My project is now live

I was so excited on the first day of my internship when I was given the brief for my own special project and even more surprised to find that I been given a small budget to work with. I could not believe my luck.

One huge advantage of doing my internship with my current employer is already having an understanding of the business and an established network. The Corporate Communications team (in particularly those responsible for the Right Track program), thought it would be beneficial to take advantage of my knowledge and networks to address some issues identified through community engagement. I am glad they did.

In short my project is to help break down the barriers between Transit Officers and at-risk youth. I decided to run a campaign in which Transit Officers could acknowledge the youth’s good behaviour instead of only interacting with them when they are doing something wrong.

Over the following weeks in between my other tasks I developed my communications strategy, designed materials and enlisted help from others to get my project off the ground. The day my ‘Rewards Cards’ arrived from the printer I was excited and could not wait to deliver them to the relevant parties to get the campaign started.

To the left is me with a cheesy grin getting photos taken for the Public Transport Authority’s (PTA) employee newsletter ‘Transnews’.

One of my biggest concerns was that I would not get buy in from the Transit Officers and would not get the degree of participation that I wanted. I was relieved when I delivered the ‘Rewards Cards’ that I was given many comments of ‘what a good idea’ and ‘cool prize’. I felt the extra time I took to go and see the troupes on the line to get their take on the planned promotion and prizes paid off.

The Armadale Line troupes established a Juvenile Liaison Team who is very supportive of not only my project, but other initiatives being run. This is hopefully something that will continue and allow for future points of contacts for those running the Right Track program.

Even though my internship time is up I am still running my project and ensuring it has the desired outcomes. I know many people have commented on networking and building relationships, knowing how important it is. I can say from experience that it can make life so much easier. Do not be afraid to call on them in your working life to ensure the success of a project but don’t forget to say thank you.

To that point I would like to say thank you to the team at Corporate Communications for giving me this opportunity and the Transit Officers who have taken it on board and are rewarding youths for positive behaviour for a bit of positive re-enforcement. Hopefully we can achieve the desired outcomes together.