The Good Spirit of Sharing and Caring for the Community

In concluding the month long Chinese New Year celebrations, one of Edelman Kuala Lumpur’s clients, Pavilion KL hosted a Fortune Meets Love Chap Goh Mei Charity event. As a part of its ongoing efforts to raise funds for the unfortunate and provide a platform for the community to engage in a worthy charity like this, Pavilion KL gave opportunities for shoppers, business partners and tenants to adopt the Fortune Horses.

All the funds raised will be donated to needy charity organizations across Malaysia. These include Tiratana Welfare Society Malaysia, Rumah Seri Kenangan Kedah, Tiam Yam Toh Teng Old Folk's Home, Caring Old Folks Home and Beringin Park Old Folk's Home. Pavilion KL's retailers pledged RM1,688 for a pair of horses while shoppers donated a minimum of RM100 per horse. 

Before the event, there were several important things that my colleagues and I needed to do. The first thing was to send out the invitations to the targeted media. I looked for the contact details of the targeted media. My colleague sent invitations to the targeted media via emails. A day after the invitations were sent out, I was in charge of making media call downs to ensure that they managed to receive the invitations. Apart from sending invitations through emails, my colleagues and I also did media drops to the targeted media. It was my first time experiencing media drops and it was fun a interesting! A day before the media visits, I made media call downs to inform them about the media visits.

We visited the targeted media and dropped off the paper mache horses together with the invitation cards for the targeted editors. It is important to provide correct information and be polite to the media. From what I have observed, doing media drops are more effective than just sending out invitations through emails and making calls to the media. This is because they feel more of our sincerities and they feel appreciated. This is also a good way to build relationships with the media.

Two days before the event, I made media call downs to get RSVP to the event. Making call downs to get their RSVP was quite challenging because some of them were only able to give their confirmation a night before the event while some were only able to give their confirmation a few hours before the event.

On the day of the event at Pavilion KL, two of my colleagues and I were in charge of the media registration booth. We greeted the media and bloggers who came to the event. After they registered themselves, we gave them the media kits and goody bags. It is also very significant to practice the right etiquette while giving them the media kits and goody bags. We should always smile and be well-mannered.

Fortune Meets Love Chap Goh Mei at Pavilion KL ended successfully with the energetic and lively drums and lion dance performances. 

After the event, I did the event debrief with my colleagues. I learned that it is crucial to do an event debrief after every event. From the event debrief we are able to understand the highlights and lowlights of the event. After understanding the lowlights of one event, PR practitioners are able to improve in different ways in order to make the next event better.

In PR Corporate 360 I have learned that it is very important for a company to build strong reputation because reputation is an important asset that maintains any corporation’s sustainability. The charity event was part of Pavilion KL's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. In short, Pavilion KL is not only contributing to its society but also helping itself in maintaining good reputation.

I am very grateful to have this opportunity to attend the event as I gained a great and memorable experience from it. 

Dorine Lau

16341436/ 7E2A9744

Curtin University Sarawak

Dove Media and Blogger Engagement

I am so excited to share my experience during my Public Relations internship at Edelman Kuala Lumpur. It has been great to work with the consumer team. After two weeks of joining the team, I was given the opportunity to attend one of our clients' event. On 17 December 2013, Dove introduced its new Intense Repair range at Botanical Garden in Bangsar Village II. This new Dove Intense Repair range seeks to empower women to enjoy the freedom to carry out their daily hair routines without worrying about the damage they cause because Dove Intense Repair range will take care of the hair at a cellular level. Therefore, Dove hosted an intimate engagement with several selected lifestyle and beauty media and bloggers in order to launch this revolutionary product. 

The day before I went to the event, I was advised to wear the right attire that matches Dove's theme. It is important for Public Relations practitioners to dress appropriately when attending clients' events. I was also suggested on how to interact correctly and effectively with our clients and the media during the effect. As professional Public Relations practitioners, we should always bear in mind that it is very crucial to maintain our image at a tip-top condition at any event.

The event consisted of two sessions. Media engagement took place in the afternoon from 3PM to 5.30PM while blogger engagement took place from 6.30PM until 9PM. During the event, I was in charge of the media registration booth. My colleagues and I reached the venue one hour earlier to prepare ourselves. I prepared the media kits and slotted the printed press releases into the media kits. The press releases were printed in three languages: English, Malay and Chinese. 

At the registration booth, I had to ensure that every member of the media and bloggers who came registered themselves and provide their details. It was my first time greeting the media and bloggers as well as distributing media kits and goody bags to them. As what I have learned in Public Relations Media Relations 250, it is important to prepare media kits to the media. Media kits are distributed in order to give succinct information members of the media. 

I have gained several lessons from this participation. As a Public Relations practitioner, we should never fail to greet the attendees politely and warmly upon their arrival at the event. Another important tip that we should never forget is to exchange our business cards with them. The best time to start the journey to a lasting relationship with the media and bloggers is when we are introducing each other for the first time. Therefore, exchanging business cards with them provide prospects with a way to contact each other. This is also vital in case we are unable to read or understand their handwriting in the registration booklets. At this point, their business cards will be useful for us as reference. 

Before each session ended, the media and bloggers were invited to have tea break. It was the greatest opportunity for me to learn how to bond relationships with the media and bloggers. It was interesting to see how my team lead and supervisors communicate with them.

Here are some important tips that I have learned throughout the event.

Dos

• Do sound passionate about your business and show great enthusiastic spirit.
• Do smile and make eye contact.
• Do watch your pace of speaking, especially with non-native English speakers.
• Do give feedback and acknowledge someone speaking to you with small gestures like a nod of affirmation.

Don'ts

• Do not say anything that you don't want to see in print, or hear on broadcast at any time.
• Never mention the competitors by their name.
• Do not make any comment on competitors.
• Do not be occupied with your cell phone during an event. You should devote your full attention to the event, not the phone.
• Do not be late.

Overall, it was tiring but worth it because I have gained several useful experiences from this event. The experiences acquired from this event were useful to improve my communication skills and understanding on the right ways to communicate and build relationships with the media and bloggers.

I feel so grateful and lucky to be given the chance to follow my team to the event. 

Dorine Lau
16341436/ 7E2A9744
Curtin University Sarawak