Communication outside the office

For a non-governmental organisation, it can be sometimes difficult to invest in proper research especially if there are various campaigns going on, targeting different segments of the population each time.

I recently had two opportunities to be in contact with the target public of the organisation and collect some precious feedback through observation and comments.

For the first occasion, we participated in a high school fancy fair where we were asked to bring a stand and share some brochures with the students. This was the perfect opportunity to promote and sell the book on sexual education launched by PILS. Perfect because both the students and the parents were there and the students were of the right age.

So, at the fancy fair, we started approaching the visitors encouraging them to visit the stand of PILS. At the end of the day, we managed to sell four book out of the 30 we brought. So we were very far from the selling goals set.

Some of the observations I made during that day:

-People found the price a bit too high.

-Some parents were not sure if their children were old enough for a book on sexual education.

-Some people got confused about the content of the book. The book is in fact an adapted version of 'Titeuf, le guide du Zizi Sexuel' but the text in the balloons are written in creole. So, the title can seem a bit intimidating for parents because they do not know how far the explanations in the book can go.

So, the amendments that I would make to improve this situation would be to:

- carry out some research prior to the launching about the price that people would be willing to pay for such a book.

-give the parents some instructions on how to use the book, and whether or not they need to talk to their children about the content of the book and also what could be the best time to do so.

The second opportunity for some feedbackc was offered to me when I attended a session on sexual education delivered by PILS. The sessions were delivered in primary schools and since I was previously asked to work on the layouts of the presentation handouts, I knew what the presentation would be about. It was very useful for me to attend the session though, because I learnt how the session was being delivered and also received by the audience. Also, feedback is collected after each session and the presentation are improved accordingly.

The best moment was when I was asked a few questions by the students. The class being composed of female students only, and the trainer being a man, I was asked to spend some time alone with the students in case they did not want to ask questions to someone of the opposite sex.

So for a few minutes, I knew what it felt like to be a trainer and to be sharing information. I feel now that I know the organisation better.

The small army

Hello I am Visha and I am currently doing an internship at PILS. Prévention Information Lutte contre le Sida (PILS) is a non-governmental organisation that works mostly in the field of prevention and sensitization about HIV/AIDS as well as care of patients suffering of HIV/AIDS. The communication department of this organisation is solid and I can happily say that I have been learning a lot since I started my internship two weeks ago.

This is actually my first time in an office and at first I was pretty sure that office work always meant boredom and routine. But I guess that is the exact reason why I chose to work in the Public Relations field. Since I am here, I have learnt about office etiquette and the importance of a PR person to grasp the organisation’s internal culture as soon as possible. I had to know how to deal with externals, how to give the same image of the organisation as the other employees when I talk and express myself.

Last week, PILS had a press conference to launch a book on sexual education and I had to call journalists to confirm their presence at the press conference. I already knew from my PR classes that it is essential to show to the journalists that you are serious about your work by sending them reminders about the invites. It is also important to know when to call them, because sometimes it depends on the chief editor who has to assign the articles to be covered.

Well, I think that would be all for now. I am just trying to say yes to every task I am offered to do bearing in mind that this is real life. As an intern I get to ask many questions so that is why for the next post, I will be interviewing someone from PILS and write about CSR in Mauritius and how this affects the funding of NGOs.