My first week as a PR professional

Good morning fellow PR interns,

I trust your internships are treating you well and you are gaining valuable experience and enjoyment from them. My name is Rebecca and I am completing my internship at the WA Farmers Federation. I am working for them two half days per week and to date, I have completed one full day. WA Farmers is a non-profit organisation that represents the voice of West Australian farmers; lobbying to create a more sustainable future for the agricultural sector.

I was very pleased to be able to complete my internship with a non-profit organisation, as I feel the work of many of these organisations is overlooked and also feel like my time would be much more valuable to a non-profit organisation as opposed to a for-profit company. Originally from a rural area, I was also very excited to be offered this opportunity with WA Farmers, and felt that I would be able to draw from my knowledge and experience of the agricultural sector to help me with my assigned tasks. In my first week, I feel as though my background has helped to a small extent; but the knowledge I have gained during my university degree is what has helped me the most.

While this may not seem like a surprise, I am in my final year of a Marketing and PR degree, so you would expect that I would have gained enough knowledge to help me complete an internship in a PR role; going into this internship, I felt unprepared and a little nervous that I would not be able to complete the tasks given to me. I surprised myself with the first task assigned to me, I was asked to create a social media plan for an upcoming event, drawing ideas from both my own knowledge and experiences and other successful social media campaigns for events. After doing some research and finding some social media campaigns that have worked in the past, I set about creating a timeline of posts for WA Farmers' existing Facebook and Twitter accounts; and also suggested creating an Instagram page to allow users to share their photos. I also suggested partnering with some influential bloggers; creating some videos of guest speakers to post on social media and arranging interviews with guest speakers from the event on talk back radio stations such as ABC 720. My work was well received by my fellow marketing and public relations colleagues, and my supervisor was impressed with my work. I felt relieved to say the least, but also far more confident in my abilities as a PR professional.

In my first week, I have also learnt some valuable lessons about working for a non-profit organisation. I have previously completed an internship with BHP Billiton, in their petroleum marketing team. I thought this experience with WA Farmers would be very similar; but I was mistaken. On my first day, I was introduced to a planned event 'Foodalicious'. The event was set to be held at Langley Park in September, and would show case the best of WA produce and also help to educate people, particularly children, on where their food originates and the importance of supporting WA growers wherever possible. When I arrived for my second shift on Thursday, I was informed that for reasons beyond their control, the event was 'up in the air' and may not be proceeding. I was given some information about an event that was definitely proceeding, and set about working on the social media campaign for the new event. In contrast to BHP, where there is no issue with funding, and once an event is approved by the powers that be, it goes ahead; I learned that there are many more uncontrollable factors for a non-profit organisation and even the best laid plans may not go ahead.

Secondly, I have learnt there is a clear difference in organisational culture between a large for-profit mining corporation and a medium sized non-profit organisation. Please don't mistake this as me saying I didn't enjoy my time at BHP, because I did; I am merely commenting on the differences between the two. At BHP, the dress code was 'corporate casual' and the norm was a dress suit. At WA Farmers, I felt over dressed on my first day and have since adjusted to a more casual look. While there is still a level of professionalism required and I wouldn't be showing up wearing jeans and a tee shirt, it is far more relaxed. Also, at BHP, I was fortunate enough to meet the President of Petroleum Marketing, who was in Perth from Houston for a two day event; but only makes it to Perth about twice per year. At WA Farmers, I met the President and CEO on my first day, and can hear the CEO's booming laugh from where I sit around the corner from his office. I suppose my point here is the atmosphere is more relaxed and the organisational structure is flatter at WA Farmers. Both have their positives and negatives, it will be up to me to decide which fits better for me when I start looking for a graduate position; I do think that having experience in both will definitely assist me in making my choice.

To close this post, I will conclude by saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in the first week of my internship, and look forward to continuing my internship and gaining more valuable knowledge and insight into the world of a PR professional.

Until next time.

Best regards,
Rebecca

Here we go.. media releases, media releases and more media releases!

Finally the time has come for me to put the past few years of study into practice.
Like everyone, my big question is 'do I want to work in a consultancy or in-house?'. And while after thinking about this over the summer break and coming to the conclusion that consultancy is where I want to make a career, I have somehow ended up interning for a government organisation in the communications department. At the end of the day I am happy to be getting experience anywhere, and i thought that I may as well give this my all and perhaps my opinion of in-house v consultancy will change by the end of my placement.

Day one of my government communications placement didn't start off too well. Let's just say public transport and me do not get along. When I finally arrived (after getting on many wrong train lines) i had to do the typical HR stuff, inductions and meetings and greetings. What surprised me straight away was how many males there are in this particular department. Very different from the rare one or two in my PR classes at uni!

Soon after I arrived I was able to sit in on my first ever communications meeting, where everyone from the different communications areas (PR, graphic design, internal comms, etc) discusses their tasks and plans for the week. I loved hearing about all of the different aspects of the communications department and am excited to be able to learn from everyone and hopefully dabble in each area.

The remainder of my first day was spent writing media releases, which is probably my least favourite part of PR. But experience is experience, and I can already tell that after this internship I will be able to write media releases in my sleep! It was interesting to see how different my supervisor writes her media releases compared to how I have been taught over the past few years. I will have to adjust my style to suit hers, which has made me realise that that will probably be the case for anywhere that I eventually work. Word to the wise: always ask for examples of previous media releases from your supervisor so that you can try to structure yours similarly.

I am looking forward to seeing where this internship takes me, and I hope that I will be able to come away from it with experience from many different areas of communications.

Until next time.

Lana
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*side-note.. I actually published this post 18th feb but apparently in the wrong place.. oops! Have now copied and pasted

Who is SOUL Society?

Hello to all past, present and future PR leaders worldwide!

I am Diane, a Curtin University (Bentley) student who is currently back in Malaysia, going an extra mile juggling work and play with loved ones, my career and family, this merry season.

What a way to end the year!

I am no multitasking guru, but it is a path I chose to enter the fast-paced public relations realm. We have been warned timelessly about the tight deadlines, high pressure demands from clients, and workload that only piles up as the days go by. Fortunately, at the end of the road are the fruits of our efforts which money cannot buy, the rewarding experience, the novel PR knowledge and witnessing the evolution of new tactics and strategies utilized by various companies globally.

From my external and personal perspective, Soul Society has always been brand of admiration and recognition in Malaysia which began as a small neighbourhood café in 1996. As word spread about the home-style cuisine and warm hospitality of its first SOULed OUT outlet, its brand rapidly grew to become the icon of suburban Kuala Lumpur where “everyone knows your name”.

With its quirky logo, SOULed OUT is today a household name and much-loved destination in Desa Sri Hartamas that draws patrons from near and far. While the eatery has had several makeovers in her menu, decor and manpower over the years, her mission remains…..to give patrons an experience that’s “as good as a hug” with the good food, good price, good service offering.

In 2011, SOUL Society launched a new branch under its first brand outlet name at the Ampang area, which carries its same original concept of brand, image and reputation.

SOUL Society had its eye on a specific location for many years, till it became available in November 2008. Opportunity only knocks once, SOUL Society grabbed it without hesitation and began its third outlet. Previously, WIP stood for Work in Progress which entailed an ambience of temporariness as constructions and refurbishments to the outlet were underway. Later in the same year, they rebranded WIP to Whipped Into Place, which has become a firm favorite amongst the dining scene in the prestigious neighborhood of Bangsar.

In 2013, SOUL Society rebranded its outlet called 789 established in 2012, which represent an iconic lifestyle destination for the KL chic, paving the way for exciting new concepts in the art of socialising and dining to Tujo Bar-sserie & Grill. Its new face is the place to enjoy the simple pleasures in life with good friends over good food, drinks and have loads of laughs, for the young at heart, going by the tagline to “Eat, Live & Play”.

As for my first day at SOUL Society which began on the 3^rd of December 2013, I was immediately assigned to study SOUL Society’s background, fact sheets, website, social media and upcoming events, namely, SOUL Society Charity Bazaar 2013, A Christmas Playground party and Mad Hatter New Year’s Eve party.

From my observation, SOUL Society is undergoing a slight shortage of staff as many of its staff have taken annual leave in the year-end and its marketing executive recently left a vacancy. Hence, I anticipate that I would have to fill an extra pair of shoes, taking on additional marketing-related tasks as my learning journey begins at SOUL Society.

Cheerio for now!

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.

The first day of the rest of my life!

It’s the calm after the storm. My first day at my internship with Jones Lang LaSalle was wild to say the least. I arrived at the office to find out that we were a week out from a huge event and there was much to be done. But before I get into that, some context, who exactly do I work for? I was told that Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) are a financial and professional services firm specialising in commercial real estate services and investment management.

In my case specifically, they are engaged by ISPT one of Australia’s 'largest unlisted property fund managers, who invest in property, with the objective of providing a sound return on investment'. Thus they create office and retail spaces that are maintained at optimal operating standards. My role was within the Retail team who specialise in Retail Property and deliver management services at enex100 and Forrest Chase.

So week one, day one, that’s explained to me. I had no comprehension of what I’d just been told and thought… who on earth am I working for? Immediately I thought I was in way over my head. As daunting as that first experience was I got stuck in.

My first task was to create a memorandum to be distributed to all retailers within enex100 reminding them that our event, the ‘Inspire Shopping Party’ was fast approaching, what that meant for them and what they needed to do. At first I thought I couldn’t do it, nervous that it was going to take me a while, that it wouldn’t be up to standard but I started drafting straight away. When my final draft was proofed by my manager I was surprised to hear really positive feedback – a confidence boost that I feel was definitely needed. I then walked around the centre meeting the owners or managers of each tenancy and verbally communicated the memorandum as well as giving them the written copy. After I had met a few people I was on a roll and found the whole experience really rewarding.

Little did I know… the tasks were going to get a lot harder, fast. However the day was actually a perfect way to break into the corporate world. It showed me that whilst these new experiences were daunting and pushed me it is the best way to learn and grow as a young professional. I couldn’t wait for what else my internship had in store for me.

Francesca

An Anxious First Day

Hi all,

I started my my internship in the Central TAFE marketing team late last December but I wanted a few days under my belt before I did my first blog. The Central marketing team is in control of all the communications internal and external for the college and it ranges from press releases to events to social media and advertising. I was looking forward to my internship at Central because it has such a broad range disciplines I could try my hand at.

I was feeling very nervous before the start of my first day, as i rode the bus I remember thinking, "am i prepared for this?", "what if I'm just no good?" and "how big of a shock am I in for?". Soon after I arrived however I was feeling better, I was introduced to the rest of the team and their specialty roles and then my supervisor Mike told me i was in for a treat. My first day would be out in Subiaco for the Central design exhibition.

On the drive over Mike explained to me the importance of having a number of skills in a PR or marketing role. Photos for instance have become a much larger part of Mike's job than he ever thought and being able to take a good photo is vitally important, especially with social media. He explained that today he would lead the discussions with the designers while he taught me both how to take a good photo and how to conduct an interview.

I was very grateful for the gentle first couple of hours to allow me to settle in and feel a bit more at ease. The advice and tutoring given to me by Mike was invaluable and soon I was out by myself taking photographs at the creative industries students exhibition for the Central blog. This was a little daunting but my confidence soon grew and I was enjoying trying to use the skills and strategies Mike taught me with the artists and their pieces.

Before I went home Mike gave me some advice on writing to bear in mind for the next time I came in. His advice was to always, in any professional writing ask yourself whether the word adds anything, whether it is necessary? Good writing is succinct, easy to read and becoming a less and less common skill. Advice I think I can use for all my writing.

For me the most exciting thing about my first day was seeing the photos I took be uploaded onto the blog and contribute. I was so pleased and excited I couldn't wait to do more and learn more the next time I tried my hand being a PR person.

Until next time,

Steaf

PR in the Real World

My internship is at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Western Australia (MSWA). MSWA provides various services to people living with MS such as physiotherapy, counseling, occupational therapy and more. All the money raised through various events and donation appeals goes towards these services and research into unlocking the mystery of MS. There is no cure or known cause for MS, therefore the research aspect gives many people hope for the future.

My first day consisted of various meet and greets before getting straight into work. My supervisor, Taryn, assigned me the responsibility of interviewing a volunteer at MSWA who had recently won an award for his volunteer work. My task was to interview him and write a story that will be published on the website and in their quarterly newsletter: Movers and Shakers. It took me quite a while to get back in PR mode, but eventually I came up with a good set of questions to ask for my interview.

George Leathley was the star of my article, and I thought my questions would lead into a memorable and emotional story. George was awarded Citizen of the Year for his contribution to the community. Taryn had already briefed me on his background so I was aware that he volunteered for three different organisations, so I thought a good question to start with was – “What got you interested in becoming a volunteer?” The answer I got was completely different to what I was expecting.

George’s reply was, “to receive Centrelink benefits I had to complete 30 hours of volunteer work a fortnight.” This is a perfectly fine answer but it was definitely not the angle I was going for. The remaining answers weren’t much different; they were very honest but got straight to the point. I knew I had a lot of work to do.

After five hours I managed to finish, with nearly ten drafts for an article with only 300 words.

Once I had completed George’s story, I had to write about five more stories for the newsletter, which were mainly on upcoming events for MSWA.

Writing George’s story was a really challenging task for me, as I wasn’t expecting that amount of responsibility on my first day. Now it is completed I feel more confident in my work and I hope by the end of this internship, I will have gained all the skills needed to become a PR professional.

Until next week, Gabby

Welcome to WACOSS

6th September 2013

Hi everyone!

This week i started my placement at the West Australian Council of Social Services, commonly known as WACOSS. All I can say is wow! no amount of study could have prepared me for the crazy work environment i was about to step foot in. When i was looking for a placement i was really drawn to not-for-profits. After weeks of emailing numerous charities and not-for-profit organisations in WA , my friend who interned at WACOSS in the past highly recommended i contact them. After looking through their website and seeing what they do i decided that WACOSS seemed like a great opportunity. I emailed the Director, had an interview and here i am 2 weeks later, at the end of my first week on the job.

I started my week by meeting everyone in the office, Directors, policy managers, finance assistants and program support officers. Everyone was so friendly it helped to settle my nerves a little. In my interview  with the director I was told that I would be working alongside the membership and communications officer, Carly, However she wasn't in on the day so I didn't get to meet her until I started. When we met we sat down for an hour and went through the plan for my placement and had a chat about what i wanted to gain from this whole experience. My plan for the next 10 weeks covers a lot of areas! They have planned to have me working on rewriting promo materials, membership acquisition campaigns, website management, social media, as well as assisting in event organisation and management. It seems pretty daunting to have so much to do in such a short time, but i'm excited at the range of different things i'll be working on.

I did a lot of reading on the WACOSS website before i started and was kind of nervous that no matter how much i read i still didn't fully understand what they did. So when Carly (the communications manager) gave me a stack of books including the annual report, membership booklet, and Strategic mission amongst others, I was more than happy to spend the bulk of my first day reading every last sentence. From reading the materials I was able to understand that WACOSS themselves were not a charity, however, they represent hundreds of WA not-for-profit organisations and work to try and improve the social policy that affects disadvantaged people in WA. Overall I really support what WACOSS stands for and I'm interested to see exactly what i'll be doing in the weeks to come.

With no time to mess around I got straight into evaluating all of WACOSS's promotional materials. This includes the webpage, membership booklet, and membership letters. Carly told me straight out " they're crap, change whatever you want".  With that she gave me everything I needed and left me for the day to pick apart their materials and write down my ideas and recommendations.

Now that I have finished my first 2 days I will admit that I am excited but somewhat nervous as to what is to come. Walking in to a new place I was very intimidated, and questioned whether i knew enough to be going in to the real world and working. However,   I already feel like i'm surrounded by people who will teach me a lot and help me take my first step in to the real communications industry. At the end of the day I know everything I learn at my internship will help me at some stage in my future career. Now that I have survived the first week I definitely have more confidence in myself and am less hesitant to share my ideas with my colleagues.

I hope everyones placements are going well! I look forward to reading about everyones experiences.

Good luck

Bri

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