Taking Initiative

Hello again fellow PR students!

Things at the Zaccaria Group are heating up. We are entering the busy season which means there are heaps of concerts and events coming up.

The INCREDIBLE event I spoke about in my first blog that I couldn't yet confirm was TOP GEAR! I'm so glad the team at Zaccaria was able to sway Top Gear management to choose Perth over Cape Town. After the event had been announced to the public I had the opportunity to observe the marketing/PR activity that followed, which was very exciting!

For many of you who are completing this unit, you may have chose a specific organisation that you want to work for after the completion of your degree. Ideally it would be fantastic if Zaccaria offered me a job, but realistically they have a small staff and actually use a publicist outside their organisation for each of their events. I am half way through my internship and am starting to think about what I can do to show the people I work with that I am more than capable and can take initiative.

Soooo I have decided to focus on Zaccaria's non for profit organisation "Strike A Chord." I feel I could really build on their community relations strategy as well as come up with some great ideas for raising awareness. I am looking for every opportunity to contribute and am making an effort in building strong relationships with every person I meet.

Last Note:
The key lessons I am learning through observation and trial and error, is to:

• Keep track of all important correspondence- whether emails, telephone calls or transactions. You never know when you need to confirm or prove that communication has happened.



• Network- Take advantage of every opportunity to network, meet new people and leave a lasting impression. I have noticed in PR, particularly event management, favours are constantly relied on and knowing the right people makes your job that much easier.



• Communication is important- having open communication with the people you work with is vital. When someone isn't notified about an important issue it could ultimately cost the organisation money or even worse, a dent in their reputation. I have noticed an easy tip to solve most of these issues is to "Cc:" the relevant colleagues in on all important email correspondence



• Don't make any promises you cant keep- by making promises to clients and stakeholders that you cannot execute can cause an awkward situation and ultimately destroy the relationship you have built. If you are going to make a promise make sure you can keep it.

That's all for now, look forward in keeping you all posted!!!