Communication is Key!

Hi Guys!

So I am now a week and a half into my internship at PPR and I can’t believe how fast it’s going. If you’ve read my previous posts, you may know that I’ve come to realise how important internal relationships are in consultancies. Well since then after having chats around the ‘proverbial’ water cooler, I have attended a couple meetings and am being called upon to do more tasks for the consultants. Letting people know who you are and that you’re willing to do whatever is needed and on time is imperative in this industry. Communication really is key.

Lately, I have helped some of the consultants with the client, PTTEP, an oil and gas company who were responsible for the Montara oil spill in 2009. It’s interesting to see that PPR are still having to manage the issue of this spill 5 years after it actually happened. It really goes to show that issue and crisis management can be a long process that can span many years. PPR also helps PTTEP with other matters as well and I have been lucky enough to be involved in creating a research report outlining what the statistical findings were after the spill. I had to create a glossary of words that were primarily in environmental jargon as well as read and edit over parts of the report.

I have been told that many lobby and special interest groups are constantly attacking PTTEP after the oil spill and Public Positioning Papers (PPPs) which are contingency plans which have been authorised by PTTEP are constantly being created so that they are prepared for any situation. Sitting in on the daily WIP meetings for PTTEP which are “Work In Progress” meetings has really allowed me to immerse myself in how the consultancy operates and the importance of communication again. As PTTEP is the second largest client for PPR, it’s handled by five consultants who each take a different aspect of PTTEP’s public relations. This WIP meetings are important because they all have to know what’s happening as there is often cross over in the work and it also looks better in the clients eye, the more knowledgeable you are. I know I sound like a broken record right now but the biggest realisation I have had is about internal communication.

In other work I have undertaken, I have done work for LandCorp. I spoke about PTTEP being PPR’s second largest client; well, LandCorp are their largest. At any one time, LandCorp can have multiple projects running that need the assistance of PPR which can be confusing if not organised properly. The project I was helping with was one where LandCorp was redeveloping a school that would be used to house young people with a disability. As there are little facilities for young people, many of those disabled live in aged care facilities. My job was to develop a list of media contacts within the industry of assisted living to feature stories regarding this project. What I found interesting was that I had to start from scratch and that PPR did not have a centralised database that had media contacts in it. This meant every time someone needed a media contact, they would have to research it themselves. A couple of the consultants had asked me to look up media contacts for them and I found that on some occasions, I had to find the contacts of the same organisation for more than one person. Luckily, as a Curtin student, I still have access to Margaret Gee’s Media Guide and was able to locate many publications through this but when I asked, PPR didn’t subscribe to this which I think would be extremely beneficial to them considering the amount of times I was asked to find a media contact. Anyway, after doing this, I created a timeline in excel that showed when tasks needed to be completed for this project, much like the ones I have done in PR plans at uni.

After working on such a wide variety of clients at this point, it has really given me an insight into how a consultancy works. Every Friday, PPR has drinks at the end of the day where I was talking with one of the consultants. “How do you manage to stay organised and manage to keep all your clients happy at the same time?” I asked after finding out that each consultant had a portfolio of up to five or more clients. “You have to be really organised and sometimes you just have to prioritise what each client wants the most and give this to each of them first.” Hmm is consulting where I want to go after I graduate if I have to be so organised? I guess, I’ll have to wait and see how the rest of my internship goes first.

Until next time, Jamie ;)

Those Silly Things Called Tasks & Introductions

Hi again everyone! Sorry I have uploaded so many in one day, it is just that I only received blog access today so I’ve been ‘stockpiling’ my blog posts.

I have now finished my fourth day at PPR and boy am I tired. Who knew that sitting in front of a computer all day, which is what I do on most days anyway, would be so tiring. This is definitely not something I had considered; that I would be so mentally fatigued. Not to mention being a little physically fatigued as my muscles are not used to sitting upright all day. Stiff and sore are too things I am no longer a stranger to.

For those of you who haven't started your internship yet, this article really does map out what you're probably going to have to do: What To Expect From Your Internship. It goes on to say that as interns we should expect:

• Gerbil work
• Responsibility
• To be proactive
• Gain insight
• Compensation (not necessarily financial)
• Networking

Gerbil work, as in administrative tasks will most likely be given to you and you know what? We should all be grateful to be given these tasks. Everything we will do fits into a bigger picture and without the more menial tasks being done, the end goal cannot be reached. I know everyone wants to do the exciting stuff like attending events and writing media releases but why would the organisation your working with trust you with that before proving you can handle smaller tasks first?

So onto things I have done so far, on Tuesday, my first task was to deliver letters to the residents and businesses of Cockburn Central. A colleague and I went down to this area and placed letter after letter into each of the letterboxes. We then had to go to the surrounding businesses and explain what was going to happen. What was happening was that LandCorp, PPR’s biggest client were planning on doing road works in the area and needed to communicate this to the community so that it would not come as a shock to them. This was the first grass-roots community relations task I was given and it was interesting to see this tactic in action. It’s funny because before this point, writing in a PR plan at uni, a tactic for community relations would be communication in the form of letters. It was almost an automatic response and I didn’t really give it much actual thought. Being involved in that tactic gave me a completely new outlook on suggesting tactics now. What you say as a tactic needs to be completed by someone so no matter how effective you think it may be, if it seems almost impossible to do, it may not be realistic to suggest.

When I got back to the office later that day, I had to validate a contact list for one of the consultants. It was for McHappy Day which is held in November. I was a little bit shocked that they were planning for this so far away but then thought that a lot of effort must go into generating awareness especially for a nationwide event such as this one. What I had to do was update the list of Perth celebrities or "Perth-onalities" as some liked to call it and make sure that anyone who was no longer in the media in Perth was off the list. I had to call a lot of places up verifying data and asking if people were still present in the organisation. These "Perth-onalities" ranged from radio and television presenters to sportspeople and politicians. I worked on this on and off for the next three days and only finished it today. Believe me when I say it was a massive task! The feeling of finishing a piece of work that you know will make an impact on not only the deliverables of the consultancy but also will affect how the event goes is one of relief while also being very rewarding at the same time.

On Wednesday, I decided I needed to introduce myself to everyone. Unfortunately on my first day when I went around the office, not everyone was there. Meetings happen at every time of the day and there was never going to be a time when I would have met everyone. I decided to send out a group email to all the staff at PPR just to formally introduce myself. From here, I went around the office and introduced myself in person to people I had not yet met. It was after this point that I received more and more tasks to do. It became very apparent to me that relationships were very important even within the organisation. People needed to know I existed and that I was willing to do what was necessary. I identified the things I wanted to be involved in and people were more than happy to include me in their projects. I really just have to prove that I am reliable by taking on the smaller tasks before getting more responsible tasks from the consultants.

I am now looking forward to working on all the new tasks I have and will be given and can’t wait to sit in on a few meetings and help out wherever possible. I will keep you guys posted on how it all goes in a couple days. Until next time...

Happy Blogging!

Jamie.

Two weeks down, two to go. Hopefully they won't notice if I just never leave!!

Second week is done and the time is flying past me, I'm 1/2 of the way through my internship and I don't want it to end! In saying that though, the constant drone of my phones dial tone is now making its way into my dreams as I continue to tackle the database. I've got one page to go and I think I'll buy myself a chocolate when I finish it!

This week I was asked to re-write a writing style guide for PPR, there had been changes made to a hard copy but unfortunately the soft copy could not be located so I would have to re-type the whole thing with the changed included. Just a casual 35 pages long. It took me about 12 hours so I smashed it out pretty quick; I was always such a keen kid in typing class in primary school.

Watching intently on what has been going on around me gives me an insight into how the business really works and what my chosen profession is really about. Watching everyone work with and around each other, client meetings, deliveries, the rush around deadlines, and the final products, it all intrigued me and I enjoyed watching the inner workings of the organisation and how everyone meshed together.

I did some research this week for a new apartment complex about to be finished up north and did some background research on information for Little Athletics.

Speaking of athletics; this week I managed to do my weekly exercise in one day, one exhausting day. Myself and one of the office assistants had to do a letter box drop of flyers for Landcorp throughout the Cockburn area. Took us about six hours of constant walking. Got in a great gossip session but unfortunately I managed to twinge my calf muscle and walking that night and the next few days was a task, especially when I managed to come across stairs.

So the week is over and I keep becoming more and more attached to this place, it's got a certain charm about it that makes you feel welcome and makes everyone act like a family more than colleagues.

Until next time,
Bye!!