Hi all, for my third entry into the Public Relations reflective blog - I thought I'd update you all on some of the things I've learnt since coming into work as an intern for Netball WA.
I've gone in from day 1 with the simple mindset of wanting to learn, and acquire valuable skills that I can hopefully use throughout my career - whether that's in PR or journalism.
That approach hasn't fallen short at all to this point, since establishing myself as the organisations intern I've genuinely been taught so much. It's one thing to simply learn about it in theory, sitting in a classroom. It's a completely different scenario to apply this knowledge in a real-life situation.
Anyway, there's been alot of preparation work that's been happening in the office as we set up everything for the Fever's home game at the Perth Arena. This is obviously a massive event and gives the team a chance to gain some extra exposure on a big stage! While the fans at the games that I've been at have usually packed out their arena at Challenge Stadium (creating a pretty crazy environment - the support the Fever get from fans at home is definitely at a high level), there's no doubt the arena game is a great opportunity.
I've been able to learn alot from the event management side of things, seeing how much time goes into preparing something like this is invaluable. I can say for sure that it's essential everyone is on the same page, and working as a team is something that's hugely valuable in a scenario like this. It's been fantastic to be apart of this team as it all comes together and everything is lined up to make the game a success!
Aside from that upcoming game, there's been plenty happening on the community side of things.
I've had the chance to continue and promote the game to community newspapers and assist with writing up articles for the website that covers some of the programs Netball WA does all across the state. I've learnt how valuable it is to build good contacts, as while the Fever are WA's team and have alot of support, it's just as important to ensure people see the stuff that's happening through our communities too.
I look forward to continue to learn and grow in my role with the organisation over the next month as my internship wraps up. The opportunity to work on different projects with a variety of focuses has ensured my internship has never been boring, and that I've learnt essential skills covering a variety of roles a PR person might hold in a sporting company.
Until next time,
Tom
5 comments:
Hi Tom,
Throughout my internship experience, I’ve realized how crucial it is to have a strong set of contacts and refining your writing skills for the organization at hand. Each organization seems to prefer a different template/style for their media releases and articles.
Did you find your writing skills were up to standard when you started interning or did you need a lot of work?
Here’s an interesting post I found in relation to this topic:
http://www.pivotcomm.com/how-to/the-importance-of-good-writing-skills-in-pr
Thanks for the reply.
I found my style of writing needed some refining, but in terms of standard it seemed to meet their needs which was pleasing! Always room to improve however.
Tom
Hello Tom,
I could not agree with you more with regards to the importance of building good contacts. For me, I got the opportunity to establish rapports with the media, clients, and competitors.
This may sound odd, when I was working at LEWIS PR, I met a friend at Edelman and she gave me a piece of advice when working with the media. I dare say, it was a useful advice. I mean, this would not have happened if we did not share the relationship with one another.
If you have time to spare, have a look at the article below. It is an interesting read on competitor relations: http://www.raintoday.com/blog/how-relationships-with-competitors-help-your-business/
I am glad that your internship turned out magnificent and all the best with it. Look forward to hear from you soon and take care.
Hi Tom,
I really enjoyed going through your posts. It certainly is interesting to have a glimpse at your internships in Australia. Even though we are miles apart, I can definitely relate to what you said in your post. It’s quite challenging to apply what we have learnt in class to a real-life scenario. It takes some time to use that knowledge for the best interest of the company/organisation.
I haven’t got the opportunity to do events management during my internship (this is my only regret!) and when I read about how you executed events management, I was able to have a second-hand experience and see how things work. So thanks for that! I was just wondering how long it took you to work on the event plan and how the tasks were delegated during the event.
Thanks for commenting on my post. Hope to hear from you soon! Goodluck!
Kritina :)
15886486
Charles Telfair Institute
Hi Tom,
Great to hear you've got the mindset of wanting to learn - I too have entered my internship wanting to gain as much experience and knowledge of the field as I can!
I see you're interning for Netball WA. Do you find that having little background knowledge in the field limits you?
I am curious as in an agency environment I assume there would be clients where their products or services you are not familiar with, eg Cars, Make-Up etc. I always wonder how professionals tackle the background knowledge!
I cannot agree with you more on the importance on building valuable contacts! After all, it's all about WHO you know!!
Enjoy, and good luck with your future endeavours,
Olivia Buck
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