A few days into my intern and I've been spot on the spot!

Hi Fellow PR393 Students!

This is my second blog post, which I will be discussing what I have done so far into my placement and what I will be working on throughout my 20 days with angelhands.

On the second day of my internship, my supervisor got me to start looking through information from the 50k in 50 days fundraising campaign. At first I was quite confuse as to what and why I
had to read through the boring piles of notes and drafts because I was starting to doze off during
work hours. I was trying my best to stay awake! Then before I knew it, I had to familiar myself with all
those documents as I will be working closely with the fundraising committee.

So currently, I'm working on a the 50K in 50 Days fundraising campaign where my first task was to set up a campaign brief so the campaign committee are able to review it and make any necessary changes
before the board meeting. This felt like quite a huge task for me and I could not believe that I was
writing a real life brief with my own ideas for the organisation to follow up on instead for just a university assignment. It made me feel important and I had to be responsible and reliable for the work that I was going to do. But it was also exciting at the same time to see what I could come up with.

I am grateful and glad for what I have learned while studying at Curtin University! If not because
of the practical assignments like writing press releases and/or reports for real life clients, I would not be
able to accomplish the task that I am given by my supervisor.

I was also in given the role of making sure the poster of the campaign would appeal to the public which I had to meet the graphic designer to lead him in the right direction for the campaign which includes my opinion on what looks good and what doesn’t; as well as the information that will be shown on the poster as well. I had to liaise with him to make sure everything is going well, but of course report back to my supervisor and she would make the final decisions.

I felt like I was put on the spot when I decided to intern with angelhands; especially because I am currently the only PR personnel in this organisation as of present.

I hope to get my hands into the social media side of things as well though, by helping angelhands with their Facebook and/or Twitter pages.

This is what I've accomplish so far and will keep you posted on what angelhands have got installed for me next. (:

<3 Deanna C.
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Short & Sweet - Final Blog

Hi all,

I have now completed my 20 days at the Heart Foundation and can’t believe it’s over already. I feel as though my skill set has been improved dramatically as I faced many challenges during my time. When I first walked into the building I was less than confident in my ability to produce “quality’ public relations work. My nervousness soon passed and I was surprised at how comfortable and confident I became with the work I was involved with.

Over my internship I had several media releases published both locally and regionally, I learnt how to effectively communicate with editors and journalists, I even learnt to juggle multiple tasks without losing focus.  This placement taught me so many things about PR that just does not come across in three hour lectures. The experience I received from this internship was invaluable and I graciously thank the Heart Foundation for having me.

I hope everyone benefited from their respective placements too!

Thanks for reading.

Miles

  

A Late beginning with angelhands Inc

Hi Fellow PR393 Students!

I’m finally writing my first blog post since this is basically only my second week into my placement. It has been difficult for me to find an internship as I started out late and most of the organizations that I called already have a student intern with them. Though I have yet to regret my decisions as I am fairly please with my placement with angelhands.

There were quite a few obstacles I had to pass before I found my placement with angelhands. Some of which was as mentioned above as many organization have already taken in a student placement and then I came across Water Polo WA and got in contact with the person in charged. Because they have just got a student that would be interning with them this semester, they have referred me to the Melville Water Polo WA with my main focus being The 2012 Tom Hoad Cup which takes place at the end of the year. I was so excited to start with them but it was most likely impossible as the final report is due in mid November and if I decided to go on, I would not have gotten very much experience as they only need me most in the months of November and December. Plus I would not have been able to finish my report in time by the due date. So I continued looking and got referred to angelhands by another not-for-profit organization and that is how I got to this point.

I know there are only 5 weeks of classes left so it is going to be a challenge with how much I will be able to accomplish when working in the public relations sector at angelhands. But I am willing to put in the time and effort to learn as much as I can from them and experience first hand in a real life job in PR. So I have decided to come in 3 days a week, every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to get as much time in as I can manage.

 Angelhands is basically a not-for-profit organization that helps traumatized victim of crimes. This could include individuals or families who have been affected either by homicide or by serious personal violence. In addition, there is only one paid staff within the organization while the rest are either volunteers or student interns just like me. This is definitely not like a usual PR internship one would look for and that it why I am so excited to learn about how their organization operates and everything else that comes with it.

Because of my short placement with the organization, my supervisor has got me to get straight to work; though my first day was quite breezy. I went to the National Health Awareness Day where there were many other not-for-profit organizations just like angelhands. My job for the day was to check out all the different organizations at their stalls and look at the type of marketing and promoting strategies that they have incorporated. The point of this was to gather information on how angelhands can improve to become more creative in the future. I also listened to how my supervisor and volunteers of angel hands spoke to the people and I tried speaking to them myself but I definitely was not ready for such a huge leap though talking to other not-for-profit organization’s staff members was quite interesting as they not only share their promoting tricks but what the organization means to them and why they chose stick by it. The experience that I have acquired on that day totally intrigued me. I just could not believe the stories I was hearing, as I never knew how one’s life could be so terrifying.

Overall the first day on my internship was very much a chilled out day as I ended at 2.30pm. But I must say, it got me thinking and wondering what I would be assigned to do for the PR side of things. I’m glad that I have chosen this organization as my placement for PR Professional Practice 393.

Till the next post then (:

<3 Deanna C.

My experience at the DSR (part 3) - more media releases! and... burritos

This is it, the final stretch.

I have just four days left in my work experience at the Department of Sport and Recreation and I don't know what I will do when it is over (other than sleep in on Mondays again).  It has been a part of my life since January and it will be strange when it is gone.   

My main focus continues to be writing media releases but this is something I enjoy and I have a lot of freedom in what I do.  I get to identify a lot of story ideas myself and choose which ones I will work on.

Here is one story I wrote recently if you are interested.

I've begun to see a bit of my work showing up in newspapers and I find it very satisfying.  Sometimes it has very little in common with my initial media release, other times it is almost the original release word for word.  The journalist side of me might frown upon that but the PR side of me is proud that I can present a media release in such a newsworthy fashion that they run it with little changes.

We have been doing a bit of work towards getting local governments more involved and sharing any positive stories they come accross.  We have had some very good story ideas submitted and some of they are quite amazing.  We hear of kids with disabilities participating in sport for the very first time, participation rates doubling in certain areas through KidSport and even the creation of entirely new leagues to cater for the increase in demand.

One of the things I worked on recently was a few templates for local governments to use so they can easily create stories of their own when they come across something interesting without having to go through the department.  It should free up a lot of time for us as we cannot possible cover every good story idea that comes in.  Not every local government has a PR team and it is nice that they can now share some of the great results we are seeing with KidSport independently.

I also sat in on a few more meetings these past few weeks and have had an opportunity to voice some of my thoughts on KidSport and our co-operation with local participating governments.


Oh and I discovered the most awesome burrito shop ever.  Sadly I discovered it too late and there isn't possible enough time to sample all the possible combinations!

Until next time,


Luke

My Experience at the DSR (Part 2) - More media releases, more coffee and an accidental runner

Hey guys,

It's been a few weeks since my last update.  Ok that is a lie, it's been more than a few weeks but it's time to fill you in on my experiences to date.

I've found myself continually drawing from my journalism studies in a lot of my work so far.  As I joined following the launch of KidSport the majority of my time has been dedicated to identifying positive stories and working on media releases to help raise awareness for the program.

In week two (aka day two) I began my first media releases about the program which were about a group of Aboriginal boys in Narrogin joining the gymnastics club for the first time with financial assistance from KidSport and a similar story about a boy who was able to join his local cricket club for the first time - something his family had not been able to afford in the past.  These stories were sent out to local media outlets in their respective areas.  For one story I was lucky enough to get an interview with via email which gave me some well thought out, clearly written quotes to use.  The second interview was a little trickier as it was over the phone.  I was able to get a couple of decent quotes jotted down but need to work on my shorthand to make the process easier in the future.  For those interested you can read my two media releases here and here

It turns out there were a ton of enquiries about the Nicky Winmar Carnival article I had written in the previous week.  The carnival received some positive press with most of the information included in my media release appearing in the articles I saw.

In weeks three and four I changed focus a little and worked on a series of media releases for the Department of Sport and Recreation's (DSR) Community Volunteer Grants program.  I completed three articles which can be seen here, here and here.

I attended my first full department meeting in week five.  This was an interesting experience as I was able to see what all the other teams were working on - PR and otherwise.  It provided an interesting overview of the department and where our small PR team fits into the overall picture.

Monday mornings are not getting any easier.  Working nights Tuesday to Saturday and then using Sunday to try and adjust my sleeping pattern in order to get up at 7am on Monday can be very hard and my morning coffee is becoming the cornerstone of my day.  Without a good morning coffee the rest of the day just crumbles!  To help with this I have invested in a proper coffee machine and am currently sitting here pumped full of caffeine and wondering how I ever drank instant coffee. Seriously, best investment EVER.

As I alluded to in the title there was also a small mishap involving accidentally doing a runner from a cafe during my lunch hour...  I had become so used to paying for food before eating it (students can't afford to go anywhere fancy enough to charge you AFTER you eat to be fair!) that I finished my meal and simply walked out, no one said a word or tried to stop me.  An hour or so later as I went to get a drink from the office vending machine I noticed that I still had cash in my wallet.  As this is an incredibly uncommon sight my mistake quickly dawned on me.  Embarrassed,  I made my way back to the restaurant and paid for my lunch.  The staff seemed shocked that I came back to pay and were very nice about it.  Luckily for me I avoided getting on any blacklists and have been able to enjoy lunch there many times since!

Until next time,

Luke

My Experience at the DSR (Part 1) - The First Media Release (and Coffee!)

Hello everyone,

It's been about six weeks (six days) since I started my internship and I figure this would be a good time to start blogging about my experience so far.

I had originally intended to do this unit in semester two of 2011 but came to the conclusion that I would be better off putting it off for the semester and starting early in the summer.  This would allow me to do it part-time (one day per week) instead of taking an extended leave from work.

I got into contact with the Department of Sport and Recreational and was excited to hear they were willing to take me on in the new year.  I quickly agreed and crossed my fingers that they would still remember when it got closer to 2012. Fortunately they did.

Fast forward to today and I find myself six weeks into my work experience and loving every minute of it - although Monday mornings aren't getting any easier after becoming used to working nights!

In this blog I will be bringing you some of the highlights of my experience to date.

Week 1 (AKA Day 1):

I knew I was going to like the place when I was offered coffee upon arrival (and liked it even more when I learned it was a daily 9.30am ritual).  Following this much needed caffeine hit I began my first day by sitting in on the weekly meeting for the PR/communications team.  It was daunting at first and a lot of it went over my head initially but as I became more informed about what the department does and some of the programs it manages it began to make a lot more sense.  I was asked where my strengths lie and was promptly given my first task upon answering that it was writing. That task was preparing my first ever real media release, no more preparing media releases for hypothetical scenarios or preparing media releases that would never actually be released - this was the real deal.

I was a little apprehensive, I hadn't actually written a media release in almost a year but I am happy to report that it all comes back to you very quickly. 

Fortunately, the release I was to write was for the Nicky Winmar Football Carnival, a sporting event for a sport I am very familiar with - AFL.  Getting to write about a sport I know and enjoy definitely made things easier and far more enjoyable when it came to writing the media release and researching some of the material. 

I found myself drawing heavily on the journalism aspect of my Mass Communication degree, in particular the semester I had spent as a sub-editor at the Western Independent. I am proud to say my supervisor (Amanda) found no errors when I sent her the story.  That isn't to say my PR studies played no role at all, they assisted me greatly when it came to the structure of the story and the distribution.  For those interested you can read the media release here.

Perhaps the hardest part when it came to my first media release was actually issuing it.  There was no real media list at my disposal so I had to create my own. To make distribution matters harder it is a story that could be of interest to media outlets all across the state. I spent quite a large chunk of time creating a mailing list of my own which should make any future media releases I do significantly easier to distribute.  We got a lot of responses to the release and generated some decent coverage in newspapers and regional TV.

Working for a government department which is primarily involved in positive initiatives and popular policy makes it much easier to do the job. I can't help feel that I was very lucky to end up in a department such as this considering how much negative publicity and public distrust or disinterest there are towards many other government departments. It is nice being able to work on promoting the initiatives the department is involved in without having to be constantly dealing with negative publicity or a crisis. That isn't to say they don't happen and to some extent they very much still do but they are much less common than the problems other departments would have to constantly deal with.

Wow, I didn't expect this first blog blog entry to drag on quite so much as it did.  For the sake of your sanity (and mine) I will stop here for now.  Keep an eye out for some of my other experiences and thoughts from these first few weeks in part two! (coming soon-ish)

Until next time,

Luke Howieson