In this current world of digital communication and the internet, is there a danger for voice to voice or face-to-face to no longer exist? There is the danger that the key message will be lost when all we do is type a few words to say what we mean. Body language is becoming obsolete. How can we communicate effectively?
Multinational corporations exist over time and space. People are so busy and send an email because it is quicker, easier and more efficient. In one way, they do not get caught up or distracted through conversation, but in another way it limits the opportunity to develop new ideas through interaction or develop new relationships. It can also loose the meaning of sincerity or genuine politenesses.
Having just completed two placements, it was unusual for me to receive a list of requirements electronically and via email. I have always discussed things with my previous bosses as this allows for the creative process, perhaps new ideas or better ways of doing things can be devised.
I have also worked for a corporate organisation with a marketing department in Scotland, Europe and our office is in Perth, Australia. To have any graphic design coordinated, it had to be emailed by the end of the day, and was returned the following morning. If we had to make any changes, we had to wait another 24 hours for things to be resolved. All communication was via email and I have never actually spoken to the marketing coordinator in Scotland.
What are your thoughts?
- Will email replace conversation?
- How can we ensure that we develop good working relationships over the internet?
- How can we allow for creative processes and new ideas to be generated through online means?
- As a PR practitioner, what are the dangers of email to our profession and the way we conduct ourselves?
Blog 4
Government vs. Not For Profit vs. Corporate organisation will become a series of blogs that I will write on. Today I will focus on the getting paid vs. being a volunteer aspect.was previously doing two PR placements: one with government and one for a not for Profit organisation. I wanted to share a comparison with everyone as prior to this, and over the summer break, I was working for a corporate company and was working in a Marketing PR role which I was I was getting paid to do.Corporate
Getting paid to do a role sometimes allows you some freedom. Firstly, you are accountable for your decisions, and secondly, this is what you are getting paid to do. In a small office in Perth, that is part of a medium global organisation, I was give a lot of control, a lot of responsibility, and had to work ten hours a day just to get everything ready for the event. It was a hectic time over the month leading up to the event, but I was so happy to do the extra work as I was really enjoying what I was doing. My boss also rewarded me with a full day off (with pay!), a bunch of beautiful flowers and the offer of marketing position within our Asia Pacific department.
Internships and Volunteers
As an intern, or volunteer with an organisation, it is sometimes difficult to determine your actual role within the company. Volunteers and interns seem to be taken on as additional ‘hands’ – by this I mean that volunteers can quite often feel that they are not doing anything but without them the organisation would have to pay people to do these tasks.. Volunteers help reduce costs associated with any event. For example, you need volunteers to direct guests to toilets, or parking areas or serve food at breaks. Not getting paid, alleviates any responsibility and commitment. There is not real pressure to perform. However, volunteering can be really rewarding when you are doing something for a cause, or helping out at an event that you believe (for example: Earth Hour).Some organisations do not know how to use volunteers efficiently. The not-for-profit organisation that I was working for did not have a clue what to do with a Public Relations intern. Not having a focus on Public Relations in the association, they were unsure what role I could fill or how I could truly benefit the organisations.Volunteers need to know that what they are doing is being appreciated by the organisations.
Here are a couple of questions for you: As an intern, do you feel appreciated? Do you feel that what you are doing is beneficial to the organisation?
I began this placement with government as I was curious if the ‘gossip’ and jokes that you hear about government workers is true. Are they all time wasters? Are they inefficient? How does the government process work? Would I really want to be a government worker?
I now have an opinion. Working for the government can sometimes be so convoluted. I was given a 56 page document that was to be my ‘toolkit’ on my first day of work. This has already expanded to around 70 pages.
To highlight some key areas here is a basic summary of my working day. I should mention that at this point I only work one day per week. The first hour is spent printing off the emails from the previous week and filing them in lever arch files. Then I file all the emails electronically into another set of files (this is what some people call ‘double dipping’: Doing the same thing twice). The next hour is spent reviewing the ‘toolkit’ I mentioned above, to assess my tasks for the day and identify any changes that have been made in the toolkit – as I mentioned this is a 70 page document so it takes a while to read through and try to find the things that have been changed. At the end of each day I have to update this toolkit with any new information and any email that I have sent out. This is another 45 minutes. This equals about three hours of document control per day.
I wonder what the government’s policy is about reducing the use of paper, efficient use of resources and using your time to create value for the public that we serve.
As a point of reflection, I feel this is an extremely inefficient method of recording information. As part of my report I will be putting forward recommendations to highlight these inefficiencies. I feel that I actually get about 4 hours of ‘real’ work done per day.
I understand that government policies require public servants to maintain a set of official government files. This is important for transparency and accountability. Honestly, can’t this be maintained electronically? This experience has allowed me to understand why different government departments become privatised. They are much more efficient!
The use of a toolkit is an excellent form of documentation. However, having all information in the one document is an overload of material.
I feel I could really be using my time more efficiently. Having worked on many events for corporate and private businesses, this is a completely different way of event coordination. I wanted to see what government process were like. Well... now I know!
I have had two meetings with my supervisor and four emails to work out a program for my second placement with PR393. The first questions I ask myself… am I taking on too much? The second is… would I regret not taking this opportunity? So, I am taking on two PR internships!
The DPC is the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Western Australia. My supervisor is the Director of the Northbridge History Project. http://www.northbridgehistory.wa.gov.au/
My first internship is with FACET - Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco Tourism (as I have previously written about) so the link between these two organisation is the interpretation of cultural assets. This creates a nice 'synergy' so I think the two organisations will compliment each other well.
Now back to DPC....At first glance this may appear to be a very demanding position. Initially, it was discussed that I would have a dual role. Firstly to assist with the coordination of an event being the Studies day Workshop where a series of people will present their papers, some are academic scholars, and some are written community members. Secondly I was to undertake general PR for the entire Northbridge History project.
Due to a resignation of the Studies Day Coordinator within DPC, I have now been asked to coordinate the entire Studies Day Workshop on the 25th May 2009. This is indeed a compliment from the Director in that she believes I am capable of managing such an event. But it is also a concern, as the event is at the end of semester when many other things are also coming to a ‘crunch point’. Having worked on many events, I know that the last two weeks leading up to the event are the busiest time, as it is human nature that everyone leaves things to the last minute.
I guess I will just have to ensure that I am SUPER organised this semester!!!!
I should also mention, that my first task has been to write a speech for the Lord Mayor of Perth, to introduce the Studies Day at a formal presentation. Now, that is exciting.
FACET: Forum Advocating Cultural and Eco Tourismwww.facet.asn.auWith a double major in Tourism Management and Public Relations, I have chosen an organisation that is firstly, not for profit, secondly is tourism focused, and thirdly non-governmental. I wanted to work with an organisation that was not driven by government regulations and FACET also participates in advocacy which is an exciting part of the public relations field.
I was driven to return to university as a mature age student because of my interests in both ecotourism and cultural tourism so FACET seemed to be an obvious choice for my placement.
The first item on the agenda for my internship with FACET was to attend the Business Planning Strategy meeting with the Executive Board members of the association. It was a great privilege to be invited to this strategy meeting as the Board were creating their three year business plan for the association.
Whilst the actual meeting itself was more concerned with the wording of objectives, and seemed to be quite menial, this is an important process. Ultimately, this is what will define the business for the following three years. When it comes down to it, the words used are the words that describe the organisation.
The members of the Board represent a diverse spectrum of industry, academia and government bodies. I felt in awe of the people with which I was surrounded and their calibre of experience in the areas of both cultural and ecotourism.
As the organisation is reliant on the members acting in a volunteer capacity, and have only one paid employee, a number of sub committees were formed to allocate the workload. These were:
1. Communications and Marketing committee
2. Website committee
3. Forums committee
4. Conference committee
5. Golden Guide committee
6. Senior Executive committee
I will be working within four of these committees: communications and marketing, website, conference and forums.
The first priority I have is to create a report on how to improve the website. We are also looking for someone to assist in the development of the website in terms of design, so if anyone out there would like to help, or knows someone who has these skills, please let me know.
To check out the website: www.facet.asn.au
These are some of my ideas so far:
· Starting a blog!!!!!
· Generate all newsletters online (there seems to be some resistance to this at the moment); ·· Creating a calendar of events. You can generate the link so that the event can be automatically uploaded to your outlook calender (which I think is fantastic!)
· Encouraging the use of online payments for events through Pay Pal
This is a very exciting to be part of the transition into the digital realm of PR and marketing for an organisation like. Being able to participate in the initial planning stages for the public relations strategy is an opportunity that I am very grateful to have.
