All about my team - Impact

Right before starting PR393, I had taken the module PR Corporate 360. I have to say I never saw the relevance of that module until I started interning under my team - Impact. 

Here's just a brief overview of what the PR department at Ogilvy looks like. Ogivly PR consists of 8 teams: Engage, Pulse, Brand Marketing, Technology, Common Health, Social@Ogilvy, Corporate & Finance, and Impact. 

Each team handles a different aspect of PR.

Engage - motivate and assist consumers and other stakeholders adopt socially-beneficial behaviors that are good for individuals, good for society, and good for business.

Pulse - Consumer goods

Technology - migrates online, tech pages in major business media outlets are shrinking and new influencers are being recognized in bloggers and podcasters.

Brand marketing - connect with brands that engage through authenticit, purpose, relevance and a bit of fun!

CommonHealth - pharmaceutical and biotech arena

Social - integrated social solutions that combine deep disciplines like CRM, public relations and shopper marketing and rooted in what drives behavior.

Corporate & Finance - helps corporate clients achieve their business goals 

Impact - employee engagement and change management

My team is the smallest team in the PR department. Other than myself, there are three other people - Michelle, the team's director, Valerie, my supervisor, and Vanessa. 

So, what gave the 'Euraka' moment of relevance of the module taught in school? I've always thought PR was very much limited to media relations, B2B and B2C strategic planning. One of the topic taught during class was 'Change Management'. It pretty much talked about how leaders' role are important in Merger and Acquisitions (M&A), and the impact they have on corporate reputation and corporate culture. To that end, I just brushed it off as any other topics that have been taught in any other PR classes. 

Little did I realised how the knowledge would be relevant to what Impact does. While most PR practices focus on external communications, Impact handles a lot of internal communication towards corporations' employees especially during M&As. 

Unlike most strategic planning, the clients undergoing M&A require a lot of in-depth primary research work that include blueprint workshops, focus groups, online surveys, one-to-one interviews with key leaders.

I had the privilege of putting together survey findings and transcribing some interviews for a client who is undergoing merger. Honestly, listening to an hour-half recording can get really dry, but after awhile, I could hear some repeating issues and messages from the recordings. Some of the key takeaways I had were:

• Leadership has to be aligned during M&A to reduce uncertainty and distrust of employees
• Leadership of the various department do not necessary have the same feelings towards corporate issues
• Consistency of communications can become limited by technology
• Different hierarchy of employees have different point of view of what a corporate brand is
• Combination of different corporate culture can be a challenging task
• Mergers do not happen over night; it could take many years to change the mindset of employees and keep them aligned
• Employees look up to the action of their leaders and expect leaders to walk-the-talk

I have to say it is really cool to see how what has been taught in school become a "real" experience during internship. It does prove that as redundant as a topic may seem in school, you never know when it might jump back at you and become helpful.  

Monthsary at Ogilvy - Corporate culture

I can't believe that I've almost been at Ogilvy PR for almost a month. The past few weeks has been a really interesting journey for myself. But today's blogpost will focus on one aspect of my internship - corporate culture.

Let me start right from the beginning to when I had my first interview.

In school, we've learnt many things about corporate culture, the importance it holds not only as a corporate brand but also to the employees - and that was what my first interview showed me. Unlike the previous interview I had, as soon as I step into the O&M's reception lobby, I was overwhelmed by the physical environment of the company - the design, layout and colours. While most PR agency would choose more serious colours like white and blue for their layout, the reception lobby of Ogilvy was red. The colours were an indication of a fun and creative environment. In addition to that, I was attended to by a really warm and friendly receptionist.

As I proceed with the first interview, I came to learn that the interview was a test of communication and attitude compatibility, whether or not I could fit well with their company culture. I was impressed with how Ogilvy places high importance of culture compatibility when employing people. It was important to them to create an environment where everyone can work well with one another.

My interviewer later told me that Ogilvy has an open culture as well, which was quite evident in the layout of the office tables. During the course of my first month, it became apparent that the structure at Ogilvy PR was flat. Superiors sit together with their team in the same area. No one had a personal room to themselves. Even during lunch time, there was not a clear distinction between the director and those in the lower hierarchy. Everyone just sits together to eat.

The second interview I had was with my "team-to-be". Despite their busy schedule, all the team members appeared. It was nice to see how everyone in my team was interested in knowing who their new intern.

There were still many other instances during that one month which had shown me the kind of corporate culture Ogilvy carries around through its employees and physical environment. In short, Ogilvy has an open, creative and fun culture. As a fellow colleague had mentioned during my first staff meeting, Ogilvy is like the "Google" of Communication agencies. While the company carries a fun and open culture, it also carries a good amount of workload and stress.

Looking forward to experiencing and learning more. Stay tuned for more updates of my life as an intern :)

Start of an Exciting Journey

It was finally my turn to start on my PR internship.  After all the knowledge I learned in PR units and stories I heard from my seniors, I can't wait to begin my 5-week internship journey at Kota Kinabalu City Hall.  

The week started off quite eventful as I was invited to join an event on the second day of my internship.  It was one of the Ramadhan month programs in the city.  It was a collaboration event by Kota Kinabalu City Hall with CCK Fresh Mart Sdn. Bhd. and Nestle Products (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

The event started with the city mayor distributing free aprons and caps to the 117 bazaar ramadhan stall operators in the city central.  Then, we proceed to the city hall compound where the Mayor will officiate and join the cooking demonstration of bubur lambuk (beef porridge) with the chef.  Later on, the Mayor distributed free porridge to the public.  1000 packets were prepared for the distribution.

Cooking preparation joined by KK city mayor.

My first experience in an event as a PR intern is definitely insightful and rewarding as it was also my first time to be exposed to the media and corporate members.  I am looking forward to the following weeks of my internship!

Until the next time,

Easter Lee

Calling all press...Press Release galore!

I am now well and truly into my placement at Corporate Sports Australia working in the public relations area as a media assistant.

As a part of my role I am required to produce press releases to promote the up coming Chevron City to Surf for Activ in Perth on the 25th of August 2013.

Prior to my placement I felt my press release writing required some fine tuning, however with the help of Kendell, my supervisor at Corporate Sports Australia I feel as if my writing is improving every day. I have learnt that within different industries and companies the desired press release format and structure differs slightly. Throughout my time so far at Corporate Sports Australia I have realised that in my future professional endeavours I will need to be flexible in my writing style to adhere to guidelines set out for me as opposed to relying on structures that I was taught in units like PR Techniques.

So far I have produced various press releases that have been sent to local media outlets such as The Stirling Times and Mandurah Coastal Times. My press releases generally have one of three main messages:

1. Promoting the Chevron City to Surf for Activ School Challenge.
2. Promoting international coverage of the Chevron City to Surf for Activ.
3. Human interest ranging from inspirational stories to outstanding fundraising efforts of participants.

The Chevron City to Surf for Activ has a 'Share your Story' application in which participants can send us information stating why they are participating or what the Chevron City to Surf for Activ means to them. These applications have formed the basis of many of my press releases with participants sharing inspirational and triumphant stories.

Once I receive the application I then contact the individual to informally interview them and find out a little bit more about themselves on the basis of forming a press release. At first I found this difficult as I had never called someone to interview them before, but after the first one my nerves lifted and I realised that people are generally very willing to share their story as they have already taken the first step themselves and appreciate that I am contacting them. Interviewing participants is a part of my role I really enjoy as people are willing to share very inspirational stories which are very interesting to listen to.

An essential goal of my phone interview is to obtain quotes that I can use in my press releases. I find this hard as most of the time people generally don't say a perfect quote that is suitable for a press release. I discussed this problem with my supervisor Kendell and she informed me that as long as I was saying exactly what the individual said I was allowed to tweak the quote to make flow better or I could use an indirect quote as opposed to a direct quote. In certain circumstances when I haven't been able to obtain a direct quote from my phone conversation I am also able to email my quotes through to the individual for approval, I find this very useful as I am able to produce a powerful quote from what the individual has told me to fit perfectly in with my press release.

I look forward to updating you with what I get up to at Corporate Sports Australia working on the Chevron City to Surf for Activ over the coming weeks!

How Culture Plays a Role in Communication

On my third blog I would like to share my findings on how culture plays a role in Communication. I am currently interning at PT. Graha Agung Wibawa located in Bogor Indonesia. In my previous blogs I talk about cultural shocks that I experienced throughout the few weeks I work here. Seems like cultural differences keeps popping out through every aspect of my internship.

As an intern I was tasked with many different communication state of affairs between the company and the tenants. In my study at university we cover many different communication tools such as face-to-face meetings, emails, letters, social network etc. In the case of PT. Graha Agung Wibawa it’s a bit different.

There are levels of respect associated with communication. Each tenants, depending on their size or sales have different communication tools. This is differing by their power and how ‘face’ is correlated with communication.

Starting from the bottom, stores that are individually owned such as clothings, computers and mobile phones stores usually set up a face-to-face meeting with the staffs. In this case these are small shops where the owners of these shops are more likely to be in the store at all times. Whether by casual text, phone calls or emails a meeting would be arrange and a staff or two would go up to the stores to meet. This way the conversation is more casual and friendly. I find this communicating tool the easiest and less nerve racking because you get to see the emotion of the tenants and be able to receive any information straight away. The problem I experience with this communicating tool is that because it is face-to-face the staff does not have the chance to discuss the matter in hand with the higher power. In many cases multiple meetings would need to be held before problems are solved.

In the case of big franchise stores such as Samsung, Nokia or Cellular Networks, the communication tool of emails is used. Different from what we learn in PR, these emails contain an attachment of a scanned document that includes typed contents, company logo and hand written signature of head of department. The letters are written in formal language to show respect to these big franchises and are most likely to be proof read by head of department before it is sent. The respond of these emails would also include similar attachment. Though this process takes longer time to send and receive I find that problems are solved faster because of the respect each companies have for each other are very visible. The typed document would most likely to include very detailed information and numbers. I found this way of communication show amazing level of respect that I don’t usually see in western culture.

For the anchor tenant of the shopping centre, Ramayana department store (similar to Myers or David Jones in Australia), a printed letter that includes company logo and head of department personal signature are packaged and sent through the mail by Ti-ki (similar to fed-ex). Responses sent similarly would be kept in a compartment in the office and if were to be copied only black and white photocopier would be allowed instead of colour scanner. The reason for this is because it is believed that black and white copies are perceive as unofficial copies meanwhile coloured copies would be a replica or a fake document. The amount of work involve with these communication tool is great and takes the longest time. It is not electronically kept and has higher chances of being lost.

What is consistent between all of these communication tools is the maintaining of time structure. As each communication tools involve a lot of work and time into it, it is important to be on task for communication to run smoothly and not too late to respond.

It amazes me how communication differs culturally. This has been a great experience and learning opportunity for me and how even after three years of PR, there are still new knowledge learnt during my internship.

Levia Kwee

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Curtin Bentley

Culture Shocks: More embarrassing than you think

Hello fellow PR interns, this is my second blog.

To summarise my first blog entry, I am currently working in a property management company called PT. Graha Agung Wibawa in Bogor, Indonesia. I have been in charged with organising exhibitions, participating in meetings, communicating with tenants and travelling outside of the company to create a competitor analysis brief. In doing all of these task I’ve repeatedly experienced one thing in common; cultural shocks.

To briefly introduce my background, I was born in Jakarta and move to Perth when I was 8. I return to Jakarta to an International school with international baccalaureate curriculum for three years of high school, which then continued to my homecoming to Perth for university. And now I am back to my South East Asia birth home. Even though I can speak bahasa fluently on a daily basis I have never truly experience or understood the Indonesian culture. I have never communicated with someone who is not related or part of the western culture before. So you could imagine the culture shock I experienced working in a traditional company located in a small town outside of the city.

Every day seems like a déjà vu of morning conversations in PR International class!

One of the cultural shocks I experience is how religion plays a role in time management. The religion of Islam covered most of the Indonesian population, so Muslim beliefs and culture plays a role in the calendar of how the company operates. I have to say during my first week of interning I was behind on some of my tasks due to adaption problems, and being a university student that I am I keep things on the last minute. Not knowing that every Friday, male Muslims are obligated to ‘Sholat Jumat’, which requires them to leave the workplace to pray during the afternoon and offcourse to make it fair, all staff is offered some hours off during Sholat Jumat. The visual of me alone in the office confusingly looking for my male colleague to ask some questions on a Friday afternoon is quiet miserable.

I guess my poor tolerance of a religion that I am not associated with is acceptable. But another cultural shock I experience was communicating with tenants with Chinese background, one culture that I personally share ancestries with. Apparently Chinese runs in my blood, but not through my tongue. My supervisor mention that when having face to face meetings with Indonesian-Chinese tenants its easier to have another Indonesian-Chinese staff. Indonesian-Chinese people believe that another person that shares their background would be more understanding of their conditions and easier to communicate with as they speak the same language. I’m not talking about mandarin, I’m talking about Bogor-Mandarin-Bahasa, a mash up of the three languages that Indonesian-Chinese people use on a daily basis to communicate. They have a whole different word for numbers and emotions. Which in this case I urgently had to call my colleague to help me. Again.

The last cultural differences I would like to mention are transportation and traffic. If anyone believes the stereotype of how Asians could not drive, then they have not been to Indonesia. The road is probably filled with Michael Schumachers driving inches away from each other adding to hundreds of motorcycles speeding and squizzing themself between moving cars. It takes me an hour to get home every day. I found that the major difference as a university student and an intern is the stamina, the 8 hours work time compared to 3 hours classes and the 15 minute drive compared to the one hour sitting in the backseat while a personal driver drives you to work (personal driver is not something posh, almost everyone has one).

Despite all of these cultural shocks I’ve been having a great time in Bogor, and learning along the way of new languages and religions.

So that’s all from me today. Hope to see you in my next blog!

Levia Kwee

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Curtin Bentley

At the end and so happy with my experience!

Hi everyone,

This is my final blog post, I know it is a little late in the semester to be writing this however having only finished my placement just over two weeks ago I have been flat out with report writing, but here I am to tell you about finishing up with INPEX.

In the beginning i was incredibly nervous to start my placement, questions like would i be good enough? will they ask me to do something I have no idea how to do? will I forget everything I have learnt in the last three years? But after completing my 6 week 20 day placement I wonder why I was ever nervous.

Having the opportunity to work in house for a global oil and gas company has changed the way I look at public relations, the way it works and how it is applied in the real world, the difference between having a semester to come up with a communication plan in a group of four as opposed to having three days to complete something of the same standard on your own was something I never thought I would be able to do, but with the pressures of real time, real money and a real company I realise that i can do it!

My final week with INPEX was filled with mixed emotions as I began clearing out my desk, collecting materials for my report and handing in my final work samples to my supervisor. I had grown so accustomed to my little desk and my daily routine which I had fallen into so easily, coming into work checking my emails, sending out a media report to the company detailing the most recent news and then getting to work on whatever task was set for me for that day or week and being able to work at my own pace to get something finished that I felt proud to submit.

As I mentioned in my last blog I had the great opportunity to work in the stand at the annual APPEA HSE exhibition and the Perth Convention Centre, the exhibition was fantastic and I had the opportunity to prove to my supervisor just how competent I had become in my time with the company, remembering facts about the project and being able to discuss in detail to dignitaries and visitors the work that INPEX is carrying out. The conference ended on an even higher note with me being the lucky winner of a 42inch plasma screen television from one of the other exhibitors, it was a great memory to leave my placement with!

I don't think that I ever fully understood just how important and crucial work experience is to furthering your career, this unit really the best unit I have ever done at university and I feel more than prepared to go out into the real world of Public Relations and apply the knowledge and skills that I have obtained having the chance to work in a real life corporation!

Im sure you are all busy finishing up your reports as am I, good luck and hope you all enjoyed this semester as much as I did.

Hayley

A Fast Paced PR Lifestyle. .

I have loved everyday of my placement and I don't want it to end but the one thing I've realised during this placement is that there is always so much to do and too little time to do it when you have four jobs and uni! Luckily I work best when I'm under pressure and have a lot to do. I think thats why I have realised that this is the career I want to be in and one that I can be successful in.

Ive always known that the PR Industry is a fast paced industry that doesn't operate in the confinements of a 9-5 work day, but I think thats what has appealed to me as well.  

Since my last post my mentor has moved back to Paris and I have been communicating and working for her through emails and phone meetings. Although the last thing I expected to be doing was working for someone on the other side of the world, it has been an opportunity for me to establish communication and organisational skills and the ability to trust my instincts. This has allowed me to work more independently under the direction of the Company Director which has been a scary but amazing opportunity! Following Globcom I have now had two semesters practice constructing proposals through online means- but practice makes perfect right?! 

This placement has opened up the opportunity for me to let my creativity flow and make suggestions in all areas of the company, stretching from client proposals, to the company's image and uniformity throughout all official documents. At the beginning of my placement, I personally approached the Director and asked to redesign the media release template, along with numerous other small tasks to contribute to developing the company's image. Through doing so I have been asked to implement some of these ideas including designing media release layouts for all regular clients of 32dsg. Following this I am now asked to proof and edit all media releases before they are sent out to clients and the media. This has developed a uniform layout for all media releases distributed by the consultancy and has given me the chance to develop my media release writing skills, while also providing me with confidence in my ability to develop suitable media releases for numerous clients.

This placement has also given me the opportunity to think outside the square and have in put to company decisions. I have been asked to attend numerous meetings, have been given the opportunity to have input in all areas of PR in the business and have even made it to the website! My mentor even calls me the 'PR Guru'- thats got to mean I'm doing something right!

Final Week in the Corporate World!!!

Hi everyone,

The week kicked off continuing with my event management task for the Dockers Launch Event scheduled for 26^th March, and the majority of Monday was spent meeting with the “Corporate Theatre Company” mentioned in my previous blogs. This task has highlighted the importance effective communication, leaving nothing subject to interpretation, when preparing for a major corporate event.  This event represents a significant opportunity for Woodside to boost their public image and promote their Australian identity so it’s important for things to run smoothly on the day.

Speaking of the importance of things running smoothly, the key event during my final week at Woodside involved assisting with preparations for a crisis management exercise which took place on Tuesday (28^th February). Woodside holds four such events each year, which is typical for a major operating organisation and particularly an offshore petroleum exploration and production company. This simulated exercise required participation from all of the major departments within Woodside, including the Corporate Affairs department which is responsible for preparing media releases and providing status updates on the emergency situation, as well as outlining the Company’s response and forward plans. The day was a great reminder of what Woodside’s business is really all about.

Emergency exercises are intended to test the company’s response to a crisis scenario (for example a major oil spill); everyone within the crisis management team has a specific role to play in dealing with the situation. The events are carefully designed to allow the team to practice response to realistic scenarios and learn under exercise conditions. This week’s exercise required full mobilisation of the crisis management team, as well as participation by the emergency services and local media, and ran for approximately 8 hours in total. I was asked to observe and assist during the afternoon and, although this was only an exercise, the pressure of the situation on the various teams was very noticeable – everyone played their part and treated the exercise as the real deal.  It was an exciting afternoon and a privilege to watch and learn from some very professional people in action.

On Wednesday I returned to finalising the last details for the Dockers event, including liaising with suppliers on the catering arrangements for the biggest sausage sizzle imaginable, completing a stock take of the Dockers merchandise which will be offered as prizes, completing a Job Hazard Analysis to identify potential risks and emailing the Starlite Foundation, Woodside’s key charity, to confirm the details of the event and that all proceeds will be donated towards their foundation. As I mentioned previously, the team have asked me to come back on the 26^th for the Dockers Launch Event and I am looking forward to seeing the end result of my efforts over the last few weeks!

Friday (2^nd March) was the last day of my work placement at Woodside! L I have enjoyed working for this company and am grateful for the all of the PR experiences I have been given. The Corporate Communications team in particular were all very helpful over the last four weeks and rewarded me for my efforts with a farewell lunch at a local restaurant. It has been an invaluable experience being able to work at Woodside, supplementing the theoretical part of the Curtin PR course, and I have learnt much during the last 20 days, lessons which I know I will take with me into my future career.

Finally, all the best to my fellow bloggers with your own individual work placements!!

Jasmin Stuart

Reflective Blog 3 – Yet More in the Corporate World!

Hi everyone,

Well I am now in the third week of my placement at Woodside Energy in the corporate world of the oil and gas business and what a busy week it has been!!

The third week of February is always one of the busiest weeks of the year for the Corporate Affairs Department. This is the week Woodside release their annual results reporting the Company’s performance for the last year. The results were released on Wednesday (22^nd February) through an ASX release, presentation pack and the annual report. The preparation for the investor briefing within our communications team has been full on!!

I had to organise interview slots with the media all week in particular times for journalists to come in and interview the CEO. I also helped set up for a teleconference in the auditorium which allowed Woodside employees to watch a live feed of the CEO presenting the results. The presentation was uploaded onto the intranet for all of the Company’s employees to watch later in the day.

This week I have been in charge of taking media calls in relation to the release of the results and been responsible for setting up a number of interviews. I was also tasked with collecting and escorting media to and from the executive lounge and suites where the interviews were conducted. The media, as with all visitors to Woodside Plaza, must be escorted at all times in accordance with the strict building security policy. And the security systems at Woodside are quite sophisticated, for example allowing lock-out of all the building elevators on a security breach.

Towards the end of the week one of my colleagues returned to work and we both started working heavily on organising the Dockers Launch Event mentioned in my previous posts. Our focus has been on finalising the details and adding the finishing touches to the arrangement. Next week should be an exciting last week of my placement completing the planning for this event – I have even been asked to return to Woodside on 26^th March to assist on the day.

Finally, on 24^th February I attended the Australian Oil & Gas Exhibition at the Perth Exhibition & Conference Centre. This is the premier Australian petroleum industry event, held on an annual basis, and it continues to expand every year. Woodside, along with other oil & gas companies and engineering contractors from all over the world exhibit at the show and participate in the technical conferences. There were some seriously heavy duty pieces of equipment on display which are used in his high-tech industry. It all looked extremely complicated!!

 
Jasmin Stuart

More in the Corporate World!

Hello again fellow practitioners!

Well I am into the second week of my work placement at Woodside and I have to say that every day I am learning something new and exciting and gaining more reasons to want to stay on at the end of this assignment!

This week has been all about the upcoming Fremantle Dockers Launch Event that will be held on 26^th March (unfortunately two weeks after I leave!) - but preparations for the event have to begin now!

The event is a fundraiser for Woodside’s key charity, The Starlite Foundation, and to also herald kick-off of the 2012 AFL Season. One of the highlights of the event will be a visit to Woodside by two main Dockers players, who have been invited to speak, sign autographs and participate in an afternoon BBQ to be held adjacent to Woodside Plaza.

Helping prepare for this event has been full on, but very exciting and I have loved every minute of it! The week began with a couple of meetings discussing and delegating tasks for the event. Then on with the core business of event management, essentially agreeing on a date for the event, contacting the Dockers PR department and liaising with the building owners to gain permission for access to the plaza foyer and barbecue area on the scheduled date.

After gaining the necessary approvals, I proceeded with the organising some of the logistical details such as arranging car bays for key guest such as Dockers players, coaches and hiring the services of a photographer.

Next I had to then meet and liaise with a Corporate Theatre Team about the requirements on the day including stage, seating, microphones and an iconic purple decorative and creative theme in line with the Dockers image. The Corporate Theatre Team have organised numerous events like this for Woodside previously and knew what I was looking for which helped make things less stressful for me organising my first event!

Finally, towards the end of the week I had to organise the BBQ equipment for the sausage sizzle that will take place just outside Woodside Plaza. This involved contacting a catering company to request a quote for supply of all the necessary equipment including BBQ’s, tongs, aprons, gas tanks etc.

Of course, being Woodside, safety always comes first and numerous safety considerations have to be included in the planning and briefing for a major event such as the Dockers launch.

So far it has been an eventful week (pardon the pun) planning the Dockers Launch Day in March, but I have loved every minute of it and am looking forward to seeing the end result!

Jasmin Stuart

First week in the Corporate World!

Hi everyone,

The first week of my PR393 work placement at Woodside Energy has begun and it has been an exciting and amazing rollercoaster ride! On my first day (6^th February) I was escorted through all 24 floors of the Company’s Perth head office, concentrating mainly on level 22 and the Corporate Affairs Department in which I will be spending the next four weeks. During my internship I will be standing in for a lady who is holidaying in America and will have my own desk, fully equipped with telephone and computer! My title for the next 4 weeks will be “Corporate Communications Adviser”.

The protocol for working at Woodside is very professional and formal; before I could commence any type of work for Woodside I had to complete a Drug & Alcohol Test and then spent the majority of my first day completing compulsory online quizzes that focussed on the safety and business ethics standards that are expected and required of all employees at Woodside.

After I had completed the quizzes I attended two meetings over the remainder of the day. The first meeting was an introduction to the small Corporate Communications group I will be working in (5 of us). The second meeting was a Corporate Affairs departmental meeting which included a wider group of people from various departments which work alongside the Corporate Communications group. Working within a communications department I can recognise the importance of having regular meetings to ensure everyone knows what is being done and what still needs to be done.

 
Late in the afternoon on the first day I was required to head down to one of the conference rooms and help set up and prepare for a press conference scheduled to take place the next day at which Woodside planned to announce their continued sponsorship of the Fremantle Dockers. Woodside considers sponsorship of the Dockers to be a really important part of highlighting the Company’s Australian identity as they continue to develop their oil and gas business across Western Australia.

I helped set up the Woodside banners that sit behind where the speakers address the press for the conference, and then helped set up the stage for the Woodside CEO and Dockers guests to sit on. The press conference took place at 12.30pm the following day (7^th February) and in more preparation for the conference I managed to be extremely lucky and was able to collect Dockers captain Matthew Pavlich from his car in the lower car park and bring him upstairs to the press room. (For all you Dockers fans out there ...  Matthew even hugged me on arrival at Woodside). The atmosphere at the press conference was very fast-paced and buzzing; everyone was excited for the arrival of the press and TV reporters, but more importantly for the arrival of Matthew Pavlich!

I have also just completed a 3 month internship over the summer with West TV (Channel 44) working as a reporter for the station so the switch to a Corporate Public Relations environment has been very interesting to see how the two fields interconnect.

It has definitely been an exciting first few days here at Woodside and I can’t wait to see how the following weeks unfold!

Jasmin Stuart

Quality of Daily Life Solutions!

Hello again everyone,

I hope you are all having a great experience with your placement. As for myself, I would say I found the best internship I could possibly secured.

First of all, regarding the several challenges I was tackling in my first blog post. Well, I was expecting a much more complex "integration" in the department I work in. Yet, I have been surprised with how everyone has made efforts to facilitate organisation and collaboration. It is a very diverse department, large and extended. So when you're brand new to the team, it can be somehow difficult to know where to go or who to address to. Even though the context is of course professional, I found that there was a very friendly atmosphere. I'm sure that's because it is a communication department ;) (not mentioning there are only 3 men, including myself, for about fifteen to twenty women).

The "Well'Com" Kit I was mentioning earlier in my posts has really helped me. Especially a department organisation chart that was providing all the details about the people I would work with.

Now, I have started the core of my mission and I have to say it is quite a challenge. For the purpose of my mission I had to litteraly "dissect" the corporate website and several of its satellites (specific websites, country websites, intranet...), in order to retrieve all useful information about the company, its services, client cases, initiatives and programmes it was involved in, testimonials from collaborators and so on.

All of this in quite a short time !

The reason why I had to retrieve and gather all sorts of information is because I will then have to write the online content for several elements that we want to highlight and display on the upcoming redesigned corporate website.

The interesting thing about what I am doing right now, is that I need to talk with lots of people from different departments. As part of my research, I need to interact, send emails and make phone calls. I'm in contact and I love that.

It is not only about writing online content. It is about understanding, living and adopting the company's philosophy and stick to it while addressing readers and users who will see my work (that is, potentially, thousand and thousand of people of which journalists, clients, shareholders but also employees or future clients).

What I write has to respect the organisation's "personality" and identity. And it is not that easy. There are all the constraints related to Public Relations (tone, adaptation to the support and to the audience, the company's PR policy...), but also those of Web Publishing (format, size, copyrights, text calibration, technical requirements...).

Sure, this is not pure Public Relations with external entities. But, I have learned that this is part of the job. As I am preparing content for a website, the contact with the audience is indirect, but also direct, in the meantime, because it is designed for a website. It is intemporal but calls for an instantaneous dialogue between "us", the company, and "them", the user, visitor, reader.

My task is not that complicated. Yet I have to focus and pick out only the relevant information that will be useful for me in my mission. An internship where there is some room for my own initiatives.

That's it for now! I still got some videos and testimonials to analyse.

Stay tuned, more to come in my next post.

Starting all over... comparison between corporate and NGOs

Hi all,

Here I am again after quite sometime.. but as the title says, I have started all over again.

As I have previously mentioned in my last post (which I made ages ago) I worked as an intern in a corporate PR agency in Malaysia. I was not too happy there, because I had not much to do there except for media monitoring everyday.. so I am not sure if it was luck or anything.. but I had to leave them after 24 uneventful days (with the exception of one event), due to a family emergency at home...

Now I am in Maldives, continuing my internship at the PR section of a national NGO. Though an NGO, it is one of the biggest non-profit organization in Maldives and is involved almost every possible health and social issue facing the country.

The work here is completely different from what I did before in Malaysia. The organization itself is the client in this case. The PR team has to deal with a variety of stakeholders such as investors, philanthropists, international organizations, government and the public, and come up with new strategies, proposals, events and such to attract the public and get them involved in what the organizationn does, as well as attract philanthropists and other sponsors so that the activities being carried out by the organization does not stop.

So far the past four weeks have been hectic. As an intern, I had not only done the usual media monitoring and brainstorming sessions, but written and sent project proposals to two International organizations so that funds could be generated, organized workshops for media and for school teachers (which also included the press kits, writing of releases), made questionair surveys and analyzed it to find out the public reception of the organization and its services and I am told more is to come.

I feel at home here compared to where I was before, and I feel that I am contributing to something worthwile and my efforts are appreciated. Having experienced both, I have to say the corporate world is not for me. Here, I am not only working on the events management side and technical level, but I am also working on the strategic level, actually generating ideas and project proposals not only for long term public health awareness and social services, but also as means of generating funds to keep the NGO going.

Well, thats all for now.. I promise to write more frequently with more news.. If anyone have any question about NGO work, please don't hesitate to ask.

Best Regards,
Imaan
LUCT Malaysia.