Let's make it personal

Over the past couple of weeks I have been tackling a lot of different projects including helping organise kids for photo shoots for the 2013 PMH Foundation calendar, interviewing and writing up stories of kids at PMH for the Ambassador program, visiting some in hospital dressed as the Stitches the Bear, writing and changing the monthly media report template and finding stories to pitch to journalists who wanted to write articles about the Foundation. Through all of these different activities I have been amazed at how versatile our team has had to be in adapting and accommodating key stakeholders. Each person has a completely different background, relationship to the hospital and the Foundation, interests and experiences. The Foundation does a lot of qualitative and quantitative research on its key publics through online campaigns, database information, commissioned reports and media monitoring to keep updated with changing social trends, issues and behaviours. I have noticed that the key concept used to successfully engage key stakeholders is to customise all messages and make things as personal as possible. Two recent tactics PMH Foundation is thinking of adopting to achieve this are email testing and a proposed online newsletter.

Email Tests

As discussed in my last blog, I have learnt a lot at weekly team meetings. We recently talked about testing donor responses to ‘thank you’ letters and welcome packs by sending one letter to half our database and a different one to the other half to see which one gets a better response. I was interested to learn how tests such as these help organisations better understand their key publics and tailor their messages and activities to suit their supporters needs and interests.

Online Newsletter Proposal

Another proposed activity was the idea of creating an electronic newsletter for our donors that could be tailored to suit individual interests. For example there are some donors who participate in certain events every year and are only interested in this, others are keen to give specifically to something like research and others who just like supporting PMH through buying merchandise. There would be significant benefits in creating a newsletter that could customise, and essentially personalise, information to suit certain stakeholders. The concept would be to make sure people are targeted individually and not made to accept a ‘one size fits all’ template. This way donors and supporters are not hassled by things they are not interested in and maximum awareness is stressed about things that do interest them. I have recently been involved with research into different online services that help to facilitate this sort of online newsletter, a service I never knew existed. I was introduced to http://mailchimp.com/, one such service that impressed me so much that I wrote up a recommendation and proposal for its use by the Foundation.

It has been fantastic to see how even up until my last days working at the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation I have continued to learn so much about the many functions and activities associated with public relations. Although a lot of the activities I have been involved in often cross over into marketing activities, I still strongly believe that each one helps build relationships and communication channels with key stakeholders and thus falls under the PR banner. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Foundation and it has helped me better prepare for a life outside of university both professionally and personally. I would like to personally thank all the staff at PMH Foundation for having me and investing time into giving me such an amazing and beneficial experience. Thanks also for offering me a paid position! PMH Foundation is an awesome place to work and I love the added benefit of knowing I am helping sick children and the WA community. At this point I am proudly going to say non-profit is the best PR sector :)

Dressing up and looking up!

Hey everyone,

This unfortunately is my last and final blog post so please don't get emotional!
Over the last 2 months, I have had an amazing experience working alongside the events management team at PMH Foundation. Throughout the 2 months I have better grasped the relevance of public relations in everyday business as well as within the not-for-profit industry.

Throughout the last several weeks, much engagement with stakeholders as occurred in relation to the upcoming 'Bear By Night Ball'. It has involved informing guests online on the latest updates including sponsors as well the production and delivery of invitations. This involved tiresome work in the office, packing and sealing envelopes which is always fun... But seeing the invitations for the first time was an exciting experience considering all the time and effort that has gone into making the invitations alone.

As I stated in my previous blog, I was in the process of planning an upcoming corporate sports day package for the foundation. There has not been much progress on this apart from more site visits, visiting potential sports grounds to get a better feel of what we are trying to achieve. Through several relationships existing at PMH Foundation, we have visited one sports facility that looks extremley promising! It is unfortunate I will not be assisting in the completion of this package but I can gladly say I will be watching its progress from within the foundation as I was recently offered a casual job! *cue celebratory music* Not much details on the position but I will be moving in with the marketing team and expanding my horizons even more, so wish me luck!

One... interesting... task that I had undertaken in the last week though involved me getting hairy and sweaty.... literally. As one of the volunteers could not make it in on the day of a hospital visit, I happened to be the back-up and was asked to be the foundations mascot, Stitches the bear. This involved me walking around the hospital cheering up the sick kids with free hugs and free gifts, dressed as Stitches. It was extremely hot in the massive costume but was actually good fun as I was able to be a kid again, jumping and dancing around. Apart from having fun, I was also able see how the foundation makes an impact on the sick children at PMH. The picture below gives you an idea of the craziness I had whilst being Stitches!

Again, this professional experience has been amazing and worthwhile. I am so thankful for my time spent with Simone, Guy and Lauren in the events team as well as the rest of them team at PMH Foundation! Hope everyone else had amazing time like myself and good luck with everything else!

Brodie

:)

Running into sports!

Hey everyone,

As I am now nearing the end of my professional practise at PMH Foundation, I am starting to get a much better understanding for the foundation as well as the not-for-profit industry itself and how PR is a vital tool in succeeding in this challenging industry.

If there was one thing I could take away from this and find the most important trait to carry when working in a professional world, it is to create connections, relationships and networks. As the big events are soon approaching for the foundation such as the Bear By Night Ball, Melbourne Cup Luncheon and the Urban Descent, this trait is being forced into me as I observe and assist with what is going on behind the scenes. This is something I hope use a lot soon as I am in the early stages of assisting and developing a corporate sports day for the foundation. This corporate sports day is something we hope to tailor into a package and make readily available for corporate organisations to use and therefore increase the funding received for the organisation. It is an exciting package to plan as it involves a sport that I love, but I won’t disclose which one though ;)

Getting this plan off the ground though was supported through the use of current relationships between certain staff members at the foundation and certain personalities within Perth, reinforcing the notion the value of relationships and connections.

As I am only in early and research stages of this, I will have to keep you all updated on my progress and also the ending of my placement as that is soon approaching. In planning this, I hope to create some great relationships that will benefit and support me within my professional career after university!

Thanks,

Brodie!

Networking our way through

I posted this before but through my other email so here it is again! ;)

As spring has officially begun, it is now getting closer to the race that stops the nation and also the event that stops the foundation (PMH Foundation that is). As the Melbourne Cup Luncheon at the Pan Pacific Perth is only 2 months away, final preparations are underway and the guest list continues to grow. On a daily basis many groups, organisations and individuals are calling for seats to the cities best Melbourne Cup luncheon. As this is a large event for the PMH Foundation, I have understood that even the small roles that I have been assigned to do such as data entry, research and researching potential donors is integral and the backbone to the event.

In the past several weeks in helping to plan this event, I have discovered that managing a successful charity event doesn’t just mean organisation and great management skills but it is also having the right relationships and connections, with this especially being the case in the not-profit industry. Networking to create these relationships is extremely important as these relationships can better acquire sponsorships, supplies, donations and/or guests. This is something I have discovered through one of my mentors, Guy. We had an unfortunate case within the team recently where a large beverage sponsor for the Melbourne Cup Luncheon decided to drop their sponsorship due to unforseen reasons, yet through one of Guy’s many contacts, we were able to quickly pick up another sponsor. These relationships that Guy has with many corporate clients in Perth and interstate locations has also managed to help acquire great donations for auctions and door prizes through connections at one major international airliner and other major organisations.

As practitioners, it is not just knowledge that is required, but it is also a personality that is friendly, communicative, outgoing and friendly. This is beneficial as it increases our social network and creates lasting relationships and connections that may benefit us, or the organisation we work for soon down the track. With this though, a level of professionalism still needs to apply. The degree of professionalism one must posses or must present varies, as relationships within the not-for-profit industry I have discovered are much more relaxed and open.

As I learn new skills and abilities every time I conduct my placement, it is still important for me to stay true to who I am and for me to use my personality to my advantage. This quick, self-made motto I believe is something that every PR practitioner should take into consideration everyday they go to work! 

Events to make the Events

I am starting my blog a little late but at least that gives me more to talk about!

I started placement at the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, working alongside the events team four weeks ago and could not of chosen a better place to do my placement!

Most Western Australians have had some contact with PMH in their lives, whether it is associated with themselves, friends or family. This is one of the main reasons for me to ask the Foundation for a placement opportunity, as I myself was once a patient there. Many associate the Foundation with Telethon, but the foundation is completely separate from large-scale event and is also separate from the Princess Margaret Hospital itself. The foundation is set up alone as the sole fundraising body for the hospital to help acquire donations for future research, maintenance and equipment. Even though it is not apart of the hospital, the team at the foundation work alongside many of those inside the hospital to help reach future goals.

A lot of what the foundation does I found is highlighted in the weekly Monday morning meetings. These meetings help start off the week with what is currently happening at the foundation, what is coming up for the foundation and what the foundation is aiming to achieve as well as continually reinforcing the main goal of getting those donations and funds. Issues the foundation carry always emerge in these meetings, which I will discuss later on. These weekly meetings may seem like another sleep inducing discussion, but to me it is actually the thing that gets me buzzing in the morning, as it is informative and interesting to see what the foundation actually does and what I could potentially help and make a difference in (with a coffee in my hand of course).

Even though there is only four of us in the events team and only one being full-time, the team still appears to be a major part of the foundation as it appears to be the sources that gain large amounts of funding and donations. The events that the foundation creates appear to be extremely successful within Western Australia and manage to acquire well-known sponsors and guests. Events that are established by the foundation include the “Bear By Night Ball”, “Urban Descent” and “Wear a Bear Day”. The upcoming months appear to be busy months ahead for the team as all these major events are placed in the first half of the new year and as PR professionals, we all know there is a lot of planning when it comes to events.

To prepare, the events team (including myself) have been gathering information on past donors and sponsors in hoping to recruit further donations, sponsorships and guests to these upcoming events. The main event we are focusing on at the moment though is the Melbourne Cup Luncheon that is to take place on the first Tuesday of November of course. This included gaining a full page in the STM (Sunday Times Magazine) as shown to the right. It is not as large scale as some of the foundations other events, but it still manages to acquire large donations due some of its affluent clientele. Attracting sponsors and donors for the auction who match the clientele guest list has been at the top of the agenda for us. Gathering information on these past sponsors and donors had included using the foundations database (Readers Edge) as well Excel to dig out this information. This may appear tiring for the eyes, sitting on the computer hours on end searching, but it is all worthwhile and vital! Sending out chain email invitations to previous guests as also been achieved and appeared to be successful. So at the moment I have not been using many of the practical PR tools, but the basic teachings such as networking, professionalism and technical work that have been drilled into our minds is coming into good use.

That is all from me for now, but I shall be back soon for more updates!

A fly on the wall at staff meetings

Staff weekly meetings may sound boring to some but this is where I have learnt some of the most valuable things about PR practice while interning at the PMH Foundation. Monday morning meetings have given me a broader perspective and greater insight into the organisation’s ethos, team dynamics and values. They have also brought to the surface many issues, ideas and concerns that play a part in bringing the team closer together and more in tune with each other and the vision and mission of the organisation. I have had time to think over a lot of different things that have come up in the meetings and in broad terms (so some information remains confidential) I wanted to outline some of the PR theory I have seen being used in practice.

Communication and Conflict Resolution - Employee Relations

At a staff meeting one person raised the concern that something had caused a shift in the team dynamic. Instead of feeling a sense of teamwork this particular thing had caused a sense of competition to overwhelm the way people went about their work. I thought this was an interesting point raised and as a team they felt they had to step back and assess whether this concern was affecting the organisation as a whole. The matter was fixed fairly easily because the meeting allowed people to voice their opinions and find a solution that suited everyone and bring things back to the values of the organisation. I think this was an example of good employee relations at the PMH Foundation and showed good communication within and across its teams of people. Staff are able to inform each other of important announcements and keep them updated with new developments during weekly meetings and through an email system. Informal things like ANZAC cookie competitions, nachos and pizza days are also lovely lunchtime ideas that build community and a sense of goodwill among co-workers. According to PR theory we have learned, service and quality are built through loyal and motivated employees. I think the relationships and communication developed in a mix of formal and informal ways are a key part to achieving this (I found this online tutorial had some pretty interesting things to say on this and many other aspects of PR if you are interested http://www.edvencomm.net/pr.pdf ).

Public Awareness - Marketing in PR

In my last staff meeting we discussed one of the main issues the Foundation is facing, which I outlined in my first blog post. Basically, there is continual confusion and lack of public awareness of the separate identity of the hospital and the Foundation. In addressing this concern, the marketing and communications team came up with a variety of new strategies to raise public awareness, manage the organisation’s image and provide more ways for target publics to be involved with the Foundation. I learnt a lot just by listening to the input from different team members about this particular issue. Ideas, which will be implemented to address different target publics, included giving out PMH Foundation bravery awards and Stitches stickers to kids in hospital, sponsored tea breaks for staff courtesy of the Foundation and a TV commercial to position the Foundation as the key fundraising body of the hospital (look out for it on TV soon!!). Social networking sites like Facebook will also be key to establishing a separate (and more personal) identity for the Foundation. I will be interested to see how all of these tactics help to build awareness and a strong identity for the Foundation in the future.

These are only a couple of aspects of PR that I have gained valuable insight into at staff meetings. I sometimes have to smile to myself when I think of how much of what is discussed relates directly to the things I have learnt about strategic PR in all of my units! Always good to see how theory is applied in the real world of PR in practical ways.

The world from inside a bear suit...

Loads of Work Behind the Scenes
One of the joys of working with an organisation that specialises in children is that there are a lot of fun activities you end up getting involved in. One of the biggest annual events put on by the PMH Foundation is ‘Wear a Bear Day’, which takes months of preparation. I definitely have a new appreciation for the work that goes into organising something like this! Next time you go to the shops and see a pen or badge at the counter to support some non-for-profit group, buy it!! Seriously, so much work goes into getting stuff out there!

The Value of Volunteers (and Social Media)

I have also come to appreciate how valuable volunteers are, without them organisations like the PMH Foundation cannot function effectively. Despite how much they are needed, to find people who are willing to help out is a huge challenge. I spent the week leading up to the big day hassling all my friends into volunteering to wear the bear suit and go out during the week to fill money tins with the Nova ‘Casanovas’ (check out pictures at http://www.novafm.com.au/gallery/wear-bear-day).  Some friends didn’t need convincing however. They were born to ‘be the bear’ (this is where Facebook events come in handy...social media definitely has a place in PR). There is nothing like enthusiastic volunteers, non-for-profit groups thrive on these kinds of people!

The Big Bear Day
Finally the big day came and it was my time to shine. I was in the city by 7am sweating it out in the bear suit while the other volunteers were freezing around me, literally shaking tins. I think I filled two tins in the time everyone else filled one…no one can resist giving money to a giant cuddly bear. I decided to milk the opportunity and bring out the best of my acting skills for the occasion. If dancing and getting down on one knee to beg for money doesn’t work, a ‘crying’ bear does. I felt like I had been in a sauna for hours but it was worth it just to see people’s reaction when they saw a big bear face peering in at them through café windows. Other volunteers were selling merchandise from a marquee and gave out balloons to the children. The Nova team were also there pumping music out the back of their Ute, which helped to draw crowds of people.

Lessons Learnt

In the city alone we managed to raise around $15,000 but plenty more came in later with the help of shopping centres and other partner stores who helped to sell merchandise. From the experience I learnt the value of volunteers and also partnerships with other organisations like Nova, food outlets and shopping centres. You really have to be able to sell your ‘cause’ well to inspire people to get involved and be enthusiastic about it. You need to be proactive and passionate about it yourself. Events requiring a lot of work before, during and after, involve a lot of teamwork and good communication skills as well. I will take all of these lessons with me into future PR practices, along with my amazing mascot-wearing abilities.

Note to aspiring mascot wearers: Don’t cross any streets while in your costume…you have no peripheral vision whatsoever.

Taking a break from actually being IN the "Stitches the Bear" suit