A beginning not an end.

I have come to the conclusion of my internship experience as well as the conclusion of my last Public Relations unit (I still have Business Capstone ahead of me so this won't be the last time Curtin University assesses me on my commerce skills) and I have felt it necessary and appropriate that my last blog entry be a reflection of my thoughts and feelings.

To be honest, I was initially disheartened by the harsh reality of a career in public relations. Though I was not expecting it to be the most glamorous job in the world, some part of me thought I would be applying the techniques that I learnt more. For the most part the tasks I had to to do within my internship were things that could've easily been learnt 'on-the-job' provided you had at least an average IQ and a slight ability to write but I had been assured by my supervisor and mentors in the company that this was typical within the first few years of graduate work and eventually it would get more challenging and I would be writing larger-scale documents of more importance.

That being said, on the job I have learned invaluable skills being thrown into the deep-end such as InDesign which I feel is an excellent desktop publishing program that Curtin should consider incorporating into their curriculum- it's fast becoming an industry standard! I have never edited more proof work in my life it seems, I have cold-called clients, corresponded with various stakeholders via e-mail for serious issues, been in business meetings, planned successful events and learned the in and outs of social media among other things. Overall it has been an unforgettable experience.

I definitely can say after all this, my heart is still in public relations and I look forward to a career in the field. My internship has taught me the reality of the field which can be at times rewarding and cruel and when I weigh the pros and cons, the pros are far more numerous. Though my internship is coming to a close and so is this unit, I feel it is not an ending but rather a beginning for myself as an imminent true professional.

Engaging with Internal Stakeholders

Throughout my placement at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA (CCIWA), I have been given the opportunity to undertake many tasks ranging from planning events to developing the content of the newly designed CCIWA website. It has been an interesting journey so far and I have learned many skills that I believe I can apply to my future career in public relations.

The majority of my activities undertaken have been related to building and reinforcing relationships with external publics. But what about engaging with the organisation internally?

I was given the responsibility of doing an activity that the External Relations Advisor, Adam Duke, did every morning. It consisted of scanning various news websites for articles that were relevant to commerce and industry in Western Australia (thus the organisation) and sending out a daily digest via e-mail to various members of the office. Within the e-mail was a short description of each article and a respective link. Typical websites that I sourced articles from were PerthNow, WAToday and the Australian.

I began to enjoy this daily ritual and I gained a lot of commerce-specific knowledge from having to read the articles and filter them for relevance. I imagine, if I were to work for CCIWA full-time and if I had to continue to create the daily economics digest I would be very well-versed in business-related current affairs- which is useful considering the seating arrangements in the office next to two economists very keen to discuss how the ASX is fairing every day!

I suppose this 'daily digest' could also be implemented by PR professionals working in various sectors who wish to have more current and in-depth knowledge about the industry they're working in. For instance, if a PR professional were to be working for a sports club, they could compile a daily digest with the latest sports news of the day.

I highly recommend this activity for PR professionals, it should only take 20 minutes a day and as well as being a method of learning invaluable information about your company's specific industry, it also will making conversations in the tea room a lot more high brow and a lot less awkward, as well as being a novel way to keep up internal communication within an organisation.

The Big Day...

In conjunction with my Communications and Marketing Co-ordinator, I had been planning an event to recognise our clients that have utilised CCIWA Apprenticeship Solutions as well as to launch several new initiatives and a website that I have had a hand in developing.  The event was held on the 19th July 2012.

There were some initial hiccups regarding the event, in particular trying to gather numbers, ensuring RSVPs were submitted and finalising the guest list but in the end...it was a roaring success!

And the photos below are very much evident of that:

The event also fortunately went according to plan with the running sheet with the guests arriving and departing at the planned times and the speeches running smoothly.

Most aspects of the event were spot-on, in my opinion and I for one thoroughly enjoyed the event. From the setting up of the room with 'balloon sculptures', to the setting up of the music and sound system, purchase of refreshments, meetings with caterers and amateur photography (by the public relations team that is)- I would have to say it was one of the most exciting and rewarding days I have had thus far during my internship.

Event Planning: The Good, The Bad and the Not-So-Glamorous

One of the first hard lessons that are drummed into you when you begin the study of Public Relations at Curtin University is despite the numerous perks that come within this interesting field...it is not all the glitz and glamour associated with 'Sex and the City' and other dangerously unrealistic television shows aimed at naive fashion-worshipping females (and a few males inclined that way, I suppose) whose day dreams consist of sipping cosmopolitans with their three successful and filthy rich best friends in an exclusive bar in the Upper East Side.

In fact, once you enter the real world and start working, don't expect your quiz night to have a million-dollar budget with a celebrity attendance or to be splashed across the society pages. If you keep up these expectations...you'll only be setting yourself up for disappointment and clinical depression. Don't get me wrong, there's amazing aspects of the Public Relations world that make it a worthwhile career but it's best to keep expectations realistic.

I have recently been working on a cocktail event for CCIWA Apprenticeship Solutions in celebration of the launch of the new website and a number of new initiatives. The guests will primarily consist of the various clients the organisations work with along with a number of representatives from registered training organisations.  A few hurdles that I have encountered are: trying to accumulate an adequate amount of guests for it to be deemed a 'success' and simply trying to elicit an RSVP.

I was given the unfortunate role of bulk e-mailing and phoning guests. It was a tedious and frankly unpleasant task taking up my whole day but it gathered results and it was an invaluable trip back down to earth. That being said, it was an experience to learn from and the reality of 'the business'.