Hey Premier, you're doing it wrong!
Two weeks ago, Activ Foundation held a special event to formally open the new office building located in Wembley, Perth. This was a momentous occasion for Activ, the building is state of the art and inside is one of the largest disability library resource centres in WA. To help officially open the building, the honorable Premier Colin Barnett was invited along to speak to the guests.
This was a great opportunity for Activ to showcase the services and facility that the organisation has on offer. The event brought heavy media attention, although the media attention on the day was fairly focused on the Premier, it was great to see the focus of the day was not taken away from Activ or from the special importance of the day for the organisation.
Before the event, the communications team had a few things to do. One responsibility was to write the speech for the CEO, Tony Vis, another was to contact local and state media to ensure there was sufficient coverage on the day.
I was able to write the media release for the event and on the day I was required to help oversee the event and also needed to make sure the media were well informed of any rules or regulations that they needed to oblige by. I was able to say a quick hello to the Premier too.
There was some worry prior to the Premier's speech that sensitive questions would be asked or that the media would cause some trouble, however, in the end all who attended were respectful and the event ran very smoothly.
A funny story that I experienced from the day was during the Premier's speech. Mr. Barnett, as a unique gesture gave a gift to the Activ Library - it was a book called Animalia. It was apparently tradition for the Premier to give a book to any school or library that he visited. Great idea, right? Well, when giving it to a staff member, he said 'I have no idea what it's about'...and flicked through the book with a confused look upon his face and handed it over...
Sometimes, doing nothing is better than doing a gesture that is clearly not genuine. This was one of those moments and I think everyone was thinking Premier..you're doing it wrong! It was clear that the Premier was doing this as an 'image' boosting gesture as oppose to a genuine act of kindness. I just thought, at least pretend you know what gift you are giving.
However, it might have just been my view of the situation. All I know is, it was very cringe worthy but also slightly amusing.
Here's a picture of the book:
Well, that's it from me for now. I hope you have enjoyed my quick recap of the recent happenings during my time at Activ.
As the semester quickly draws to a conclusion, I will be back very soon with another update!
Be happy,
Thy Nguyen
This was a great opportunity for Activ to showcase the services and facility that the organisation has on offer. The event brought heavy media attention, although the media attention on the day was fairly focused on the Premier, it was great to see the focus of the day was not taken away from Activ or from the special importance of the day for the organisation.
Before the event, the communications team had a few things to do. One responsibility was to write the speech for the CEO, Tony Vis, another was to contact local and state media to ensure there was sufficient coverage on the day.
I was able to write the media release for the event and on the day I was required to help oversee the event and also needed to make sure the media were well informed of any rules or regulations that they needed to oblige by. I was able to say a quick hello to the Premier too.
There was some worry prior to the Premier's speech that sensitive questions would be asked or that the media would cause some trouble, however, in the end all who attended were respectful and the event ran very smoothly.
A funny story that I experienced from the day was during the Premier's speech. Mr. Barnett, as a unique gesture gave a gift to the Activ Library - it was a book called Animalia. It was apparently tradition for the Premier to give a book to any school or library that he visited. Great idea, right? Well, when giving it to a staff member, he said 'I have no idea what it's about'...and flicked through the book with a confused look upon his face and handed it over...
Sometimes, doing nothing is better than doing a gesture that is clearly not genuine. This was one of those moments and I think everyone was thinking Premier..you're doing it wrong! It was clear that the Premier was doing this as an 'image' boosting gesture as oppose to a genuine act of kindness. I just thought, at least pretend you know what gift you are giving.
However, it might have just been my view of the situation. All I know is, it was very cringe worthy but also slightly amusing.
Here's a picture of the book:
Well, that's it from me for now. I hope you have enjoyed my quick recap of the recent happenings during my time at Activ.
As the semester quickly draws to a conclusion, I will be back very soon with another update!
Be happy,
Thy Nguyen
3 comments:
Dearest Thy:) I love how the format of your post,the other thing that you pointed out is that you thought that (Premier..you're doing it wrong!) well i feel everyone has their own way of boasting their image and if the event achieved its purpose of image boasting hidden in kindness act, let it be so....#mypointofview
Hahaha love the Premier story! Classic example of the PR person organising his "kind gesture" but not letting him know much about.
Good to know that even the experts have a little slip up sometimes!
Hope your having/had a great time and learnt a lot at your placement.
Catherine
This is a classic example of how much control a publicist has these days.
Funny story, loved reading every bit of it, cant wait to hear more.
Stefan
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