Glitz and glamour on the outside.. panic and madness on the inside!

From day one of PR classes, our unit coordinator and tutors made it clear to us that Public Relations is not entirely like its depiction in movies and television shows. Although Samantha may be able to organize a marvellous party at the drop of a hat, run a consultancy empire with ease and manage to be an all-round fabulous person, in reality PR practice can be a lot more trying than its Sex and the City depiction. That’s not to say there isn’t a certain allure and thrill to the art, but what these portrayals fail to include are the foundational hours upon hours of back work. This important lesson is one I came to realize during a particular event the team held during my time with GO.

My team had been tasked with coordinating a restaurant launch in Publika; an all-encompassing living, entertainment and shopping hub for Kuala Lumpur’s (KL) more affluent crowd. The launch had to grab the attention of the special guests and Malaysian media to secure the restaurant’s position as a fierce newcomer to the competitive KL food scene. All seemed to be going to plan in the lead-up to the event; invitations had been sent, the running sheet had been finalized and the client was happy with the proposal.

The day before the event, I was surprised to find the other interns and I had to drop whatever work we were doing to build podiums to put the food on at the event. This was my first taste in PR of how quickly priorities could change; I went from writing a press release due an hour away to building podiums for the display meals to sit on at the event. The other interns and I were running around in a mad panic to construct these platforms from whatever bits of foam, cardboard and newspapers we could find in the office. Despite it being a mad flurry on our end, I found the end product to be something you probably wouldn’t notice when it is there, but would notice if it wasn't there.

At the actual event, we found ourselves having to make last minute alterations and changes. This aspect of events I had anticipated from word-of-mouth and industry advice, and so we allowed room for error and changes. We were moving the seating arrangement around an hour before the event, altering the running sheet to cater to all the people turning up late and early, and calling media at the commencement of the event to ensure their attendance (apparently quite a common occurrence with Malaysian media who are notoriously non-committal). At one point we even shifted gears from greeting and networking to waitressing when the orders started mounting up.

This event reminded me of another basic tenet of PR; the importance of creating an angle that would be interesting to your intended audience and the gatekeepers that share this information. What is it about this piece of information that is important or of interest? What sets your media release aside from the hundreds of others media receive every day?

To generate hype over the event, our junior team leader arranged for the restaurant launch to feature Honey Madu, a local radio DJ, TV presenter, and socialite as the guest of honour. The event featured Ms. Madu celebrating a love renewal with her husband to celebrate their wedding anniversary and it tied in nicely with the themes of the restaurant (love, indulgence, journeys). By doing so, we were able to draw in far more media and generate press for the restaurant outside of the usual culinary blogs and newspaper sections.

The GO team with some of the restaurant shareholders after the event.

The food displays for the media and photographers (see amazing podiums!)

The food displays for the media and photographers (see amazing podiums!)

The DJ and GO team getting prepared for the media to arrive. 

Until next time!

Imogen