A First Look into the Real World of PR

Mikayla Wearne 17081270 - Bentley


Hey everyone,

I have just completed the first week of my internship and this is my story so far!

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Friday the 1st of July, just two weeks after I had been told that I had been successful in attaining an internship in KL at Go Communications. This gave me the weekend to get to know the two other girls also completing an internship with GO, gather my bearings and explore the main city. Monday crept up fast and I was nervous going in on my first day, I was in another country and had no idea what to expect. To my delight we were warmly welcomed and each assigned to a team. There are 3 teams at GO, A-Team, Elite and Vuvuzela, I was placed in A-team. Each team has a list of clients they are responsible for, they conduct many different types of PR for these clients which is great because it means there is a lot of variety and lots to learn.




We were shown around the office which is medium in size, with around 30 employees. We were introduced to everyone, including the CEO Paul De Krester who is from Australia, his father, Michael De Krester was the CEO before him so it is almost like a family here, everyone seems very close.


We were then each given a desk with a computer and phone and given instructions on how to create a GO Communications email, how to access the intern folders, how to use the printer and scanner and what we should do everyday when we first come into the office. Everyday I needed to conducted online media monitoring too look for news mentions of the clients, media monitoring was an activity I had heard lots about but never actually conducted myself. I was told to use key words from any recent events or press releases sent as a benchmark for my searches and if that was not applicable, to do a general search including a search of key sponsors involved.










At lunch time I joined my team at a traditional Malay restaurant where I was able to try some local traditions and get to know my team members on a more personal level.



After arriving back in the office after lunch I was introduced to traditional media monitoring. Looking at every newspaper and magazine released on that day I was to search for news mentions of the clients, their competitors, mentions of their industry area and anything press related in regards to their company. After these had been found, I was shown how the articles needed to be presented for the clients’ records, I was shown how to find the PR value of these articles using a formula and made use of the Media Planning Guide.




The next day I was introduced to the process of compiling monthly reports for GO’s clients, these reports included an executive summary, overview of key activates, an activity time sheet, media effectiveness index, media coverage breakdown, press coverage and industry related news. This was all new to me as I hadn’t complied reports like this throughout my studies before. My main job for my second day was to complete the media coverage, press coverage and industry related news spreadsheets for the reports. This was quite a tedious job but nether the less I still enjoyed it and it defiantly gave me some new skills and knowledge.

As my first week was leading up to the Hari Raya festive season which is a “festive breaking of the fast,” I had the opportunity to gain a true understanding of this important tradition and look at some of the festive events our clients were hosting. At the beginning of my second week I helped create a note to the editor, event release and event listing for one particular clients’ “Open House Hari Raya Celebration.” I really enjoyed this task as I was able to convert my learning into practice and for the first time ever actually create these documents for real-life clients. I'm really excited to attend this event on Saturday and see first hand how an event like this plays out.

Ready, set, go!

For the past two days I have completed my induction for Alcoa at its Pinjarra Refinery, which means I am now able to start my internship next week! I am really excited to work for Alcoa - this is actually my dream employer. I had the opportunity to complete my work experience with their community relations team during in high school and that was one of the primary reasons I chose to study public relations. I will start at the Booragoon office on Monday for four days then continue one day a week at various sites, particularly with Wagerup's community relations team again (located in Waroona).

Most of the induction covered information that was irrelevant to my internship given that I will be working in the office and not on-site, covering health and safety for working on the refineries or mines. However, I gained a great of knowledge from my induction. I was able to better understand what activities Alcoa does within the public relations field including their major partnerships, awards, media policy and employee volunteerism. I realised they are an industry leader in a variety of areas, especially environment and community development. Did you know that they have one of the longest and most successful environmental partnerships in Australia? They recently celebrated their 30 year partnership with Greening Australia. I am excited to learn more about their community contributions and success stories to develop my abilities in this area.

I also learnt a lot about the aluminium industry and the company. For example, I think it is pretty incredible that 75% of the aluminium that was first developed by Alcoa is still in use today! Also that Alcoa are currently the only company that is involved in every stage of the aluminium-making process. I bet you didn’t realise just how much you use aluminium - it’s used for trains, cars, laptops, mobile phones, DVDs, outdoor furniture, bottle tops and, of course, beverage cans. These were just some of the interesting facts I learnt, so I am really looking forward to what the remainder of the internship will bring. If you want to learn more about Alcoa, you can follow this link.

Wish me luck for my first day in the office.

A small, powerful engine of a well-oiled resources machine:

Inside Communications & Media at the Department of State Development

Having been a Project Manager at the Department of State Development for approximately five years now, my eyes were widened on Tuesday at my induction meeting with the officers responsible for communications and media at the Department!

The Communications and Media Unit is essentially made up of two staff members - who each directly report to the Director General. Having only two staff members does not mean that the responsibility of the Unit is in any way diminished however; it means those two team members must be very good at their job!

The Department of State Development is responsible for the facilitation of Western Australia's major resource projects, for the most part funded and developed by the private sector.  Wondering what might fit into that bucket? Perhaps you have heard of the Wheatstone LNG Project, being developed by Chevron? Or the Roy Hill Project, being developed in Port Hedland by Gina Rinehart? These major resource projects may be funded, constructed, managed and operated by private companies, but the State plays its role in 'keeping them honest.' Each project has stringent approvals to obtain, including: environmental approvals (State and Federal), financial guarantees, local content obligations, impact management to name a few.  The Department of State Development plays the primary role in guiding and facilitating these approvals for the private company.  The Department's website (created and published by the Communications and Media Unit) provides further context on the agency's core business.

So, where does Communications and Media fit into this mix? At my induction meeting with my supervisor, Natalie and her co-worker, Rick, I learned the role of the Unit is vital to internal communications - with the Department's Intranet and Internet to manage, the jointly-produced "Prospect" magazine to design and publish, media enquiries to handle - from newspapers, radio, the Minister's office, and investment opportunties for Western Australia to promote, for example, the 18th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas, being held in Perth from the 11th to 15th April, 2016. The LNG 18 event promises to be a significant showcasing opportunity for Western Australia as a 'LNG hub' of the world.

I am embarking on this internship experience very excited about the new insights I will gain from an organisation I have been proudly a part of for so long.  Meeting with Natalie and Rick has filled me with confidence that I will brush up on all of my public relations skills, use my natural creativity (that is not always readily usable in the Department), and receive useful feedback and supervision during the experience.  I am also sure I will learn far more about other teams across the Department - especially the area responsible for investment attraction.  In a time when the 'mining boom' has eased, iron prices are down, and there are much fewer major resource projects being actively developed in the State, the Government needs to work hard to ensure that the private sector recognises what is unique and optimal about doing business in Western Australia.


My impression so far of this small, but powerful engine room that is Communications and Media is that they play an integral role in that job!