Hi everyone,
I'm well into my third week at Kings Park and the implementation of the festival is in full swing. The office was very excited this week after the boab tree from the Kimberley was planted on Sunday. The arrival of the tree and the planting ceremony received widespread coverage and made page 3 of the West Australian. Having done many pr and advertising units, I understood what great publicity this was considering how much a half page article and large colour photo in prime position would ordinarily cost. Needless to say I was very excited about it. It was interesting to note that the event also received some negative publicity in regards to the amount of money spent on it's transportation. It was argued on talkback radio that this money could have been better spent on the health system rather than a tree and caused a bit of public debate. Despite this, our department believed that "any publicity is good publicity" and it even generated an Alston cartoon. Considering the many bad exaamples of media relations we have been shown at uni, I would big to differ with this comment.
Over the last few days I have been kept busy sourcing more images for media releases, finding editorial contact details to enquire about possible coverage and doing some basic filing and data entry of festival details. I've also learnt to mail merge (which is so very convenient when doing a big mail out) and organised a mailing list for festival participants. A menial task but it certainly plays an important role in upkeeping community relations.
As the focus of my role has extended to helping the media consultant, I conducted some phone interviews with presenters holding workshops at this year's festival. It was a first for me and I found the most beneficial skill was to ask the question and allow them to talk for as long as they liked. Obviously this meant probing them at times when they got off topic, but generally it provided additional information that may not have been uncovered if I had consistently interrupted them. It was a great experience and I found all presenters were more than happy to cooperate, which definately helped get some useful answers.
I am currently working on some wording to go on the new signs around the newly sponsored Variety Pavillion. I was given several documents on the parkland area and have to extract the most interesting points to be displayed on the sign. I was reminded again today of how pr aims to uphold a positive image when one of my ideas was rejected. I had written a paragraph about a particular set of trees and the role they had played in the park since 1917, however I was unaware that they are perceived to create a seedy atmosphere and have been known to attract undesirable characters to the area. As a result, Kings Park are trying to dispel this image and are having them removed. Goes to show the importance of perception.
2 comments:
hello chantelle,
Im Delphine Richard from Mauritius, i was happy to read your post because i am kind of engaged in the same work as you but in a wider dimension, you are working for the rebranding of a park and i am working for a forest, we are trying to replant endemic tress in this forest and revalorise its ecosystem.
We are both working to gain the more publicity possible about an event, for sure you will not only have positive publicity because everything you do is going to please some and displease others.I think that you can never please everyone because you will not be able to think of all the possible negative effects that may arise when doing a campaign.
Concerning the databases i am also doing this and it is reaaaalllly boring but in fact it is essential for a PR department to have its up to date database of contact details, it will surely save them time next time they have to organise an event, the only problem is that people change work and status so it has to be constantly updated in order to have an efficient one.
Regarding your story about the new "aspect" that you proposed for the park, when you are new in the business it is difficult to have a good vision of what the others want but with time and more research you will surely be able to have it. Researching about the topic and the stakeholders, is the starting point when proposing new ideas for a project.
cheers
delphine
Hi Chantelle
After reading through your post, I must say that you have definitely experienced and gained a lot through this internship that you are going through at Kings Park. You seem to be involved in so many kinds of work, which is such a bonus.
I agree that sometimes in Public Relations there will exist negative publicity from the media. Even though we might think that we are doing the right thing, some people have their own opinions and it is a normal thing to receive negative reactions from some. However, in my opinion, that should remain as a lesson and an inspiration to do better in the future.
Wishing you all the best in your internship!
Asha
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