What could go wrong, will go wrong!

Busy busy busy! Next week my internship placement United Way WA are launching a new campaign caleld Paint the Swan REaD. We have collaborated with Dyslexia - Speld Foundation and Midland Clan to launch a early literacy program! And as what the tutors have taught us "What could possibly go wrong will go wrong".

So let me start with about the campaign. The idea is to create an awareness for the need of early literacy in children because recent studies have shown that young kids are coming to school without basic literacy skills. Children are needing from birth to be exposed to reading, singing and rhyming. To launch the campaign we have also created a 'learning trial' which is a trial that kids follow and use basic literacy skills. At the moment the campaign is focused in Middle Swan district and the launch which is September 6th is at Middle Swan Primary School.

 Part of the learning trial

Now the organisers of this campaign last minute have decided that they would like to have an 'egg' that travels to different locations in the weeks leading up to the campaign. The purpose of this is that the mascot 'Red the Super Reading Roo' has lost his egg. The kids will go and visit the egg over the weeks at its different locations and the egg will grow as the kids sing, read and rhyme to it and at the launch it will reach its full growth and Red the Roo will find it. This is to get people aware of the campaign and the ideas behind it. But this egg has caused a few problems.. The problems being that the egg has to be made, media erleases have to written, locations for it have to be found and advertising is needed. We only had a space of a couple of weeks to write releases and to get the local media to print weekly updates on the campaign (and beleive me it is difficult and journalists only want to be contacted via email). I had to then make flyers for shopping centres, Make colouring in sheets, create social media oportunities to advertise where the egg is going and also design the mascto and logos for banners.

Of course this was all done in a tight time frame and nothing worked out the way any of us wanted it to. But with persistence and time management we are now successfully on track to the launch next week. I have certainly learnt that to have a smooth sailing campaign, organisation is key!!

YOU WILL NEVER KNOW IT ALL

As I finish up and finalise the end of my internship, I pack away all my new tools into my PR tool kits and realise how much the last 6 months alone have taught me. After 3 years of university you would think you would know the bulk of it and that there really could not be that much more to learn.

We get degrees at uni, doesn’t that mean we should know it all? (Or at least most of it?)

Of course not, the Curtin Public Relations degree most definitely has played its role in my education into the field of PR and even if I were to spend another three years here I would still walk out into the real world with so much more to learn.

Public Relations is an ever-expanding profession, one that is viewed so differently by many people and plays such a different role in each industry and each individual business. No public relations job will be the same as the next and every new position will require a whole new skill set on top of the foundations we take away from uni.

This internship has showed me that we will forever have new ideas to come up with, new challenges to face, but the key is to never stop learning and actively taking any steps to further your education whether it be in the industry you work in or specifically about the work you do.

It is a big scary place out there in the big wide world but I finally am ready to take my degree and my industry experience and face the world with my head held high, ready to tackle any challenge it decides to throw my way.

Good luck to all Graduating PR students, I am sure many of us will cross paths in this little place of Perth.

BLOGGING IS THE NEW BLACK

If you have a computer, a phone, a tablet or any devise that connects to the Internet, I can almost guarantee that you have stumbled across some form of blogging. It is even rumoured that there is no longer a count for how many blogs exist in cyber space these days as the number is so great and increases so rapidly it would be too hard to keep track.

We need to remember that Blogging has expanded past the traditional forms and has expanded into Micro Blogging such as twitter and Video Blog just for a few examples.

I know that I personally have been aware of the existence of blog for a while now and do even read and follow a few myself. However, I have never truly realised the true potential and value that a blog can hold.

During the time I have spent at my Internship I have come to realise how much of an asset a Blog can be, but even more so, a relationship with a Blogger. It may not be the case in all industries but for the Industry I have been involved in Bloggers are the new Media power player. They have taken such a large role in influencing certain publics and can have very strong and loyal followings.

A large aspect of my Internship is Media Relations, so in the beginning I started to build a media guide of the outlets I felt were important the company builds relationships with. I followed the traditional paths of newspapers, magazines, journalists, reporters but it was the blogging world that really attracted my interest the most. With page upon page of Blogs that focused on my industry not to mention located locally in Perth, this became a large aspect of my research.

I have found that Bloggers are actually a key media for this industry and any company within my industry. The particular target market that we aim to reach really values the opinion of bloggers within the industry so to have this segment on side became of key importance in the companies media relations planning.

Blogging really has become an outlet to watch, and one to make sure you do not forget when it comes to whom you want to build your media relationships with. Considering current trends and the amount of people moving from paper to the Internet, I can only see their presence getting stronger.

Just because individually they may each be just a little fish in the big sea of the Internet, combine them all and that is a great amount of power you are not harnessing or that could be ultimately working against you.

Find out if people blog about your industry today, you will be surprised about what you find.

Happy Blogging!

NO SUCH THING AS OFFICE HOURS

I was lucky enough to have a very flexible placement that allowed me to work the hours per week that the workload required and also allowed the ease of doing work from anywhere via laptop and mobile. This was amazing at first and meant no matter where I was or what I was doing I was able to keep tabs on what was happening. However, it took less then two weeks to realise as great as the flexibility was, it was a slight pain as there really is no such thing as office hours in PR.

Between the organisation, coordination of events, the media relations and social media management, it started to feel like my days never ended. You could wake up to a call at 7am in the morning and still be replying to emails at 11pm at night. It very quickly became exhausting trying to keep up with everyone’s constant demands and expectation that you were available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I decided pretty quickly that I needed to limit my work hours and times and devised a schedule of how many hours and what exact day I would spend working.

Needless to say, this did not last very long at all. I have the flexibility with my hours but there is no such flexibility in the responsibilities of your job title and description. As the Public Relations and Media Officer for this company I had the responsibility to be accountable no matter the times or day.

This included running stock around for photos shoots on a Sunday afternoon, 8am meetings and nights kept free for events. If you had told me this is what I was in for at the beginning I would have been a little unsure its what I wanted, yet now I realise it comes part of the package of working in public relations. You need to be available sometimes because you don’t always know when the next great opportunity for you brand to be represented will pop up and no good opportunity should be let to just pass by. You also will never know when a crisis may strike; you always need to be at the ready for what any given day may throw at you.

This is the true beauty of Public Relations. Every day truly is different, and you may have to be a little more available but with the sacrifice comes the reward of being able to do a job that you truly enjoy. 

University Life Lessons

Hi everyone,

Coming up to the half way mark of my 20 day internship with the Emirates Western Force and although I’m contracted for the entire 2013 Super Rugby Season and will be here regardless of the completion of 20 days work or not, I thought I would fill you all in with some of the most rewarding lessons I’ve had thus far.

Firstly, I’ve always cursed group assignments for a number of reasons: weak links in the group, insane workload with limited time span, differing of opinions between members... I can go on forever, but I’ve only recently realized how this has translated into the business environment. Every one of these lessons I’ve experienced firsthand in my short time at RugbyWA, these are all issues that come up on a day to day basis, there is always someone absent and unable to contribute fully, there is always a difference in opinion and most importantly: there is never enough time, everything is required yesterday. Those pains in the #youknowwhat group assignments that have been the bane of our university life have been valuable lessons to prepare us for what the real world will deliver. They prepare us how to cope in a team environment and I have to say, if I hadn’t of gone through that, I wouldn’t be working in a major sporting club where teams are EVERYTHING!

Secondly, always go back to the basics; the amount of times I’ve had to refer back to my notes from either PR media or PR techniques is insane. It’s silly how easily you can forget how to put together a fact sheet/ backgrounder, even now when I’m trying to put together my first media release I keep referring back to the ‘Inverted Pyramid’ slide from one of the first lectures in PR Techniques. In fact the only portion of my degree that I STILL haven’t found any use for is Public Relations Corporate.  

Finally you can never be too prepared for a meeting. On my first day at RugbyWA I was told I would be sitting in on a meeting with The Crusaders agent 2 minutes before the meeting started (For those who don’t know, The Crusaders are an opposition team from New Zealand and their agent is the person who basically looks after the team during their visits). I was in panic mode, I knew nothing about who this guy was, his team’s recent form, or even what the meeting was about. In the end I just ended up sitting lifelessly in the corner, unable to contribute anything more than an odd chuckle here and there (talk about embarrassing!). Thankfully for my second meeting of the day, I was given a one hour ‘heads-up’ before lunch that I would be meeting with the Head of the Australian Rugby Union about an exhibition match in June. I skipped lunch and did as much research as I possibly could and am glad to say that I was able to contribute much more than a simple room echo!

It’s amazing how much you can learn/have to learn in 10 days in the working world. Thanks for reading my second blog contribution in as many days, but I feel I had to commemorate my halfway mark in some way, shape or form J.

Good luck my fellow amigos!

Elliott Telfer

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Unforgettable experience in Government House

It is my last blog and it finally came to an end. For the past few weeks, I have been working on different posters design for the Global Good Foundation 5^th Birthday event. Tanya assigned me to work on a one-page brochure for all the programs that are ran by GGF. This will be a challenge, as I have to get the point across in one or two sentences, and use graphics to explain the situation.

The reason for writing this blog to the very last minute is because I would like to share an overall unforgettable experience to you.

I was given a chance to perform in the government house in front of 300 or more audiences as well as the governor. It was incredibly amazing and I would never forget this performance.

Why I have the chance to perform in the Government house?

I went to work as usual and I was chatting with Tanya, CEO of Global Good Foundation, in regards to my good news on the singing competition I enrolled and got into Grand Final, after that, she asked if I am interested to perform in the government house on 7^th October, which is the “Butterfly Effect” Event. I was shocked as well as excited as I did not know that I would have this chance to sing in front of the governor and perform in the government house.

Time flies, on the day on performance, I nervously arrived at the government’s house and prepared for the performance of my song – The Climb by Miley Cyrus. I was so nervous that I kept memorizing the lyrics. At the end, I did it! I got a lot of feedbacks from the audience as well as the governor! She was giving a speech and she said “Wylie you sang really well!” I was so surprised that she can remember my name. This was a fun-raising event that helps The Global Good Foundation to raise fund as well as awareness. Finally, Mrs McCusker have donated $20,000 to The Global Good kids Camp.

On top of that, I also prepared for the Global Good Foundation’s 5^th Birthday with my other colleagues. Many tasks have been given to me, and that includes sending out the guest lists, preparation for the catering, as well as ordering of beverages.

It was a great experience on learning how to plan an event and learning on the major concerns when holding an event. I do not only learn how to be organized, I also realized the importance of responsibility. During these days of my internship, it made me a better person for my future and I will never ever forget this journey.

Summing up my experience with angelhands

Hello Fellow PR393 Students!

This will be about the final thoughts about my placements with angelhands as this is my last and final post even if I still have 2 weeks of placements left. I can’t believe how fast time has past and I still have much to do before the campaign launches. Though I have learned so much throughout my time here, I believe there are more skills that I can perfect.

In regards to what I have accomplished so far, I have:

1.     Drafted a final corporate email

2.     Drafted a final coverletter

3.     Drafted a final flyer

4.     Design of the poster is completed

5.     Made appointments with past victims to be in the 50K in 50 Days promo youtube video

I believe that on placement I have used all the skills that I’ve learned from Curtin University. From PR techniques to write press releases or even helping out with the monthly newsletter updates for the campaign. I just can’t believe that the semester is already over and time just flew by.

There are 3 more weeks before the campaign’s launch and since I have decided to continue volunteering once a week with angelhands until the campaign ends, I’m sure that I will be able to meet the deadline and that this experience will be immensely rewarding when I decide to find a job after a graduate.

I hope everyone else have enjoyed their placement as much as I do (:

Thank you for reading my last post & good luck on your reports!

Deanna C.

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My internship turned into a paid position!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my fourth and final blog post about my internship at Professional Public Relations (PPR) in Subiaco.

I have to admit I’ve been a little absent from the blogging scene, but this is my most significant post of them all – I get to share with you all what I’ve learnt over the course of my internship and how I came to be offered an entry level position at PPR.

Throughout my internship I carried out a variety of tasks for a range client accounts. Some of which included:

• ·      Landcorp - stakeholder engagement, Claremont on the Park event preparation, stakeholder information mail outs
• ·      Perth Fashion Festival – media monitoring and media launch
• ·      Wesfarmers Chemical Energy and Fertilisers- Human Resource interviews
• ·      Decmil Group Limited – annual report meetings
• ·      Australand – work in progress meeting, desktop research
• ·      Yarra Valley Caviar – media kit drop
• ·      Shell – stakeholder validation
• ·      McDonalds – Serious lamb burger lunch
• ·      Muzz Buzz – Media list creation and validation
• ·      PTTEP Australasia – media validations
• ·      Dampier Port Authority – crisis contingency planning
• ·      Administration support – credential planning,

As a soon to be Curtin Graduate I believe I have been adequately prepared for the ‘real world’. Throughout our degree we have consistently applied theory to real life situations, whether that be an industry renowned case study or an actual not-for-profit organisation such as United Way WA or Friends of the Environment. PR 393 Professional Practice has allowed me to fine tune my skills and get me one step closer to a paid position.

Although I didn’t get to draft media releases or write a lot of content I was fortunate enough to professionally develop and expand my skill set. The main things I have come away with from my internship include:

• The art of networking and developing mutual relations;
• Time is money – effective management is essential;
• Quality control – double checking, even triple checking your work for errors;
• The flexibility to work as an individual and a team member; 
• The ability to liaise with multiple stakeholders.

From an employer’s perspective, hosting interns is a great way to ‘try before you buy’. Employers are able to gauge weather the intern suits the work environment and the intern gets an understanding of what they do and don’t like before being committed to the role. PPR only hires PR graduates into their entry-level positions (admin assistant, receptionist, PA and database assistant) which gives them the chance to learn about the organisation from the ground up. Because of my internship I was granted the opportunity to be consider for a position at PPR. I have now completed two weeks of full time work!! I view my role as a stepping-stone – I’m just a hop, skip and a jump away from becoming a public relations consultant.

I hope each and every one of you have thoroughly enjoyed your internships and feel ready for the real world :) 

See you at GRADUATION.

Gemma x

ITS A WRAP!

#4 ITS A WRAP

Perth Fashion Festival 2012 is over! The week went by so fast; it was a blur of excitement and exhaustion. Its been a week since Day 1 and I am still recovering!
Whilst I have worked in events for a couple of years now, I have not experienced a week long event. It is so much different to an event that goes for one night, or one day. You really cannot prepare yourself for something like PFF if you haven't worked it before.

Some of my highlights from the week were:

1. Social Media

I was one of a few girls on the PFF Instagram during the week! It was an amazing experience approaching 'celebrities' to take photos of them, or capturing a run way show and then uploading it to see so many people 'liking' and commenting. Whilst it was fun, it did come with great responsibility. There were PFF rules about how and what we upload, concerning boarders, filters and tags. This task really helped me understand the power of social media and how important it is in the public relations industry. 
On a personal level, taking part in the PFF Instagram was also very effective from a networking point of view. I had underestimated the impact social media can have on your work life until this experience. Through Instagraming people I met lots of designers, bloggers, stylists, industry people and journalists, who after meeting, I followed their Instagram from my person Instagram account, with them following me in turn.  
With my online presence now existing in a work environment as well as personal, I have taken on the responsibility of 'cleaning' up my own social media. Yes it is a bit of fun, but it is important to give off a professional, 'ideal' online image. 

2. Watching 'my' event

There were two PFF events I solely focused on during the Festival, as my boss was the Project Manager for them. The great thing about this industry, is that you have something tangible to show for all your hard work. It was an incredible experience to see it unfold first hand, as well as to read all about it in the media the next day. Such as on The West:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/full-coverage/perth-fashion-festival-2012/a/-/article/14923523/local-collections-hit-the-mark/

3. Networking

The amount of people I met and the relationships I have gained as a result of working throughout the PFF week and my internship there for the past 3 months are invaluable. On a personal level, I have made some great friends and on a work level, I could not be more grateful for the experience and the doors it has opened up. 
In the PR world, you never know who is watching, who you will meet, or who a person is, so my greatest lesson learnt is to always be professional, always be presentable and always be on your A game, no matter what your feeling on the inside. Events is very hard work and long hours, which often goes unnoticed and unappreciated, so you really need to develop a thick skin. Go out of your way to introduce yourself, don't be shy and make an effort with everyone, because you don't know who they know. Perth is a small city, use every opportunity you can to network. 

ITS A WRAP

The Festival was so well received and it's amazing feeling knowing I contributed to it. I have decided the PR industry, in particular, Events, is definitely the area I want to work in once I graduate soon. Hopefully I made a good impression at PFF and they will consider me for next year!

final thoughts...

Dear Fellow PR 393 students,

I can't believe how fast the semester flew by, it seems as I just started my placement a week ago where I was a nervous wreck. Our reports are due soon and the panic mode has begun even though I have it half way completed.

My placement with CEDA has been over for a month now, but my time with them was invaluable. I feel I have grown up in the short time I worked there. The industry placement unit is the most exciting and rewarding unit in all my time at Curtin. I think getting 'real world' experiences should introduced much earlier in the PR degree.

All that time we were in class discussing theories and possibilities in mock up situations does prepare you for what to come although in some instances you become overwhelmed. At university you have much time to come up with solutions, in the real world time is fleeting and very precious. Thinking on your feet and keeping everything moving is very important for successful outcomes. At CEDA as soon as one event is over and all the paperwork was completed, it's right on the the next one. One of my projects was to create a series event for a regional development program, it is scheduled for mid next year but everything needed to be done before I completed my placement.

I found working in a boutique organisation to be extremely rewarding and also challenging. I think for me it was the best decision to start with small organisation before moving onto a larger one. I liked the closeness, transparency and the comradery in the office. However when you messed up it was glaringly obvious, but I feel mistakes make you grow are a lessons learned.

One thing I feel was very important to the girls at CEDA was separating work and regular life, although during lunches breaks they talked and bantered about their families and social lives, this never got in the way of completing work. There was a clear distinction between work and home. Once I asked if it was okay to take some of my projects home with me just to catch up, but my supervisor thought it wasn't a good idea, go home and relax don't think about work at home, it isn't healthy she told me.

You don't want this to happen..

 

 

From this experience I have gained lifelong mentors, friends and a job opportunity. Although CEDA wasn't ready to hire another employee due to resource constraints, the girls helped me find a job with one of their members, I am now volunteer Event Coordinator at The Smith Family who help disadvantaged kids in Australia. I want to gain as much experience I as can before I am comfortable in working full time.  

 

80% of success is just showing up: Woody Allen
 

The big bad world doesn't seem so intimidating any longer, it's all about getting your face and name out there. Before my placement I was hesitant with no confidence in my wok and ability but today I truly believe we can take our career anywhere we please. Finding opportunities that suit you and grabbing them will take you a long way, I know it's cliched but its simply the truth. My final semester at university has opened so many doors, it's really is just the beginning.

 

Choosing the right career path for you is very important, do something you love and it won't seem like a job and the daily the 9-5 grind. Working in events is exactly what I want to do with my career. I hope to open my own business one day, a charity organisation which brings together and educates Somali youth in Australia to give back to their country which is in turmoil. There is a need for western educated and established youth's to go back to Somalia and help build the nation. This has been a lifelong dream for me and I believe working in PR will help me accomplish this. Who knows I might one day be involved in changing the perception, image and reputation of Somalia to the wider world. I find its okay to dream big now and I encourage my fellow students to do.

 

 

 What have you lessons have you learnt at your internship?

 

I wish you all the very best in all you hope to accomplish.

Good Luck for the rest of the semester.

Thank you for unit, its been life changing.

 

Yours truly,

Suleeka Goomane

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CSR and events...

Hello Fellow PR 393 students,

Today I want to talk about corporate social responsibility and its existence in the modern business world. While I was interning with CEDA, something occurred to me. Should we consider event management companies just as liable for responsibility, one thing I am ashamed to admit is that I always thought CRS was for the big organisation with the money. Although I acknowledged all companies are responsible I did not necessarily think boutique not for profits were included. The more I think about it, the more my reasoning is flawed.

From the three years of studying PR, one thing was repeated and drilled into us. The MOST valuable asset in a organisation has is not the what they offer and how much they earn, but it is trust, credibility and reputation that is essential, no matter how big or small, profitable to not, the company has a duty of care to act ethically and responsibly.

Trust is developed when behaviours matches the expectations, in the business relationships trust is crucial component because we all know almost every business transaction requires a degree of good faith and trust.

In the last century CSR has been the focus and attention, a trend of socially conscious people have emerged which expect much more from organisations today. The certain duty and obligation a organisations must have to give back to and protect the earth.

CEDA caters to the most senior executives and the largest and most prominent organisations across Australia the international counterparts. CEDA's entire function is to bring together representatives of highly influential organisations from all sectors and get them to strategize a better future for Australia. While most organisations for instances, Rio Tinto, Shell and IBM have some sort of CSR strategy already within their structure. Taking part in CEDA events I think is also very important in the way they are represented and portrayed to the wider community.

For example CEDA did an event back in July which I was very happy to be part of the planning and coordinating. It was titled 'Ensuring Australian and Global Food Security' and drew in a big crowd, the topic was about how to secure Australian and global food security queries with escalating prices, unpredictable climate changes? A very worthy topic to host, representatives from government, Coles, Rio Tinto and noted academics were put to the challenging inquiry! It was very simulating and educational panel. It was something I haven't thought about before.

Listening attentively

 

CEDA has gained the reputation of creating such admirable events and I believe by doing so, they are applying CRS by putting forward to their members thought inspiring topics.

 

Trust and credibility are central in all instances in our lives, once it is broken, its like glass shattered, it can never be pieced back to how it once was no matter hard you try to glue it back together.

To avoid such a calamity happening in an organisation, CSR has become a widely applied concept and central concern in decision making processes. At CEDA one of my roles included media monitoring, which included reading a large among of newspapers and finding out the current hot topics and what people in community were asking questions about whether it was migration strategies, and indigenous disadvantage. One of my favourite events CEDA did was the Indigenous series  'Improving the Indigenous Status Quo'.

End of the event, people mingling.

  

To conclude, all organisations are obligated to practise ethically and responsibly. A successful business is one that always considers what is good for the people and the planet. Boutique not for profit event managements organisations have the same amount of responsibility as bigger and more profitable organisations. I learnt a lot by working with CEDA, formalising an event which is based on an important societal concern and putting that to a panel of speakers from the influential organisations to come up with the solutions to problems is as socially responsible as you can get.

 

That's all for today, I will speak to you all soon.

 

 

X

 

Suleeka

 





 

 

 

 

Information overload!

Over my past few internship days I have been busy learning basic skills on Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and website maintenance – all vital skills for the business world! 

My supervisor asked me to use Adobe InDesign in order to create Bowls WA’s Handbook and Fixture Book. The Handbook is an A5 sized book sent to all clubs in WA to distribute to its members. The Handbook contains all information about Bowls WA and what they offer, general bowls field of play rules, an event calendar, plus metropolitan and country contacts for each club and zone. The Fixture book is a pocket sized book which is also sent to all clubs in WA to distribute to its members. This book is aimed for members to keep in their bowling bags or pockets, as it gives detailed descriptions on competition field of play rules, penalties and winnings. It also gives a more detailed calendar of events.

Each of these books are created and updated over a few months; as the information is only printed once a year, thorough editing is required! My role? Add EVERYTHING to the books and edit! After receiving a quick 10 minute lesson on InDesign my supervisor let me at it! I felt very proud being left with full responsibility, however after 7 hours at a computer, scrolling through pages and pages of writing, I was going cross eyed and couldn’t wait to get home to a glass of wine!  I then repeated this day 5 times over!

When I was asked to use Adobe Photoshop and update the company website, my first thoughts were, “But, I don’t know what to do!?” Once given another lesson from my supervisor, I found the process quite easy. Bowls WA uses an online program called Typo3 which allows you to easily upload photos and information to the website. I have uploaded photos, news stories, and club details. A nice easy change from the tiresome “book” work.

After getting a taste of these Adobe programs, I have only wanted to learn more! Hopefully I'll get a chance to learn more on these programs in the near future!

I hope everyone's still enjoying their internships! 

Kind regards, 

Lauren 

As time has gone by...

Since my first post I have accomplished a lot at my internship!

Bowls WA had their Annual Awards Night a few weeks ago, and I was given many tasks to help out with. I had exciting tasks such as creating the Award Night Program Guides, VIP Table name cards and even the award winner envelopes. Unfortunately due to my own part-time job commitments, I was unable to make the actual event – Looking through all the photos, it was definitely a big night for all who went to the Burswood Entertainment Complex!

Bowls WA have also given me full responsibility for writing their monthly e-newsletters. Their e-newsletters normally consist of 2 A4 pages of information, and are not only emailed to their e-mailing list, but these are also archived on their website for all clubs to view. So far my e-newsletters have consisted of information on competition news, game rule changes, correct shoes for play, charity cake bakes, government grant offers and plenty more. The diversity of each newsletter is great, and really gets me working on my writing skills. It is definitely one of the better tasks I have been given at my internship!

Bowls WA currently do not have a strong social media policy in place; as they do not currently utilise social media as much as they would like. So, my supervisor gave me the task of collaborating with Bowls Australia and writing Bowls WA a social media policy. After researching fellow sporting organisations and their current policies, and using Bowls Australia’s social media policy as a guide, the process was actually quite easy. I finished writing the policy, and this has been sent off to my supervisor and Bowls Australia for approval – once this has been approved, Bowls WA can then start utilising social media to is maximum potential!

Until my next blog.. have fun at your internships!

Lauren

The Count Down!

#2 The Count Down

I have been organising Perth Fashion Festival since June and all of a sudden the Opening Night event is tomorrow!

As one would assume, the office is exceptionally frantic today, as it has been for the past week or two.

We have a few people who are more tanned than usual from appointments last night and racks of clothes lined up, not to mention a crazy store room full of volunteer passes, giftbags, posters etc.

My tasks as of now are mostly finalising run sheets, emailing these to the necessary people, organising parking for government members who are attending our events, sorting out my schedule with my manager and lots more 'logistical' things.

The key to keeping sane and organised amongst the maddness is writing and ticking off lists I have discovered. My manager also often emails me with a task in the subject box so she doesn't forget to tell me. I can keep these in my inbox so I am always reminded and don't forget it. We also have a few drop box folders that we share to keep documents in one place we can both access/update/cross reference. Our system seems to work well. 

Needless to say, I am very excited and admittedly a little nervous. I can't wait to see all my hard work unfold and 'watch our industry come to life'. I just hope it unfolds successfully!

I will try to blog during the Festival if I can, otherwise I will recap once its over.

Erin

Reflecting on my time at Devahasdin

After being at Devahasdin for three months my internship has come to an end and I cant believe how quickly it went by!

Throughout my placement I had the opportunity to work on a range of tasks for a very diverse range of clients. This provided me with a great insight in to all the different aspects of PR and also the different needs of clients. Some of the main tasks I completed included:

·      Compiling media databases relevant to the client

·      Client clipping and valuing reports

·      Pitching to the local community newspaper

·      Liaising with various clients

·      Overseeing a client promotion

·      Event preparation – nametags, invite lists etc.

·      Online event listings

·      Preparing material to be used for client’s social media

All the tasks I completed both big and small, even the lengthy and not so exciting ones were beneficial to my own learning. All tasks undertaken in public relations are important for different reasons and without doing them you aren’t able to offer the client the best service and achieve great outcomes. I was always kept busy through my placement ensuring I was making the most of my experience, which meant there was never a dull or boring moment!

Reflecting on my internship I believe I have grown both personally and professionally and I am glad we were ‘pushed’ by university to go out and gain this experience whilst studying. All the ladies in the Devahasdin office were great mentors each providing me with different learning’s about public relations, which I am more than grateful for. One that has really stood out for me is the importance of communication within the office - always ask questions, know your deadline, get your work reviewed and ensure everyone is on the same page so there is no confusion or error!

My placement at Devahasdin was truly invaluable and I now have a much greater understanding of professional public relations and the wider corporate working environment.

It’s great to know that from my placement I will be taking away new skills, new friendships, new professional contacts and it will also be a great addition to my resume. 

I hope everyone else really enjoyed and gained a lot from their placements!

Caitlyn