Sine Communications first blog, day four!

My name is Ashlee Crabbe and I have just commenced my PR393 placement at Shine Communications, which is basically a one-woman-show run by Ruth Simpson from her home in Marmion. Ruth is a highly experienced PR consultant who is originally from and trained in the UK but has been working for herself in Perth since around 2001. One thing that really impresses me about Ruth is that she started her business after volunteering for the Shenton Park Dogs Home and did some PR work for them. Through recommendations Ruth has built up the client base she has now and has never once had to advertise her business. Shine Communications has a huge number of clients including BHP Billiton, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation and a number of aged care providers including leading body ACSWA and facilities such as Uniting Church Homes, Braemar and Amana Living.


One notable thing that I learnt early on is that yes, organizations such as BHP and PMH would have their own in-house corporate PR and communications teams, however they hire Ruth on a contractor basis to work on projects that they don’t have time or the resources to handle themselves. For both of these organizations Ruth works on monthly newsletters, as I’ve witness early on this is a huge task in itself!

It might also be helpful if I note my own history, I am studying PR and Journalism as part of a Mass Communications degree so I am very interested in the Media Relations side of PR and like to think of myself as quite knowledgeable about the media. I have recently completed a Journalism Placement at Community Newspaper Group writing for the Southern Gazette and Canning Times, as well as my part time job I have held for nearly a year working at WAtoday.com.au. When applying for this position at Shine Communications, I used this as a selling point as I have made a few contacts in the media especially at these organizations. It’s definitely something I have used a lot already, even in my first four days!

So in my first four days at Shine Communications I have participated in a number of activities alongside Ruth including working on press releases, PR brochures and attending client meetings. Being just the two of us I have a lot of hands-on experiences and I’m looking forward to seeing projects through from their inception.

Initially I started writing press releases for Ruth, usually on topics we are directing at Community Newspapers. There are two notable releases that I’ve written and seen results for that I am proud of. The first was on the Braemar Village Christmas Child Appeal which has made it into the Melville Times today (Tuesday April 10).

The second was a press release I wrote for the Shenton Park Dog Refuge, which had a great news hook as the President of the centre alerted Ruth that for the first time in their history the centre was at capacity and had to turn away owners who were trying to surrender their pets. Ruth had a huge response from this, including coverage on Channel 9 and various radio stations, but I was most proud of my own contacts at WAtoday getting to the refuge and filming this story http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/dog-home-over-capacity-20100805-11hwv.html?autostart=1

There have been many other things that have happened these past four days including meeting with a client “Community Vision” and working on two releases and a brochure that was discussed in the meeting. Otherwise we have been working on a number of other projects which I will discuss in my next blog, one is an exciting PR stunt which we are holding tomorrow!