Hi Guys!
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 ;)
