Applying what you learn at university and putting your skills in practice

Hello Good People J

Three weeks have past and I have two more to go. I know that I should be making a start on my report but I have not got down to it as yet. I have been keeping a daily journal and making notes on what I do everyday. I am still extremely enthusiastic about the work that I am doing at Air Mauritius.

During the second week of my placement, it was a bit quiet as there was not much work to do, but as from last week, it got busy once again and has kept me on my toes. As the days go by, I am growing and becoming moer familiar with internal culture of the organisation. On the Tuesday 6th July, I was asked to prepare a media release as Air Mauritius resumed its flights to Sydney, Australia on Monday 5th July. It is very rewarding to see your work being used at a professional level.

On Thursday, 22^nd July 2010 is the Annual Meeting and this is the most important corporate event of the year for the company. This is when financial performances is discussed, important decisions are made and voting for the new board of directors. I had to prepare a detailed checklist with a clear description of what needs to be organised, who will be in charged of making sure the tasks are completed and the status of the task such as the flower arrangements for the main table, catering, name plates, ensuring the photographer is available and the presence of the media. This checklist was completed today as the event is tomorrow afternoon. In my next blog post, I will give you all more details about the Annual Meeting, however, the preparations and organising is going smoothly so far. This afternoon, the PR department had a site meeting where the Annual meeting will be taking place to make sure everything is in order. The name plate were to small and could not be seen clearly, so I had to make the names bigger and bolder and re-print them. Even the smallest thing counts when its comes to being professional.

Earlier during the week I did a stock take for all the commercial Air Mauritius give a ways that are sent to clients, agents and outstation offices overseas. Once the counting was completed, I proceeded updating the stock list on the database. I also had to dispatch some Business Class Brochures to outstation offices such as France, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, South Africa, Madagascar and Switzerland.

Air Mauritius publishes timetable brochures which contains information about flight timings, routes, frequency of flights and contacts details of all out station offices and cargo information on a quarterly basis. My task was to update any changes in the address and contact details for all local, outstation offices and cargo services. I also had to record the amount of timetables that each outstation manager requires, which will be sent to their regular clients and agents. The timetable brochure also publishes internal advertising, such as sales promotions on flights, car hiring companies and so on. I had to call various organisations for example banking and financial institutes, hotels, jewelry stores and restaurants on whether they are interested in inserting an advert in their brochure.

I am thoroughly enjoying my placement and I encourage you all to make the most of it. This is an opportunity for us to learn and gain in in's and out's of what goes on in public relations. This is what will make us shine when we are ready to go out into the real world and start applying for full time jobs as well as networking.

Tomorrow is the Annual Meeting. I will take a few pictures and share it with you all in my next blog post :) Till then good luck friends!

Cheers

Mansha