Day One: a glimpse into the 'Real World'

Hello everyone!

My name is Bridgette Stephens and this is the first of four blog instalments to reflect on my internship experiences at Networking WA/Event and Conference Co. I am studying a double degree in BArts Journalism and BCom Public Relations at the Curtin Bentley campus.

As I began searching for an internship to work at to complete this Industry Placement Unit, I thought about the sort of Public Relations work I wanted to gain experience in, and where I saw myself working in the future. As I reflected on previous work experience I had done and units I'd taken throughout my course, I realised event management and media based work had been my favourite. So, when I found Networking WA/Event and Conference Co. I thought I had found the perfect fit.

The interview with the owner was brief and I was nervous to start the following Monday. I so nervous to start, I arrived 30 minutes early and sat in my car waiting for 9am. I think I expected to be overwhelmed with information, but my first day was, really, just a step-by-step process of getting myself connected to the server, being shown by other interns where to find jobs to complete, who to send completed work to, and how to label it. I felt a little more comfortable knowing I would be interacting with other interns who were also at Curtin University.

The majority of the work I will complete for the duration of the internship will be done independently and sent through to my supervisor at the end of the day. With so many assignments at university completed as group tasks, I think it will be interesting to complete them independently.

Did everyone else have the same experience as me? Or did you have a more fast-paced first day?

Bridgette

Follow Your Gut Feeling.....

I had known I’d be doing this unit for nearly 3 months, I had all of the 3 month University break to look into different placements and what I wanted to do but, being my ‘ill find something, it’ll be fine’ leave it the last minute self, I found myself in a panic and absolute chaos trying to find a placement. The panic started to set in the first week leading up to the start of semester I eventually started sending out emails and calling places that I really had an interest working with however, there was no answers immediately and I started thinking that I was not going to find a placement. Everywhere I contacted had seemed to already have interns or didn’t need interns at this stage of the year. As I got desperate I frantically ‘googled’, emailed and called any places not minding where my placement would be, just anywhere so that I could graduate this semester. I eventually found my self with an offer from Momentum Events, which sounded like a great placement, but I just had a gut feeling that there was something else that I was meant to be doing. I emailed a few more places that I was highly interested in and what I want to pursue after graduation, in the areas of fashion, events and music. I was extremely excited to find an email the following day from Sunset Events, one of the places I was extremely interested working at. Madi, the Admin and Events Coordinator said that there may be a position available for me as the ‘Groovin’ the Moo’ festival is coming up and help would be needed on the event. I was extremely enthusiastic about getting this position and I think that’s the reason that Madi ultimately offered me a position.

As I rocked up at their ‘office’ I was slightly confused, in my nice business wear, expecting to be interviewed in an air-conditioned office I had found myself in a large misplaced shed in a backyard in Fremantle. The girls were all nicely dressed, but not in business clothes but, rather casual trendy clothes, feeling totally uncomfortable in my outfit and out of place. However, Madi was extremely nice and at the end of the interview I asked her ‘ so I’m assuming I don’t come dressed like this to work’? She answered saying that if I wanted to I could wear my pajamas to work because she certainly does half of the time! After that I couldn’t wait to start the following week!

On my first day I was set to work on some basic tasks as Madi had said there was not much preparations for me to do for Groovin’ the Moo yet but, when it came time there will be a lot of work and I will be not only doing public relations but a little bit of everything as well as attending the festival with the rest of the team! My first task I was given was to create excel spreadsheets for up and coming artists who were emailing Sunsets, interested in getting exposure and playing at events. The spreadsheets were also used to keep updated with who Triple J was featuring on their station and up and coming artists they were also playing. Lastly, I used the spreadsheets to record artists that played at Sunsets 2013 festivals and whether they were local, national or international artists. The reason for the spreadsheets is so that Sunsets can stay up to date with trending artists, who plays where on what stages and what artists that are trying to break through the music scene are extremely imminent on getting their music out there.

On my second day, I rocked up to find a list of things on my desk to do. Some were PR related items; others were admin types of jobs. One of my tasks was to set about writing out answers for the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2013, which Sunsets was entering. This was challenging as I had a small amount of background knowledge of Sunset Events, but I was surprisingly able to write a fare bit with success and also learning a lot more about Sunsets. Secondly, I was asked to change the ‘about’ section on the Sunsets website as the last person who had done so was not so literate and there was many grammatical errors and inconsistency’s. I enjoyed doing this task and using the first paragraph with persuasive and emotive language to encourage people to keep on reading, which I felt what was missing from the previous ‘about’ section.

Lastly, I was asked to compare survey results from 2012 and 2013 about the 2013 Southbound festival. The data collected needed to be analyzed to understand any trends or large differences between the festivals in the previous year. It was interesting to see the changes in responses one year on and one highly notable trend was that in 2013 people were much more environmentally conscious, which I think Sunset will notably take into consideration for Southbound 2014.

I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks bring, especially leading up to the festival and what other tasks I will be instructed to do. But, for now I am glad to have found a placement and finally on the pathway to graduation.

Speak soon!

What do you do pre-placement?

Hello everybody!

I wanted to take some time out to just introduce myself and the placement opportunity I was given. So let’s get to it!

I’m Ann Samuel and I study journalism and public relations here. Though I came to Perth to study journalism, I fell in love with the dynamic nature of public relations. My first public relations tutor I had happened to be the most influential person in cultivating my admiration for the profession. Some of you might have had Jacinta Goerke as your tutor too! You might question the relevance of that little piece of info to my placement. At the end of last semester after a PR Consultancy seminar I spoke to her about possible placements and she suggested, among others, interning at Wise Earth Pty Ltd. 

WiseEarth Pty Ltd is a global enterprise committed to the establishment and expansion of wise businesses that meets the needs to people and Mother Nature. The tagline on the website is ‘natural, human and built environment specialists’. I encountered my first dilemma today when looking for information about the company before meeting my soon-to-be boss. For one thing, there were numerous subsidiaries under this corporation that I had no idea which entity exactly I was meant to do my research on. 

Anyway I combed through each link on the website and narrowed my research down to the architecture and urban design (Ecotect-Architects) business and the solar education and information online business (Solar-e) as those had websites linked to the main Wise Earth Pty Ltd page. 

To conclude this opening post, I simply want to stress the importance of keeping an open mind and psyching yourself up to rise to the occasion of your PR placements (for all who hasn’t begun!). I hope this internship brings the theories we have learnt in the course of our higher education together so that we may experience the joys and strife of public relations.

GOOD LUCK!!!

My Days as an Intern

I am completing my internship at Devahasdin, a boutique consultancy based in West Perth that specialises in public relations, marketing, event management and media relations. Already within my first few days as an intern I have learnt so much about public relations while also applying what I have learnt at university and gaining a greater insight in to working within the corporate world!

Before starting my internship I wasn’t sure what to expect in regards to the tasks I would complete and the learning’s I would gain. From the start the ladies at Devahasdin has been very welcoming and I have really enjoyed being apart of the team and working on a range of tasks. The main clients I have been involved with include Murano and Gullotti – David Bromley Exhibition, The Good Food and Wine Show, Mundaring Truffle Festival, Bethanie, Rebecca Millman, Lease Equity and Perth’s ice hockey team – The Perth Thunder.

A key learning so far has been that working in consultancy requires the ability to be able to work with a diverse range of clients and being flexible as you engage with each client numerous times throughout the day is essential.

One of the first things I was taught is PR Valuing and the importance of regularly collating the client’s clippings that may appear in print, online or broadcast media. Once the clippings have been compiled you then use the appropriate valuing method (Modules, Column cm’s or Page Rates) depending on the source. The valuing method gives the clipping an advertising value amount, which is then multiplied by 5 to measure PR Value. PR Valuing is a task that I complete each day to ensure each client’s clippings are being collected and none have been missed!

Another task that I regularly work on is compiling media databases relevant to each client. This can be a timely task but it essential to ensure that all media suitable to the client has been accounted for. The database is then used to pitch any media releases or coverage ideas, so it is a very valuable tool.

During my first week at Devahasdin I completed a pre-event pitch for IGA at Waterford Plaza to get coverage within the local community newspaper The Southern Gazette for the stores International Food Festival being held in July. This was successfully picked up and featured in the papers ‘Fast lane’ section, which was pretty exciting to see.

So far I have been kept very busy, learnt so much and have really enjoyed my placement! I am looking forward to the rest of my interning days!

Caitlyn

Off to a Bright start.

Hello all,

I only started my placement last week, and I’m currently just two days in. I’m at Bright Communications in Fremantle, which is a small, boutique consultancy that does a range of PR related things including event management and media relations.

When I was looking for my placement, and previously when I’ve looked for work experience, I tried to steer away from consultancies. I was under the impression that all consultancies would be full of money hungry professionals, and the poor PR workers would be trying to juggle projects and clients whilst always making a profit (a view I blame on PR Consultancy 300). So I guess ending up in a consultancy, even a small one, can be seen as a good thing, as it should prove me wrong (or right).

And so far, it has definitely proved me wrong. The two days I’ve done have been really good. I think a big difference to what I think of when I think of a ‘consultancy’ is the atmosphere of the office. Being a small company (there is just the one lady, Janine), and sharing an office with another boutique PR based company, the environment is fun, open and relaxed. This has made it easier to settle in and begin learning about the projects I’ll be working on over the next couple of months.

Another thing that took me by surprise was the amount of work I did straight up. I had talked to a few friends about their placements and work experience in the past, as well as read some of the posts on the blog, and I got the impression the first few weeks would be mainly shadowing, coffee runs and simple tasks. With this in mind I went in a little complacent that I would just be in the background for a while. This was not the case. Within the first day I had drafted an event plan, a fact sheet and a media release, things I hadn’t in nearly a year! Luckily Janine had plenty of examples for me to work off, and I also had my laptop with me so I could search through some old uni work to refresh my mind. So a bit of advice for anyone who hasn’t started their placements yet (or even if you have), brush up on some techniques, because you never know what might be thrown at you…

That’s all for now, hopefully with my next few posts I can get into the projects I’ll be working on.

Lauren.

All in a Day's work

I’m a bit behind when it comes to this blog as I’ve actually been at my current job (for which I’ve been allowed to carry out my professional placement) since late May and have been avoiding having to write a blog post since then haha. My role is Research Officer at The Hon John Day MLA’s electorate office in Kalamunda two days per week. (yes, it does take about 40 minutes to type out his proper title at the end of letters and releases haha). John is the Minister for Planning, Arts and Culture, and Science and Innovation, however the tasks I do in his electorate office relate to his role as the Member for Kalamunda. I work alongside his Electorate Officer, Nola, and during the week it is just the two of us in the office, except on Fridays when John is here too.

As the research officer it is my job to liaise with the local media – organise photo opportunities for events John attends, respond on behalf of John to letters written to the editor, and respond to stories in the various local papers (if there's a story about a local or group succeeding in some compacity, John will write them a letter of congratulations).

I’m also in charge of (and started) the monthly e-newsletter. The e-newsletter consists of a variety of ‘good news’ stories from the various media releases relating to the Kalamunda electorate that come to me via email from the respective MPs (stuff about seniors from the Minister for Seniors and Volunteering etc), wrap ups of events John has attended (and hopefully a nice photo) and a local issue that requires John’s response. The first e-newsletter’s main article related to hooning on the local Zig Zag road, and the second e-newsletter (due to be emailed out tomorrow!) focuses on the new Optus mobile phone tower in Gooseberry Hill. The pictures below are from the putting together of, and sending out of, the budget newsletter- which was sent out following the budget announcement (obviously ha) to every letterbox and PO Box in the Kalamunda electorate…..

The third area of my duties here (for which the phone tower is a great segue into) is responding to correspondence from people within the electorate. Every letter, email or phone call received relating to an issue is responded to with a signed letter. The Optus tower has been the hot topic over the past few weeks and yesterday was spent collaborating a written response with John, typing in the individual addresses of each person on the letter and the envelope and sending them out… all 800-odd of them! This is the me-eyed-view of me entering in the names of the people who contacted the office into our online feedback program..

And lastly- we do a lot of stuff for local community groups (Lion's Club, PROBUS, etc). We do photocopying, type up and print newsletters and other odd jobs. The picture below is the name tags I made for the Perth Hills Wine Associtation wine judging night. Fitting them in the name tag thingos took a bit of trial and error...

In regards to PR (and journalism, my other uni minor) I’ve found my studies have definitely helped me so far. Writing media releases for the papers, putting together budget newsletters and John’s e-newsletter, and the public relations skills required to deal with constituents (both happy and mad) have all stemmed from the skills I’ve learnt at uni.

Standby for further thrilling updates haha...

Niki Comparti

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