Hi everyone! As this is my first blog entry
I thought it would be best to introduce myself. My name is Bianca and I am a 4th
year Public Relations and Professional Writing student at Curtin
University in Bentley, Perth.
Now you’re probably wondering why I chose
the title above for this post. Well, on my way to my very first day at
Professional Public Relations (PPR), nerves running wild and stuck in the usual
heinous morning traffic of the Mitchell Freeway, I found myself behind a car
with those very words plastered to its rear window. Now I’m not usually one to subscribe to
bumper-sticker words of wisdom but that day I took a leap of faith and I did.
This past week at PPR has certainly been a
ride to say the least, as from my very first day I was thrown straight into the
hustle and bustle of the busy PR consultancy by driving around Perth dropping
off Valentines Day cupcakes to the media on behalf of a client. Instead of spending the whole task stressing
about a) completing the drop in a reasonable timeframe and b) making sure each
cupcake did not melt in transit – I made the conscious decision to embrace and
actually enjoy the opportunity that I
was given which thankfully turned out to be a great success. Besides giving me
a much needed confidence boost on my first day, I also found the task to be as
informative as it was exciting which has since given me a good sense of where the
media is located across our city. In my opinion, this knowledge of who’s who
and where in the Perth media is invaluable and something which will continue to
benefit me throughout the duration of my internship as well as my career.
Back in the office, I spent the rest of the
week undertaking a combination of administrational and public relations related
activities. Some of these activities
included media monitoring – a task that is done everyday, where local and state
papers are scanned and any coverage of clients is documented in what are known
as ‘media clippings.’ I was surprised to find that the layout of these media
clippings actually resemble the layout which we used in a journaling assignment
for PR Media 250. This familiarity was really welcoming and certainly helped
take the edge off what was otherwise a new and unfamiliar task.
Finally one of my major tasks this week was
to conduct phone interviews with successful recipients of a grant given by one
of PPR’s clients. The aim of these
interviews is to source as many potential news stories (or leads as they are
called) as possible. As I am a student from a professional writing background,
I have had very little experience with interviewing throughout my degree apart
from a Q&A assignment in PR Media 250.
As you can therefore imagine, I was absolutely terrified at the prospect
of putting on my journalist’s cap and digging for a good community-news story!
However despite starting off a bit shaky and unsure, I now feel very confident
conducting phone interviews and have already managed to uncover some very
poignant and potential news stories. Amongst the skills of interviewing and
transcribing which I have learnt from this task, another very valuable insight
I have taken away with me is the overlap that I can now see exists between the Public
Relations and Journalism profession. Though my classes at Uni have touched on
this in the past, it is definitely one thing to learn about this overlap
theoretically and another to experience it in a real working environment. Needless
to say, I have enjoyed the challenge that these interviews have presented and
will continue to embrace the opportunity to grow and refine these new skills
throughout remainder of my time at PPR.
I apologize for the very long entry but as
you can see I have had a very busy week and can’t wait to see what my second
week holds in store for me!
Until next time…
