The Big Launch!

As of the 1st of August the oZAPP Awards has been launched!

This is the event that I have been working on for the past 13 days of my internship. Throughout this time I have done completed numerous tasks that have given me an understanding of different areas of the competition including;

- Developing a PR plan for the duration of the awards
- Developing a Media plan for the West Australian
- Establishing an extensive national media contact database
- Media sponsorship package development
- Media release writing and distribution throughout Australia and
- Client meetings

It felt like it was a long time coming but gee does time fly when your having fun! Before I knew it the launch had approached and the competition was under way!

Unfortunately I spent the week of the launch in bed by the doctors orders but I have been kept in the loop via email and have done some work at home, I cant wait to be back in the action next week! 

Just so you understand the project I am working on; The oZAPP Awards is Australia's largest app competition searching for the nation's best new mobile application concept. The oZAPP Awards is a Curtin University initiative and aims to foster dialogue and collaboration between innovators, researchers, investors and industry, and to stimulate innovative business culture throughout Australia. 

Along with the launch of the competition, the oZAPP website was officially launched. The website

includes information on the industry, resources, case studies, blog posts, information on the judges and sponsors, and entry forms for the competition.

The last few weeks have been busy as we worked to get everything completed by the launch and it has shown me a lot about working in the PR field and for a consultancy. The biggest thing that I came to realise is the time needed to be factored in to get all media coverage and work approved by. When your working for a client it an integral part of the operation to get all media content and information signed off on by the client to ensure that what we as the consultancy are sending out in their name is accurate. As a national competition with industry professionals from around the world involved, there is more than one person who has to sign off on all content and with different time zones, getting things signed off has been difficult and deadlines have had to be altered to ensure that all content is accurate before it is distributed to the media.

So now that the competition is under way, we'll be following the PR plan I developed for the roadshow coming up, publicity for the event, and developing the judging criteria and outline for all judges.

Have a look at the website and spread the word about this competition. You don't have to be tech savvy to have a great idea for an app so get involved!!

Until next time! 

Farewell His Maj!

Sadly, today was my last day working at the wonderful His Majesty’s Theatre Foundation in Perth city…

Just as I am writing to explain why I would not get a farewell today, my beautiful team have presented me with a luscious chocolate tart, a bottle of vino and a card full of kind words encouraging me to follow my dreams and continue pursuing my career (this has made me a little teary!). The reason I did not expect to get a farewell is because I have already had one! I begun doing work experience at the Foundation in late January and had planned to leave and complete my internship elsewhere. But after a meeting with my unit coordinator, I decided to come back and complete it here.

This morning I assisted a group of school children that had won a tour of His Majesty’s Theatre. The tour was provided through one of our major partners; The Hawaiian Property Group and their Hawaiian Alive program. It was rewarding standing amongst 30 excited children who were bursting with questions about drama and theatre. We showed them around the building, including on stage, back stage and down in the orchestra pit. Today was particularly exciting for them because they were able to see and stand in the TOSCA set, which is the Opera performance showing at the moment. We also did exercises throughout the tour and completed a short quiz at the end while they were enjoying some little cakes and juice. The morning was a buzz, and reminded me how much I love interacting with all types of people.

I have not been given any other tasks today because I would be unable to finish them before I left, however it has given me the opportunity to reflect on my time here and start thinking about my final report.

One of the most obvious things about working with the Foundation is that although it is not an agency dedicated to PR, a lot of its activities are PR based. I found this useful when I was thinking about where to go next, and it opened my mind to other work possibilities that combine PR work with other roles, rather than just becoming a PR practitioner or communications officer.

I have attached some photos from our GOPI VAID event which was held last month. I outlined it in my first blog titled ‘Fashion Fundraiser - more exciting than your average foundation!’, so be sure to check it out for more information.

Now its time for me to say farewell and good-luck to everyone participating in this blog! I hope you all have a fantastic experience, learn a lot and most importantly, have fun :)

2011 Cabaret & Comedy Carnivale Launch

Greetings all,

I have had a very broken week of work as I have been in and out with a throat infection (urk). But finally here I am! Most recently I have been working on our next newsletter edition; Autumn 2011. We post out quarterly newsletters that outline current and upcoming events, highlights, competitions and any topics which demonstrate how we are involved in helping the creative arts community.

I have the last two issues of the newsletter, and have been given the green light to write away. Obviously when I present my draft to the project manager she will edit and alter it, but it has been a great experience to compose the newsletter independently first.

I found that the most important thing is choosing stories and topics that represent the organisation and its priorities. For example, avoiding stories that may have been problematic, and highlighting success stories that are ongoing and reach a wider audience.

Today also marks the launch of the 2011 Cabaret and Comedy Carnivale season!! This is held downstairs at the Maj and showcases a variety of artists that perform on different nights. 2011 is the tenth year this programme has been running and from what I hear, it’s a lot of fun!

I will be assisting the launch by doing ‘meet & grets’, checking guest’s names off the list and hosting. This will be a great opportunity to build up my contacts and get to know faces and names... time to sharpen my memory.

I encourage all of you to get involved with Cab Carnivale or any of the upcoming shows at His Maj – despite everyone’s continual complaints that Perth is boring, there is actually life beyond bars and clubs! Check out http://www.hismajestystheatre.com.au/ for more information.

Enjoy!

P.S is anyone else finding it hard to publish their post with the proper paragragh spacing?

The Importance of Internal Communication

Tuesday – The New Hump Day

Interesting fact – If you survey all the retail stores in the city, they will agree that Tuesday is the new Wednesday! Staff members notice a drastic increase in sales on Tuesdays from women seeking therapy…. My Tuesday is feeling a little like hump day.

Yesterday was busy - I had things to follow up, emails to send and tasks to complete. Today, follow-ups have finished, and I am sitting waiting patiently for the heat of the working week to begin!

Today I thought it would fill you in a little bit about His Majesty’s Theatre Foundation (HMTF) and what we are all about. We provide unique and imaginative programming initiatives for Perth Theatre Trust Venues such as His Maj, Perth Concert Hall, Playhouse Theatre, Subiaco Arts Centre and the new State Theatre Centre. Although we are not a PR agency as such, a lot of our work is PR based and revolves around important PR topics such as stakeholder management and communication etc.

I am not very familiar with the Creative Arts Sector in Perth, so it has been an intensive learning period familiarising myself with its people, events and how it works. Not the most efficient at times (but better than Government!)

The Foundation is a team of three, and I work with the Executive Director, EA to Executive Director and a Project Director. Since I have begun with the Foundation, my colleagues here have been exceptionally supportive and given me every opportunity to learn and grow. I feel very lucky to be here.

Also, working in a small office reinforces the importance of internal communication especially if we are all working on one project. Without good communication, it wastes time, misinterprets messages, loses direction and makes a team inefficient.

Some techniques I have learnt that allow me to maintain my internal communications are: always CC the relevant people into your emails, hold regular update meetings, document your progress for others to view if they wish, and always ask the question if you are in doubt.

Have a happy hump day!