Hello!
I actually got to see the battle of consultancy vs corporate PR at my placement at Diabetes WA (DWA). At the start of this year Diabetes WA stopped using a local Perth PR consultancy for their media and as well as a cost saving effort it actually increased the results of this area by bringing the activities in-house. As we have learnt in PR (consultancy) 300 and PR (Corporate) 360 both have their strengths and weaknesses.
For DWA one of their main goals is to raise the awareness of the risk of type 2 diabetes to West Australian adults. (visit http://www.dontignorediabetes.com.au to see if you are at risk) A National campaign, National Diabetes Week is run to promote this objective. Last year with the aid of the consultancy they received 3-4 newpaper atricles. However this year, with the marketing and communcations team of 2 and myself as their intern were able to generate coverage in community newpapers (4in perth and 2 in rural areas), the West Australian, and on Win News, Channel 10 news and 6PR. The media campaign was considered a great success. One of my sources (a sufferer of type 2 diabetes I interviewed) was picked up from the media release I personally wrote and and article was printed.
So the question is what happened? In my opinion it is because the girls at DWA are passionate about their jobs and achieving the organisations mission of Freedom from Diabetes. They really understand how DWA works and it objectives which is so important when sending out messages on behalf of that orgainsation. The consultancy would not have had that grasp how important raising diabetes awareness is. Katharina was right, we MUST have an understand of the organisations objectives before we can perform well in PR.
Overall my time at DWA was such a GREAT and VALUABLE experience. Anyone looking for more work experience should contact Diabetes WA. They are a small organisation with lots to do. I got to do so much ranging from political lobbying, writing media releases to event management and campaign planning. And now heading into the work force have a substantial amount of proven work for my portfolio.
Showing posts with label Jess barrett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jess barrett. Show all posts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Deadlines in PR
Hi everyone,
If you hadn't noticed I have only just started blogging today, one day before the due date (there goes the Consistency of contributions mark, I know my own fault). I do still have some valid reflections on Public Relations from my internship. This blog is about deadlines.
All throughout university I really struggled to keep to assignment deadlines (I'm sure some of you relate to the late night panic to get it all in) I never failed to hand in work though. I was actually a bit apprehensive prior to starting my prac at Diabetes WA (DWA) about meeting deadlines and to an extent whether this would carry on into my career. The career FAQS textbook highlights the need to be able to meet deadlines. However my experiences on my internship totally wiped the stress of this away. On my third day at DWA, in the afternoon I was given the task of calling up 2 diabetes sufferers for interviews, get some good quotes and write 2 media releases for their local papers. And I just did it, no procrastinating, no dwelling on it just did it. My supervisor even commented on the speed I did it all in and commended my writing skills (it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside). One of the articles even got picked up by a community paper. This is just one example of how I am able to perform and meet deadlines outside of uni. I also do lots of volunteer work which requires me to get things done in a allotted amount of time. I actually find it uncanny how I can be motivated to meet deadlines in the real world (even when I'm not being paid) and not at university. Shouldn't it all be equally important or even similar because instead of meeting the expectations of your lecturer, we now just have to meet the expectations of our bosses. We would all agree they are equally important. Could our ability to meet deadlines whether in uni, on a placement or in a paid job be related to the value we put on the task. I hate to say it but it might be. I deep down value practical experience and paid work over academic knowledge. (Katharina don't hate me, I still love and value what I've learnt these past 3 years) In the last 4 months on prac (June, July, August and September) I have learned an incredible amount of things and put into practice so many of the skills I learnt about in doing assignment and going to different lectures, that I kind of wish we were given more opportunities to do this sort of thing towards our degree. (Again, I guess it is up to us to find these opportunities ourselves and get out there and do it.)
If you hadn't noticed I have only just started blogging today, one day before the due date (there goes the Consistency of contributions mark, I know my own fault). I do still have some valid reflections on Public Relations from my internship. This blog is about deadlines.
All throughout university I really struggled to keep to assignment deadlines (I'm sure some of you relate to the late night panic to get it all in) I never failed to hand in work though. I was actually a bit apprehensive prior to starting my prac at Diabetes WA (DWA) about meeting deadlines and to an extent whether this would carry on into my career. The career FAQS textbook highlights the need to be able to meet deadlines. However my experiences on my internship totally wiped the stress of this away. On my third day at DWA, in the afternoon I was given the task of calling up 2 diabetes sufferers for interviews, get some good quotes and write 2 media releases for their local papers. And I just did it, no procrastinating, no dwelling on it just did it. My supervisor even commented on the speed I did it all in and commended my writing skills (it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside). One of the articles even got picked up by a community paper. This is just one example of how I am able to perform and meet deadlines outside of uni. I also do lots of volunteer work which requires me to get things done in a allotted amount of time. I actually find it uncanny how I can be motivated to meet deadlines in the real world (even when I'm not being paid) and not at university. Shouldn't it all be equally important or even similar because instead of meeting the expectations of your lecturer, we now just have to meet the expectations of our bosses. We would all agree they are equally important. Could our ability to meet deadlines whether in uni, on a placement or in a paid job be related to the value we put on the task. I hate to say it but it might be. I deep down value practical experience and paid work over academic knowledge. (Katharina don't hate me, I still love and value what I've learnt these past 3 years) In the last 4 months on prac (June, July, August and September) I have learned an incredible amount of things and put into practice so many of the skills I learnt about in doing assignment and going to different lectures, that I kind of wish we were given more opportunities to do this sort of thing towards our degree. (Again, I guess it is up to us to find these opportunities ourselves and get out there and do it.)
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