Taking Charge of a HSE Conference

Hi Guys!

I am in my third last week of my internship in the PR department at INPEX ( A worldwide gas and oil exploration company)

This week sees INPEX hosting a stand at the SPE/APPEA International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment in the Oil & Gas Exploration and Production sector. The conference is hosted by Chevron and is currently being held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Being a large company there is always a lot of health safety and environment issues that need to be adressed and monitored at all times so this conference gives INPEX a chance to share with other industry professionals the measures we take to ensure a smooth running of all our projects as well as updating them on the work we are currently doing and where our major projects are at.

The morning began with us setting up our stand with brochures, an interactive touch screen television that lets participants interact and immerse themselves in the Ichthys project both the off and onshore facilities as well as merchandise and give aways for conference visitors.

The conference got underway and I was beyond nervous, I had been put in the stall with 2 other girls who knew alot more about the project than I did and my supervisor had told me that I would be having to answer questions and talk visitors through our project!

Once the conference started getting busy we were under pressure to speak to everyone who was interested in INPEX and before I knew it I was talking to delegates and exhibitors from other companies like I knew exactly what i was talking about, it really is crazy how much I had retained from my previous weeks of work experience that just came straight back to me when I most needed it.

Having the opportunity to network with high profiled delegates from different companies and countries alike gave me a fantastic insight into just how important networking is within not only the world of public relations but also the business world. Establishing connections and forging friendships with people in these kind of situations can ultimately give you the extra leg up you need when pitching an idea or trying to get a company on board with your project. 

The end of the first day approached and my supervisor let me know just how impressed she was with me, she thought that i was a natural on the stand !

Being apart of a conference like this aswell as the preperation involved really gives me a greater appreciation for the bigger picture of Public Relations. I have two more days at the conference and I cant wait!

Until next time.

Hayley Sarre

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Fremantle Arts Centre - Day 1

Walking through the gates of Fremantle Arts Centre I was filled with a nervous excitement. The gothic building and beautiful courtyard was all to familiar to me from my previous trips to the arts centre for relaxed concerts or contemporary art exhibitions. This trip however had a different air to it, I was filled with that feeling reserved for first days of school and job interviews.

I had loved the Arts Centre ever since I first walked through the gates at 8 years old and watched a medieval fayre complete with princesses and a ‘rock opera,’ so when it came to choosing a place to take my PR Internship it was easily my first choice. The process of applying for the internship was surprisingly simple. After emailing the Communications Coordinator, Kathryn Doust and expressing my interest in an internship with Fremantle Arts Centre she offered me the position instantly and I was given my start date of 16 February 2012, the nerves didn’t kick in until 8:50 the morning of my first day.

Once I navigated my way around the familiar public grounds and into the cavernous admin offices upstairs and finally found Kathryn’s office my nerves instantly vanished. Kathryn shares an office on the top floor of the arts centre with Stephanie, the new communications assistant and Isabel, the graphic designer who’s desk I’ll be using as she only works part time. The view is amazing and the atmosphere is relaxed and creative, a perfect environment for unique and effective ideas.

My first task was media monitoring, an easy one to introduce me to the world of ‘actual PR’ compared to the  University PR that I’m used to. This entailed me going through the week’s newspapers and cutting out all the articles that mentioned Fremantle Arts Centre. I enjoyed this but found myself getting sidetracked by upcoming gigs and exhibitions happening around Perth. These media clippings are used as a reference for future media releases and are sent out to the artists and performers once their exhibition has ended. They also act as a simple and effective way to summarise the print media coverage of an event from an array of community, state wide and national magazines and newspapers.  

After that Stephanie took me on a tour of the grounds. I saw the exhibitions that were currently on display as well as the supposedly ‘haunted’ back rooms that managed to freak me out even at 11 o’clock in the morning. I was taken through the different area’s and told what sort of exhibitions and performances they are used for from the courtyard gigs to the clay moulding classes. Then it was lunch and I found myself sitting in the picturesque courtyard enjoying the world’s largest cappuccino. A lady was sitting in the courtyard writing poems and asked me to choose some words out of a hat and she’d write a poem about me. Everyone in the arts centre is passionate and creative, finding ways to incorporate art into their everyday lives making it a very inspiring and interesting place to work and spend time. 

After lunch I helped Stephanie prepare an acquittal for Shaun Tan. This basically entailed my googling Tan and preparing a list of media appearances, articles, events, reviews and other significant media on him from the past 12 months to then be sent of to his nation wide PR person so that the same angle isn’t pitched twice.

My first day of this internship left me excited for the next 19 days and already I am beginning to see the field of PR I am passionate about and want to pursue in the future.

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