last advise and photos

From the last post I had promise to post pictures from my internship, I will get to that at the end of this post. But for now I will write about the whole summary of my internship which has been a great experience one month experience. Here are the things that I have learned from the whole internship:

1. The first impression is very important.
I know this piece of advise is very common in our PR lessons. Lecturers constantly remind us about first impressions of how one must dress, behave and aware of body language. I thought I would do great for my first day of my internship, but I was quite wrong on that note as mistake number one had occur. On my first day of the internship, I was suppose to wait for my supervisor who was the Corporate Communications Manager to come in for work around 2 in the afternoon. Now during that time, the Director of Communications was in the hotel constantly and I was doing media clippings while waiting for my supervisor. On my fourth day in the office, that the director called me in the office. Now let me tell you that I am terrified of her because she has a very strong character to her that I admire until the end of my internship. I panicked for awhile thinking I did something that was a serious offence, but I prepared myself to meet her in her office. She told me to sit down and asked me to introduced myself and my background, so I told her about myself like how I wrote in my resume. She turned to me and said the same advise that was been told dozens of times. As in going for a new job, always introduce yourself to the head of the company or the managers of the company. The reason being that the top managements would remember you as well as they like to know who are working with them. I made the mistake of not introducing myself to my director on who I was on my first day of working in the department. But she told me that next time when I am working in my first job that I should do just that and I would be able to make a lasting impression to my future employer.

2. Don't keep yourself in the background
Another thing the director told me is to not keep yourself in the background when working. Being in the PR industry we have to make the brand we work for stand out against their competition, and to do that we can't just stay behind our desk cutting out media clippings constantly. We should always stand out confidently with ideas and perspective that we can provide in brainstorming sessions or even when talking to your employers. The reason with this is not only you bring out your true potential and ideas, but to be able to reflect the company's image as you are representing the company. The director gave me a choice that day to whether keep myself doing newspaper clippings for the department or offer myself to take on small projects that can be used for the hotel premises. I decided on that day I will be more proactive in taking up tasks that can benefit me and the hotel. I have taken up some projects and tasks that I have mentioned during the past blogs, even though I am a temporary staff. But I understand that by doing that you can remain an impression to your supervisor which can help you find your next job or be your future employer.

3. Be prepared for anything.
Again common tip in life that people pass unto you, either your lecturer or friends in life. But in the public relations context, it is very important to be prepared for anything that can occur during normal business time, which is why we are considered the crisis management team of the company. But lets focus on the smaller things first, being prepared for the tasks that your supervisor or manager lay upon you. The director told me to be part of the MICE video shoot which took placed during the week including the weekends, she told me that to be part of the shoot I need to sacrifice my weekends to work on it. At the end of the day I did went through the whole shoot and I am glad that I have prepared myself to face the challenges and gained a lot of experience.

Overall, I had a great internship where I met different people and backgrounds. I gained experiences that I can apply after I graduate, I appreciate the people who have worked with me and guide me through my internship because without them I would have no clue on how things work in the hotel. I hope that I have an opportunity to work with them again. I would also want to thank you the readers for reading my posts. Thank you all.

That's all for the last tips that I was given during my internship, now for some photos to make this the last post from me. Enjoy the photos.

The Ocean Wing swimming pool and the wing at the background.

Wedding Pavilion

View of the beach and ocean from the Premier Suite

The employee tag

Sneaky selfie of the uniform

The film crew of the MICE video shoot, John (right) & Mitch (left)

Crew selfie

Filming in progress

Photoshoot for training program

Chinese New Year Visit to tour agencies

Behind events and shoots in the trainees eyes

The common perception of PR people in the general eye is a person who handles events and photo shoots with this flair of confidence and they somehow look good with the chaos around them. Personally I still have that perception as I wouldn't mind having that presence when I work as a PR practitioner, but it would take time to develop that flair. But in this post I will be talking about the events and shoots happened during my internship.

Hotels are always packed with guests from different countries, ages and background. but hotels are quite commonly packed with events and even if fortunate enough photo shoots and filming shoots. Now let us focus on the events part of the post, as that is the really fun and exciting part of being in the hotel industry. Events can be quite happening and fun in the eyes of the guest or the people who are invited to it, but for people behind the event it can be a nightmare and sometimes a nuisance when there are late minute changes or unfortunate scenarios. I got to experience a few events that happened at the resort during Chinese New Year, such as the annual Chinese New Year dinner. the task given to me for that event was invitations which sounds like an assistant's job, but it is an important task as most organizing committees rely on your task to carry forward in their task. So faxing invitations can be a bit tedious, but the follow-up calls are more challenging to do as sometimes the calls don't get through or the person that you need to speak to is not around. As for the people that relies on you, they are people like the director of events, sales, even the general manager wants the updates and details of your follow-ups. How I managed to handle work was considered straight-forward as well as detailed for all to read from the excel sheet; the attending guest were categorized as VIPs or tour agencies, tally the the amount of guests coming and their contact details were updated as well. But one thing I found interesting is that by following up with the personal assistant of a minister or tour agency, you can network and gain contacts as future contact for the hotel or personal reference.

Now for my favorite part of my internship that is the photo or film shoots at the resort, I considered this an exciting experience for my internship as a PR student as well as a media student, The general type of photo shoots that I experienced are more towards food and beverage since that requires a lot of promoting, which is not bad since you can eat or drink after the shoot. But the highlight for the section is the events department's MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition) corporate video that was shot by two experienced directors from Mediavation Singapore, a production house that works with television channels such as E! Entertainment, NBCUniversal, Sephora and even did a corporate video for Curtin Perth's Mass Communications program a few years back. I had the chance to work with the director of communications in the resort but also these two directors as well. The whole shoot went on smoothly since my director and I always made sure the set up and the bookings are finalized as well as suitable for filming. What I have learn from the experience is that always think three steps ahead in planning a campaign video as the work can be done in an efficient way like not interfering other people in the surrounding; keep updated with the team involved and be open to sudden changes in schedules and circumstances where it will always happens. My part in the whole process was being the assistant liaison to the directors as well as being a background actress for the video. As PR student, the quote "do what you got to do" applies in this situation since this can get you exposed to a lot of experience of dealing with people and being confident to put yourself either in front of the camera or making decision on whether to do a sunrise shoot at 5 am in the morning or earlier.

Well that's all for now, stay tune to my last post which I will post photos during my internship to end my entry. Until then, thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Lorraine Disimond
16863147
Curtin University Sarawak Malaysia.

Media Clippings and Orangutan Rehabilitation Program

The utmost basic task of any PR trainee in any organisation is media clippings, now as PR students we learn what is the purpose of media clippings and where do we need to source out these media clippings. Now what I do everyday as soon as I reach my desk, I start by going to the pantry to get coffee or make instant oats for a pick-me-up. Then I go to the pigeon-hole of the communication department to get the newspaper of the day or the weekends if the day was Monday. For some it is tedious or even tiresome, but for me I thought of it is like a treasure hunt on getting valuable loot. Why do I say that? Well if there is no news it can be a very mundane day as though the tourism and hospitality industry is not buzzing with news which is quite surprising for Sabah as it is one of the main incomes of the state.

I remembered my first day of being in the office, my supervisor was out on inspections and had to wait for him until later in the day, the first thing I did as soon as I was in the office for the first day was newspaper clippings. I was reading the newspapers that were stacked up high in the pigeon hole due to the fact that the holiday season had just past and the whole population of the communications department were only four people. When I was done with clipping the article and my supervisor is back in the office, I gave him the clippings I have done which he went and check on the contents, at the end of the day most of the clippings were not accepted since it wasn't so much affecting the resort. On that day onward, I learn that the media clippings be it traditional or digital it should be news that can affect the specific business values of your organisation and not the general idea of the industry.

Now in the title of this entry mention about Orangutans, believe it or not Rasa Ria Resort have an Orangutan rehabilitation program that works together with the local wildlife department for 20 years. This program is one of the unique selling point of the resort where guest and locals can visit the sanctuary with a price and learn about the Orangutans. But in recent years, the program has caught on the attention of a few NGOs regards to the program making profit out of the program and the local authorities are cooperating about the matter. This was basically my closest encounter of a crisis management issue in my internship, but what I think the communications department did at the end of the day was excellent.

Here is what happened to the whole crisis. First the newspapers that we had given the media release regarding to the program with the headline saying that the 20 year program is coming to a successful end have been printed out. The general manager's statement about the program has educated hundreds of students and guests over the past 20 years was a good approach to summarize the whole matter. The day the media release came out, every department were briefed on the matter and poster of the press release was poster on the notice board of the staff board. As for me, I was given the job of media monitoring of the press release on traditional and digital media. The furthest the news have reach was to eco-travel news portal in Australia, as for the calls for about the press release it was not hectic as the staff from the sales department were well informed and had responses provided by the communications department to talk to tour agents, guest and even reporters.

Overall, the experience of media monitoring as well as media clippings are important to keeping tabs of the external forces of the organisation and the reactions of these external forces towards the organisation.

Once again thank you and until next time.

Regards,

Lorraine Disimond.

16863147/7E3A1585

Curtin University Sarawak.

The Shangri-La Exprerience for Trainees

First and foremost let me introduce myself, my name is Lorraine Jinjumei Disimond from Curtin University Sarawak Malaysia studying Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications & Public Relations. I am currently interning for Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort & Spa, Kota Kinabalu under the communications department.

What is the first impression you have when you hear the words "Shangri-La"?
Paradise?
Luxury?
Heaven?

Well those are the words that are used constantly during the orientation day for trainees or permanent staffs of the Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort & Spa, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Yes there is an orientation that newbies have to go through during a certain intake of the resort. The first day of stepping into the resort had left me at awe, because my internship for the resort is located about 40 minutes from the capital city of Kota Kinabalu in the next district called Tuaran. where they are famous for the Mengkabong river, Dalit Beach and also a good view of Mount Kinabalu; the highest mountain in Malaysia. Now it is not often you can get a mountain, river and beach view as your work place, but from that I definitely felt confident about working for a 5 star resort.

Orientation was conducted by the training manager of the resort for two days. Within the two days I was packed with enthusiasm for being part of a global brand. What I have learn from the two days is the orientations for trainees are basically a PR and marketing showcase of the Shangri-La brand. Now let me elaborate more on the experience, we were given briefs of information regarding to the hotel, house rules of the hotel and even a training kit on giving the Shangri-La experience. I realized how deeply the organisation wants every employee be it the General Manager to the housekeeping service to understand the values and principles that the organisation have as well as the understanding what is the unique selling-point of the resort which is the white sandy beach, the 64 acres of nature reserve and the most friendliest staff in Sabah.

The second thing about the orientation days were the emphasis on the principle and values of the organisation, to summarize the whole session it is about making the guest happy as well as being the extra mile of service to guest. I understand this is a hospitality industry's mother of all rules, but lets put it into the PR perspective. Stakeholders expect an organisation to care about being honest, humble and caring organisations, well that is what we learn during the orientation as well as the core value of being under the Shangri-La brand. Not only that, we were also introduced to the global CSR program of the brand, Embrace and Sustainability program. That focuses on community development as well as environmental awareness.

Overall my impression of the orientation is that the staff in the resort are well-trained in being humble, kind and caring as it is understood by heart on what are the values of the organisation as well as being the Shangri-La experience of bringing personal touches to high quality service.

Thank you for reading my post, until next time.

With regards,
Lorraine Disimond.
16863147/7E3A1585
Curtin University Sarawak.