For the love of football

From the very first day of my internship at GO Communications (GO) I have been assisting in preparing for an event for our client Zurich Insurance Malaysia Berhad.

Zurich is running a Corporate Social Responsibility campaign called ‘Love for Football’. The campaign is in conjunction with Little League Malaysia and involves going to schools and teaching children essential football skills. Zurich will also be donating money to each school to be put towards football related expenses.

GO Communications’ role is to ensure the event gets coverage in the media. Two and a half weeks before the event my team members and I delivered the invitations to the media in the form of a yellow card. The invitations were hand delivered to about 15 media and emailed to over 50. For more information on the delivery of the media invitations refer to my previous blog ‘same same but different’ posted on 13^th June 2014.

In the days leading up to the event it was my job to call the media to get their RSVP. Unfortunately for us, most media departments do not assign their reporters until 6pm the night before. This means we often have to wait until 7pm at night before we can call them for their RSVP. On some occasions I was told to call back at 10pm. Zurich however, want to know final media numbers by 3pm the day before, a somewhat impossible task.

Today was the day the event finally took place. I woke up at 5am to arrive at the Football stadium by 6am. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself having to wake up so early, until I got to the stadium and met the event crew who had arrived at 1am in order to set everything up in time.

The event was MC’d by two local Malaysia personalities. The event program included a speech from Zurich CEO, a speech from the King’s brother, a performance by the keepie uppies and a friendly indoor football match between a local school versing some football legends and Little League coaches. The football legends include Datuk Santokh Singh and Abbas Saad who use to play for Australia.

Wondering what a Keepie Uppie performance looks like? Watch the video below.

My job on the day was to register the media and ensure they were well catered for and comfortable. It was really good to be a part of an event and see how much preparation goes into it. We ran through the script with the MC’s at least five times.

My fellow intern Felicity and I with our 'event crew' passes.

It was interesting to see the things that went wrong that you could simply never predict. During this event the wind picked up and blowing the balloon arch over and ants infested the media desk. It made me realise no matter how much you prepare something can always go wrong on the day that you hadn’t thought of. I guess now I have experienced those things going wrong I can prepare for them at future events. Note to self, always bring extra string and fly spray to an event.

Whitney

Same same but different

In comparison to Australia, working in Malaysia is different is so many wonderful ways. At the same time there are aspects I had not previously considered, that are worlds apart.

On the first day of my internship I arrived at the GO Communications (GO) office and was given a desk to call my own for the next month. The first major difference I noticed was my workstation. It was as if I had stepped back in time. It looked as though my computer was created before I was, and the phone, well let’s just say I don’t think they make them like that anymore. To add to the time warp the music playing throughout the office was reminiscent of my tweens.

Hardware and ambiance aside, GO is far from dated. GO staff think outside the box in order to service their clients in the most unique ways. Five days into my internship I have already had the opportunity to not only witness, but actually be involved in some of GO’s creative projects.

A day in the life of a GO Communications intern

There is no such thing as a standard day at GO. This is just one of the things I enjoy about working here. The day will generally begin with media monitoring. This entails going through that day’s paper and sourcing news relevant to each of GO’s clients. Although mundane at times, it is a great way to learn more about Malaysia and GO’s clients. I find it particularly interesting as a foreigner keen to be immersed in the Malay culture.

I have found news in Malaysia to be quite different to what I am used to being exposed to in Australia. I feel as though Malaysian news is more influenced by public relations (PR) efforts. This could be a result of the dense media competition in Malaysia. The country is home to over 20 daily national newspapers. When a journalist is stuck for ideas they often turn to PR for a story. On the other hand perhaps Australian journalists are just better at disguising the PR influence.

Yellow carded

On my second day I was given the opportunity to participate in media visits. The purpose of these visits was to deliver a media invitation to an event hosted by GO client, Zurich. The event was a football (soccer) friendly match with a high school versing ex-football players, as well as a member of the Malay royal family.

This was not just any plain old media drop. GO wanted this invitation to stand out from the hundred other invitations the editors would have received that week. Myself and three colleagues dressed in Zurich branded football jerseys alongside our referee who issued each editor a ‘yellow card’ which was their invitation to the event. The editors were informed that failure to attend the event would result in a red card.

My acting debut

Today is the fifth day of my internship at GO and I have been invited along to sit in on a media interview with Datuk Wira Jalilah Baba, the founder and chairman of Crewstone International. It was an honour to meet such a prominent Malaysian figure. The modest Datuk Wira Jalilah Baba is considered the top economist in Malaysia.

Click here for more information on Datuk Wira Jalilah Baba

Although I was unable to understand most of the interview as it was in Malay, it was a good opportunity for me to see how to set up an interview and how to best utilise the media’s time.

A lot of time was spent finding the right location for the interview, so lighting and branding could be maximised. The chosen setting was the boardroom in front of reception. Alas, Crewstone do not have a receptionist which made the background seem rather bare. Can you guess how this problem was solved?

Keep an eye on the Malay news over the next few days. There will be an interview with the chairman of Crewstone, with me writing this very blog in the background.

The things we do for PR!

Whitney