Hi guys,
It’s Reshma from Charles Telfair Institute, Mauritius. So, first of all let me answer the one and only question! I am doing my PR 393 internship at the Central Electricity Board of Mauritius (CEB), which is actually the sole electricity provider across the island.
The Central Electricity Board (CEB) is a parastatal body wholly owned by the Government of Mauritius and reporting to the Ministry of Renewable Energy and Public Utilities. Established in 1952 and empowered by the Central Electricity Board Act of 25 January 1964 The CEB's business, demand for the set up and carry forward various development schemes, with the objectives of promoting, coordinating and improving the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity in Mauritius.
Am actually, working in the Public Relations and Communication Department on the whole. It’s been already 19 days I am in the working segment and I can say that it’s a very good experience. I get to meet people make myself a good contact book in fact.
The very first week of my internship, I was working with the Public Relations Officer Mr. Raffick Elahee at La Poudrière, Port Louis and for the short lapse of time I’ve spent with him I could learn the basic of the PR practices. In fact, when I was there one day, a host of Radio Plus called him, to deal with a auditor’s complain against the CEB and he instantly had to respond to this problem. I could see his tact and swiftness when he talked to that client, live on radio. As we have always been learning, as PR aspirers, we should always maintain a good relationship with the media people. In this case, the PRO indeed, maintained a very good relationship and easily managed such an issue.
Similarly, one day he had a press conference with The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, whereby he had to get all the required information about a customer’s issue. Before that, he had to gear himself with the appropriate facts and figures to be able to give the right info to the public. Consequently, when he asked for certain concern information, the Customer Service Officer of the Port Louis branch explained something and the Area Manger something completely different. As a PRO, there are no grounds for him to wrong or mistaken.
Now, who to trust and what to understand???
Uhhmm… he simply called both of them and asked them to clarify and give him the right, exact explanation, which was in fact the right way to solve his problem. These are actually things that we learn at work, small things which seem petty but which are very important to avoid errors.
Next to that, I’ve moved to Curepipe where I’ve met the Customer Service Manager who is the in charge of customer services, communication and so on. He directed me to the Communication Officer in line with the Senior Customer Service Officer as they actually do the main PR/Communication tasks. From here, I’ve been assigned some tasks. They actually assigned me to do a survey on Customer Services Island wide. This was indeed a good experience. I got to meet people; of course, I’ve met nice people as well as bad tempered ones. But this is the rule of any job and after all PR means contact with the public isn’t it? So we have to face it…: )
What else I can tell you… uhhmm
Yea, the CEB has been and is working on the campaign of saving energy. Its last attempt was successful but following the survey’s result it seems that much more need to be done. So, I’ve designed 2 leaflets; one to be distributed in public premises and one with the appropriate messages for school children. Likewise, they also wanted to do something to keep people more informed about all electrical precautions which should be taken during bad weather and cyclones. Henceforth, I’ve designed a leaflet and a brochure to address this topic. These are still in queue to get approved by the board.
My next step will be to complete my report on the Customer Service survey. I have also been able to attend on meeting with the engineers and managers. I have been able to see how they keep an open ear to each other as well as how they work in teams and all.
Next week I will be shifting to the Communication Officer’s office. I will be assisting him with the CFL project(Energy Saving Campaign). They are planning to continue the campaign with more innovative approaches to help people realize the importance of saving energy and fight against the global issue of global warming…
So that’s all for now… Hope all of you PR guys are having fun at work, J
I’ll certainly come up with more feedbacks and new experiences to share with you, in the coming days, till then take care.
Your comments are most welcome…
Cheers
Resh
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