ARE YOU READY TO FACE THE OUTSIDE WORLD?

Here comes Molly Tsima with the fifth poster. How are you guys keeping? For me I am just so sad for my friends are done today and its gonna be boring lah!! Especially the u43 mates.. you guys made my journey to work so fabulous. I will always miss you.. :-(

Now, let me ask you a question (those who finished today); Are you ready to face the outside world?? That is to say, after this internship will you be ready to be a permanent part of an organization?

Well, for me I would say I am half way ready.. I am only left with two Public Relations modules in LUCT before I graduate then I will be fit enough to face the outside world with breastplate - even management, my shield - media relations, my helmet - good organization image and my spear - strategies and tactics. I will be a hard fighting soldier on the battle field which is the work industry. No time to waste guys and I believe everyone of you carried their journals to work so as to jot down what you learn for future reference. That should be your light to your home country. Together we can make the lifestyle and work industry in our home countries better, for we have been fed to go and feed others out there!!

Otherwise.. well done and a round of applaud for our brothers and sisters who are finishing today. I am going to miss you on the way to work and on the blog.. but again, are you ready??

YOU HAVE BEEN EQUIPPED TO IMPACT!

Till we meet again..

Molly Tsima
S & A intern
LUCT

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

Nice being back to you guys.. :)

At this time I believe none of us is complaining about nervousness or something. We are now on track and know what is supposed to be done. I am so thankful for your encouraging words guys, we are here to keep each other strong and going even when it is not easy.

My eyes are opening day after day and I can see further in the work industry. The little light I had at the beginning is growing bit by bit. Last week we had a High 5 cooking session with Chef Ismail and I learned that being done with the event does not mean that the company-client relationship was over. Yes we have to work on other upcoming events for different clients but we still had to do media monitoring to see if the event was published. We also had to prepare post event press releases and photos, burn them to CDs and distribute to the invited media even those who did not make it. On top of that, we have weekly meetings with High 5 senior staff and I attended it with one of the employees.

The meeting reminded me of the time we were pitching in one of our PR assignments. The very same thing was done as my colleague gave them out what she was planning for the days to come and kind of asked for their approval and opinions before acting on the plans. We also discussed media articles about the cooking session; the coverage and if target audience got the information. We are now preparing for another event for one of our clients, we sent invitation cards to the media. So there is no time to waste as it will never return... there are many clients for S&A and the ratio is not balancing; 8 employees:200+ clients!!! mmmm... now you understand what I mean by being busy..

I love my placement because despite being busy we can still laugh and have fun in the office!!!

Chao... ;)

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS IS ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Hello guys.. I am back!! I hope you are enjoying at your work places and coping well than the first week. As for me I am working well with the firm's clients and employees, I am treated like part of the staff. This marks my third week with the Salina & Associates.. the SEO's birthday was in this week and the employees surprised her with a cake which we later ate together then had lunch together. Our relationship with them is getting stronger.. now you understand why I love them!!

Since the beginning of the second week till this one, we have been working very hard for the High 5 cooking session in Shah Alam. We had to photocopy the press release and file them for the media and bloggers. The session was held on the second day of this week and I had a chance to attend as well, I learned something; organizing an event is not bread and butter!! By the time I got home I was exhaus

ted. I had to be available and ready at all times to help and this was when I was a real employee for the firm... lol. We arrived at the place two hours before the event started to help the High 5 employees with the preparations. The media and bloggers still had to be called to remind them and confirm that they are coming. A table was set for them to register and give us their name cards, I was assigned to show them where to sit after registration and give them drinks. They were about 20 altogether.

After all of them arrived there was a video presentation about the history of bread and I had to

lead them for the museum tour with one of the S & A employees. One thing that made me

happy is that they were very cooperative and did everything they were asked to do, for example; for the museum door to be opened, they had to shout 'High 5'. Funny.. isn't it? We also took them to see how High 5 bread is made - from dough till wrapping. They were also given a time to taste High 5 new products. Chef Ismail was waiting for them at the hall to teach them how to prepare simple pizzas and other dishes from a loaf of bread. They were divided into 6 groups (3 people in each) and the winner was given 3 toasters. To thank them for coming, all of them were given packages with High 5 products.

You may be wondering why this session was made.. but the reason behind organizing it was to strengthen media relations with High 5 so that the media will cover it thus raising awareness about the brand. Finally, there is another competitions for this bread brand and everyone is free to enter. All you need is to buy a High 5 product then fill the forms where you bought the product and submit them.. stand a chance to win an Apple i Pad guys!!

Anything you want to know about the competitions? I am here to help, leave a comment and I will shortly attend it.

chao...

Molly Tsima - LUCT

GETTING MY FIRST BITE IN THE INDUSTRY

Hi guys.. nice to be back with another post. The fun is still going on at my work place, I love my workmates so much. Everyday at Salina & Associates marks the introduction of something new but not leaving behind what we did in the past days. Work is also made interesting because the employees there are not strictly focused on their work but they are just free yet busy people. They really keep me laughing at all times... :)

Well, I do media clippings everyday as the employees have to do media monitoring for their clients. The more the client events are covered in the media, the more target audience are updated. I also did a research on tea tree oil for one of our clients; Aiken. What interested me with this one is that I was expected to submit the work the following day before I knock off but I finished it in less than two hours the same day!! I then moved on to do other things I was assigned to do; opening a folder to welcome a new client - Dashing - and save it under Salina & Associates clients.

There came something new.. Book club. This is a meeting for book discussion and it was found by New Strait Times. What happens is that the editors and authors come together to discuss a book which they chose on the last meeting. The book clips will be published on NST newspaper every Wednesday for people to read about it then the meeting will be held on the last Wednesday of the month. Everyone is invited to this meeting and it starts at 6pm, I went there as well. The reason why Salina & Associates attend this meeting is to maintain their relationship with NST and other editors.

Another new thing that I did is media follow up as Salina & Associates was planning a High 5 cooking session for editors and bloggers. I was given more than twenty contact to call and ask if they received the email invitation for the event. I thought they are going to be angry with me especially for the wrong pronunciation of their names but they were not. I loved it because my supervisors trusted I can do it well that is why they gave it to me.

I am really having a great time in my job!!

Molly Tsima - LUCT

IT'S TIME TO EAT SOLID FOOD

Being a student in Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is turning out to be an important opportunity in my life. It's now my second year there and I can smell the outside world already - life after university. I have now realized that what I learned from all my Public Relations classes is not yet enough to step into the work industry. Day after day I learn something which I relate to reality and have to put it into practice. By the way, I am Molly Tsima; an intern with Salina & Associates Public Relations - Malaysia.

My eyes and mind are opened every time I go to the office, I am becoming more than a student. The way I used to view the world around me has also changed. I realized that I have long been fed with milk, now its time to look for solid food by myself to get ready for the work industry. No more spoon feeding and I do not have to waste any time. There will be some challenges while working on the Public Relations activities like organizing events and even relating with work mates and it takes courage to stand on solid rock and overcome those challenges. I thought the foundation I laid with class exercises, assignments and examinations is enough but I thank Salina & Associates for proving me wrong, its time to wake up and be open minded now.

Media monitoring and making clippings is what I have done so far at the office and that is the same thing I did as one of my assignments so now I am very glad I had a chance to put it in reality; doing it for the benefit of the client. We did the media monitoring to confirm that what we asked the media to publish about our client is done then we cut, scan and file them for future reference. I have not yet learned how to calculate media coverage in class but no worries for I have Salina & Associates as my lecture. It is more like attending classes during holidays and though the classes my seem to be awkward (9am-6pm), they are so productive and useful to me. Sometimes I do not realize that I spent a lot of time at work because of the fun I am having here. Moreover, I saw the importance of Public Relations in an organization. Some of them do not have it, that is why they turn to Salina & Associates PR to help them with their activities. For example;

One of the clients; High 5 Bread wanted to increase their sales and raise awareness about their brand so they put their trust upon S&A PR to help them. I had the opportunity to see their aims, objectives, strategies and tactics. How nice it is to see what you have been faking and imagining becoming real! The strategies and tactics were very strong and the target audience responded in large numbers. It was so interesting. One of the S&A PR employees proposed for the High 5 Bread competition through facebook as a way of raising awareness. I and Boikanyo, another intern, joined it and asked our friends to vote for us. The contestants had to upload their photo or video (10 seconds) enjoying High 5 Bread. The more votes they have, the more chances to win, the results are not yet published.Another competition is coming up; buy a High 5 product and fill the forms where you bought it then submit and stand a chance to win Apple i Pad. It will be continuing from the one on facebook with the same objective.

One other important thing is that without media relations there will be less chances for the success of PR activities. S&A PR is working very hard to maintain their relationship with the media through attending their (media) events. They also do media follow-ups before the events start and I know one day it will be my baby to nurse. After teaching me how to calculate media coverage, i had to do it on my own. Files packed with media clippings for clients have be given to me to work on them; first scan and save them to their respective folders, print the clipping templates and paste them followed by the calculations. The formulas may be easy to memorize but they differ from one publication to the next. Well, its a tiring work but there is no sweet without sweat.

I am so happy to be with the Salina & Associates PR, they are easy working with and so cooperative and I am looking forward to learn more in the coming weeks.

Thanx!!