Think On Your Feet!

As many of you have mentioned in your own blog posts, the field of Public Relations encompasses such a diverse range of tasks that sometimes you forget that what you're doing is actively contributing to the Public Relations of a firm. I experienced this last week when I was asked to come along to the filming of a new episode of Hello Darlink! with Rob Broadfield. Hello Darlink! is a sub project of Momentum Forum Events, using YouTube as its core platform to showcase extraordinary people through a series of interviews. The interviews are all unique in their own way, not only because they involve a new person each time but also because they aim to share a variety of experiences through each person.

In the latest episode of Hello Darlink! Rob Broadfield was interviewed to share his experiences in his plethora of careers as well as his battle with cancer. The filming of the episode was carried out by a very small team of only two video producers, Barbara, Rob and myself, with the background assistance of the sponsors of the episode, Ferguson Alfresco Lifestyle. My role on the day was to capture as many social media worthy pictures as well as going through the scripted questions with Barbara before filming began.

During the preparation for the filming on site, I sat with Barbara and read through the script out loud to ensure that everything made perfect sense as well as being entertaining and engaging for the future YouTube audience. As English is Barbara's second language, another task was to ensure that not only did everything flow smoothly for her, it would also make sense to an English speaking audience. We also decided to make slight changes to many of the questions to lighten the tone of them. In particular, questions surrounding Rob Broadfield's experience with cancer brought the tone of the interview down. To counteract this and to ensure the overall tone of the interview was positive and uplifting, we followed it directly by asking 'When are you happiest?'. It was many simple decisions like this that allowed for a smoother interview, as well as creating the right tone and impression through the interview.

As with all major projects, there were a few hiccups along the way. Despite not being in the traditional PR environment, there was definitely a crossover in skills that allowed the team to keep things on track even when things started to go wrong. Quick thinking was the first skill to take the forefront when a key part of the episode was undeliverable. Not only did we have limited time frame between arriving on site and beginning filming, using creative thinking to search for an alternative as opposed to scrapping the idea completely was also key.

The entire day was high intensity and time frames were strict. The pressure of these restrictions definitely pushed me to think faster and more creatively, something I'm incredibly grateful for. I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced so many different aspects of Public Relations and Events Management throughout my degree and I can't wait to further refine my skills as a PR Practitioner as my internship continues.

Happy interning everyone!
- Jess

Hungry for Change

Today was probably the most interesting and rewarding day I have had at Networking WA so far, and without a doubt the most enjoyable. Every year Networking WA works with Homelessness Australia to organise and promote Homeless Persons Week WA.

This is something I had been helping to work on since my first day at Networking WA when I was asked to find a company who could produce “Dollhouse-esque” donation boxes to be placed in shopping centers (no easy task let me tell you), so to see it all come together was truly amazing.

Our first port of call for the day was the Homeless Persons Week conference at Perth City Farm. At the event I took on the position of a waitress (something I’ve had plenty of experience at) and offered refreshments and snacks to all attending. Aside from being at an incredibly cool location, speakers we heard from were inspiring and really broadened my perspective on being homeless. The event wrapped up a little before lunchtime and then it was time to head into the city.

Next we visited the photography exhibition by Stuart Holden, titled “Humans of Western Australia”. The installation was displayed within in Brookfield Place in the Perth CBD. Humans of Western Australia a photography blog Stuart runs inspired by the incredible photography blog Humans of New York.

As part of Homeless Person’s week Stuart came together with Lotterywest and Homelessness WA and put together a series of photographs featuring some of WA’s homeless population. These photographs were presented alongside captions detailing a little bit of each persons story which resulted in an experience equal parts chilling and beautiful, and humbling to say the least. (You can find some of the photos on his Tumblr if anyone is interested - http://humansofwesternaustralia.tumblr.com)

Last up we visited the “roving soup kitchen”- which is essentially exactly what it sounds like. For Homeless Persons Week a team volunteers of volunteers will be running a soup kitchen outside of Brookfield Place selling soup cooked by some of Perth’s best chefs – every day a different soup by a different chef from some of most glamorous restaurants (hopefully the irony of the gourmet soup kitchen is not wasted on anyone). The funds will of course go towards fighting homelessness, but the campaign is about more than that – raising awareness and creating something that people cannot easily ignore. 

I will post a photo of the soup menu so you can get a better grasp of what I am talking about (we had the minestrone if anyone was wondering).

I hope you’re all enjoying your placements!

Naomi