Sifting Through the Rubbish

On a daily basis we are exposed to millions of adverts, stories and information about the world and ourselves via a range of mediums. I don’t think that it has been until now that I realise the effort and work put into constructing this information for the world to see. We almost become oblivious to it, like it’s apart of everyday life. We wake up and the paper is in your mailbox. You don’t think about the people who have created it, or those who has crafted their images and writing to suit their clients needs and wants. This is a very selective process, one which takes times and effort. During my first week I learnt about this process and the skills needed to ensure that work is crafted to the highest standard, in order to give the client the best possible chance of receiving coverage. Some might ask how? It’s simply, or rather complex. You learn to sift through the rubbish.

On my second day I was asked to write a press release for a client who is opening a new gymnasium. In order to do this the steps are as followed

1. Research about the client and the new gym.
2. Produce ‘word vomit’ as my mentor likes to say.
3. Now its time to refine your writing skills.
4. Repeat step 3 multiple times until you believe all the refining is done.
5. Produce press release to the client
6. Repeat step 3, again until given the ok.

Something I thought would be a quick process, soon turned into a process that consumed half of my day. You see in step 1 its all about sifting through the rubbish and realising what is the essence of your story. This process is very much a form of art, because this information will form your story and your title.

Step 2 has to be my favourite. Now you must regurgitate that information and vomit it up onto the page. Hopefully following a pyramid structure. When I look back on my first go at writing the press release for the gym opening, it was all over the place and some key elements of the story were being lost. This is where Step 3 came in.

Step 3 is where you start shaving away at parts of the apple so to speak. Removing bits from here and changing words from there. This is where writing really becomes an art form. You learn to hone your writing skills. And this does take time. I’ve learnt that only practice will make me a better writer and maybe this is why I’ve been asked everyday this week to write a media release for a client, after all writing is a core foundation to PR.

Step 4. Yes, this step can be monotonous and tedious at times, but its essential to ensure the best possible coverage. It can be the simplest of thing during this process that can make the world of difference, to whether your story gets coverage or not. For example the title “Harper Family to Open New Gymnasium at St. Fredrick's Grammar” is far less appeal than “WA Premier to Open New Gymnasium”. No ordinary citizen would know who the Harper family is, but EVERYONE knows who the WA Premier is. Instantly your story has newsworthiness and coverage. And you now have a happy client.

So for us as PR students I encourage you all to practice your ‘sifting through the rubbish’, your writing and your refining, after all it is these skills that along with appealing and captivate photos that engage people and hopefully bring your client coverage.  But for now, what do you guys think is the most important skill in PR?

Georgia

Walking the talk of our jargon, CSR

Hello again, to all my bright and shiny PR fellows across the globe!

This time around, I would like to share my grueling, but highly satisfactory experience running the SOUL Society Charity Bazaar 2013.

Since its establishment in 1996, SOUL Society recognizes the significance of CSR and giving back to the community on an annual basis. The past years have seen SOUL Society organize a Charity Walk, Street Carnivals and Men Auctions. Its past beneficiaries include PS The Children, Chow Kids, Rumah Nur Salam, Pertiwi Soup Kitchen and Alzheimer Disease Foundation Malaysia.

As for its 2013 CSR program, they decided to organize a charity bazaar from 10am till 6pm, on the 15^th of December 2013 at WIP in Bangsar Shopping Centre. I believe the date of its program has been strategically-planned as large amounts of retail consumption generally occur during the year-end as many Malaysians celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. The beneficiary for its 2013 CSR program is HOSPIS Malaysia, who is a charitable organization that offers professional Palliative Care to patients suffering from life-limiting illness.

The SOUL Society’s pace is astonishingly fast for an in-house company, even for my role as an intern. I rapidly picked up responsibilities on a daily basis and began to feel the high pressure of the SOUL Society operations by day three.

Approximately two weeks in advance of the SOUL Society charity bazaar, I undertook vast liaison tasks internally and externally. SOUL Society had to send out emails and follow-up via direct line, to gain approval from management of Bangsar Shopping Centre to carry out SOUL Society's movement to publicize its charity bazaar. Upon approval, I liaised with the SOUL Society Studio for visuals, to distribute them before the weekend to enable SOUL Society to create awareness among the public based at the Bangsar area, particularly the Bangsar Shopping Centre’s weekend crowd. 

SOUL Society distributed eight directional signs, 24 labels for vendors’ brand names, five buntings to be placed at frequently-visited areas at the shopping centre and 5000 flyers to SOUL Society outlets and Bangsar Shopping Centre. Additionally, SOUL Society also distributed hardcopy newsletters and donation boxes on behalf of its beneficiary HOSPIS Malaysia.

As SOUL Society were scheduled to fill in four stalls at the charity bazaar as represented by Souled Out and WIP, they had to finalized their food and beverage menu, revised its portions and prices appropriate for the event. I liaised with the kitchen staff to propose a menu suited for a bazaar and the marketing department to weigh its cost and proposed price, to estimate the prospective profits to be directed to HOSPIS Malaysia.

It is worth noting there were several meetings held with the director of SOUL Society, to obtain direction and feedback for improvements to the tactics utilized to gain public awareness and engagement leading up to the charity bazaar. The director stressed the importance of adopting new media into SOUL Society’s current tactics in the implementation of strategies toward its goal to raise funds for HOSPIS Malaysia. She underscored the shift of consumers moving into social media channels to obtain local and international news, its public engagement advantage to create long-term mutual relationships.

The SOUL Society enabled me to administer and monitor posts on Facebook to create awareness and engagement with its public via two-way symmetrical communication and mutual understanding with its audience. The SOUL Society marketing department briefed me on the FAQs of their social media and encouraged me to put up casual posts on daily activities as opposed to constantly advertising and marketing its upcoming events and promotions to its Facebook audiences. This illustrates that SOUL Society’s acknowledgement to the PR aspects necessary to connect and build lasting relationships with its consumers, rather than viewing them as target audiences pressured to consume their products and services.

I was enthused to hear from the director of SOUL Society on her personal requests to draft her a two minute speech, follow-up on poster requests for the chief editor of Women’s Weekly, follow-up on her sponsorship requests via direct-line, text messaging and emails, in which I manage to gather 10 sponsors for the Raffle Draw prizes including a Juicy Couture tote worth RM 850, five sets of Pialla Wellness facial + body treatment worth RM 970 each, three sets of Celeste beauty treatments worth RM 2000 each, and a Raymond Choon haircut + treatment worth RM 788.

Within a week of preparation for the SOUL Society charity bazaar, I am already struggling to keep my head above the water, digesting knowledge on how SOUL Society operates, adjusting theory to practice and fitting myself into their organizational culture, representing their brand, image and reputation.

Till I write to you again,

Diane

NOTE: This was originally posted on my own blog (an honest mistake) on the 20th of December 2013, here. Hence, my dear readers, I assure you that my posts have been up, on a weekly, if not, regular basis.