Landing On My Paws

Welcome to my third blog while I'm working at the Guide Dogs WA! I have been quite busy with uni going back last week and sorting things out that I have had little time to stop and think.

Since my last blog 'Meeting the Children at Scitech' I have cut my days down at the Association to two days per week. This fits in better with my timetable and university and general helps me manage everything more effectively. My manager was happy for me to do this as I can see a wider range of areas and participate in a few more things.


I have recently been working on developing the online 'Puppy Club' for the Assocation. The puppy club is a club that sponsors the puppies currently being raised, follows their progress and updates members on what is happening within the Association. To begin with I completed an analysis of the opposing states and their puppy club websites. I got to search the sites and look at lots of cute puppy photos which was a nice change! Once I had completed this I then started looking at our own 'Puppy Club' and what could be improved. Identifying where the gaps were and the areas of improvement was a challenge I was most willing to take up as I was full of ideas since I had just compared this to other states.

From this, I then had a meeting with my manager and was able to converse about what I had found and where we were able to go. Currently I am set about getting some of these changes in action and hopefully they will be implimented before the Guide Dog Open Day in April.

I have also attended a meeting at the Perth Art Gallery involving the 'Touch Tours' where patrons are able to put on gloves and feel certain pieces of art, discovering the difference in shape, texture and smoothness. The WA Art Gallery has approached the Association for the Blind WA in order to boost numbers and awareness of the program among the visually impaired.
Mutual benefits can be had by both parties in this scenario as both the Art Gallery and the Assocation will gain awareness of what they do and build on a lasting relationship for the future.

I have also attended another meeting involving our pro bono marketing company MarketForce and have seen the progressions on this project. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a conference call with the other Guide Dog states involving the coming campaign which was beneficial in seeing how each state relates with each other.

I look forward to keeping you all informed on how I am going!
Rachel