Final thoughts and recommendations for the Fellowship

Hi everyone,
Officially, my placement with the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA came to an end last week. However, I will be staying on to assist in the management of the Mattie Furphy House opening discussed in my last post.

Looking back on my time with FAWWA, I believe I have learnt a lot about the practice of public relations in the real world. I was able to complete a number of tasks which had a direct correlation to what has been taught at university. This included the production of regular media releases, the implementation of more effective clerical systems, event planning concerning the Mattie Furphy House opening and a wide range of other tasks.

I would like to think that the experience has been not only beneficial to me, but also to FAWWA now and into the future. As outlined in my report,I have listed a number of public relations recommendations aimed at helping the organisation meet its short and long-term goals. These included suggestions to broaden FAWWA's membership base my targeting young writers. A high school literary prize and workshops for teenagers were some of the recommendations.

I also thought FAWWA could contribute to local newspapers through the production of a weekly book review column - something which would help gain exposure within the community. In turn, this would help attract new members and increase FAWWA's current revenue stream.

My final recommendation centres around the creation of a public relations handbook FAWWA would use to guide its future strategies and programs. This document would include an understanding of the organisation's communication objectives, key message and a breakdown of each individual's role with FAWWA.

Thanks for reading,

Dean Stacey.

Our Big Day has Arrived, as has the end of my Internship

Open Day was held on a beautiful sunny Sunday, and everything went better than we could have planned for. We got to the University about an hour and a half before people were due to arrive, as there were still things to be set up. On the day, everything went as planned, and my role was mainly to help manage any enquiries coming on through social media channels. Myself and another lady from the public relations team, were also tasked with managing the social media, in terms of raising awareness of events, taking photos, and we even managed to get #OpenDay trending.

The day was amazing, with each of the educational departments at Curtin having massive marquees, and entertainment everywhere. Nova arrived, as well as a petting zoo, 10 roving entertainers, two bands, a human soccer table, a human venus fly trap and food everywhere.

We managed to have more attendees at this year's Open Day, than any other previous event. We had 17,500 people arrive, and thankfully, there was no need for our emergency response action plan.

The week after the event, Asha and I attended meetings with many of the people/departments involved in Open Day. These were to note down any suggestions for the following year, to thank everyone for their effort, and to brainstorm ways we could out do ourselves next year.

The event was great, and it was amazing to see all our hard work come together. However, it did mark the final fortnight of my time with Curtin's Marketing and Public Relations team. I have had so much fun, and I found working within a big organisation, which include a huge number of people from different departments, coming together for the one project, really enjoyable and exciting. During my time here, Asha and I attended many meetings with people from Marketing, Public Relations and Media departments, and everyone was always encouraged to voice their ideas, including me. Asha was an amazing person to work with, and I can't thank her enough for giving me the opportunity to help her. She showed me how important being organised is, and just how much you can achieve when you are.Working with the Curtin team was so enjoyable, and everyone is so good at what they do. What I took from my time at Curtin was, how important good communication is within such a big organisation. It takes a lot longer to get things done, when you're working with so many people, but the end results, can be, and were great.

Post placement blues

Much to my displeasure, my placement at Shine Communications, much like everybody else’s placements, has now come to a close. I can say without an ounce of hesitation, this was one of the best experiences of my university life to date.

During my time at Shine I have learnt many things. I have learnt to liaise with clients and about approval processes. I have bettered my writing skills and pinned down my ability to find newsworthy angles for stories. I have seen behind the scenes how it can be necessary to call and call back and call again and leave messages for journalists and how these endless phone calls can pay off in the end. I have seen the benefits of a job well done, and even had a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling afterwards. I have been inspired, not just by those that work at Shine, but by their clients, and every day people who want to help the not-for-profits Shine works with. And in saying that, my highlights flow right on, the best moments I had at Shine were as follows;

1.       Seniors for Seniors

This success managed to feature in a blog post all of its’ own. But in case you haven’t read that post, this moment was when a media release I produced lead not only to one article in a newspaper, but two articles, in two separate papers, and from that, lead to the beautiful subject (Cindy the Labrador) getting adopted out of the Shenton Park Dogs’ Refuge Home. More information on this success story can be found here - http://pr393reflectiveblog2.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/seniors-for-seniors-success.html.

2.       Twins take the lead

This was another story I put together for the dogs home, in which two inspirational teenage girls give up birthday presents for donations to charity, and have done every birthday, since they were 6. This was a very enjoyable release for me to write. The girls and their mother have such a passion for helping others. This year their chosen charity was the Shenton Park Dogs’ Refuge Home, and like the majority of Refuge related work while I was at Shine, was given to me. I successfully got this story published on PerthNow, the story can be found here -http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/twin-girls-reject-presents-for-puppies/story-e6frg13u-1226479371840.

      3.   Care Oprtions Annual Report
It may come to a shock to anyone who has read a previous post of mine, but this time, I’m not talking about the Dogs’ Refuge. This was my first major project to handle almost solely that was not Dogs’ Home related. As a result of this project I wrote all copy for the Care Options 2011-2012 Annual Report for approval by Ruth and then the client. This was quite a daunting task initially, but after seeing it all come together it felt like, and was, a fabulous achievement. While the report is quite small, and not overly detailed, I still successfully wrote an annual report for a client. Completing tasks from interviewing staff members and their chairperson, as well as volunteers, in order to gather all the information  necessary for the report.

Media relations was a huge part of my work at Shine, but as you can see from my third highlight, it wasn’t all that I did, and wasn’t the only enjoyable part of my internship. However, I have to admit that being able to see the result before me in a newspaper a week or two later is a wonderful feeling!

Suffice it to say I have enjoyed my time at Shine immensely and would highly recommend students take full advantage of their placements in the future because they can be tremendously rewarding!

Thank you for reading.
I hope that each and everyone one of you enjoyed your placement as much as I did!

Elizabeth Gall
Curtin – Bentley

The End of Something Special

Twelve weeks on from the beginning of my final semester at University, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I finished my final week of work experience one week ago, and have been busily putting the final touches on my final report since. This has given me the chance to reflect on my time at Metric Promotions and Pilerats, and what I have learnt over this period.

As a unit, PR301 gives such a great opportunity to learn in a real-life setting, and to grow confidence in your skills as a practitioner. Throughout my time at Metric & Pilerats, I feel that I have had a true life lesson, not only in public relations but in general life and business skills. I have been taught a wide range of skills relating to running an organisation in events and promotion, and even within journalism working up to the launch of a magazine.

Throughout the experience there have definitely been a number of hurdles to overcome, but these have been translated into valuable learning experiences. From the general time management of being a full-time student undertaking work experience and working at my part- time job, to being asked to write in a completely different way to that taught to me at university. It is clear to me now that there is no 'set rules' for public relations. Every student I have spoken to, or who has commented on my blog has noted that the difference between what we are taught, and real life practice is extraordinary. Every organisation is involved in different aspects of public relations, and has different procedures.

One of the disappointments of my placement was the set-back of the launch of Pilerats magazine. External factors out of the organisations control, have resulted in a slight delay of the launch of the magazine which is a shame. I feel as though I could have been involved in a really great project had I been able to assist in the launch. That being said, I have made some fantastic friends (and contacts) within Pilerats, who have offered to keep me involved if I am interested which is an amazing opportunity. Even though I am not planning to go straight into work when I finish university this gives me a chance to polish up my skills on the side if I wish, and is still great experience for my resume.

I look forward to what the future has to offer me in terms of a career in public relations, and I believe that this work experience has given me this chance to solidify my skills as an up-coming practitioner. Finally, I want to thank everyone involved with Metric Promotions and Pilerats Magazine, who welcomed me and taught me. I hope I get the chance to help them out and wish them all the very best in the future.

Anna Randrup
14756245

Dressing up and looking up!

Hey everyone,

This unfortunately is my last and final blog post so please don't get emotional!
Over the last 2 months, I have had an amazing experience working alongside the events management team at PMH Foundation. Throughout the 2 months I have better grasped the relevance of public relations in everyday business as well as within the not-for-profit industry.

Throughout the last several weeks, much engagement with stakeholders as occurred in relation to the upcoming 'Bear By Night Ball'. It has involved informing guests online on the latest updates including sponsors as well the production and delivery of invitations. This involved tiresome work in the office, packing and sealing envelopes which is always fun... But seeing the invitations for the first time was an exciting experience considering all the time and effort that has gone into making the invitations alone.

As I stated in my previous blog, I was in the process of planning an upcoming corporate sports day package for the foundation. There has not been much progress on this apart from more site visits, visiting potential sports grounds to get a better feel of what we are trying to achieve. Through several relationships existing at PMH Foundation, we have visited one sports facility that looks extremley promising! It is unfortunate I will not be assisting in the completion of this package but I can gladly say I will be watching its progress from within the foundation as I was recently offered a casual job! *cue celebratory music* Not much details on the position but I will be moving in with the marketing team and expanding my horizons even more, so wish me luck!

One... interesting... task that I had undertaken in the last week though involved me getting hairy and sweaty.... literally. As one of the volunteers could not make it in on the day of a hospital visit, I happened to be the back-up and was asked to be the foundations mascot, Stitches the bear. This involved me walking around the hospital cheering up the sick kids with free hugs and free gifts, dressed as Stitches. It was extremely hot in the massive costume but was actually good fun as I was able to be a kid again, jumping and dancing around. Apart from having fun, I was also able see how the foundation makes an impact on the sick children at PMH. The picture below gives you an idea of the craziness I had whilst being Stitches!

Again, this professional experience has been amazing and worthwhile. I am so thankful for my time spent with Simone, Guy and Lauren in the events team as well as the rest of them team at PMH Foundation! Hope everyone else had amazing time like myself and good luck with everything else!

Brodie

:)

Finishing up at my placement

My internship at Colosoul is coming to an end but I have decided to stay on in order to gain further experience. Event organising is a huge aspect of what Colosoul does and as it is a not for profit organisation they rely on donations and support from local businesses. We organised a movie fundraiser to raise money in order to move into a bigger office and to continue to provide a magazine to the youth of Perth. There is so much more effort required when you are relying on donations, everything takes twice as long. I underestimated the amount we needed donated and what types of things that we had to source. From the venue, to the equipment, to the lolly bags and popcorn. It gives you a strong appreciation for those working in the not for profit sector and the extra work they have to do to organise an event.

I have learnt many things at my placement which i thought i would share:

*Working in PR you have to be organised, as soon as you get an email make sure you reply ASAP. It makes life a lot easier.

*Make lists and lots of them. Event organising requires making lengthy lists, without them it is highly likely you will forget something.

*Double check emails and documents to ensure that there are no spelling mistakes.

*Be ready to be a problem solver, I spent most of the night at the Fair Tradie Ball solving issues with tickets, seating and raffles.

I really have enjoyed my placement and as it is my last semester of my degree I found it a great learning experience, preparing me for the business world. It allows you to put into practice everything you have learnt over the years whilst studying at university. This blog has also been extremely beneficial as everyone has had such different experiences and learnt different things. Sharing our stories and experiences gives everyone an insight into the different areas of public relations and what every individual enjoyed.


Lauren Trevaskis

My internship turned into a paid position!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my fourth and final blog post about my internship at Professional Public Relations (PPR) in Subiaco.

I have to admit I’ve been a little absent from the blogging scene, but this is my most significant post of them all – I get to share with you all what I’ve learnt over the course of my internship and how I came to be offered an entry level position at PPR.

Throughout my internship I carried out a variety of tasks for a range client accounts. Some of which included:

• ·      Landcorp - stakeholder engagement, Claremont on the Park event preparation, stakeholder information mail outs
• ·      Perth Fashion Festival – media monitoring and media launch
• ·      Wesfarmers Chemical Energy and Fertilisers- Human Resource interviews
• ·      Decmil Group Limited – annual report meetings
• ·      Australand – work in progress meeting, desktop research
• ·      Yarra Valley Caviar – media kit drop
• ·      Shell – stakeholder validation
• ·      McDonalds – Serious lamb burger lunch
• ·      Muzz Buzz – Media list creation and validation
• ·      PTTEP Australasia – media validations
• ·      Dampier Port Authority – crisis contingency planning
• ·      Administration support – credential planning,

As a soon to be Curtin Graduate I believe I have been adequately prepared for the ‘real world’. Throughout our degree we have consistently applied theory to real life situations, whether that be an industry renowned case study or an actual not-for-profit organisation such as United Way WA or Friends of the Environment. PR 393 Professional Practice has allowed me to fine tune my skills and get me one step closer to a paid position.

Although I didn’t get to draft media releases or write a lot of content I was fortunate enough to professionally develop and expand my skill set. The main things I have come away with from my internship include:

• The art of networking and developing mutual relations;
• Time is money – effective management is essential;
• Quality control – double checking, even triple checking your work for errors;
• The flexibility to work as an individual and a team member; 
• The ability to liaise with multiple stakeholders.

From an employer’s perspective, hosting interns is a great way to ‘try before you buy’. Employers are able to gauge weather the intern suits the work environment and the intern gets an understanding of what they do and don’t like before being committed to the role. PPR only hires PR graduates into their entry-level positions (admin assistant, receptionist, PA and database assistant) which gives them the chance to learn about the organisation from the ground up. Because of my internship I was granted the opportunity to be consider for a position at PPR. I have now completed two weeks of full time work!! I view my role as a stepping-stone – I’m just a hop, skip and a jump away from becoming a public relations consultant.

I hope each and every one of you have thoroughly enjoyed your internships and feel ready for the real world :) 

See you at GRADUATION.

Gemma x

Final Race Time of 26 Days

Well the day has arrived! All that planning will be paid off this morning, Sunday August 26! Been up at 4am may not seem the most ideal situation but it did not phase me at all. I could not wait to be at City Beach Oval! 

Watching people pass the finish line and listening to interviews conducted by the media to the winners felt like a huge achievement thinking ‘hey I helped put this all together.’ It was amazing to see all that planning come together on one day and it was also extremely rewarding, making all those hours worthwhile.

I have learnt so much and I cannot wait to get a job and show off what I have learnt and further extend my knowledge in the public relations industry.

A few valuable lessons I will take away from my internship are:

Planning

Without planning, you are just going to create a recipe for disaster. every little detail for the event was planned and had a team behind it that had worked on it and designed it to work in a certain way. Although during my internship some tasks I did, did not seem as important as others it was all a part of the ‘bigger picture’ Planning for anything and everything that will and could happen on the event day all works to ensure a smooth event to be enjoyed by the participants and the organisers. 

Time Management

The ability to meet deadlines and have a high level of organisation is all part of maintaining strong relationships with both stakeholders and colleagues. As the event was on August 26, there were a series of tasks that needed to be done months, weeks and days in advance and without the completion of those tasks the event would not have gone ahead and would have been terrible. 

Time management and organisation reflects highly on the industry you are in and a part of. 

Verbal Communication

The PR industry relies heavily on both written and verbal communication. Whether you are communicating with your colleagues, stakeholder groups, publics and other industries, communicating confidently, fluently and well is very important. PR is all about messages, 

As an intern it is pivotal that you have a excellent verbal communication to ensure you all a part of the planning and the organisation and your voice is getting heard.

Teamwork

PR heavily relies on working in teams. Who knew all those group assignments with good and not so good group members would be a reflection of the type of team work you would be doing in the industry. Especially working for such a huge event, it would be impossible for only one person to do this event all by themselves and have the same results as if a team were to organise it. 

CONFIDENCE

One priceless lesson I will be taking away from this unit is ‘confidence’. Over the 26 days of interning, I have grown confident in my ability to step into the ‘real world’ as they call it and apply for jobs knowing I can do it, and I’ll be able to do it well. 

I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed my time at Corporate Sports Australia and help organising the City to Surf and to be a part of such a great community event. I was given some great tasks and felt like I was providing a service to the event. All the little tasks that may seem not so important such as answering emails and phone calls was a huge learning curve as you were interacting with primary stakeholders and aware publics - the way you responded to their queries reflected on the practice of event management and the organisation itself.

I’m also glad to know that I will also be helping out with their next event, the inaugural Suncorp Bank Fremantle Fun Run that will be on November 11. 

I hope you all enjoyed your internship as much as I did and good luck with the final weeks of semester!

Thanks,

Steph Sbrocco

Saying Goodbye to my Invaluable Experience in London!

My internship has quickly come to an end at Chivas Brothers in London and it is very hard to believe I won’t be working with the team in PR again. After working every day for four weeks straight, I feel so comfortable and involved with the team. I learned so much, made some great contacts and have had heaps of laughs working in the office.  I am definitely sad to be leaving London and Chivas Brothers but I will certainly be back to visit! The PR team which is made up of 10 people, including roles such as; the head of PR, international PR managers and internal communications manager were all so welcoming and I had so much fun with them every day!

Here is a photo of most of the team and myself in the middle on my last day at the office, I’m going to miss them all lots!

Over my time at Chivas Brothers it has allowed me to reflect on what I want to do in the future, I absolutely loved working and observing the in-house side to PR but I also am much more open to the idea of trying PR consultancy. This is because I was lucky enough to sit in at meetings with different PR consultancies that were pitching ideas to Chivas Brothers and I loved the creativity and idea of being a part of a consultancy which work with a range of different clients.

I have also realised that there are certainly some pros and cons about working at such a large global company. I personally loved the excitement and really enjoyed the global aspect of every decision made; it allowed me to understand better what the lecturers say at uni about being conscious of other country cultures when doing any PR or marketing in order to succeed. However there were some areas in which I think working for a smaller organisation could be better. Here are some of my thoughts about the pros and cons of doing my internship in a large global organisation:

The pros:

• I get to see how big budgets are used
• I am starting to understand the process of ensuring all strategies need to be suited to every market around the world, or need to be adjusted slightly for certain markets in order to succeed globally
• It is challenging me to think more creatively and strategically in order to fit into an international company
• I am aware that it is such a great opportunity for future reference and a once in a life-time experience
• Great team work and very exciting to have so many different PR roles in the one team

The cons:

• There are times when I feel everyone is too busy and I’m in the way a bit by asking questions
• I feel like you can’t really put your own ideas into action as easily, there needs to be a lot of discussion and generally has to be suitable on an international basis 
• A lot of employees which can be overwhelming 

As a whole, I enjoyed working in this big company; however, I would definitely like to experience working in a smaller company to truly be able to compare them both and determine which one suits my style the best.
The work I completed over my time at Chivas Brothers allowed me to recognise my area of strength and weakness. This was made evident to me through not only the feedback from my supervisor but also from  the way in which I handled each task, i.e. the amount of time it took me to complete and the amount of help I had to seek to finish it.

I found that my biggest strength which has been formed over my uni degree would be my ability to write in a professional manner. I was given a number of tasks which required me to write professionally as they were documents which would be read across all Chivas Brothers offices worldwide.  This included an article I wrote in the internal ‘Salute’ magazine, emails I sent to all staff members with the weeks press coverage and creation of two different PowerPoint presentations on Chivas Regal and Royal Salute (two major whisky brands) which are to be used for future clients. I found that I was able to effectively use the theory and practice from my university degree in a practical work setting.

The area in which I struggled the most and have identified as my biggest weakness is thinking on a global scale. There were many meetings which I attended that required everyone to put forward ideas for a global campaign; one for example was regarding the Chivas Regal whisky brand, I did give some input, however I struggled to think internationally and about different cultures. I think this type of information will develop over time, as you learn the markets in which the company targets when you work there on a regular basis.

Overall, this internship has been an amazing and invaluable experience. I have learnt that you must always give 110% to every task you are given, ask questions and to enjoy what you are doing. The one thing that I noticed at Chivas Brothers is that although there are 3 levels and different departments within the building, everyone knows each other and always seemed to be enjoying their work- I never saw a dull face. I think this aspect of 'enjoying work' is the most important lesson learnt of all, because work becomes such a huge part of your life (as I have experienced, working everyday for 4 weeks straight) and you have to be passionate about what you are doing in order to succeed!

On my last day, I was taken out for lunch at a nearby English Pub and was given a beautiful card and present. I also gave my supervisor a present and card and gave the rest of the team a card with some cookies to share!

Here are some of the yummy cookies I bought in for the team on my last day! If you ever go to London try some of Millie’s Cookies, there delicious!

Although this work experience has come to an end, I am now looking forward to finding more work experience in order to expand my knowledge and I am so excited for what the future holds. The past 20 days has made me realise how much I love the Marketing and Public Relations industry and I cannot be more excited to finish this chapter in my life and put my skills learnt at university into action in the real work environment.

Thank you for reading my blog and all the best to everyone!

Gemma O’Hart.

Short & Sweet - Final Blog

Hi all,

I have now completed my 20 days at the Heart Foundation and can’t believe it’s over already. I feel as though my skill set has been improved dramatically as I faced many challenges during my time. When I first walked into the building I was less than confident in my ability to produce “quality’ public relations work. My nervousness soon passed and I was surprised at how comfortable and confident I became with the work I was involved with.

Over my internship I had several media releases published both locally and regionally, I learnt how to effectively communicate with editors and journalists, I even learnt to juggle multiple tasks without losing focus.  This placement taught me so many things about PR that just does not come across in three hour lectures. The experience I received from this internship was invaluable and I graciously thank the Heart Foundation for having me.

I hope everyone benefited from their respective placements too!

Thanks for reading.

Miles