From Little Things Big Things Grow

Looking back to where it all started I remember dreading starting my internship, where do I begin, where do I want to go, can I really do this, were all questions circling in my mind.
I think I speak for a lot of students when I say I was not looking forward to working for free and that some of the intern adverts looked a little dry, not quite as exciting as Samantha's office from the Sex and the City. But could I really be picky? I'm just a university student, and I'm definitely not the only one looking for a placement, so I should just be happy with anything I can get, right? Wrong!
If you start early enough and do your research you can find somewhere that fits you as well.

Fortunately for myself whilst social butterflying around Perth I began talking to someone who worked for Rugby WA and the Western Force. This organisation was the dream for me as an internship, because of all the rugby players walking around the office? Maybe, but mostly because I had always taken extra interest in sport. Throughout school I was always the sport captain and that didn't change when I arrived at Curtin becoming their sports captain in 2014. All my work experience and volunteer work had been with sporting events so Rugby WA just seemed like the next step up for me.
Networking is a handy tool for any students toolbox and thankfully that is how I found out that they were looking for interns for the upcoming season and eagerly asked for a direct contact that I could submit my interest to. After handing in my resume and acquiring an interview I received an email congratulating me on my new role in the partnerships team at Rugby WA and Western Force.

For a moment I had a sigh of relief, the hard part was over, or so I thought. Day one rolled around and I began to doubt my ability to 'PR', the 'what ifs began to appear in my mind, what if I have to write a press release on my fist day, what if I end up sitting alone at lunch, what if I forget how to send an email, what if I make a mistake. But day one interns don't stress, most tasks are simple, like spread sheets and data entry and all my tasks always came with a set of instructions to help me along the way. I also quickly learnt that the ability to ask questions was my greatest ally, no matter how silly I thought my question might have been, my manger was never frustrated at me and never thought my question was stupid. Asking the question helped to get the job done quicker and ensured it was done to the best of my ability.

As my internship continued my confidence built and the more tasks I was given. Towards the end I was able to walk into the office, sit down at my desk and continue working without any instruction from my manager. My what if's had faded away and I realised that every mistake I made throughout my time at Rugby WA had built me up to be a better intern, learning how to fix things myself and how to avoid making future errors.

Now at the end of my internship I realise that I was never working for free. Hands on experience teaches you things that you could never pick up in a classroom and I am so grateful to Rugby WA and Western Force for giving me this opportunity to grow and develop as a PR student. I now have the confidence I needed to take me into the next stage of life beyond university and I owe it to my internship.

'The Interns' and ladies from commercial services, celebrating our final Western Force home game together

From Dipping My Toes in the Water to Jumping Into the Deep End

It's game day three and I'm already hosting my own room filled with our corporate partners. Jump back to game day two and I was standing in the corner watching our finance superstar Jess work the room and deal with any questions our partners may have.

This isn't my first time hosting a room, previously as the promotions manager for a nightclub in Northbridge I have done my fair share of hosting patrons in the club, birthday functions and celebrity meet and greets however hosting a room filled with some of our biggest partners is a lot different to getting semi-intoxicated 18-20 year olds excited about a Geordie Shore star. I am nervous yet excited, I feel as though the Western Force have put a lot of trust and faith in me by appointing me this responsibility and it makes me feel as though my hard work in the office and on game day has paid off.

The corporate room is called the Black Swan Bar and to set it up we need to ensure every company has its own pod with the correct signage. Each pod fits 10 people and requires five match programmes and Karma Resort flyers. The branding in the room needs to be checked with a Retravision sign and two Karma Resort pull-outs on the stage. It is my responsibility to ensure the Ipod is plugged in and the music is at a good volume, I have to give a run-down to the catering staff and make sure the security at the door have spare lanyards for any guests who have forgotten to bring theirs for their tickets. Before gates open I speak to the event representative from the NIB stadium in-case anything needs to be changed, am involved with the corporate hospitality briefing and have a quick run-over with the MC to discuss what competitions need to be run throughout the night and when they will be announced.

At gates open three Western Force players arrive in the room and I have to give them instructions on what they will be doing in the room. They have a spot the ball competition and a business card draw that they will need to explain to the partners in each pod. I also have to collect the prizes from BLK and Retravision for these competitions.

In the room are companies such as the Asthma Foundation, Schweppes, Redpath, BLK, Wilde and Woollard, Titan Ford, Print Sync, SGS, Metrix, Retravision and Shelf Subsea. I memorise where each company's pod is and walk guests as they enter to their appointed areas. As the team runs onto the field people start to exit the room to their seats to watch the kick off, whilst most would think that I too would get to watch the game, this is the time where I enjoy a quality meal of beef cheeks, mashed potato and vegetables, one of the perks of working in the corporate areas, no cold pizza for me!

At half time guests return to have dinner and I talk to the Karma resorts representative to let her know how her staff have been in the room. The game recommences for the second half and once everyone has left the room I get to watch the final 10 minutes of the game in the stands.

Full time and everyone is back in the room taking advantage of the free alcohol for final hour. This is when myself and the MC get up on stage and run the 'Heads and Tales' competition and hand out all prizes for the night. The final 45 minutes for me are a great opportunity to network as I walk to each pod to chat about the game and make sure they have enjoyed their night.

The night has gone smoothly and many of the guests thank me as they exit and commend me on the great job I did hosting the room. In the office the following week both of my managers commend me on the great work and tell me they had great feedback from a number of guests in the room that night. This type of feedback is very rewarding and I am excited to now be the Black Swan Bar host for remainder of the season.

From left to right: Natalie, Laura (me), Bron and Stevie posing in the Black Swan Bar before the night's events kick off

An end to the beginning

It’s hard to believe that not only my internship has come to an end but so has my time of studying, hopefully.  What an incredible journey it has been, over the past six years, I have studied architecture, quit university, come back to university and now, I’m finally about to graduate.  The last three years of studying Public Relations though has truly been the best, and reassures me that I have finally chosen the right career path. My 20-day internship has given me a valuable insight into the world of public relations and has given me the opportunity to build relationships and gain vital knowledge that has equip me for the rest of my career. During my time at PPR I was able to utilise and build upon the foundations taught at university.

During my time at PPR I learnt several key things that I can carry into the business world. Some of these things I already knew before starting, but working as an intern really highlighted these things. I would like to share with you and future interns to help improve their intern experience.

Ask Questions: I learnt very early on in my intern that the best way to get work or be invited to events is to show interest and ask questions. I realised by asking questions about colleague’s clients, work and upcoming events that they would realise my interest and quite often I was asked to help them out. This happened to me in the first week. With a background in architecture I was very interested in one of my colleagues clients, Finbar, who are Perth’s leading apartment developers. After showing my interest in this client I was invited to attend a meeting with Finbar’s Chief Operations Officer Ronald Chan and his marketing director. It was a fantastic experience to share my ideas for Finbar in this meeting, something that wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t ask questions.

Meet your deadline: Completing a task before the deadline is a great way to show colleagues that you are a hard worker and are eager to learn.  Be sure though to fully fulfil the brief and to complete work to the best of your ability. After all you’re there to learn and improve your skills. It’s also important to show initiative and ask whether there is anything else you can follow up with, which will shape your colleagues opinion in regards to your work ethic.

Always say ‘yes’: This was definitely something I knew before hand, but saying ‘yes’ at PPR opened up so many doors and opportunities for me, and highlighted to me the importance of always being open to opportunities. Saying ‘yes’ allowed for me to attend various events, including the opening of a gymnasium where the premier was a guest, sit in on meetings, venture into the city to carry out tasks for colleagues, activations and attend media filming and interviews. It’s really amazing to see the opportunities you’re presented with when you just say ‘yes’. By doing so I have been able to use many of my PR skills including writing, interviewing, event planning, communicating and my ability to network.

Overall my experience at PPR was amazing and it taught me so much in regards to the PR industry. I was proud of myself for completing something that was so far out of my comfort zone at the beginning. Each day I was challenged in some way or anything, but this has only helped me face my fears and develop my skills and understanding of the PR world. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given and I now feel ready to take a leap into the world of PR and start my career.

Good luck with your intern.

Georgia 

Nomad Two Worlds Art Exhibition

The last month, which I think I can speak for everyone - has been very hectic! My days have been planned down to the very hour and my work-life balance has consisted of assignments, internship, assignments, work and more work! My internship is running a little later than others, hence the later posts.

The 7th of November saw my final day of being a Curtin University Public Relations student and what a better way to celebrate than attending the Nomad Two Worlds art exhibition at the Perth Town Hall. The high-profile event was a media frenzy and I was positioned at the welcome desk where I greeted guests and handed out name tags. It was a great position to take as I watched the whole event unfold.

Nomad Two Worlds was created by Russell James and is a collaborative art project that focuses on providing support to the indigenous community and a platform to showcase their extraordinary work. Russell James is a Perth born photographer who now spends his days in photo shoots with Kendall Jenner and Victoria Secret Angels to name a few. Lance Chadd was the artist in focus on Friday night - a highly acclaimed Noongar artist whose portrayals of the West Australian landscapes have been awarded world-wide. 

 The Event is set and ready to go! (Photo Credit - Shani Wood Events Facebook)

Working hard at the welcome desk! (Photo Credit Shani Wood Events Facebook)

 The event was hosted by ATCO Australia as part of their commitment to the wider community. The Boorongurup artworks were exclusively revealed at the event which portray the cultural significance of the Porongurup Ranges in Western Australia's south-west.  I found that every time you looked at the artworks, you saw something more, a face, a tree and animal. Amazing how some people have such visual minds!

Artworks from the collection (Photo Credit -  whatsonwa.com.au)

The event was great to be a part of and ends today, so if your in the city, I recommend popping in for a look!  

For more information, visit the Nomad Two World's site!

https://nomadtwoworlds.com/ 

Good luck with your exams! 

 

Montana Hall

15491880  

Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

So it's almost July, the semester two start date is fast approaching and i'm traveling around Europe and the UK... I begin stressing out about securing an internship in Perth from the other side of the world. Finally I stumbled upon an expression of interest for Public Relations and Event Management interns, I sent off a cover letter and resume, thinking that I couldn't be possibly hired without a physical interview - but to my surprise, I was! 

This week marked the first week of my internship at Shani Wood Event Management. We are working on the Wesfarmers Centenary Gala, a black-tie event held at Government House in November, that celebrates 100 years of stories and service to Australia. My role this week was to cross-check and collate the 300 first round invitations. Who knew how much went into sending out invitations? You need to be very organised and have highly analytical eyes looking for spelling errors and typos. 

 

Signed, Sealed, Delivered! Round One Centenary Books and Invitations

Public Relations, as a profession based upon maintaining relationships and communication networks, events can act as an important tool to achieve our goals. Not only do they generate media coverage they also are a way to build relationships in a more relaxed setting than a board room.  

The gala dinner is an opportunity to thank the government, past and present executives, VIP's and media. In April, Wesfarmers put on a public event in Northam and have also had a sundowner event for their employees, to thank and give back to their stakeholders for their continued support.

I'm looking forward to getting into my internship and learning about the logistics of event planning, risk management, networking and event debriefs.  

Check out the Wesfarmers website if your interested, they have a whole page dedicated to their history set out in a really fun way!

http://www.wesfarmers.com.au/centenary-site/centenary-timeline.html 

Thanks for reading!

Montana Hall
15491880
Bentley Campus

My very first networking event

Last night I was invited to attend an event in the city held by the Rotary of Perth. My intern supervisor, Neesha, asked me to go along with her and a Bankwest college of hers as representatives of the UNAAWA.

The guest speakers on the night were Micheal Sheldrick, a global campaigner for the End Polio campaign and Heiko Plange, the mastermind behind the Santos Great Bike Ride initiative to help break the cycle of poverty in Perth.  

Having travelled to India in year 10 as part of the Pilgrimage of Hope program during high school (a program run by Brother James of Christ Church Grammar school in which students serve alongside the Missionary of Charity sisters at the homes of destitute, dying and handicapped), and having spent 6 months on a rural sugar cane farm in South Africa teaching English, I was deeply interested in the topic which was being discussed on the night: Influencing leadership to drive change.

As this was my first ‘networking’ event, having to meet people from a variety of different organisations from all walks of life, I was quite intimidated but truly thankful to have Neesha by my side, introducing me to everyone she knew.

I felt a bit embarrassed not having a business card to hand to people upon meeting them (maybe this should be an item on my to-do-list...) and was pleasantly surprised of the reactions I got from people when I told them that I was interning at the UNAAWA in my second last semester of Uni. “That’s so great that you’re getting work experience, doing the things you would do as a PR professional in the real world”.

The evening started off with pre drinks at 5pm before settling down to listen to the guest speakers. Heiko Plange spoke first, telling us about his background, why he chose to work in the Not for Profit sector, and about the Sentos Great Bike ride, an initiative organised by the Rotary of Perth to help fundraise for the St John of God Horizon house or Hope for Children.  This year’s event is held on Sunday November 24^th and offers three rides for all ages and abilities- 10km family ride, 53km challenge ride, and the 98km ultimate ride. The starting point of the ride is in Murray Street Mall finishing at Langley Park.

Michael Sheldrick, the second speaker of the night, started off his presentation by showing  us a video by the Global Poverty Project. The video was filmed in Indonesia and focused on the issue of women’s equality. It was based on real stories, real people, and real events which made it all the more meaningful. Afterwards, Michael told us story after story, about how he influenced world leaders (Bill gates) to raise 120 million to the End Polio Campaign, how he wrote to Julia Guillard and later met with her to discuss how Australia would assist in eradicating Polio, and what daily work life consists of now working between New York, Perth and many other countries around the globe.

I felt privileged to be able to attend such an event and look forward to the many more to come!

It's not what you know; it's who you know!

Since beginning my internship I have really found the saying ‘’it’s who you know not what you know’’ to be true. I have always heard this notion thrown around in the business world but had not yet seen it put into practice. The slogan originated in Philadelphia in 1918 when shipyard workers along the Delaware River adopted a war slogan all of their own being ‘’It’s not what you know; it’s who you know’’.

The first time I encountered this saying was when I was applying for internships. After sending my resume out to a few Perth based PR consultancy firms I was disappointed when I had no replies. Then I remembered a contact I had made whilst on set for fashion shoot in Sydney last year. She owned a PR agency over east and had given me her email for future contact. I emailed her and got a reply straight away with the direct email addresses of PR agency owners in Melbourne along with a reference she had written for me. Within a few days I had a Placement at a top Melbourne PR Fashion and Lifestyle agency. This was all due to a contact I had made last year. It truly pays off to be friendly to all people you meet as you never know when you will need to call on their kindness at a later date.

Again I found this notion to be true when I was planning a large event for a client at my PR Consultancy. The party was very last minute and required a small number of influential people to attend a first birthday of a high end jewelry brand. Luckily everyone who worked in the office was connected to at least 1 influential person whether they were a blogger, journalist, photographer or socialite. I learnt these connections were made through various portals; friends of friends, neighbors, ex co workers and even through family friends. The party was a success and made the social pages of influential newspapers and magazines. This was all due to the personal relationships the girls in the office had with other influential people.

Public Relations is all about creating positive and memorable relationships and this is a key skill learnt whilst networking. Once communication has commenced in a relationship both participants can pull on that mutually beneficial relationship. Such is the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists. Both are able to help each other in creating both a successful article and a successful PR campaign.

So next time you interact with someone in the office, at an event or even sitting on a plane just remember to be friendly as you never know what could come from the relationship.

Wrapping up Rottofest 2013

The event for which I was managing the public relations for: Rottofest, the annual weekend festival of comedy, film and music on Rottnest Island 

kicked off on the weekend, with over 30 comedy performers and 20 music acts set to perform 

across 5 venues on the island from Saturday 7 September to Sunday 8 September 2013.

The fifth annual Rottofest saw over 1000 festivalgoers embark on Rottnest Island on the

weekend. The festival featured the finest musicians, comedy filmmakers and stand-up

comedians from across the country.

Thankfully the event was an overall success! Selling out of weekend passes this years attendance made it the largest Rottofest to date. 

Along with being in charge of media requests, I was asked to escort the media onto the island. This was a great networking opportunity for me, and I ended up meeting a variety of journalists from different outlets which was amazing! 

Due to the election on the same weekend, we where unable to get a great amount of media attention, however what we got was amazing considering the circumstances! We also had a bit of an issue with one of the lead singers getting arrested but all ended up well, I'm thinking of pitching the scandal to Ben O'Shera for the inside cover of The West. Working on the Rottofest campaign has been amazing, it has taught me to make the most out of every opportunity so thats exactly what I am doing!