It's Party Time!

After much stress and hard work the night of the ball finally arrived!

I arrived at 2pm to help set up. After 5 straight hours of setting up auction tables, placing raffle tickets & free give aways on tables the guest started to arrive and creating last minute powerpoint slides the guest started to arrive. 

The night got off to a great start, with all of the speeches staying short and sweet, and the food being superb. After eating it was back to work for the PR team.

One of the main fundraisers on the night is the raffle. Selling at $20 for three tickets, this fundraiser had raised $2 500 by the end of the night. It was primarily my job, in the later part of the night, to sell these tickets. 

As with all events, it had it hiccups. The main negative point of the night was when a centrepiece, which we had hired, was stolen from one of the tables. I personally found this really appalling. After my supervisor spoke to some of the people at that particular table, the centrepiece was returned to the hotel a couple of days later. Unfortunately in the mean time the foundation had been charged a late fee.

This mini crisis taught me that no matter how prepared you are, events management is highly unpredictable. Something will always happen that you don't see coming. My entire experience with this Ball has taught me to be as prepared as you can be, but after that: don't stress! Stressing will get you nowhere. You cant possibly predict everything, so just take it as it comes. 

My one last piece of advice for all of you girls interested in events management is don’t wear heels! You will be on your feet for hours at a time and will need to run around a lot. The best decision I made was wearing sandals with my ball dress. I may have looked slightly strange, but the fact I was still able to walk to next day, made it 100% worth it.

Good luck getting your assignments in guys!

Jacqui. 

Design Skills: Learn or Fail in PR.

Know your computer skills!

When working in PR you need to be a jack of all trades, but one skill which I found is not covered at all in my PR education at Curtin University is how to effectively design promotional documents and use basic web tools.

So far in my internship I have had to design:

• A promotional poster for the HBF Run for a Reason
• The entry ticket for the Arthritis WA Ball
• Design the list of auction prizes for the Arthritis WA Ball
• Create three different generic promotional posters for Arthritis Albany
• Create a promotional image appropriate for Facebook for the advertisement of the fundraising entertainment book 
• Create a banner for the webpage advertising the Arthritis WA Ball
• Two online newsletters 
• a new banner for the website and implement it into the site

All of this was created with the aid of Microsoft Publisher, MailChimp Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Luckily I studied Applied Information Technology (AIT) for my TER so am competent enough with all of these programs to get by. However my experience with Arthritis WA has now inspired to to look into further advancing my computer skills through further education.

While incredibly difficult design projects, such as the formatting of the Arthritis Today magazine, are sent out to design specialists, the PR section is expected to create most basic designs.

While words are a PR graduates greatest weapon, and correctly formatted visual document is also vitally important. It can be such an powerful and simple way to communicate with your stakeholders. It is highly likely that most of us graduates will be asked to create posters, brochures, information sheets, online newsletters, and various other pieces.

Being competent with computer programs is another vital skill for graduates. During my internship I have also been asked to edit the foundation’s website and create two of the monthly newsletters through MailChimp. Fortunately I have a large amount of experience in editing websites so I did not struggle on that front. However the program MailChimp was completely foreign to me, so I had to spend quite some time learning how to use it. 

I feel that it is so vitally important for any PR graduate to have the appropriate design and computer skills when they graduate.

In the 2013 article written by the PRIA titled ‘3 Skills any PR Pro Needs’ the top two skills were photoshop and design. 

To have a look at the article, follow this link: http://www.pria.com.au/priablog/3-skills-any-pr-pro-needs

This further proves that PR graduates need to have the necessary computer skills in order to survive. It would be very useful if basic design and web skills were taught at Curtin so us graduates could enter the workforce with the appropriate computer skills. 

Since there is probably not enough time or space in the degree to fit this in, I would highly recommend to all of my fellow almost graduates to consider looking at simple youtube tutorials in design. It could be the difference between getting that dream job and missing out!

Do you feel as though you have the appropriate design and  computer skills to work in PR?

Let me know what you think,

Jacqueline Bagshaw. 

Amazing People, Amazing Feats.

Managing Third Party Fundraising:

Working for a not for profit has allowed me to see the immense effort that goes into third party fundraising. Many people think that when member of the public is fundraising for a charity, that all the charity does is receive that money and write a thank you note. This is far from true.

At this point I would like to introduce you to two people who Arthritis WA has been working with extensively. They are currently undertaking third party fundraising for the foundation. 

Mike Pauly:

Mike is a 73 year old man who suffers from osteoarthritis. Symptoms of this disease is include joint pain and swelling.
Mike took up walking once he was diagnosed to lose weight, which will help lessen the severity of his condition. This hobby soon tuned into a passion and now Mike is walking around Australia to raise money for Arthritis WA.  

When I first heard about this journey I had the same reaction which you are all probably having right now. All I could ask myself was ‘Is he mad?’ He is 73 years old and is heading into the harsh northern climate. I raised these concerns with Lily, the PR coordinator, and she said she had the same reaction. It raise many questions as to whether it is ethical to support Mike to undertake such a arduous journey. While Lily did raise her concerns to Mike, he was so determined to go that nobody could stop him. A precaution that the PR department has taken, is writing a PR crisis management plan incase something were to happen to Mike on his journey. 

This has been a very interesting aspect of my internship, as fundraising, especially third party fundraising wasn’t covered in any of my PR classes. However it still incorporates many for the skills I have learnt in my classes.

Mike’s Blog:

Mike Pauly has many followers and in order to keep in touch with them throughout his journey, Arthritis WA set him up a blog. Unfortunately neither Mike or his wife completely understand how to use the blog so this has become Arthritis Wa's job. Every couple of days Mike will email through a new blog entry and I will upload it to his blog.

We are consistently told by our PR tutors that in order to succeed in Public Relation we need to have impeccable spelling and grammar. This exercise with Mike has taught me how important the skill of proofreading and editing is. Since it is 40 degrees up north and Mike has usually been walking in that heat all day his sentence structures and spelling are less than desirable. Part of my job has now included proofreading and editing Mike’s blog entries to ensure that they are grammatically correctly before releasing them to the public.

Another aspect of my uni degree that has come in handy is how to effectively communicate this information to the right audience. I communicate this new information in the most targeted platform I have access to, through social media. I have been using the Arthritis WA Facebook page and Twitter extensively to communicate with as many West Australians interested in Arthritis research as I can about Mike and his plight. Unfortunately I would have left Arthritis WA before Mike reaches the Eastern States and we have an opportunity to get him on morning television.

Arthritis Today Magazine and e-newsletter:

Another great communication platform which Arthritis WA has is their Arthritis Today magazine and e-newsletter, both of which are sent out to Arthritis WA’s massive database. I have been given the chance to use my writing skills in these two publications. As well as writing various other stories, I have written quite a few pieces on Mike. We have extensively covered his departure ceremony and journey up north.  

If anybody is interested in Mike, you can follow his blog here:

http://ozsoulwalk.com 

Nancy:

The next person I would like to introduce you to is Nancy, who I had the privilege of interviewing for the upcoming issue of the Arthritis Today magazine. 

Nancy is an amazing women who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and is undertaking to HBF Run for a Reason to raise funds for arthritis research. 

Arthritis Today Magazine and e-newsletter:

Interviewing and writing the article on Nancy was such a great experience for me. It was such a great PR still to utilise. Since interviewing is more of a journalism technique I hadn't actually covered it my PR classes, however Catherine Archer has extensively covered how to prep a spokesperson for an interview in PR Media. I found this this skill helped me immensely. By writing down all of the possible questions that Nancy could potentially be asked in an interview I was able to narrow down my questions and choose an interesting theme for my article.

If any of you ever need to interview anybody for your organisation, thinking back to the interview preparation skills might help you a lot. 

Sorry this has been such a long post, but it is amazing how invested you get in third party fundraisers and the excitement you get from telling other people their stories.

Thanks for reading :)

Jacqueline

Having a Ball of a Time.

During my internship I have been able to take part in an aspect of Public Relations I have always wanted to work in; Events Management. The Arthritis Foundation is holding their annual ball next month, I have been lucky enough to take part in the organisation of the event.

When I started the event venue and band had been booked, but not much else. Over the past couple of weeks, the Ball had been a sideline project for the PR section but now that the event is fast approaching it is demanding more and more of our attention. 

Whilst working on the ball I have learnt one very handy communication skill; the art of subtly asking companies for free things. The main source of revenue for the ball is the silent and live auctions that will be held on the night. In order to hold this auction we need to source items from companies and ask them to donate them for free. 

This ball is quote an upmarket event. Most of the attendees will be board members (most of which are doctors and accountants) and their circle of friends. This means that the items we need to source for the ball can’t just be random items off the street, that would be embarrassing for the organisation. The items we need to source need to be luxurious and expensive. For example we have already managed to source 3 night accommodation at Cable Beach Resort in Broome and a $1000 necklace for an upmarket jeweller in Perth. 

I have been writing letters on behalf of the CEO to send out the sponsors of previous Balls. I found that the tricky part of writing these letter was finding the right tone. We are asking for quite a lot in these letters, so it is essential to come across right. You need to be not too desperate, but not too demanding, you need to be gracious and not greedy. You also need the perfect segway into asking them for a donation. After these letters were complete it was personally signed by the CEO before they were posted out to all of the potential sponsors. 

Theory which has come in handy:

I have found that some of the skills I have been taught at Curtin, way back in PR Techniques 220, are finally being used. Although I learnt these skills over 2 years ago they are still very much relevant today. In such a rapidly changing world I have expected that a lot of the theory I have learnt at university to become obsolete with the introduction of new communication platforms ect.
It is nice to know that some things are still the same, like an event running order. No matter how sophisticated you technology is, you will always need to map out exactly how an event will run- to the minute- in order to have real control over the proceedings of the night.  Also creating documents such event running order and to-do spreadsheet has helped me really understand the event to the point where I will know it like the back of my hand by the time of the event.
It seems that these PR techniques are an ‘oldie but a goodie’. 

Thanks for reading guys!

Jacqueline 

Not-for-Profit PR: A Jack of all Trades.

After my first six days at Arthritis WA I have come to discover what a huge variety of activities the Public Relations sector gets involved in.  

I have been working with Lily, the Public Relations and Fundraising Coordinator for Arthritis WA. I initially wanted complete my internship with a NFP as I felt my time would be most appreciated there. What I have come to discover is that the NFP sector is possibly the best sector to complete an internship in, as you get to work on such a vast majority of projects. 

In the six days that I have been with Arthritis WA I have become involved in a large and diverse variety of projects including the annual ball, the tri-annual magazine, the monthly newsletter, sourcing advertisers, working with third party fundraisers, presentations for the annual board meeting and social media pages.  

I was given the chance to put my writing skill to the test when Lily left me in charge of writing the March Online Newsletter. 

A handy communication skill that I learnt whilst creating a newsletter, which will be distributed to over 2000 people, was to tailor your writing so it is easily understood by a large and diverse audience. At Curtin University PR students are encourage to use a higher calibre of english and constantly expand our vocabulary, however when writing a document that will be distributed to the general public it is important to follow the KISS principal (Keep It Simple Stupid). Whilst using an extensive vocabulary may look impressive it is more important to ensure, when sending out a mass publication, all people will be able to easily read it. 

As WA’s leading name for Arthritis care, many different brands wish to advertise with Arthritis WA. Currently, only a handful have been chosen to advertise in the tri-annual magazine, based on the validity of their products and statements. Lily is currently looking at creating a pull out with the Sunday times, which will involve substantially more advertisers in order to cover the costs. I was given the job of evaluating companies which have contacted Arthritis WA in the past and research into other businesses which may be interested in advertising. This created an ethical issue for me, as Arthritis WA needs to be very careful about they choose to align themselves with. Any companies which they advertise with must make valid claims claims, and be medically proven to work. Many Arthritis sufferers trust Arthritis WA, and will therefore trust any brand which they align themselves with. It was vitally important for me to list and recommend potential advertisers who will not lead to a violation of this trust.

In the first six days my highlight was attending a conference run by HBF and Every Day Hero on this year’s HBF Run for a Reason. This 3 hour conference ran through all of the ins and outs of third party fundraising. It was such a fantastic opportunity to go along and learn about this unique form of fundraising and have a chat to representative from other not for profits.  

Thanks so much for reading!

If you have any questions, please let me know.