation for the event, as is standard practice, we called all relevant media outlets, inviting them to attend the event.

For this event we targeted only Perak and Ipoh media. We have had contact with them before for other events but this time we decided to show our appreciation by visiting their offices in person one day in advance of the event.

So we drove out one day early and proceeded to visit all the offices that had anyone available to see us. At some we got to meet the head journalist, at others the bureau chief. All were pretty friendly and open to meeting us and we got to thank them for always indulging us and sending someone to cover our events, being patient with attending our calls and sending us copies of their articles in print as it might be difficult for us to get our hands on publications printed in a different province. 

We also gave away some goodies as a show of goodwill and appreciation for their efforts on our behalf. 

The impact this excursion around Ipoh made was palpable the next day when we were about to leave for the resort and each and every representative from the media showed up on time, appropriately prepared and in a great mood. 

By showing that we appreciated the media people in Ipoh we strengthened our professional relationship with them and ensured that they would keep attending events organized by Integrated Public Relations in the future as well. It basically put faces to the names and voices on the other end of the phone line. 

This is a great example of how a little extra effort goes a long way in your favor. A lot of the time you will find that you enjoy doing it too because thinking up activities like this and then executing them is pretty fun. In my case, I got to drive around Ipoh, a city I had not really seen before, got to meet interesting people and just get to know my colleagues in a relaxed "road-trip" fun kind of way.

So heed my advice and never be afraid of doing that little extra that will pay you back tenfold later in time. It is definitely worth the effort.

Till my next (and last) post,

Take care and good luck with your internship placements.

Ramsha Zia Siddiqi

Curtin University, Sarawak Campus
Student ID: 7e2b1164