Getting Busy At Main Roads

After a week of research and finding my feet in the workplace. I was asked to formulate a communication plan template for Main Roads WA. This template would be clear and easy to understand and is something that the strategy and communications directorate is leading.

After consultations with my supervisor I was given understanding as to what needed to be achieved. I was told to look at different Main Roads projects, what they involve and how the communication plan could be used. This was no easy task as there are many different projects going on all of different proportions.

Through some research and having a look at some previous communication plan examples I was able to start creating my template. What to include and deciding on the formatting was difficult as Main Roads has strict branding guidelines on how to present documents and the writing style used.

Luckily there are plenty of staff willing to give advice and offer suggestions. I even organised a meeting with the director who went through my draft and made some changes that greatly benefited. She was extremely helpful and I was grateful for her allowing some time away from her busy schedule.

Overall task has been challenging but it applies everything I have learnt through my studies a Curtin University. Similar to case studies at uni but this template was being created to be used as a corporate document. It's a busy task and is one I'm continuing to work on along with other things. So far I'm fairly happy with the content but over coming weeks refining the formatting will be the main job.

New Strategic Direction: A lot to Learn

Main Roads Western Australia where I’m completing my internship, are responsible for Western Australia’s highways and main roads which represent almost 30% of the State’s total assets (About Us, 2014). They’re a government agency within the transport portfolio, which includes the Public Transport Authority (PTA) and the Department of Transport (DoT).

On my first day at Main Roads working in the strategy and communications directorate, I have been asked to attend a collaborative workshop about the company’s new strategic direction. This workshop involved the whole directorate with the focus on understanding the effect of this new strategy.

For me the workshop was a great way to meet everyone in the directorate and understand the different roles of the people I will be working with over the next few weeks. I got to contribute my thoughts in some of the group discussion as well, by using my external views as a Curtin PR student. It definitely gave me a greater understanding of what Main Roads hopes to achieve as well as why things are changing for the better at Main Roads.

These workshops were to be carried out across the whole of Main Roads which involves all directorates and all the regions. It was a great example of internal communication and showed just how important it is for Main Roads to ensure all employees are engaged and aware of the new strategic direction.

It was a great experience but I definitely still have a lot to learn, as there are some exciting times ahead at Main Roads.

References:

About Us. 2014. https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/AboutMainRoads/AboutUs/Pages/AboutUsHome.aspx

Some tips to remember when trying to get the media's attention

Having now built up some (almost four years) experience in the PR industry, it is great to know that I can use my skills to help others. The last couple of weeks I have been involved in helping a friend with a media kit for an art auction she is currently organising. With all proceeds raised going towards to Spinal Cord Unit at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital.

I was able to offer Jocelyn some advice about media relations and getting the right story to the right journalists etc.

I started with an interview with her to find out everything about the art auction, her story after suffering a neck break which led to sudden quadriplegia, the local artists who will be involved on the night and picked her brain for any other information she was able to provide to me.

From there I went about producing a media release, a backgrounder on the not-for-profit known as CORD, a backgrounder on Jocelyn and the list and details of all the artists involved on the night.

Jocelyn and I also worked together to form a media list we could send the information out to.

I have used different angles, such as focusing on Jocelyn being a Mt Lawley local, her injuries, the event and the local artists involved.

Some tips I have learnt over the past four years:

• Never send out a blanket email and media release to all the media at the same time.
• Make sure the content is worded to be as relevant to their readers as possible (ie not all outlets will use the same angle)
• Research who the best journalist is to approach - read about the stories they have already written and be familiar with their style and topics
• Make sure images are provided as thumbnails, or in very low-res the first time to help gain interest, but not clog up the journalists inbox - the high-res versions can always be provided at a later stage, if the outlet is interested
• Same goes for making sure the files aren’t too big (large emails are often blocked by servers or if they do come through then they can annoy journalists and slow down their email
• Make a follow up call
• Follow up journalists without harassing them
• Make sure the date is current - sometime when media releases are first written, by the time the approval process goes through, several days has passed. Therefore the release doesn’t look breaking

I am currently emailing the media kit out to a number of WA media including newspapers, magazines and bloggers.

However my media release has been written word for word on the Visit Perth City blog, which I’m pretty excited about. You can read it here: http://visitperthcity.com/events/cord-art-auction-music-gig-fundraiser

While Jocelyn is the key to this event. I will be volunteering all that I can from now, until the event. I was going to helping out on the night, but as I am off to Malaysia for Globcomm, I will make sure l follow up after the event to try for post-event coverage.

For any of you wishing to attend the event, the details are as follows:

Cord Art Auction /Gig/Fundraiser

Date: Saturday, 6 June 2015

Time: From 6pm

Venue: Whippersnapper Distillery, East Perth

Further information about the event and purchasing tickets can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/782433385168442

How to write a blog when you don't understand the topic

This week I started writing my first blog post for the organisation, which we are hoping will lead into an upcoming feature article we have in the tech-savvy magazine – iStart. You can check it out here istart.com.au to see what it's all about!

I’ve written blogs before at my previous job, but I was quite excited to be provided with the opportunity to write one for UXC Eclipse.  However it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t know much about what I was meant to be writing about. Sure I had read our recent White Paper on the topic, but that definitely didn’t make me an expert or thought leader.

However, as I reflect, this is a constant battle us ‘PRers’ have to face. 

Most days we are asked to research and write something, usually for someone else. Media releases with made up quotes that are later signed off, speeches. presentations, backgrounders, this list goes on!

When working for a consultancy, when a client wants something written (and usually written fast) you are suddenly required to write in a certain field. Be an expert if you will, in an industry you only touch base with occasionally, but the client expects you there to write about an organisation, a topic, a project like you’ve been there for the last 20 years.

For me now, even though I only work in the one industry – ERP/IT I have only been here for four months, and that’s definitely not enough time to be an expert.

I therefore have to research hard and fast, ask the right questions and just get on with the job. I usually first reach for what an organisation has done in the past and get a feel for the writing style and subject and then go from there.  As always Google is most definitely your friend to try and find out all the information that’s available out there and make sure what we’re writing is adding value to the conversation and not just more noise.

Sometimes it can be quite tricky, but if you persist, you can often get it. I’ll keep working on the customer-centricity blog this week and once its finished off,been looked over by my director and published online,  I will try and post up here so you can check it out.

In the meantime, the customer-centricty blog was sparked off by the back of an article which you can find here:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/how-woolies-and-david-jones-are-challenged-by-war-babies-and-millennials-20150429-1muvbh.html

Perfect timing as we have a current focus on the retail industry.

And although I knew this will be attributed to someone else, I’m just really glad to be provided with the opportunity.

It's time to step up to the challenge!

Hi everyone.

I am currently doing my internship at a company called Momentum Forum Events, a small company responsible for some pretty big events including the Annual Pink Ribbon Ball and the Perth Pet Expo (my excitement levels for this event are going through the roof!). 

I had heard a lot from previous students about what they had done while working there, much of which consisted of liaising with sponsors and exhibitors for various events, which meant a whole lot of making phone calls and I am unreasonably terrified of making phone calls (Ill let you all know how that turns out). However this internship meant finding a role which would challenge me and push me to new limits so I decided that this was the role for me. 

I stepped into this internship not having any idea what would be expected of me which quite obviously made me a sack of nerves on my first day! I got thrown straight into the craziness as the first event (the International Woman's Day Luncheon) was only a few weeks away and I had to be prepped on everything and everyone that this event was about. Considering every single event held by Momentum Forum Events is HUGE, it was a lot of information to take in and once I had my very brief but comprehensive introduction it was straight into the work. I remember my first day feeling as if I had only been there for 2 hours by the time I had finished an 8 hour day. 

I very quickly had to learn to think on my feet as we regularly got called together to brainstorm ideas for new ways to make the events better. It is always very exciting to see my ideas get used especially knowing that hundreds of others will get too see and experience my ideas also. I also very quickly learned that time is very sacred in this crazy world of events and somehow you have to learn how to squeeze 15 hours of work into a small 8 hour day. The day doesn't start at 9 and end at 5, especially as the event get closer. We regularly found ourselves not even realising that home time had come and passed.

As much as what I thought I knew a lot about events and PR, I quickly got reminded about everything I still need to learn to make it in this crazy world which I will share with you in the weeks to come.

I'd like to leave you all with a quote to keep you motivated to take on the challenges in this exciting time of our lives:

Until the next post...

Taila Sheppard
16109948

On to New Beginnings

Reflecting back on my journey at Global Hand Charity, it has definitely been a roller coaster ride. I have had my fair share of ups and downs. Public Relations has its good and bad sides.

Interning for a not for profit organisation that has no Marketing or Public Relations department was a BIG challenge. If there was one thing I would have done differently,I would have created a PR Plan to provide more guidance and reach its goals and objectives.

Learning about how there are individuals living in third world communities that do not have the opportunities to education like Australians do. It did make me realise how lucky I am have the chance to go to school and freedom to choose my career path.

I did go through a period where I felt like my motivation and purpose interning at Global Hand charity was at a lost. Not knowing what I was doing was actually helping the charity or if the work I was completing was indeed PR.

Public Relations is something that organisations should view as a professional service.They do not understand the nature and benefits of what it can do. You can work on any budget or no budget, and get the same results if you approached an advertising or marketing agency.

This was a great opportunity to see how I could apply my theoretical knowledge to the "real world." And it is safe to say I NEED MORE EXPERIENCE. I would love to experience life in public relations consultancy.

To those who are just starting their internship enjoy every moment, even the bad times.


Thank you kindly,

Maria
15508764.

If It's Not Newsworthy Or Interesting, Don't Bother

Writing a press release is something that every Public Relations practitioner knows how to do.

Interning at a not-for-profit organisation that does not have a Marketing or Public Relations department. Writing and distributing press releases became an important part of my journey at Global Hand Charity.


The difference between a good press release and a bad press release is that good press release ALWAYS GET NOTICED. You may get a phone call from the journalist or publication it was sent to, or stumble upon an article that is similar to a press release you sent out.


I would love to say that my press releases got published, but that was not the case. This experience made re-analyse the current situation of charities and not for profits in Perth. October is the month for Telethon and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So for a small, lesser known charity it was hard to "compete" with these other charities being more prominent in all media publications.

Every day journalists and newspapers are receiving hundreds of press releases. Only the most interesting and newsworthy ones are chosen.even then if there is no space for a quick story, BAD LUCK.

Although it would have been great to have a press release that I wrote get noticed from a journalists, I did receive get advice from a reporter that changed my focus and look at MY WRITING and see how it can improve.


Until next time,

Maria
15508764.

Building An Online Community

A community is made up of individuals and groups of people who all have a common interest, as either a stakeholder or general public.  A group of people with a common interest in a not-for-profit organisation are:

• Committed to the cause of the not-for-profit organisation;
• Believe in the core values of the not-for-profit organisation;
• Wanting to be more socially responsible; and
• Wanting to give back to their community. 

This is why it is crucial as public relations practitioners to be able to create an online community in today's digital world. Whether its through social media, its own website, phone apps and digital newspaper publications. 

In my second week interning at Global Hand Charity (GHC), I was going through the website looking for information on a media release that I was preparing, when I noticed it had "NO HISTORY SECTION. " 

I was quite shocked by this discovery. 

How are stakeholders and the general public supposed to know the origins of Global Hand Charity and why the charity was established in the first place...

So I made it my mission to create a History page for GHC. 

After having a meeting with the Founder and Vice Chairperson, and asking a load of questions about the history of Global Hand Charity.  I took a couple of  hours to look at the content and style of the site, as well as competitor website's to grasp an idea of what should be included in the section. Being in charge of creating a new page for the site was a new learning skill for me. So it take me a few days to fiddle around with until I was happy with the final product. 

Global Hand Charity History

The page is brief, but enough for any one to understand the origins of GHC. The charity has not been around for six years, so they do not have a longer history compared to other not-for-profit organisations with similar services. As time goes by and the years pass, more content will be added to the page. 

Global Hand Charity does not have a strong online presence in regards to its social media. They do have a Facebook page with more than 300 likes. One third of all their posts are reached but each like is most likely to receive less than 10 likes. GHC post content at least twice a month, depending on current projects taking place in Laos. The challenge as a PR practitioner is to figure out how to engage those who are aware of GHC to like and share the post. Thus, creating more buzz and awareness among the Perth community. 

It is crucial for the Global Hand Charity to be able to create and maintain an engaging online community.  If an organisation wants to increase its brand awareness and knowledge among its intended audience, this is a must. It may take a while and carefully thought out strategic communication, but it will pay off in the end.