Grateful Monday!

It’s Monday today, and I just thought of something very meaningful and unforgettable while I was interning at Go International Group. Every Monday, we will have a meeting just to recap on the tasks that we have accomplish during the previous week. The things that we discussed could be the ups and downs when working, the challenges that we face when completing a task, and many more. Regardless of the challenges that us colleagues face during the previous week or even the previous week, we are always grateful on what we have learned regardless dealing with external parties or internally among us colleagues.

One of the things that I admire the most about this company is that, whatever mistakes we do, we all help each other out to fix what we have done wrong. It is because we are such a small family, we really have each other’s backs like family members. It’s not all about getting our work done, and that it’s totally on our own plates. We will always try to help one another based on whatever knowledge we have learnt. I feel like, the caring culture is very much build in this company, and I’m so grateful of that. Hence the company’s motto, “Sharing of Insights, Integrity, Love, and Valour” – their motto truly reflects how the people are in the company.

                            

Okay, back to the main point, every week we’ll sit down and have a meeting on Mondays, and during that meeting, we will all share with each other on what we are grateful of, and this is a tradition in the company, they call it “The Grateful Monday”. Every single time when it reaches my turn to share about what I’m grateful of, I will always answer the same old boring thing, which is “I’m grateful of every single thing in life”. I appreciate to have interned with my amazing colleagues, grateful to be given the opportunity to work in the company, grateful that I am learning, I could go on and on, it’s endless. Therefore, I truly appreciate of the littlest things that I am able to learn in life. “The Grateful Monday” tradition is such a wonderful thing!

xx

Till the next post :)

Noor Alina Hazeman

17894494/7E4A3053

Curtin University Sarawak

Companies, clients, organisations & non-profit organisations!

Greetings fellow readers!

Throughout my time of interning at Go International Group, these are some of the companies and non/profit organisations clients that we have worked with. 

                                         

                                                                 Freshly Squeezed Water

My colleagues and I prepared a proposal for the company above to collaborate with Vitev Alkaline Water. The purpose of the powerpoint proposal is to create a corporate video promoting the benefits of alkaline water in our daily lives, and basically to remind the mass public how important water is in our lives. While going through the objective of the corporate video's process, the objective, the target audience, the technical procedures, the concept and idea of the video, it all really reminded me very much of the unit I've enrolled previously, called Corporate Documentary Screenwriting. Therefore, I applied what I've learn from that unit into the proposal.

                                       

                                                                        Heng Hiap Group

This is one interesting company that we've proposed with. A gist of the company : It's a recycle company that could turn plastics or wastes to biodiesel! How cool is that? So the purpose of the proposal that we've done for them is to promote awareness about the benefits of recycle and to promote the company itself. Heng Hiap is located in Johor Bahru, and apparently, they're not quite known in Malaysia. So, we proposed to them to promote themselves through the power of social media, and when we were doing this, the PR unit called Transmedia Storytelling that I've enrolled previous semester came into my mind. I applied all the social media strategies that I've learnt previously into the proposal. FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram you name it!

                                                    

                                                      Second Chance Animal Society 

Second Chance Animal Society is one organisation that I was extra passionate when getting involved in it. It's got to do with dogs, and I love dogs! As mentioned in my first post, that I not only got involved in PR-related work, but also other things such as website development. As for this organisation, we proposed a revamp for their website. I attended the meeting with the clients of the organisation with Nikki. 

                                      

                                                                 SkimGuard

Skimguard is a 24/7 protection against the threat of identity theft and fraudulent credit card transactions. For this, my colleagues and I also proposed an idea and concept to create a short corporate video.

                                          

                                                            The Global Student

Jan Drew, the founder of The Global Student is a friend of Nikki. What we proposed to the organisation is also a revamp for their website. My colleagues and I had a meeting with Jan Drew through skype, and my goodness! That moment really reminded me of when my classmates and I were having a skype meeting in the class on the projector with our client, Mr. Oswald Braken from the Sarawak Forestry working for the Piasau Nature Reserve project for Transmedia Storytelling and PR Planning & Evaluation units! Except that this time, we were having the meeting through the laptop's screen and not the projector. It was indeed memorable!

                                                    

                                          myMERCYrun2016 from Mercy Malaysia

Go International Group has been collaborating with Mercy Malaysia for years now and this is currently their third time collaborating together for the fun run called myMERCYrun. This year's theme is different than the previous years' theme as this one is super hero-related! For this organisation, I helped out with preparing the proposal to propose to Perbadanan Putrajaya (Putrajaya Corporation) to have the run there. Unfortunately, the location we wanted to use in Putrajaya is fully occupied on our preferred date and time as it clashes with other running event. So we had to use an alternative location, which is Padang Merbok, the same location as the fun run was held the previous year. 

                                       

                                                              Attiva Hair Beauty

Attiva Hair Beauty is one of the clients that my colleagues and I proposed an idea to revamp their current website too, benchmarking on successful hair product websites such as Tresme.

                             

                                                Possum Removal by Possum Busters

Possum Removal is an Australian company that specifically offers the service to remove possums from homes. The proposal that my colleagues and I prepared for the company is also a proposal revamping their website. 

In a nutshell, dealing with clients in the real world ain't easy as I thought, it's indeed interesting meeting clients, and working together with my colleagues on brainstorming for ideas! Scroll down for some pictures! :P

SECOND CHANCE ANIMAL SHELTER

Meeting with clients from Second Chance Animal Shelter to propose our ideas of revamping their website

We set the meeting at one of the cafes in Kelana Jaya

MYMERCYRUN 2016

From left, myself, Suhaili from Mercy Malaysia, and Nikki my employer. We were scouting for locations in Putrajaya for the third myMERCYrun event.

Suhaili and Nikki scouting for locations.

The location we went was specifically Taman Wetland (Wetland Park) in Putrajaya.

One of the trails

More trails

Beautiful view 

That's the Putrajaya Mosque, it's one of the beautiful mosque in Malaysia

Hey hey Putrajaya, I was in the car while snapping this and Nikki drove. Putrajaya is such a beautiful place, a must for tourists to visit. What am I doing here? Marketing? Tourism, promoting? LOL! Okay back to PR. Anyway, it's unfortunate that myMERCYrun 2016 won't be held at this location due to the clashing with other running events, but it's alright, Padang Merbok has always been the welcoming place for myMERCYrun!

xx

Cheers

Noor Alina Hazeman

17894494/7E4A3053

Curtin University Sarawak

Writing requires research, and through research, we grow!

AS I'M TYPING THIS, I JUST WANNA LET YA'LL KNOW THAT I MISS INTERNING!

So anyways....

Go International Group is a company which is also growing towards a fitness website called Asia Fitness Today. The website (www.asiafitnesstoday.com) is currently still being developed by their current software technicians. As I came in on the 7th December 2015, my PR task was to write articles anything regarding health and fitness that's to be published on their website. I was given categories of articles that needs to be completed within the time given.

                                        

The articles I wrote we about things such as :

• Healthy food
• Balance meals daily
• Healthy breakfast
• Top 10 healthy food in Malaysia
• The best exercise for pregnant women
• The importance of fitness
• Fitness apparels
• Ways to a healthier lifestyle
• Quick workouts at the office
• The benefits of running
• Warm up & cool down stretches

When I was in the process of writing these articles, I realized that I was actually trying to live a healthier lifestyle at home, and started sharing health and fitness information with my family. LOL! Nikki (my employer), is a fitness enthusiast and an athlete, she is a runner. I am a person who just hates running, but working with Nikki has actually motivated and inspired me to start running. I may not run like an athlete, or as good as my employer, but I do run once in a while in a week! 

What I enjoyed the most when writing these articles is when I'm looking for sources, of course, yes I will go through google to get some ideas and such. But I'll also tend to break the silence in the office by asking my colleagues on their preference of healthy living lifestyle, workouts and what ever that's related to health and fitness. To me, I find that moment fun and meaningful even if it was just 10 minutes. Well, I appreciate moments in general!  

Other than writing articles for Asia Fitness Today, I've also written articles for Running Malaysia Magazine regarding the benefits of running particularly for women. I remembered, when Nikki (my employer), was asking me a favour to draft out an article for six different topics and it was all related to the benefits of women running. 

One of the topics were about the physiological differences between men and women. For this, the research I found was simply amazing, the information I found out about the differences between men and women's body truly brought me back to high school, in science class, just more in depth. It made me understand that the physiological differences between men and women actually affects the running performance and it is a disadvantage for women due to their menstrual cycle that they have to go through every month. I've understood better that throughout our (us women) menstrual cycle, there is a certain phase that is more suitable to run. Since we have at least four different phases which includes phases of menstrual, follicular, ovulation and luteal. The best phase to begin train and running is during our follicular phase! Okay that's enough, won't want this post to suddenly be a science topic! LOL

The other topic that I want to highlight on is about Pregnancy & Running and also Menopause & Running. When I did the research on Pregnancy & Running, it totally changes my perspective if I ever see a pregnant women running. I never thought running would actually be beneficial for pregnant women. It has always been in my head that it would be dangerous for pregnant women to be running! It brings lots of benefit to women who're pregnant actually, it improves their sleep quality, lessen their back pain and a lot more. But of course, it's only advisable to run at a certain period during their pregnancy. Whereas for Menopause & Running, is also another fact that interest me when writing the article. It implies that it's always good to run even though you've gone through menopausal stages. I never though running could bring such benefit! And now I know! 

Running Malaysia approved the idea of publishing the benefits for women to run in their magazine. Although there are six topics, I didn't manage to complete all of them, as there was not enough time, though I have done research for the topics. 

Besides that, I've also written executive summaries for a proposal which involves Borneo Innovation and Campus Party. Not to forget that I have also written an application letter to Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) to extend the time of the Street Fighter 5's launching.

Besides writing all the above, when I came in to work with Go International Group, keep each of my colleagues updated by writing the minutes of meeting every week. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the secretary of the company! LOL

All in all, writing requires research, and through research, we grow! Learn, grow, inspire. Till the next post! x

Cheers

Noor Alina Hazeman

17894494/7E4A3053

Curtin University Sarawak

Internship life of Alina

Hello everyone!

Let me introduce myself, my name is Alina, and I'm currently studying in Curtin Sarawak's campus, and I am a final year student here. I decided not to upload a photo of just me alone, because I feel that, that would be.. Awkward..

So here's a photo of me and my team last semester during Transmedia Storytelling! It was taken after the Crisis Simulation exercise. From left we have Melanie (the most front), Roy, Ajeng, Sufrina, June, me Alina yes the most excited-looking one, and Stevenson behind me.

My placement of internship was with Go International Group. I applied for at least 33 different companies, but only 6 of them called me for interview. Long story cut short, I chose Go International Group to intern with in the end. The process of going through job interviews was indeed an interesting experience!

Company : Go International Group 

Duration of internship : 7th December 2015 until 19th February 2016 (2.5 months)

Yes, I was done with my internship on the 19th February, and I did not update a single thing in here about my life of interning? Oh my dear me! Such a typical procrastinating student I am. But hey, I am actually excited to share with all of you about my internship life, although I'm done interning. Although I have not been updating my PR Internship blog, let me assure you all that I jot down my daily routine and activities while I was at work. 

My life of interning has been an amazing experience, I have learned more than what I should. Not just in terms of PR-related, but it was beyond that. I am truly grateful to be a part of the Go International Group family even though it was just for a duration of 2.5 months with them. 

Go International Group is a small company who deals with big projects with big companies. They are not a pure Public Relations agency/company. This company handles beyond that. They deal with :

1. Public Relations

        2. Creative Technology

                  3. Marketing Communication

                  4. Brand Activation & Events

   5. Digital Activation

           6. Creative Design Studio

Let me sum up on what I have done throughout my internship. 

• Writing articles
• PR & Marketing strategy proposal for clients 
• Website revamp & rebuild
• Writing media releases
• Graphic designing 
• Minor event management 

I will go into detail on what I have worked on according to each category above in my upcoming blog posts :)

Moving on, throughout my interview journey with various companies, for some good reason, I felt welcomed the most with Go International Group. My boss (Jasmine), was just so kind and friendly. Before going for interview, I was actually prepared at least 5 days earlier. I was nervous, I actually went on google to look for the top interview questions that employer would ask. I really thought everything was going to be formal. But I was wrong! Everything was just so chilled and informal, and just so relaxed! There was no questions like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" asked by the employers of interviews that I went through. When I went for the interviews, I brought my laptop, my portfolio, and another file where I include my name cards, and resume. Throughout all the companies that I went for interviews, I felt the most comfortable with Jasmine (my employer), because we were really chatting with each other, and the interview went on for almost an hour! 

Go International Group's office is located in Kuala Lumpur. The office is in a town house, it's really cute. When I started working with them, I only met Jasmine and Nikki (both are my bosses), and 2 other employees by the name of Yudishtra & Shafeeq. I was the one and only intern then. As I have mentioned, it is a small company. :)

But it was only the first week that I got to spend some time with Jasmine in the office. She had to leave the following week to Sydney to expand Go International Group, and she will be in Sydney until April. And so it was only Nikki, Shafeeq, Yudishtra and myself left in the office. 

From left : Yudishtra, Jasmine, Nikki, me Alina, & Shafeeq

I rock 'n' roll like my tummy roll!

Okay that was random. No not really random, because there is a tummy roll in this photo and I own it so I rock. Excuuuuuuuse my lame-ness, people. And also, please excuse Shafeeq's awkward pose, because he had to bend his knees a little to be in this photo. He's too tall, and his head was actually cropped out from the photo if he doesn't bend his knees. This photo was taken on Jasmine's last day with us in the office. She was leaving to Sydney that night itself. 

- 31st December 2015 -

It was Yudishtra's last day with the company and I was actually sad! :( He really helped me a lot throughout my internship. He was the one who guided me most of the time, and I am really thankful for that. Then it was only Shafeeq, Nikki & myself left in the office. So Nikki decided to have a photo with all of us in it.

From left : Yudishtra, Mr. Lawrence (Jasmine's dad, he comes to the office regularly to help out with data researches), Nikki and myself

QUICK UPDATES!

- 4th January 2016 -

The new interns came in! There were 2 of them, Alvin & Thina. 

- 12th January 2016 - 

Another new intern came in, Belle! So now, there's Shafeeq, Nikki, Alvin, Thina, Belle and myself. Now the office is getting more merrier with more people! :D 

- 26th January 2016 - 

We all reunited with Yudishtra during lunch! 

From left : Alvin, Belle, Shafeeq (at the back), Thina, and me! And Yudishtra the most front!

Just a heads up that my blog posts will be from the recent activities that I have done throughout my internship to the oldest updates ever since I started interning. More updates coming up soon! x

Noor Alina Hazeman

17894494/7E4A3053

Curtin University Sarawak

Reflecting on my internship

www.tourism.wa.gov.au

As my internship comes to a close, I have begun to reflect on the valuable lessons I have learnt from my time at Tourism Western Australia in their Corporate communications department.

www.tourism.wa.gov.au

From being absolutely terrified and intimidated on the first day to feeling so comfortable and confident on the last, I can safely say I have come a long way.

I believe that the most important thing that I have gained from this experience the confidence I feel when completing tasks now.
I used to question everything I was doing and  talk negatively about my work but now I feel proud of what I have achieved and happy for people to read over what I have accomplished.
 I notice that a lot of other people have shared the same or similar experiences, but as cliché as it sounds it’s true.


To be honest I wasn't really looking forward to this unit because I was quite time poor and as I had just comeback from a exchange semester overseas I couldn't start my internship as early as I would have liked. Despite no looking forward to the unit and facing various challenges along the way, overall I had a great time and expanded my knowledge.

www.tourism.wa.gov.au

I'd like to acknowledge the staff at Tourism WA and especially Kelly Eadie my supervisor who went above and beyond to accommodate me in the agency, acted as a support network and encouraged my learning. I would recommend to anyone unsure of where to undertake a placement to consider working within Tourism Western Australia, because it was an utterly rewarding experience.




Thanks for reading my blog. I hope that those who have completed their internships had a great and rewarding experience and to those who haven't started yet- it's not as daunting as you think- good luck.

All the best Caitlyn Rintoul (*insert breakfast club fist pump here).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv1I4q6lOpo

Caitlyn Rintoul

http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/Pages/welcome_to_tourism_western_australia.aspx

The final hurdle: A successful event

As an intern at Curtin University, I was fortunate enough to be apart of the annual John Curtin Medals Ceremony for 2015. Wow, was this an amazing experience! Each year the ceremony awards individuals for their outstanding contributions to the community within their chosen field. One of the 2015 recipients was Kaye Brand, the founder of Fibromyalgia Western Australia Inc.

After witnessing the event in its entirety, I could have never anticipated how special and emotionally charged the ceremony was going to be. It was nothing like I had ever experienced before. It was refreshing but also a huge learning curve for me as I plan my future in events management.

The preparation that went into the event was quite stressful and daunting, but after seeing it all come together it was definitely worth it. For the event I was involved in the formation of the slide show, the order of proceedings and the briefing documentation. From this process, I have learnt you can never be too organised or too prepared because in events management something can go wrong in the blink of an eye.

What surprised me the most about this event, was not the set up, the perfect flower arrangement or the catering selection. In fact, it was the minor details that made the event for me. As students we are often too caught up in having the perfect order of proceedings that we forget about the ‘nitty gritty’ elements that make an event so special and memorable for those involved. Personally it was the celebration of cultural diversity and aboriginal history that made the ceremony so memorable for me.

As apart of the formal proceedings the events department incorporated a ‘Welcome to Country’. The ‘Welcome to Country’, usually preformed by Simon Forrest, is an aboriginal blessing that acknowledges the traditional owners of the land in which Curtin Bentley is sited. Not sure what I mean? Check out the link below.

http://about.curtin.edu.au/welcome/traditional-aboriginal-welcome/

I have never seen this in an event before, but it was definitely an eye opener and added a nice touch to the formalities. I’m very thankful that I got to work on such an amazing and unique event. I will take a lot away from this experience as I begin my career in events management. I hope everyone else is enjoying their internship placements as much as me!

916 Malaysia Day Charity Night Run 2015

Malaysia Day falls on 16th September 1963 and is one of the most respected and appreciated celebration for Malaysian citizens because it marks the day Borneo and West Malaya became one country call Malaysia. Numerous events were planned in conjunction with Malaysia Day celebration such as 916 Malaysia Day Charity Night Run 2015 which was organized by Miri City Council alongside with other government departments.

Before the commencement of the actual event, there are a lot of details that needed to be prepared such as props for performers, a well planned running sheet as well as list of invited guests and performers.
My task for this massive event was to confirm the attendance of guests of honour, councillors and performers. Our invited performers are amongst the prestige fitness and health centre located in Miri, Sarawak and the purpose of their workout demonstration was to motivate and energize participants for the run.

On the night of the event, committees had to arrive early for final touch up of the venue and to delegate responsibilities to everyone.

Every MCC PR department's committee were given the above tag.

Running sheet of the event and performers check list.

The stage was set up with a massive stage display.

The full view of the stage with digital clock for countdown.

Public Address System (PA System) all geared up to pump up the event.

DJ of the night in the middle of sound check.

MCC committee just finished setting  up chairs for performers.

The venue was starting to get crowded with participants and supporters.

Participants slowly gathered up.

Emcee of the event making an opening.

Screening of A short clip about the wonderful Miri City.

As the video was playing, so did the participants where they starting to fill up the venue.

  I was amazed and astounded by the number of people participated in the event. They fill up over 4 blocks of buildings. 

Before getting ready on the starting line, first group of performers demonstrated the fun way of warming up. Most participants were energized and they dance along with the performers. 

First performers boosted up the ambience by performing on trampoline. 

Zumba performers were getting ready to pump up the crowds.

Councillors and VIPs were enjoying the performance.

People from all ages, including children were enjoying themselves with the performance.

After the amazing performances, VIPs and councillors were invited on stage to officiate 916 Malaysia Day Charity Night Run.

Y.B Lee Khim Shin waving Malaysia national flag alongside fellow guests of honor on stage.

As soon as the sound of blow-horn went off, participants storm out to start the run.

Participants storming out of the starting line.

Participants ready for the run.

Participants half way through the 5km run.

Policemen were securing and guarding participants.

Volunteers cheering for participants near the finish line with water to be given.

One of the participants running toward the finish line.

Crowds witnessing the night run.

Runner who had completed the run taking slow walk to ease their exhaustion. 

After completing the run, participants were entertained with more performances and they were dancing along.

Belly dancers entertaining the crowds.

Even after running for 5km, most participants were still active to dance along with performers.

This small kid holding Malaysia national flag while watching performance.

There were more performances before the countdown for Malaysia Day, unfortunately my phone ran our of battery and I did not manage to snap pictures.

It was 11: 55pm, VIPs and councillors were called to go on stage to prepare for countdown. I was honoured to be able to stand on stage alongside the guests even though my task was to clip glow-in-the dark stick on their wrists because I was able to interact with them.

At exactly 12am, the whole crowd screamed "Selamat Hari Malaysia" (Happy Malaysia Day) out loud and cheered with joy!

It was a rather patriotic night run where I had the chance to witness how grateful and loving Malaysian are towards their country. Indeed, at the end of the event, people were exhausted but it was all worth it!

Miri City Council committee taking a break before packing up the venue.

When I got back to the office, I was excited for media clipping just to observe how the press covered the event and it was published in most of the local newspapers in 4 different languages, such as Malay, Chinese, English and Iban (Miri local dialect).

News covered by Utusan Borneo.

It was even published in Iban language.

The Borneo Post published the event in English.

I am lost beyond words at how amazed I am by the crowd that attended the charity night run. I was also able to interact directly with guests of honor, councillors, the press and performers. At the end of the event, I gained knowledge on how to plan a big event, direct communication with VIPs and the press as well as witnessing Malaysian love towards Malaysia!.

Yours truly,

Ivy Tang Siew Ing

Miri Campus

15632964