Fast paced and slow moving

When I helped coordinate my first ever event, and 1500 people ended up turning up, I remember being so incredibly stressed, yet the feeling when something went right was amazing. As stressful as organising and coordinating that Open Day was, it was one of the most rewarding and fun experiences of my life so far. I'm feeling the same way with the upcoming (possible) two month tour event.

As it still isn't a confirmed event due to waiting on approvals etc (we're keeping our fingers and toes crossed it can happen), it's been a little difficult to coordinate an event you don't know if you're having. Especially in the current financial situation - you don't exactly want to go ahead and spend so much money to be told it's not happening anymore. As a result, it's been stressful as there is so much work to do in regards to preparation and possibilities, however, nothing can go ahead yet officially. I've been spending my time doing as much as I possibly can to have everything organised to push and move forward when we get the go-ahead. I've also completed my script for the short film which will be edited this month for release in September.

Unfortunately, not much new has happened as of yet due to the mass workload of the two projects, however, I wrote my first article for the organisation's internal newsletter. This has helped me to try and hone my writing skills as the internal newsletter allows you to have a little fun, whilst I'm so used to writing formally.

I've unfortunately only got one more week left of my internship this time around, and once again I don't want to leave. Hopefully the project will have taken off when I write my final blog post next week.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic time at their work placements :)

Difficult times ahead but we're still moving forward

Since my last post a few weeks ago, a lot has been happening at KCGM. I've been making good progress on my projects for the Mt. Charlotte 50th anniversary so far and I thankfully haven't had too many struggles. I've definitely been kept on my toes and being at the forefront of organising logisitics, interviews and meetings has kept me busy.

The tours and the DVD I mentioned I was a part of are still underway and are still a major working progress, however things are going well and I felt like I really accomplished something today at work (which sounds like a silly thing to mention, but being on a large mine site, safety is #1 priority and last Friday I spent about 4 hours of my day in meetings and felt like I hadn't achieved much that day!). It has been difficult to get the ball rolling in regards to my projects as certain procedures were absolutely necessary before too much work was commenced, however after today's TBRA and visit to the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, I definitely have plenty to do in the next couple of days.

One thing I have found interesting - and is something I wouldn't normally get to experience - is how my organisation is responding to the gold price plummet. Some people might have heard of the plummet in the price of gold earlier this year which sent the gold mining industry into dismay. As a result, KCGM has been reviewing budgets, however, this has sent the local media into a frenzy. I've now experienced firsthand how easy it can be to take advantage of these kinds of situations for a story. There have been some, shall we say, not so friendly articles produced over the past couple of weeks, however it's great to see how KCGM is dealing with the negative portrayal of the gold mining industry in general lately (mentions of possible redunancies etc). In addition to community engagement and employee relations, issue management is another topic I've found incredibly interesting during my studies. As budget is currently under review, there are currently no definite yes or no answers so nothing can be confirmed to the media, but whilst there has been a big focus on the low gold price at the moment (it's slowly starting to rise again - yay!) and how significant the impact on mining in WA, it's been relatively good timing as last weekend was the annual KBULG tree-planting day in which KCGM is a major sponsor. In addition to this lovely bit of positive media, KCGM has also had great coverage nation wide thanks to an article which was published in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this week which reflects the journalist's experience of the Super Pit Tour.

Once again, I'm still enjoying my internship and I really don't want it to end in two weeks. I love it too much!

I'll be back soon with another update and I'll let you know how my projects are coming along.

Back in the mining game

It has been a week since I started my internship at KCGM. Fortunately for me, this is my third time working for the organisation as a student. Every time I rejoin the Community Relations team at KCGM (which is a part of the Environment and Social Responsibility department), they welcome me with open arms and throw projects at me which are even more challenging than the last time.  The first time I worked there, I got to do a bit of everything, my second stint gave me the experience doing a bit of everything and more, including organising a community open day for the tourist mine, of which over 1500 people attended. This time around, I've been thrown into the deep end once more and I'm loving it.

As KCGM is a gold mine which is not only on the door step of the City of Kalgoorlie, but also has operations which are on the historical Golden Mile; catering to the needs of residents, local businesses and other stakeholders and celebrating the history of what made the city it is today, is very important. It is the 50th anniversary of continuous operations at Mt. Charlotte operations this year and I've been given responsibility to help organise the two months worth of celebration tours coming up later this year. Some of my responsibilities include: Assessing risks in Team Based Risk Assessments (TBRAs), figuring out a budget, organising logistics, tickets, ensuring the safety of others, writing tour notes, procedures and work instructions for tour participants and working out a media plan.

In addition to this, I am helping to produce and write a short film celebrating the history of Mt. Charlotte which will go straight to be sold in the Super Pit Shop on DVD. Some responsibilites include script writing, research, conducting interviews and piecing it altogether. As this comes under the same major Mt. Charlotte project, everything is coming together pretty nicely and I had the amazing opportunity to do my underground induction today in preparation for heading underground for filming and tours and I got to head about 600m underground which probably made me way too excited, all things considering.

Once again, I'm thoroughly enjoying my work placement so far and am fortunate enough to be able to do it for this the internship unit. I'm curious to see what happens over the next few weeks due to the gold price crisis which is a huge issue at the moment and one that affects KCGM greatly due to its sheer size, however I'll let you know how my projects are coming along shortly and how things start to pan out over the next few weeks in the mining industry. It's ever growing and always changing.

PR for a Services Agency

Dear all,

I am Gilbert. This is my first blog post after 5 days into my PR internship.

I have found a placement in a travel agency, with a number of services related to tourism: events and strategy, finance, business travel, business consulting, and paint marketing.

It is an opportunity to feel how the PR practitioner fits into the business paradigm. The main characteristics of this universe are pro-activity and re-activity.

The PR in a travel and tourism business is expected to understand the local and the international contexts within which it operates.

Moreover, the enterprise is in a process of expansion and diversification. The challenges are many: human resources, finance and time management. The communication professional needs to listen, understand and respond to a long and sometimes fragmented task list.

Each day is different: no place for monotony or repetition. Thus, creative thinking skills are employed to the full, to organise events and respond to urgencies with appropriate solutions.

Interactivity is also another feature of my internship experience, since no project can succeed without coordination, collaboration and communication.

The Beginning of My Journey

24/1/2012

Hi my name is Chiara Muzzin and I have scored my very first internship placement for this semester. And it has all happened rather quickly!
I was beginning to stress about not being able to find a placement that really appealed to me and would allow me to use my skills and knowledge that I have gained during my Public Relations and Journalism degree. However, I stumbled upon an opportunity to be a Public Relations Assistant for Tourist and Well Being Operator Julie Baker.

The advert was placed on Blackboard and once I had read through it I knew instantly that this was the job for me and wanted it there and then! I emailed Julie on a Friday night and to my surprise I received a phone call the next day! She conducted a phone interview with me on Monday and I met up with her on Wednesday. After the face-to-face interview Julie asked me to jump on board.

I was absolutely thrilled! Her business Journeys of the Spirit appealed to me because it wasn't only a business that created the average holiday package, it focuses on creating very personal journeys and retreats for individuals or small groups to be inspired (through mind and body) in the most beautiful sites throughout the world. The placement will also give me the opportunity to be creative, whether it be contributing to photo or video projects, writing articles for national/international magazines and newspapers or merchandising, in which I am strongly passionate about doing.

This business also touches on health and psychology - which is something I'd like to study and pursue after graduating. Julie's clients are somewhat apart of the sophisticated and intelligent demographic that work within corporate industries, yet they are really searching for a way to find happiness and find themselves in such a demanding and fast paced society. These retreats that Julie has created help them to find a sense of connection within themselves or with others.

My job is to help Julie expand the business, and somewhat grasp a different perspective of her business from a member of the younger generation.
The Saturday night just gone, Julie had given me the opportunity to meet the clients at a dinner party. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to network as well as to meet the people I will be working with in the near future. I was definitely nervous beforehand but after I had left that night I was really pleased with having been given the opportunity.

Monday was the first official day on the job. This whole process has happened within a week! Julie is a fantastic partner to work with, and I'm so excited to be on this journey with her. At the moment we have discussed a number of ideas to help expand her business and I am in the process of producing a PR strategy document to help us keep focused on our goals. This would definitely be the time to thank PR Consultancy!

Chiara
Bentley Campus

Who knew working could be this much fun!

Hi Guys,

I have now completed my 20 days internship and I loved it. I am continuing to work at the organisation even though the 20 days has been completed.

In my internship I had the opportunity to do many different tasks. One of the main clients I dealt with was the Novotel Ningaloo Resort in Exmouth. My favourite task was making a short video which I am currently completing. I was asked to make a video of my time in Exmouth when I was there for a holiday in July. This short video shows my boyfriend Trevor and I staying at the resort and what we did around Exmouth, the Ningaloo Reef and Cape Range National Park. The purpose of the video was to show people what you can do in Exmouth to encourage them to come. Hopefully this will attract more people to come to this fabulous destination and stay at the Novotel Ningaloo Resort. It is hoped once the video is complete it will be used on the resort’s website and/or Facebook. The Facebook page was another one of my tasks and this page is waiting for approval by the client. I wish I’d known that the photos and videos I took were going to be used because I would have taken more.

A few other tasks I participated in were picking the best photos of the professional images and vision to use for an ad for the resort. I even showed my supervisor how to take still images from the vision with a certain program. I really feel I learnt a lot here. During my internship I did duties such as creating and updating databases and resending information on various grants.

I have definitely learnt a lot about public relations, the industry and many different ideas to make things unique and interesting. I’m really glad that Curtin has this Professional Practice unit because it makes everyone have a “hands on” experience. Some things you cannot learn at university. I actually didn’t think it would be this much fun!

I hope you guys had or are having a great time on your internship and are learning many new and valuable things!

Joelle