Defining the Great Line

 Lachlan Abbott, Bentley Campus - Methodist Ladies College

Methodist Ladies College has been a part of Perth for over a century now.  Located on the banks of the Swan River, in the heart of Claremont, this heritage is such an important part in everything we do as the Office of Development and Community.  There are a number of organisations we take responsibility for, including Per Ardua, The Collegians' Association and, to a lesser extent, The Foundation.  The significance of community underpins every event we hold.  However, I've found my role in this has been far more hands on than PR at Curtin would have lead me to believe.

Curtin has prepared me well to write a public relations plan, with units such as PR International and Consultancy centering their outcomes on the production of public relations plans.  However I've found I've used the skills learned in units such as PR Techniques to be much more valuable in my internship.  The great divide between planning and doing seems to be heavily weighted towards the actual doing part, which isn't really given as much emphasis at Curtin.

With the broad range of activities falling under the PR banner it's easy to see how taking a more theoretical approach in the classroom will better prepare you for a number of professional pathways, however I've found the majority of my work has been influenced to a greater extent by the more practical and hands on units.  For example, a significant proportion of my work has been in helping to write a book commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Collegians' Association next year.  I've also done a lot of work writing articles and updating the website, and even tried my hand at designing some posters.

It appears that at the lower levels of an organisations public relations team, as with any job, you're not expected to be involved in the planning and decision-making process.  This is not to say that I haven't had the opportunity to be heard and in some small way influence the direction of certain things, it's just an observation in determining how I've been able to apply what I've learned.  I still think I work better given a more hands-on role, so the work I've completed so far has suited me well.  I'm looking forward to seeing the benefits of my work with a few events planned in the coming months.

Starting at MLC

Lachlan Abbott, Bentley Campus

Despite having completed 12 days of my internship this will be my first blog post. I have found I have been so busy, and the days flown by so quickly, I’ve barely had time to think of anything but my work.

I was fortunate enough to learn of a placement opportunity through a friend of mine working with the Office of Development and Community at Methodist Ladies College. While it was not my only option for placement I decided against continuing to work with the Department of Water, where I have worked for the past four and a half years. The difference in working environments between the public service and corporate has been quite drastic, despite both being in-house positions. This difference will be the focus of my first entry.

Whilst working with the department previously I have had many opportunities to become involved in the political and policy making processes. Although this work can be interesting, I found it to be very monotonous and dry, and a lot of the time I was short on work. This experience has been vastly different to what I have been able to accomplish so far at MLC.

My day to day duties have significantly changed, from media monitoring and speech writing, to events management and writing a lot of web-based news articles. I have found my journalism major to be invaluable, as the experience I have had in units such as Print Production and Online Reporting have prepared me well for writing quickly and working with online news publications.

The most interesting difference for me between the department and the college has been in observing the different levels of independence. At the department there were very strict rules concerning what could be said, at what time, and to whom, as well as tedious communication approval procedures. I have been fortunate to begin my placement at MLC during a time of transition, with a new director starting just last week, which has meant a lot of the time our small group has been able to come up with ideas for fundraising and events and allowed for greater creativity without so much of the red tape. This has also lead to greater responsibilities being taken on by everyone, but just last week the group was commended by MLC’s principal, Rebecca Cody, for their amazing work during a difficult period.

 

One of my Latest News article for the MLC website.

I think the extra level of autonomy allowed at MLC  is definitely a good thing, as it has allowed me to have some input into the direction of fundraising and events.  I will go into detail of some of the projects I'm currently working in a later post.  Until then!