This goodbye is only temporary

Hi everyone,

sadly, my internship is coming to a close, having completed my 20 days at The Global Good Foundation. I would like to use my final blog entry to review upon the lessons I've picked up along my placement.

Firstly, I learnt a great deal about Domestic Violence and the impact it has on Australia. Through the experience of liaising with stakeholders and individuals from various publics, I've come to learn that every organisation no matter how big or small requires the help of PR to help communicate and build solid relationships with its publics.

In the 20 days, I managed to grasp the opportunity of working on many different PR tools such as constructing Media Releases, Invitations, Info sheets, Brochures, attending events, speaking with stakeholders and compiling videos. These tasks have given me further insight onto what the requirements of a PR practitioner are. Through this, I have taken away a formidable experience which has furthermore instilled a drive and ambition to work towards entering the PR industry after my degree. Initially, I did slightly dread the idea of a placement as I had troubles landing on one, but after having spent a what I must say, fruitful duration at The Global Good Foundation, I honestly am not quite ready to leave just yet. I've also come to learn that the not-for-profit industry in Australia has steered towards continuous growth, making the maintenance of these organisations a struggle. Alike The Global Good Foundation, there are many newer and smaller organisations who are encountering difficulty in the securing of sponsors and human resources due to the worry caused by the economy and the competitiveness of the industry.

Overall, this unit has benefitted me in so many ways, giving me the opportunity to excel in my beliefs and an insight into the corporate world. I could not have completed my placement without the constant guidance of my supervisor, Tanya Dupagne, Curtin University and unit coordinator Katharina Wolf. Thank you for making this experience a memorable one.

As for those who are on the verge of completion alike myself, I believe we've all done a fantastic job in securing our placements and working towards becoming acting practitioners! And for those who have just begun, I am sure you will come to love your placement just as much as I did.

Signing off for the last time on PR reflective blog 2.

All for the Global Good,
Denise Danielle Lee
14672082
Bentley Campus

Through a different perspective

Hi everyone!

The end of the semester is coming to a close soon. I hope everyone has been having a fantastic time at their placements and if you're already at the last league of it, keep pushing forward and strive for excellence!

Previously in my last post, I talked about the development of a Kid's Camp The Global Good Foundation was holding at the end of April in Kwinana. I'm back to give you an update of how it went. The camp is catered to children who have been affected by all degrees of domestic violence. Throughout the 4 days at camp, the kids had a schedule of full on fun activities, from building towers with marsh mellows and spaghetti to face painting to talent night and tug of war, the values implemented in these activities were of benefit to the kids. It taught them to build confidence and trust in themselves and others, to be able to engage in team work and to understand that speaking out is a vital point in breaking the cycle of domestic violence. Accompanying the campers and staff members were the television crew from The Project on Channel 10 who filmed the campers during the course of the camp. They had come to do a short segment on the organization, the ongoing camp and to interview the founder of the organization, Tenille Bentley and my supervisor Tanya Dupagne. 

I attended the last morning of the camp which was the 21st April, a Saturday. I was amazed to see by how energetic the kids were that morning and how there were so many parents who had taken their time off to spend time at the camps with their children. It was so much fun getting the opportunity to finally interact with the children and their parents. What scared me the most was realizing that these children never behaved the part of how a survivor of such a trauma would. They were free spirited kids who were caught up with the simplistic idea of having fun just like how all kids are. Being around them made me feel like I was a kid again, the innocent perspective was heartwarming. I know it is rather silly of me to think as such, but it gave me deeper insight and helped me comprehend that this was one of the reasons why domestic violence was such a frightful topic and all the efforts I had put into my work was for a good cause. If these kids were out on the streets, you would never get the impression that something was going on behind closed doors. 

Being an intern at The Global Good Foundation thus far has been rewarding, I have learnt so much about PR and at the same time, picked up on several other lessons about life. The PR perspective has stretched across from being a technician to a practitioner. It is truly a pity that my internship is coming to a close so soon. 

At the end of it all, my supervisor had me put some quotes in a document filled with pictures as momentos for the camp participants and staff members and I am currently working on editing a video for the camp.

Please watch the television segment of the camp segment if you can :)

http://theprojecttv.com.au/video.htm?movideo_p=39695&movideo_m=184488

Until next time!

Denise Danielle Lee

14672082

Bentley Campus

It's only fun if you want it to be

Hey again everyone!

It has just past day 7 of my internship at The Global Good Foundation and I am absolutely enjoying it. Since the first week, I've gotten follow ups from interviews and I'm on to constructing a press release alongside getting primary schools from Rockingham and Freo to join in our Minute Of Noise campaign which will begin in the next semester.

The Global Good Foundation is currently planning up a camp that will be taking place in April. It's a 4 day 3 night camp planned with jammed packed fun activities for children who have been affected by domestic violence. The response has been far better than we all expected! It's so good that Tanya had to come up with a waiting list as all the spots have been filled up. The camp's are going to be great. I'm honestly excited. Tanya has a whole range of activities planned out for the kids that will help them in self esteem building, teamwork and learning to trust.

Last week on Monday, my supervisor Tanya told my colleague Danielle, Global Good volunteer Kennah and I to come in our best camp gear as there was a photographer coming. We headed to camp site to scout for activity locations, speak to the care taker and to mostly check out the facilities available. The Kwinana Courier's photographer Neil greeted us upon arriving and began taking photos of the three of us. The article was pieced together and appeared on last Friday's edition of the Kwinana Courier! It was definitely a fun day out of the office.

From what I've learnt so far is that PR isn't just about media releases or making checklists for events. There are so many different areas of PR you can touch on. I've been having the most fun at my internship doing interviews, invitations, doing rsvp for events and communicating with principals or schools and counsel members I never thought I would.

It's already coming to the end end of week 6.

We're all half way through the semester! I hope everyone of you are enjoying your placements and don't forget to make the most out of it. Have a great weekend and semester break!

I'll definitely update soon.

The article from the Kwinana Courier.

The kid's camp invitation.

Denise Danielle Lee

14672082

Bentley Campus

All for the Global Good

Hey everyone!

I just started my internship at The Global Good Foundation last Monday on the 19th. The Global Good Foundation is a not for profit organization specializing in providing a voice for children who are involved in domestic violence. The foundation has a whole array of activities lined up for both children and parents who want to get involved. For instance, there is an ongoing campaign called "One Minute of Noise". It educates children about the tell tale signs of domestic violence and letting them know its okay to speak out. The foundation travels to schools conducting talks and after that, they let the kids make a whole minute of noise! You can imagine the banging, screaming, stomping of feet and how loud it gets. Its' somehow become a competition among schools on who can truly be the loudest. The Foundation does incredible work with children getting them to not only understand what domestic violence is about but also to encourages them to be free spirited people. The camps focus on team work, self confidence and many other positive traits, it is no wonder many children benefit from such camps.

Just on my first day, I realized that my doubts of worrying about how grueling and almost terrible my internship would be vanished! My supervisor is an amazing person, assigning me with tasks and carefully guiding me towards producing quality work. So far I'm working on two interviews for press releases, an information sheet and a brochure for the general public. There's an upcoming event called Jump for GGF. It's actually jumping off a plane at 8,000ft to help children recognize and signify that it's okay to take a leap of faith. Even parents are doing it! It will cost you $500 to jump so if you're interested please do come and support us. We'd be happy to have you.

To summarize, I honestly learnt a lot on my first day and I can't wait to see what else is in stored. I'm hoping to possibly pursue a career in PR after my studies so I know that this is a great opportunity for me to learn all about trade.

On another note, I hope everyone else is going on well with their internships. It's already week 4 of the semester, let's all push forward and persevere! Stay positive.

Link: A Minute of Noise video

Till next time, take care!
Denise Danielle Lee
14672082