Goodbye

It is the end of my internship at United Way WA. It has been the best 20 days and i have learnt so much along the journey. Like most people i was dreading my internship, the nervous and the time dedicating to it seemed daunting but I am glad that i was forced to do it. I am so grateful for UWWA for allowing me to work there and it gave me such a good insight as to what i will experience in the real world.

Some lessons learnt:
- Always be prepared
- Sometimes it is not what you know but who you know! Start networking
- Proof read everything
- Time is essential

They may be pretty simple lessons but i have found out they are the most important elements to maintain and their importance is often overlooked.

I was able to be involved in quite a few public relations activities and these experiences will help me form my portfolio for future jobs

- Wrote media releases 
- Created media kits
- Designed flyers for event
- Designed logos for an event and campaign
- Created a newletter snapshot on the companies progress
- Created information for a state newsletter
- Attended and set up event

With being involved in all these PR activities i have learnt vital information and techniques that will become valuable and vital for future job prospects. University has provided me with background knowledge on how to tackle all of these activities but you don't notice the importance of them until you are creating them and putting them in place in an actual company. I cant wait to get into the real world.

Since United Way WA is a not for profit organisation they are unable to employ me because of lack on resources, but have offered for me to continue to intern for them for more experience if i like after my exams. I felt very welcome in their office and they made me feel like part of the family. I am forever grateful to them

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!!