Ending an Eventful Journey

In three words, I'd sum my internship experience with Edelman Malaysia as An Eventful Journey. Being placed under the Corporate practice, my team members were telling me about how fortunate I was to get the chance to be a part of three clients' events and a few company events. But that's besides the point, I am also grateful for all the opportunities I was given; work I was assigned into doing, clients that I got to personally meet, events that I got to attend, as well as liaise with the media. There are things that we need to experience to appreciate, and I believe these are some of them. 

Throughout my internship period with Edelman, I didn't only get to see the theories I have learned in class come to life, but being exposed to the real world actually enhanced my personal growth. Albert Camus once said, "You cannot create experience. You must undergo it." I now know why a lot of people say that experience is a great teacher.

Great experience, great people - Corporate Team during Edelman's 2015 Trust Barometer Malaysia Results Release 

My very basic knowledge in media relations were put to good use when I had to deal with the media - not just when I had to talk to the editors and journalists, but to also have basic information about each publication. Always keep in mind that the media always think of rationales - why would this event matter to them, why should they publish your story? Does it benefit them or their readers? Prepare few key points before pitching anything to them. 

Media Interview with Datuk Zainal, CEO of InvestKL during one of InvestKL's events. 

Besides that, I was also privileged to have been given the opportunity to be a part of few brainstorming sessions for our clients' strategic development. Similar to what we have learned in class, each strategy has to be in line with the key messages we are sending across, as well as supported by strong and firm tactics. Also, always remember to state your rationales - how would this specific strategy help what the company wants to achieve? It may sound tedious in paper, but trust me, in real life, people actually want to know all these.

In short, it was a great placement experience. If I didn't take up the challenge to get out of my comfort zone and fly to KL, I probably wouldn't have had experienced any of these. But I'm glad that I did - it was a brief three months, but trust there's more to come in the future and I wouldn't replace this experience for any other!

Before I end, let me know about your experience and sum it up in three words - feel free to drop comments!

This is my last post,

Celeste.

Trust Barometer Malaysia Launch

"Communicate with integrity, engage with transparency"

Raymond Siva, Managing Director of Edelman Kuala Lumpur

If there is one thing I am truly grateful for throughout my internship programme, it is being a part of Edelman's Annual Trust Barometer launch. We hear and study about the Trust Barometer in class, but being able to witness the launch and participate in the event's preparation, it's an experience I can really talk about.

Here are some insights: 

Edelman's Trust Barometer 2015 revealed that there was a significant 9 points drop of trust to 45% in the Malaysian government. According to the survey, the diminishing trust in government is caused by the twin aviation accidents of MH370 and MH17, ebola pandemic, cybersecurity crimes, conflicts in the Middle East and Asia as well as the falling international crude oil prices. 

In short, NGOs still remain as the most trusted institution, followed by businesses, the media and the government. In Malaysia, there was also a big 13 points drop of trust in the media, of which search engine being the 'first used' tool to validate certain information. 8/10 Malaysians rely on search engines to be their source of information. Because "no one wakes up every morning checking the newspapers first, instead, we Google it." Global result showed that millenials are even more trusting of digital media compared to traditional media.  

Edelman's Trust Barometer launch was attended by over 100 clients, prospects and other guests, with four distinguished panelists - CEO of InvestKL, Head of Digital & Social Media Studies at University Malaya, Executive Director of Sisters In Islam (NGO) and MD of PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia. 

All in all, it was a good experience. Seeing the people who attended the launch was amazing. It's also interesting because people care about what impacts their institutions - trust. And it is not only about knowing the numbers - diminishing or increasing, but it's what they can do to improve or maintain it. 

The Edelman Trust Barometer 2015 Malaysia Results was announced by Iain Twine, CEO of Southeast and Australasia, Edelman Singapore and Raymond Siva, Managing Director of Edelman Kuala Lumpur.

The working team -  Corporate, Public Affairs & Crisis and Digital

Introducing the Corporate team :)

Til my next post,

Celeste

Nearly ramble time- Meetings and updates

 October is just around the corner, therefore this means that Perth ramble is creeping in very soon!

Perth ramble are really trying hard to get more people to sign up for the ramble, this is not as easy as we thought it was going to be. Many people at Curtin have been ignoring our constant information about the event and this is very disheartening. On Monday the 22^nd, myself and Rhian had a meeting with the marketing manager, she explained what is needing to be done, updates on what we have achieved and how well we are doing on reaching the over all goal.   Our Facebook page is doing very well, we have received over 100 new likes in a short space of one week, we have had a few new entries and our Instagram page has received a few new followers. Anthea (marketing manager) asked if we could come in and do some corporate calls, to try and gain some companies to enter the ramble. I was more than happy to do this! Therefore, today I went in at 9am and started calling places like delloite , BHP, RAC etc. Most people were very friendly and suggested for me to send them an email with more information. Others were very blunt and didn’t want to know anything about the charity. I’m not sure if anyone of the places that I rang are going to make a team and join the event however, I do know that all emails have been sent out. Fingers crossed that we get a few new corporate entries!

Next Thursday I am going to go in and spend the afternoon with Anthea going through some more stuff on what needs to be done, I’m not 100% on what exactly ill be doing but I’m happy to help any way that I can. So far it has been a positive learning experience, helping this event be bigger and better. It has its challengers however, I think with anything that is important it will always have its ups and downs and it’s your mind set that is the most important thing and your passion. I’m looking forward to next week, to learn new things and hopefully find out if any organizations have signed up for this years ramble.

If you have Instagram please feel free to follow the perth ramble- @perthramble the more followers the better.

Thank you!

Georgina Soumelidis

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How to organise an event

A corporate event is a very different beast from your standard birthday party or night out. Despite having oodles of experience in the latter two, helping organise and run an event as a part of my internship was a unique challenge and a handy skill to have in my PR toolbox.

We were hosting an investor night to engage potential investors and pass on information useful for them, expecting about 40 people to attend. It consisted of a short question and answer panel and presentation in the showroom, with time for networking and buying products over drinks and nibbles.

My first task was to call around and get quotes for catering, AV equipment, drinks and glasses. As Atlas was very happy with their last setup, it was simply a matter of calling up their past contractors and asking for a very similar setup. It was good to get an idea of what was necessary for an event of such a size, as well as what’s a good basic AV set up. I was told that this was a relatively small and simple event, but there was still quite a lot of preparation necessary.

It was necessary to brief staff on the event, to make sure we had enough sales staff attending and to invite the executive to the question and answer panel. It was also important to let staff know there would be people bringing in equipment throughout the day, so they weren’t surprised when it happened. We did this mostly verbally to the more important people to the investor event, but also sent an email out to all Perth staff to make sure they were up to speed.

During the day we had people bringing in chairs and installing the AV equipment. It was really useful having prepared a runsheet and event plan, as I was able to tell the contractors where to put everything as quickly and efficiently as possible. It was also necessary to brief the food prep and bar staff when they arrived on where things went and when to serve.

During the event I alternated between briefing and communicating staff and taking photos for social media. It was a busy job, and in between my PR oriented duties I was also able to enjoy the bubbles and nibbles on offer.

Overall it was a very successful night, and a great experience in organising a corporate event.

Being a PR Consultant: Would I?

My final two weeks at Clarity were both hectic and saddening; I truly couldn’t imagine leaving the team and clearly, they hadn’t thought about it either. In fact, no-one realised it was my last day so I left the office on a Friday as per normal, with no more fanfare then is typically exerted during the afternoon wind up.

How could this happen you may ask? Well after completing my required 20 days, I continued to come into Clarity as per normal on Thursday and Friday’s. Why? Mostly because I wanted to continue learning; but also because being annoying perfectionist that I am, the thought of leaving a number of projects unfinished really irked me. Ergo, I continued to intern until the very last week possible (last Friday) when I realised that my final week of university was soon here and with it the ugly deadline for about 80% of my potential pass marks across all 3 of my units.

Image Courtesy of  Clarity Communications.

Despite my farewell being a little anti-climactic, missing out on it didn’t particularly bother me; I'd already offered to come back and present a short review of my internship to the  Clarity team, so I knew  I’d see them all again; and I’d also promised to making a special Swedish salad for the PR Team’s ‘Summer Salad Club’ so really, there was no way they’d avoid another visit.

Sitting in the City of Subiaco carpark across from office, I let everything I’d just learnt over the past three months settle in; I felt like I’d made genuine connections with these people, and learnt so much about PR, myself and the working world.  I came into Clarity not knowing if I’d be ready for that level of professionalism and work standard. I left not being that much more reassured, but definitely feeling a lot more confident that I’d be able to figure things out.

The other thing I left with was a job offer; with Clarity, in a yet to be establish role but under full-time conditions and commencing next year. I haven't discussed with my supervisor anything further regarding the offer, but I'm pretty sure I will accept it regardless. 

I truly can't thank all the teaching staff at Curtin enough for helping me become the PR practitioner that I am today. And I look forward to engaging with those in the future who will continue to aid my development. Best of luck to all my peers in their own journeys, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading these blogs and am confident you will all go far in the career path you choose.

Internship Golden Rule No. 4 – Give it your all; remain optimistic in times of stress; and never forget, that your next opportunity may be just around the corner.

Being a PR Consultant: Should I?

Having just past the half way mark of my internship, it started to occur to me that whilst both challenging and fast paced, consultancy work can lack the familiarity of an in-house PR department. Having worked in such a capacity previously, I had some idea of what to benchmark it against – yet I couldn't quiet decide which I enjoyed better.

It’s an old argument when it comes to choosing between in-house or external (i.e. agency) when building your PR career. There are definite pros and cons for each; check out this article from Ragan PR which explores the “5 Major differences between Agency and inhouse PR” http://bit.ly/UW9Jmj – is a worthwhile read. In my mind however, I looked to see which type of PR helped me grow more as a practitioner.

In this regard, consultancy was the clear winner  you’re surrounded by a team of experienced workers, most of whom are willing and able to share with you insights based on their own working history. You really can’t beat that type of on-the-job education.

However.

Consultancy means that you’ll often need to work with clients who’s products or industries are far removed from your own interests, knowledge or even care-factor; I am by no means suggesting that these companies are not worthy of your consideration, however they would unlikely be your first pick (when it came to looking for an internal PR role).

Choosing a career in the PR department of an organisation generally means you have the ability to select any industry or business in which you enjoy work or have a significant level of interest. If you are someone who benefits from a constant working environment, a tired and tested set of processes and a more in-depth knowledge of ‘the client,’ then I wager a guess that consultancy is not your best pick.

When pondering these options, I realised that part of the beauty of consultancy work in dealing with the unkown; whilst I may not be an expert oin dust, dirt or debris, if the client required me to be one – I’d soon find a way. Plus I’d likely leave the project more aware and educated them when I first started. 

Internship Golden Rule No. 3 – Don't turn a job down just because you're not interested in the subject matter. You never know until you've tried it!

Being a PR Consultant: How do I?

Following the first 3 weeks of my strenuous work placement, things soon became easier to juggle. Names were matching the right faces, my Apple iMac was becoming less frustrating (I’m a PC girl through & through) and the Friday afternoon office ‘wind-down’ was not nearly as intimidating as it first seemed.

I was in the Clarity office every Thursday & Friday, working cross-department; Thursday was spent in Digital and Friday on the PR team. I slowly developed a routine of arriving at the office by 8.30am and checking my emails, before asking the relevant supervisor about my projects for the day. On weeks when a deadline loomed, I often found jobs to keep myself busy –  ticking the box next to ‘using my initiative’ on my mental checklist.

My role in digital was heavily focused on online development, content creation and website maintenance; whilst not strictly ‘PR’ these are jobs I found extremely informative. Creating content calendars for Clarity and client Celebrate WA, has consumed approximately 15% of my time over the duration of my placement. For those unfamiliar with it, a ‘content calendar’ is essentially a document that social media strategists use to map out posts for a period of time (typically on a month by month schedule). Whilst it might seem like an easy concept, coming up with 25 targeted posts that pertain to the client and their audience is no mean feat. Here is an example of the document I created for Celebrate WA.

As for the PR side of things, Clarity maintains a standout record. Handling the media relations for big names around Perth means they know their way around a press release. Within those first few weeks, I was asked to write a first draft release for an exciting partnership expansion to be announce in a few months time – it was a project I would be able to see through from start to finish during my placement. As for the processes of the PR team, every Friday morning starts with a brief 15 minute team huddle, where the week’s progress is reviewed and next weeks’ direction determined. As an intern I was asked to partake, to summarize what work I needed to carry on from digital and what jobs had already been scheduled for my day in the PR department.

Image Courtesy of  Cornerstone Advisory Partners.

This post is intended to highlight the accountability/productivity that is expected at consultancy level. As an intern I had it fairly easy, but even I stressed out about being timely in my work ethic. When your clients are paying a fair penny for your services (per hour!) you need to make sure you're giving them the most bang for their buck.

Internship Golden Rule No. 2 – just because you’re an intern, doesn't mean your work will be any less appreciated by the client; make sure you do their investment justice.

Being a PR Consultant: Could I?

PR393 Internship is a unit I've spent most of my time at university looking forward to doing. Feedback from past students has always suggested it to be the most beneficial unit a PR student will undertake during their degree.

I knew my PR393 placement had to take place at a Consultancy - as the only ‘genre’ of PR work that I hadn’t previously experimented with (as opposed to internal, project-based and freelance) consultancy both intrigued and scared me. The thought of having multiple clients and never-ending deadlines made me question “would I be capable?” Quite different from the laissez faire workload that we enjoy as students, consultancy work requires high accountability, full transparency & well documented working days - along with a vivacious ability to tackle new challenges. As one who has never been deterred by the prospect of hard work, I couldn’t wait to throw myself into the world of PR consulting.

As it were, I was fortunate enough to have previously dealt with a leading Perth consultancy who agreed to take me on as an intern. Before I knew it, I was rocking up to Rokeby Rd in Subiaco, ready for my first day as a Digital/PR intern at Clarity Communications.  

Not too sure who I’m talking about? Even if you’re not familiar with Clarity, chances are you’ll know their work, with clients including BHP Billiton, Woodside, Grant Thorton, CBH and the Shire of Broome… the list goes on.

All Images Courtesy of Clarity Communications.

My first few weeks at Clarity were a blur. Those two days a week I spent in the office were insightful, educational and demoralizing – I quickly came to the conclusion that I wasn’t even close to the standard of these professionals (even the office juniors!). This reality check was beneficial in two respects, first by forcing me to accept that my skill set is still that of an undergraduate (meaning I have a lot to learn) and secondly motivating me to continually aspire for more.

After the first two turbulent weeks, I began to find my feet. Drawing on my strengths (being social media and creative thinking), I tackled daily tasks to the best of my ability. When a situation arose were I couldn’t complete a particular job as well as I thought it needed to be done, I asked for the help. My supervisors Christie and Andrew were extremely helpful in this regard. 

When reflecting on those first three weeks, I returned to my original question of capability. Could I actually make it as a PR consultant? At that stage my answer was an optimistic 'no'. Why optimistic? Because in recognising that my existing skills don't meet the demands of such a position, I can comprehend areas I'd need to improve in order to realise this 'ideal'.

Internship Golden Rule No. 1 – think smart, work harder and when in doubt, ask for assistance; this helps develop our skills further.