I have begun an internship at
the West Australian Ballet. It is a wonderfully creative organisation and I
feel extremely lucky and grateful to have been given such an amazing
opportunity.
I was instantly welcomed into the company and
introduced to the office staff (of about thirty people). I was then treated to
a grand tour of the large antiqued heritage-listed ballet centre. The building
has been modernised and consists of a large communal office area, a grand
foyer, a cafe space, three large dance studios, a lounge area, gym and
physiotherapy centre.
I was given a copy of the
company style guide to learn and a brochure of the current and coming ballet
season. I noticed that the style guide is thorough with details of colours,
text size and font. It also explores logos for different mediums, sponsor
logos, details of ‘how to’ for email, telephone, fax, photocopy, paper size and
style etc. One thing I found interesting was that the style guide also
discussed how to communicate messages- the tone, the idea of quality customer
service, professionalism and proper use of the English language. I am glad that
I received a copy of the style guide the moment I commenced work and found this
an incredible useful tool throughout my professional practice thus far. I know understand
the importance of having a style guide. As a new employee it provided me with
exactly what was expected. A style guide helps to ensure a standard that all
employees follow. It also creates consistency and is engrained with the brands values,
attitudes, and key messages of the organisation. The style guide formulates a
consistent and memorable organisation standard.
The brochure was also useful as I gained an understanding of the ballet
season. For 2014 the West Australian Ballet will perform one ballet titled
Radio and Juliet at the quarry amphitheatre, three shows at His Majesty’s
Theatre- Giselle, Snow White and La Fille Mal Gardee. The company will also host a number of small
genesis shows (contemporary solo dances) and public dance classes. A Black and
White ball has been organised for sponsors and donators and a number of open
days for the public.
I learnt quickly that the
organisation is heavily focused on producing spectacular world class events and
performances, increasing ticket sales and add-on sales, gaining support of
ballet community (subscription packages), receiving sponsorship and donations,
promoting ballet to younger audiences, ballet education, and efficient and
effective public relations, marketing and advertising strategies.
I embarked on my internship
during a busy period (The day before opening night of Peter Pan). I was given a variety of jobs over the next
two weeks including;
1. A mock up of “Friends of WAB” pamphlet
a. Create Mock up
b. Describe what we want in a word document for the
outsourced graphics teams
c. Include all style, image, and logos
2. SWOT analysis
a. Where the company is at and how the shows this year
have gone so far and what is in store for next season
b. ‘In’ and ‘out’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats
c. Improvements
d. Boardroom meeting with all important shareholders,
directors, staff and dancers
e. Categorise into most important and agreeable points
f. Create a document based on findings of season
3. Patron data schedule for tickets 2014 (for ticketek)
4. Media Clippings of Onegin performance
5. Draft of donations letter
6. List of potential places to send pamphlets about Radio
and Juilet performance at the Quarry.
a) Draft email and send
b) Received five emails back (sent 5 boxes of pamphlets
to local shopping centres)
7. Created a competition for the mid year newsletter – 10
double passes to see Bolshoi ballet at The Winsor Cinema
a) Drafted letter for winners and a piece on who won for
social media sites
8. Survey for Onegin- results document in Survey Monkey
9. Survey for Peter Pan (created) in Survey Monkey
So far I am enjoying my
experience working at WAB. I am at the nine-day mark and have gained confidence
in my abilities as a young PR professional. I have learnt how I can implement PR strategies and practices
into a real life situation. I have found that in a real life situations results
are more important than in an academic assignment. Throughout my university studied
I never put much emphasis on the evaluation section however I now see the value
in doing this. This is something I have struggled with personally as a student.
I understand what positive effects can eventuate from PR practices that satisfy
business goals and objectives and how important it is to measure these for
increased productivity in coming years.
