Don't be afraid of red

Edits can be the hardest hit to your confidence when on your internship.

Every piece of work I did for my supervisor came back to me covered in red. Each time I thought I had nailed a brief it turned out I was still a long way off the mark.

This was for a number of reasons, but the point is I got used to getting feedback. Plus the more I worked, the less red came back to me.

It's just a matter of polishing your work as much as you can and taking on board the changes when they arrive. Interns are so inexperienced, its okay to make mistakes.

By the end of my internship I had my supervisors in stitches with a cheeky article I wrote, which they loved.

Embrace the red pen. It'll make you a better writer.

Getting the GO ahead

Getting the GO ahead
Internal communications

My favourite project of my internship to date has been the drafting and designing of the GO - Transport portfolio staff newsletter. GO is distributed electronically to over 3000 Transport portfolio staff (Public Transport Authority, Main Roads WA and Department of Transport).

The main sections of the newsletter include the cover page, people, projects, a feature, moving together and backchat. The newsletter is eight pages long and needs to have a balance of stories from each of the three portfolio agencies.

I couldn’t believe the length of the process from drafting to publishing the newsletter.

The steps I followed to achieve this were:

1.       Thinking of ideas for stories and creating a story list for the April newsletter with my internship coordinator

2.       Deciding on a primary contact to interview for each story

3.       Collating additional information about each story from agency websites, newspaper clippings and other available sources

4.       Draft each story

5.       Sending to the stories to my Internship Coordinator for editing and approval

6.       Discussing and making any changes as appropriate

7.       Sending the stories to the primary contacts for their changes and approvals

8.       Discussing and making any changes as appropriate

9.       Sending the finalised stories to the designer along with a structure for the newsletter design (sticking within the style guide)

10.   Receiving a preliminary newsletter layout with stories

11.   Completing a round of editing and marking up changes

12.   Sending this document to the Director of the area for his changes and approval

13.   Making and discussing any changes as appropriate

14.   Sending the changes to the designer

15.   Receiving final web and hard copy versions

16.   Arranging for printing for hard copy

 

17. Arranging for website loading for the electronic copy

 

 

Not Quite Text Book PR!

The hours go by so fast during my days on prac! I always worried about whether full time work would drag on, but I'm generally busy doing so many different tasks during the day, that the full day actually goes by pretty fast! It wasn't however, until yesterday at the Colosoul office, did I truly experienced a busy day! A day when you feel stressed, and completely disregard the clock, then finally notice that you have missed your lunch break and will still have to stay back late to get something done. But I felt it was all worth it, because I am starting to get more responsibility, and feel like I'm actually contributing to something.

Yesterday, I had the responsibility of helping with the production of a novel that was written by the Colosoul director and would be sold to raise money for the charity, Child Wise. I had been working with her from the beginning on this project, everything from; editing the chapters as she emailed them to me (all 14,000 words!), kindly, but sternly reminding her keep up to date with her writing and send me a chapter every week or so as well as keeping the corresponding blog up-to-date. My job yesterday was to work to create an aesthetically pleasing novel, so I worked with a Colosoul designer and illustrator to compile the illustrations and text together on Adobe InDesign. Trish, the director, very willingly put her trust in me working on this with the two girls while she stepped out of the office for the day. She hoped to have the book almost complete and ready to send to print, right down to choosing what goes on each page and using the right attributions, and corresponding illustration for each part of the story.

While a lot of these tasks aren't exactly what one would list as a duty for a PR practitioner, I can definitely say I learnt the values of time management, communication and a professional employer-employee and colleague relationship. It may be something that I DIDN'T specifically learn in one of my PR units, but know I will most definitely need.

I am so proud this project is nearly complete, it's been great to see the progress and be involved with it it from start to finish, how she was inspired through her blogging, to writing the chapters, to a complete picture novel with amazing illustrations.

Until next time,

Holly

The Perfect Blend

So it’s now my very last week at PPR and as I sit and write this, all I can think about is where has the time gone?! In theory, a month sounds like a long time but in the fast paced world of PR, I’ve rapidly come to learn that it isn’t.

In my third week at PPR, I spent a lot of time on the road, delivering invitations for an event on behalf of a client. At the time I treated this as a bit of respite from all the work that I still have left to do but with only 2 days remaining to get it all done – I’m now working to a very tight deadline.

 At the end of the week I was also given the task of helping one of the account managers put together a credentials document for the firm. I was given this task based on my ability to write and to perform under a tight deadline, which was definitely the confidence boost I had been searching for. As you might recall from my previous blog entry, my second week at PPR was a tough one in terms of my confidence and belief in my ability to write but undertaking this task has given me a chance to resurrect myself. I got to work on the task immediately by compiling some relevant case studies, which will all be included in the publication and wrote a succinct synopsis of each one. Part of this task will also involve me proofreading the account manager’s work to ensure that there are no spelling mistakes or other grammatical errors. Though I have never edited anyone’s work in a professional capacity, I have nonetheless chosen to embrace this task as yet another opportunity for me to learn and acquire those much-needed editing skills, pertinent to a successful career in PR.

Another aspect that I really love about this task is that to me, it is the perfect blend of both sides of my degree, as not only am I writing for a professional publication, but I am also helping this PR firm carry out its own PR. This fusion of public relations and professional writing has definitely demonstrated how well the two degrees go together and how skills from each are sometimes necessary for performing tasks in this industry.

I am looking forward to this final week and I can’t wait to reflect on what has definitely been an exciting, frightening, educational and enlightening month at PPR.

PR is not for the faint hearted.

Wow my second week has flown by in the blink of an eye and I can’t believe I’m already half way through my internship at PPR!

This week – as expected was also busy, in fact much busier than the last. My calendar on my desktop has quickly become my best friend and my saving grace, reminding me of all the things I need to do and when. This week’s tasks have primarily been public relations orientated which has given me a well-rounded and very real insight into the various duties that PR consultants do in their line of work.

One of these tasks was to write a profile on a mining company for a magazine that PPR produces. As someone who has little knowledge of and no experience in the mining industry, this was definitely a very daunting task. However, with a little of bit of research, professional guidance and a lot of trial and error, I managed to produce a piece of written work that I was proud of and so was the editor at PPR who is going to publish the article in the company’s publication. Needless to say, I was absolutely ecstatic and when offered to write a second piece, I gladly accepted! This task has taught me the importance of versatility in a PR consultancy as it is likely that you will have to write pieces on certain companies, events etc that you have little knowledge about. Research is therefore a very important factor and one that I’m glad is emphasized in all our PR Units at university.

One area that I felt I struggled with this week was working to a deadline. On Wednesday I was given the task of writing a response to a year 12 student regarding the impact of FIFO on rural communities. Again, with little existing knowledge of the industry, I researched previous documents to gain a good perspective of the issue and then set to work. However, because I only had a deadline of two hours to complete the task, I felt like my mind (and more so my ability to write) completely shut down on me under pressure. Although I did eventually get to work, what I produced, I can’t say I was completely happy with.  This ability to work to a deadline is certainly one of the most prominent aspects of the PR industry and one that I’m determined to tackle in the next six months before I graduate.  I’ll be seeking some good advice from the PPR team about what to do when those terrible nerves take over and how to focus when working to such a tight deadline. What are your tips for dealing with deadline stress?

My last major task this week was to produce a media release for a recipient of a grant given by one of PPR’s clients. The idea of writing my very own media release, something I’ve done many times at Uni, really thrilled me but once again I struggled with the pressure of producing something that I expected to be of a high standard.  The media release that I produced was edited and tweaked a little by the consultant that I was doing the work for and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment that my media release had to be altered a little bit to flow better.  After all the experiences I’ve had writing media releases at Uni, I felt that I would know how to write these better than anything else – but the reality this week was different. Although the consultant assured me that I’d done a great job, I just couldn’t help but a feel that I’d let myself down.

One of the Account Managers reassured me further by saying that most media releases, even his, often get tweaked by more senior PR people and that it’s all part of the creative process.

Has anyone else had these experiences before?

I think I just need to remind myself that I am an intern and I still have a lot to learn instead of always being an over achiever and striving for perfection –  it’s simply not realistic or beneficial to my sense of self and self worth!

Despite the sounds of it, I have still had a great week, which has taught me just as much about myself as it has about PR consultancy.  I know now that PR is not an industry for the faint hearted and in order to succeed, you need to stay strong, focused and flexible to the demands of time, clients etc.

I’m grateful that I have had this insight this week into the areas of myself that I need to work on and I am glad for every experience that I have at PPR because it’s all part of a learning journey that I imagine will only continue throughout the rest of my degree and my career. 

Until next time…!

Tick, tock, not much time left on the PR Placement clock!

Last week I had a massive realisation – there are only a few short weeks left til the end of my final semester at uni, which means there are even fewer short weeks left of my internship with Perth Zoo!

This scary thought had me panicking, realising that I have only a matter of days left to finalise and edit my report, and got me thinking about what this means....
My internship with Perth Zoo is drawing to a close and I’m starting to wish that I could freeze time and work on my report for another year, because it doesn’t seem real that I will be handing it in to my supervisor and potentially the CEO next week. But this is the reality of the ‘real world’ and being out of the comfort zone that is uni life.

On the other hand, this week makes me really excited thinking about what I have achieved. I have learnt how to turn something suitable for my uni tutors into something that a real life CEO or manager would want to read, and (hopefully) something that will actually be used by an iconic Perth organisation, how thrilling!
Someone wise once said: “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back”. This I am afraid is very true. The week ahead of me, leading up to my final report being handed over is I’m sure, going to be a very, very stressful one. I have already had a giant red bull and two cups of coffee today in order to keep my spirits up to the tedious but, alas, necessary task of editing.

Another thing that has me worried is (however pathetic) my executive summary... I think back to all of the assignments I have handed in over my 4 year uni career and still wonder how I ever manage to get through these horrendous executive summaries. The reality of this situation is that they are also extremely important. As we have been told countless times by our lecturers, most executives only read this part of the document. This worries me, in that over the massive amounts of information I have put into my actual report, it is my least favourite and probably my least impressive part that will be read.

Anyway, for those of you who are coming to the end of your placements like I am, I hope you have learnt something valuable as well and I will be sure to update you as to how my report looks when it is finished and just how well my executive summary writing goes!

Elle