Today I completed my final day of work experience at City of
Joondalup and the time has really flown by, I can’t believe it has already come
to an end. It feels like the time I’ve spent here has been so brief yet so
valuable in teaching me about the industry I’m about to enter in the following
year.
I have left City of Joondalup with a sound knowledge of how
to write goals and strategies for a public relations plan, a social media
strategy, media releases and columns for City publications.
The highlights of my placement were;
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Researching potential names for one of the City
of Joondalup staff meeting rooms and having one of my own suggestions be
submitted to the Mayor for consideration.
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Researching how other local governments and
businesses celebrate NAIDOC Week and making suggestions for what the City can
do to increase attendance and get the Joondalup community more involved in next
years events.
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Putting years of writing media releases and
advertising material into practise by writing to promote Joondalup events and
the city itself for City of Joondalup publications and paid newspaper
advertisements
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Learning about the City’s social media
strategies and what they are doing to develop their online presence and become
more interactive.
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Performing competitor analysis’s for the City to
see how other governments brand themselves and how effective this is, to
determine whether any improvements could be made to Joondalups branding to
better communicate key messages to the public.
I learnt a great deal over the past months and what I learnt
in the workplace I will take with me when I get my first job in public
relations. This experience has given me the confidence I could never get from
the classroom.
Not only did I learn a lot when I was working on my own, I
also learnt that there are many days in the world of PR where things do not go
according to plan! On my last day the City’s Rates Draw was being held that
night, where the City gives out prizes to residents that have paid their rates
ahead of time as a way to reward ratepayers and encourage people to make their
payments early. This saw many of us in the office come together in a rush to
ensure everything was ready for the night, right down to decorations for the
venue and nametags!
It’s been a great experience and I’m a little sad to leave,
but now I’m more excited than ever to begin my own journey in the world of PR!
Thanks for reading everybody.
