Hello All. Friday marked the end to the first week of my internship. And what a hectic week it was.
I began working on the 8th of March in the Office of Development and Community at Methodist Ladies College in Claremont.
The Office was far more extensive than I ever imagined a school public relations department to be. They have a leader for each aspect of PR; fundraising, media communication, event management and community relations, so I wondered if my presence in the office would be appreciated at all or if I would simply be a hindrance.
My qualms were soon put at ease when I was shown the list of events occurring in March. The college is preparing for the grand opening of their new Health and Sports Centre as well as a fashion event- Adieu Summer (http://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=7029), along with a Briefing of the Board event, Advantage Morning, Heritage Walk and a Reconnecting with Alumni event. I can’t say I was expecting such an intense schedule.
I worked on broad scope of activities over the course of the week, dabbling in tasks from a variety of areas within the PR sector such as event coordination and community relations.
My jobs included setting up areas for functions (setting tables, cutlery, decorating rooms), sending out invitations for upcoming events and obtaining RSVPs via phone call and email, booking a performer for an upcoming event, going over draft running sheets for various events and allocating roles for the day of the event and even playing host to 50 Japenese students for a day.
I also spent a lot of time photographing bricks from MLC’s Adopt a Brick Program where donors, parents and friends of the college could buy a brick to engrave which would pave the entranceway of the new Health and Sport’s Centre. I then had to send copies of the photos to the people they belonged to along with an invitation to the event. (I’ve noticed most of the activities and events run by the Office of Development and Community are for the sole purpose of keeping donors happy).
It has been busy but a lot of fun as it’s such a diverse environment. After doing a Public Relations and Journalism course for the past three years and struggling with which of the two majors I’m more suited to, I feel the decision has been made. I feel at home in the PR workplace.
1 comment:
Hi Tamara. Sounds like you had a great time. A lot of my time with the community relations department where I am doing my prac also involved event coordinating but I found it very interesting learning about why they are doing each event and why they turn others down. The social investment strategies were amazing and I didn't realise it involved so much number crunching and benchmarking.
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