LEBO MOITOI................PR GLITZ & WORK!

This has been the busiest 3 weeks of my internship. We had to prepare for the World Press Photo (WPP) event.WPP is non-profit organization based in, the Netherlands. It is the public showcase of photojournalism that displays the visual creativity of the profession.

This was a very challenging task because this was a high class event that was brought to KL by the Dutch Embassy therefore this meant that the guest list consisted of Ambassadors, chief justices and all the important people in Malaysia. Firstly there were more than a thousand invitations and because they were going to be courier we had to fill in the details and more than a thousand couriers slips up manually. But that turned out to be the easiest task ever because what came after that was a handful. Doing the RSVP,s was the worst ever because initially people were supposed to RSVP only until the 5 Jan but they didn’t so we had to call them up to make sure that they indeed did receive the invitation, and it was only when there was a day left to the event that they started to RSVP and they did it using every means of communication available: via fax, telephone ,Emails and some even courier their responses and we had to key in those who had confirmed their attending to the spreadsheet and compiling information from 4 different sources was not an easy task and my manager kept on stressing and emphasizing that"there is no room for mistakes in PR,at all."

We wrote 2 press releases and did 3 speeches for the Minister of Tourism, Malaysia and Managing Director, TNT Express Malaysia & Brunei and a media briefing document that contained all the necessary information about the event and the people behind it for the media. We also did the program and any other document which was for the event or about the event.

On the day of the event, just out of nowhere ,my manager asked me to prepare a media kit for the media in a goody bag and I didn’t panic because I had leant in school what a media kit is and what it contains and I was happy to do my task to the best of my ability. We all had mixed feelings on the day of the event. As tiring as it was we had to make sure that all went well and smooth. Everything was set and in order and I personally was in charge of media registration.

I’m happy to report that the event went smooth, the exhibition is on until the 27 of Jan and the media really did a wide spread on the event.

THE MOST IMPORTANT thing that I have since realized is that in PR we need the media for our survival that is why PR personnel’s do not mind to spend on the media in whatsoever way. The media is the answer to all our problem and without the media non of our events and campaign will never reach our intended audiences.The media is a weapon of survival in PR the Pr world that is why PR people go to all lengths in order to establish those meaningful relationship.So i have realized that although what we have learned turns to differ from how things are done in the corporate world,it a solid foundation for it gives us light of what to really expect in future and in the corporate world.So sitting through PR 250 classes turns to be worth it,now more than ever!!!!!!!!!and this has shown that PR is Both glitz and work as we were dressed up in our best formal outfits and 5 inch stilettos throughout the event.got to love our profession :)