Research and Reflections

Hello There,

As I mentioned in my previous post about stakeholder relations, during the second half of my internship, I was assigned to a team that was in charge of coming up with an implementation report for aid and grants provided to small-scale miners and the rehabilitation of zonal mines offices in rural and urban Tanzania, on behalf of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. This report was to be submitted to one of the Ministry's financial partners and required us to travel through 10 regions out of the country's 30 regions for over 20 days and so it was imperative that we do a good job at it.

Although it was not directly a Public Relations report, I thought I would share some commonalities I noted along the way. 

Our main task as we travelled through numerous districts and small towns was to interview the recipients of the aid and grants to see if they had used it as intended. I realized that this was a form of primary research in the form of interviews. When we completed our travels and started compiling the report we soon learnt that we would need additional information to substantiate and measure the information we collected through the interviews, which would be secondary research. Moreover, I realized that the research carried out for the report was similar to post campaign research as it was done to evaluate the pre-set objectives.

All this is to say that research is not only limited to when carrying out awareness campaigns but it is a tool that is imperative to almost every field of work and the knowledge we learnt in class will surely aid us in numerous scenarios to come.

Now that I am done with my internship, I feel incredibly fulfilled and I am grateful to everyone at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals for the giving me a chance and a platform to grow in my career. If I could go back to the beginning and advice myself, these would be my main tips:-

Be Optimistic: Thinking back to how nervous I was for the first couple of days, I would just tell my self and anyone planning on interning in the future not to beat themselves up too much. Of course you wont know everything in the beginning and that's okay because that's not what is expected of you. The best thing you can do is to go in with utmost enthusiasm and give your best to whatever task is handed to you. At the very least the people around you will notice how committed you are and this is a start to getting better.

Ask, Ask, Ask: Don't be afraid to ask questions. When you are not too sure about something go ahead and ask your supervisor and your workmates (*of course do this in discretion to their time and space). I found that when I knew exactly what was expected of me, my output was always so much better. Ask for their advice and opinions on your work as they have probably been in the industry longer and so can give great insights. Better still, ask what else you can assist them with outside of your designated tasks; you never know what skills you may acquire- a semi-professional photographer anyone?

Google is your friend: While recollecting her first internship experience in class, one of my lecturers told us that she Googled everything and I have to say I can relate. These days you can find a limitless amount of information about almost everything online, so why not make the most of it? I searched for everything from format samples to correct spellings, simply because as an intern trying to leave a mark in the world, you need to be on top your game.

As all this comes to an end, I would once more like to thank all my lectures and classmates throughout my years at Curtin as they have collectively helped me get to where I am now. Time shared with you I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I can't wait to see what life and the world of Public Relations has in store for me.

I hope you have reading enjoyed my posts as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Latifah Mzee Hamis Salim Boma

17223946/ 7E3A1749

Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia

Stakeholder Relations 101

Hello There,

So in my previous post about my daily tasks as a Public Relations intern, I highlighted on the role of Public Relations personnel as communicators and mediators between an organization and its publics or stakeholders. It is safe to say that this role is the most important one as although all the individual tasks I encountered during my internship were vast and varied, they all collectively led back to serving this specific role.

The most common execution of this role can be seen when looking at how an organization relates to its community or the general public. During my internship, this manifested itself as the relationship between the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and the general Tanzanian public. As a Public Relations practitioner working for the Ministry, my primary role was to communicate important information to and fro the two parties. 

On one hand, this was done through the media releases that I would write on behalf of the Ministry, that would be relayed to the public through the media. Inversely, by summarizing the daily mentions of the Ministry and briefing it to the Ministry's officials and staff, I was communicating to the Ministry what was being said about it in the public. Furthermore, the media releases were put on the Ministry's official website and in its weekly news bulletin that is open to the public, to reach a wider audience, and so relay information to more people.  

Another important stakeholder relationship to highlight is that of the Ministry and its staff. Internal communications was executed through sending daily media briefs to all the Ministry's staff and not just the officials alone. This way, they were able to know the general news surrounding the Ministry, even with things they may not have been directly involved in. Similarly each week, a news bulletin highlighting the Ministry's latest happenings, including all the in-house media releases would be published and posted in all the Ministry's notice boards and emailed to all the staff and so this is serves as another way to keep the staff aware of the happenings of the organization they work for.

A new relationship I got to explore however, is that between the government and its partners; financial and otherwise. For the second half of my internship I was put in a team in charge of preparing an implementation report (more on this in my next post) on behalf of the Ministry to be submitted to one of its financial partners. Again, this is an example of the vital exchange of information between the organization and one of its stakeholders managed or facilitated by Public Relations personnel. 

Lastly but definitely not least, it is important to note the Ministry's relationship with the media. The Public Relations department was in charge of contacting all the media in case of any events as well as sending media releases to the media for publication, so once again we see that Public Relations people are responsible for maintaining and facilitating these relationships.

It was really interesting seeing a concept learnt in class play out in real life.

I hope this was an interesting read.

Until next time.

Latifah Mzee Hamis Salim Boma
17223946/ 7E3A1749

Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia

A Day In The Life

Hello There,

So as I got more accustomed to my internship, my primary responsibilities included carrying out daily media monitoring for the Ministry, with a majority of it being on newspapers as form of traditional media. Although I was not new to this, I found it interesting that after highlighting all the mentions of the Ministry's activities in all the major newspapers, we would summarize all the information and email it to all the Ministry's employees. 

I think this is a brilliant tool as it not only enabled us as Public Relations personnel to know what is being said about the organization in the public but it informed another important stakeholder group of the Ministry; the employees, of the organization's activities that they may not be directly involved in and so aware of.

Daily monitoring and briefing of all major newspapers.

Another of my recurring tasks was that of writing media releases on the different activities done by the Ministry. This was one of my favourite tasks as it enabled me to put in practice all that I learnt from my modules and improve on my professional writing skills both in English and Swahili, that are both actively used as a means of communication in the country. I learnt that although writing for Public Relations may differ depending on the organization and industry, the format for media releases usually stays the same, following the 'inverted pyramid'.

To date, the most fulfilling day has to be when one of the media releases I wrote was published in the front pages of one of the major daily newspapers in my country.

A media release in Swahili in the 'Mtanzania' newspaper.

A media release in English in the 'Daily News' newspaper.

However, I was pleasantly surprised at how involved the Public Relations department was in the Ministerial meetings, that I frequently had to attend. I learnt that our role in the meetings was that of communicators and mediators between the Ministry and the general public. The meetings were a great source of information for media releases as that is where most important statements were made and contracts signed. It was a pleasure to see the role of Public Relations extensively appreciated on a governmental platform,

I should note that the amount of work did fluctuate depending on the Minister's schedule, with some days being fairly hectic and others involving nothing more than daily media monitoring. Regardless, it is best to give your all in all scenarios as it shows that you are proactive and not reactive towards your work. Do not be afraid to ask what else you can help with when the work load is low. Besides, this is a great way to keep monotony away and learn new things. 

I hope that this has been an interesting read.

Until next time.

Latifah Mzee Hamis Salim Boma
17223946/ 7E3A1749
Curtin University, Sarawak Campus

A Lesson In Confidence

Hello There,

My name is Latifah and for the last three months I have been interning for the Government Communications unit at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals of the United Republic of Tanzania. When it came to deciding where I wanted to pursue my internship there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to do it in my home country as that is where I see myself working in the long run and so I wanted to see first hand how the Public Relations industry worked there.

For those that are curious, Tanzania is in the eastern part of Africa, bordered by Kenya and Uganda.

I am sure interning in an African country and for the government may be a little different from the experiences of my counterparts, regardless I hope that I can provide some useful insights from my experience.

To be honest, I was very nervous on my first day of interning. I kept wondering whether I would be able to meet the high standards of work as it was an established office with years of experience. Although my boss and my co-workers were incredibly accommodative, I learnt early on that it was a busy office and on that day itself I was assigned to cover the '5th Annual Canada - Tanzania Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility', on behalf of the organisation.

Upon my arrival, I was completely caught off guard. For the longest time, I had the idea that Public Relations was more of a 'behind the scenes' profession, all about research and writing, where you lay the ground work and let the spokespeople do the talking. Turns out I was very wrong. I realized that as a Public Relations person you have to be able to get up and fearlessly take perfect pictures even in crowds of hundreds; you have be able to ask the right questions to the right people so as to gain sufficient information for your media release; you have to able to confidently introduce yourself and liaise with the media, all so that at the end of the day your organisation's work can be communicated to the public.

This realization made me go about my work much more confidently, and although my pictures could have been a little better that day, I really saw first hand the importance of Public Relations personnel.

You can see some of the pictures I took for the event on page 8 of the Ministry's Weekly News Bulletin below:
https://mem.go.tz/mem-news-bulletin-105th-edition/

Until next time.

Latifah Mzee Hamis Salim Boma
17223946/ 7E3A1749
Curtin University, Sarawak Campus

The mission is complete.

For the last few weeks of my internship, I personally requested special tasks from my senior.  I urged to do more than press clippings, media release and organize events.  And so, Marcella asked me to design logo and poster for a campaign called ‘Zero Tolerance’.  The response from last year is not that good, so my Boss requested for a new design for poster and logo.  I have designed three posters and here are some of my drafts:-

The Logo.

One of the posters.

Other than that, I also volunteer myself to take photos for the launching of the Mechanical Engineering Week, as our weekly department meeting is scheduled exactly the same time as the launching.  Here are some photos I took during the launching:-

During the launching

Speech from our Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Kerr.

The launching

The exhibition 

Group photos of PVC, lecturers, committees and participants.

Take photos for every events in our campus is not only a benefit for the students but also for the benefit of our department.  It is important to maintain a good relationship with the students as they are the main and largest group of stakeholders of our university.  To satisfy them, especially the student leaders, is very important.  Without them, there will be no campus.  Only if we can satisfy the students, then they will voluntarily help us to promote and compliment our campus to the society.

During these weeks, I found out that corporate branding is not just about advertising.  To maintain the relationship with every of our stakeholders and also enhance the reputation and image of an organization, there are a lot more to do. 

For example, this coming week there will be a group new students coming from the Sultanate of Oman to enroll for our Intensive English Program (IEP). In order to welcome them, our department is required to design a banner for them just two days before the coming. Due to this, we have to find an advertisement company that is willing to print our banner during the weekends.  Keeping contacts is very important, especially when emergency. 

Same goes to the media partners, as a PR officer, we need to keep the contact of the reporters and editors.  Furthermore, we have to recognize the face of the reporters. When we invite them to come to our events, they will be happy if we called out their names, and so they will write a better news article for our company. 

Back to the Omani students, our campus, as well as the state representative also welcome them at Miri’s airport and prepare a series of orientation activities for them to familiar with the state.  These students are very important as they are sponsored by the Government of Oman.  And this relationship is not only between campus and students, but between nations.  Thus, we have paid more attention for these students than the other local students. 

Photo taken at Miri Airport.

To conclude my 160 hours internship, I have learnt a lot from the department, it is an excellent experience that is related to the real life of Public Relations industry.  And working with the team is just fun and I have been taken care of with unlimited love and knowledge. 

Thanks everyone for accompany me throughout the past few weeks. I have benefit a lot through everyone’s experience.  Do feel free to comment.

Good luck in your finals.

Take care and smile always =)

Loves from Curtin Sarawak Malaysia,

Yvette Eng

14423785

POST - Curtin Open Day

Curtin Open Day has come to an end.  

The only work for me that day is to accompany the VVIPs to tour around the campus.  There are many reporters from every newspaper publisher visit the campus that day.  When they arrive, we need to give them our media kit, which is a folder with our media release, backgrounder, factsheet and etc.  While our reporters are waiting at the lobby, me, Marcella (PR Officer) and other team members are waiting at the main entrance for the arrival of the VVIPs.  

While waiting for the arrival of the VVIPs.

After the arrival of the VVIPs, we straight away start the Opening Ceremony of Curtin Open Day.  The event is launched by our honourable guest, the formal Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr. George Chan Hong Nam, who is also the chairman of the Curtin Sarawak Campus Council.  After the launching, we proceed to the touring of the campus.  Throughout the whole touring, the reporters are following us, asking the VVIPs questions and also taking photos non-stop.  After that, when everyone finish the tour, our honourable guest held a press conference at the lobby.

I found it quite interesting as no matter the reporters or the political parties, both hold a special connection and relationship among each other.  The political party is delivering his opinions and messages, while the reporters are getting information they need to write their news article.  In order to maintain a good relationship and mutual understanding in between, they are providing the things that the other side demanded.  

When I am off for two weeks.

Back to my interns, there are two weeks that I could not work because of my production and projects.  When I back to my work, predictably tons of newspapers are waiting for me. Especially when accompanied with our Curtin Open Day, our coverage on newspaper has increased. 

Organised such a big event is indeed very tiring. But looking at the impacts on the community and the response from the public, every effort is worth and valued. 

Please comment. =)

Loves from Malaysia,

Yvette Eng

14423785

Curtin Open Day 2011

Curtin Open Day 2011 is coming!

Curtin Open Day is our biggest project of the year.  This event is mainly organized by our department and with the cooperation from all the other departments in Curtin. 

Everyone in our department is quite busy now preparing for the event.  Although I do not really have a main task to do, I still get to experience what they are doing when organizing such as huge event.

Our graphic designers are quite busy with all the posters, logos and advertisements’ design for the event while our web designer has created a website for the event and from day to day nearer to the open day, she has to update every single details and information to the website (http://www.curtin.edu.my/openday2011/).

At the same time, our two PR officers are busy finding sponsorship and companies to get involved in our open day.  We will ask the companies to donate and sponsor for our event, and in return, we will provide a booth for them to promote their companies and products.  But actually we are selling the booth to them at the actual price.  This is a win-win strategy so that we can get more companies to involve in our event and at the same time the company will get something in return. 

Last Thursday, our department has organized a press conference at Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club (Miri Malaysia).  The press conference is host by our department’s manager, Nicholas Leong, with 2 representatives from Student Council and also another 2 representatives from other departments.  This is the first press conference for Curtin Open Day and we aim to deliver the basic information and programs of the Open Day in order to attract the public to attend.  After the press conference, I help to take a group photo for all the representatives from Curtin with a printed banner:-



Curtin Open Day 2011 Committees

Although the preparation for Open Day is going on, we still need to work on other events at the same time.  I was assigned to write media release for two events which are the Youth Challenge 2011 and also CPA Business Challange.  Besides, my supervisor, Marcella also ask me to help her research on various types of gimmicks for events.

During this few weeks, I have learnt that we need to learn how to multi-tasking and arrange our time very well, so that we can finish everything on time.  Unlike studies, assignment comes one by one, in working life, jobs come continuously no matter you have anything to do on hand or not. In shorts, we need to understand and emphasize on the priority task. 

Don't forget to leave a comment or advice for me.

Take care!

Cheers,

Yvette Eng

14423785

The Journey Began

Assalamualaikum!

Greetings from Malaysia!

Hope everyone is doing well and having a great time in your internship.

My name is Yvette and I am currently doing my internship in Curtin University Sarawak Campus’s Corporate Communication Department.  Unlike most of you, I am working as a part-time intern in the department as I am also taking another 3 media subjects in this semester. 

Working and studying at the same time is quite tough, but till now, I think that I still can handle it. And I am very glad to get the opportunity to work at the department not only because they give me an environment to learn as much as I can, but also they give me the flexibility to arrange my time whenever I am busy with some projects of other subjects.

Corporate Communication department is formed with a total of 6 people who are our manager Nicholas Leong, two officers, Marcella and Ling Yii Yang, two designers, Flynn Aladdin and Dennis Lian, and also one web designer, Wee Yee Boon.  Marcella is in charge of Public Relations and Events, while Ling is responsible for Marketing and Publication.  I am assigned by Nicholas to work and learn from Marcella, however, he also encouraged me to learn from other staffs and explore something new.

Just like many of you, my first job and everyday task is press clipping. (No doubt.)

My office table.
As you can notice, there is a stack of newspaper beside my table...
(I was like ''@.@'' when i first saw it.)
p/s: the person reading newspaper beside my table is our web designer, Wee ^^

The department is (kind of) relieved for my joining as I am the only one who can read Chinese very well.  I could not imagine that they actually memorized the word ‘Curtin’ in Chinese (which is ‘科廷’) and try to find in the Chinese newspaper before I come.

Besides that, I also get the chance in helping out on Ling’s project, which is Talent Hunting for models and hosts.  We are hunting for models for our new posters, magazines and also calendars 2012.  Hosts talent will be noticed for our future events emcee. Besides, we are also looking for voice talent for our radio advertisement. Not only helping out at the registration booth, I also helped him to record sound samples for us to choose from.

In conclusion for my first week, I think that Corporate Communication Department has put more attention on corporate branding (e.g. advertising on newspaper and radio) which aims to get more attention from the public, especially community from West Malaysia. 

Feel free to leave any questions and comments. =)

Cheers,

Yvette Eng

14423785

*Note: Curtin University Sarawak Campus is in East Malaysia.