A Big Help. .

I know that I have now done one blog too many but I felt like there was so much more to share about my experiences in the 'real world'. 

Following the oZAPP Award Roadshow I checked off another step in the PR plan I established at the beginning of my placement. The 2012 oZAPP Awards is a competition following on from last years WApp Awards. Both competitions have the same concept, however the competition is now national and is open to all states throughout Australia. 

Following the launch of the winning concept from last years awards, I developed a media release and fact sheet and distributed it to all Western Australian media outlets. Tim and Leon, the winners from last years awards, were at the roadshow event and once again I was able to meet the people I had been writing about so often. Their app, the Big Help Mob, is a fun, creative approach to community service, attracting hundreds of people who had never volunteered their time before, to helping out causes throughout WA. The ABC news report on their app can be found here. For more information on the WApp Awards and the winning app click here. 

Official oZAPP's photo: Left to right: Leon Delpech, Bill Tai and Tim Kenworthy

Once the media release was completed and sent out, my next task was to update the national educational institution database and develop an information pack on the awards that could be distributed to all Universities and TAFE's around the state to generate awareness among university students. These information packs included a cover letter, fact sheet, media release, social media links and poster. 

I also had the chance to challenge myself by writing a package for a client. I spent a day researching and developing pages on the company, the experience of the team and the the proposed establishment. This experience taught me that my writing strength is in PR media and plans and it is a lot less natural for me to write documents of this calibre. Throughout my placement I had the chance to work on them twice and my supervisor sat down with me and went over the way she altered them for the client. I learnt that it is definitely a lot harder for me to get this work out but I definitely want to practice and learn how to do it for the future. 

Being my last week the work load was massive as I worked through to have everything completed! I took out the PR plan i developed at the beginning and had a meeting with my boss about the next steps and how the PR could be altered to attract a larger audience. I also had the opportunity to experience the planning, execution and aftermath of a radio interview that took place and how feedback is given to the client, and social media comments responded to. 

The experience working on this event has been amazing! It has taught me that you can't always anticipate the reaction of the media or the public and that sometimes your original plans need to be altered in order to gain greater success. The concept of the awards is incredible and it focuses in on a developing industry, however for some reason the public and media's interaction has been limited and hasn't taken off as anticipated. I have also learnt that every client is different and you have to speak and deal with them in a way that shows them how integral each part of the plan is without undermining them. On top of all these lessons, one of the biggest lessons I had was at our goodbye drinks. The social media coordinator was on Facebook and the alarms went off and within seconds all three people were on the phone and social media responding to the issue. The lesson: there is no weekend for social media and it is essential that you monitor it at all times. PR does not sleep and you never know what can happen out of the office! 

It may be the end of my placement but its not the end of my experiences at 32DSG. I am staying on a day a week to see how the oZAPP Awards pan out and have been assisting here and there, taking on every learning experience that I can! 

On The Road. .

So I'm nearing the end of my placement and after being sick for a very long time it was essential that I came back strong. Upon my return I was required to draw up the media releases for each state leading up to the national roadshow. These media releases detailed each states event and information on the oZAPP awards. The process of sending out the media releases was long but good practice in searching for the right information and resolving undelivered emails as you go. I spent the whole afternoon glued to my computer until each and every media release was sent.

One of the most important things I've learnt is that the traditional strategies, such as media releases, take a long time, especially updating the databases! But without these there would be a lot of missed out opportunities for promotion. 

During the roadshow week, the spokesperson Bill Tai visited Perth and presented at SpaceCubed. This event was really well organised and took a lot of cooperation and teamwork between staff in Perth and France. This event proved to be a great learning experience as, despite pre-planning, we were faced with communication issues and venue access problems on the day of the event. The person we were working with at the venue failed to assist us (a group of four girls in heels) as we carried six boxes of glasses and alcohol up from the basement. The event ran well and no guests had a clue about the stressful setup! 

Me and the other intern set up a table at the front to check in guests as they arrived and present them with name tags. A simple but essential job at an event. I actually enjoy tasks like that as it gives me the opportunity to organise all the information I have and give me a sense of control. Throughout the rest of the night I helped with tasks here and there and served drinks to the guests. The biggest challenge was packing up the event in time for one directly after when guests still had all our hired glasses! but we found a way around that eventually! 

Not everyone had arrived by the starting time of the event so I continued to check people in while Bill spoke. By the middle of his presentation I was able to listen in and get a feel for the content. This was an eye opening experience as I had been writing the content and working on things involving Bill for so long that it was great to finally have the chance to listen to what he had to say and add to my understanding of the oZAPP's event. There was one particular quote that resonated with me from the presentation. Bill took his passion of extreme sports to compare Lain's theory with a surfing analogy to illustrate why it is timing and not perfection that is the most important factor when developing a company. 

"Starting a company is a lot like surfing. 

There are three places you can be with respect to the wave, in front, on, or behind it. 

If you are behind, it is impossible to swim up the back and get in front to ride, being early feel a lot like being wrong, but if you hit it just right it just takes a couple of easy strokes and you are up and riding." Bill said.

I think this analogy can be applied to numerous life aspects including PR. In PR you have to be in the right place at the right time to be effective. If you let a crisis get out of control it can reach the point of no return and if you come in too early the campaign will not be effective, indeed timing is everything. 

At the end of the night I finally had the opportunity to meet the man I had been writing so much about over the last few months. Bill was a genuinely lovely guy who has immense knowledge in the social media and startup industry. It was a pleasure to meet him and it definitely added to the experience of working on the event! 

Official oZAPP image: Email signature and promo flyer 

Official oZAPP Photos taken by Maya Kavanagh

Bill Tai presenting at Spacecubed as part of the oZAPP's National Roadshow