Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Over and Out!


As my final week as an Intern at Tourism Council WA approaches, I’ve taken ten minutes out my busy day to reflect on my key learnings and observations of the PR industry, Tourism industry and non-for-profit industry!

The PR industry can be summarised in three words:-
1. Fast-paced                     2. Global                              3. Social

The reason behind my choice of these words is that the story you saw on the 6am news before work is now old news, and the 1pm update is your new focus. PR professionals are required to look ahead, source new stories and be innovative. The second, global, denotes the fact that EVERYTHING is available online and within a matter of minutes has reached a global scale. Last week saw the PR crisis happen with Blackmilk clothing over a social media post! And social … because the industry relies on WHO you know, WHO you can get to comment and WHO you can rely on to get coverage of your story.

A key finding of the Tourism industry is its collaborative nature. Despite the inevitable existence of competitors, the Tourism Industry’s success and growth relies on industry working closely with government, and governments being encouraged to support industry in return. TCWA are advocates of coordination and communication between all stakeholders of the Tourism Industry.

As for the non-for-profit industry, financial constraints control everything, and therefore the power of free PR tools come into play! Blogging, social media, newsletters, media releases and launch events are just a few of the tactics I’ve witnessed first-hand that have minimal cost to an organisation conscious of their spending.  

Interning straight out of studying has effectively shown how topics you research and write endless essays about are implemented in a real-life environment and really assists in giving you an understanding of the ins and outs of PR!

As for PR tactics, my internship truly gave me a first-hand experience on writing media releases, preparing newsletters, creating consumer marketing proposals, liaising with clients, writing privacy policies and developing a corporate style guide for enforcement of the brand.

Can’t wait to begin my PR career and complete more interns in the future!


Olivia Buck Intern @ Tourism Council WA

2 comments:

Brooke14856792 said...

Hey Olivia,

I loved reading your last blog post for your placement! Your reflections on what you've learnt about the different industries are really insightful.

I've found that I can relate my placement in the environmental advocacy industry to yours in the tourism industry because, although both our organisations deal with competitors, the success of the industry is very dependent on those competitors working together.

I have also seen first hand the constraints that finances have on the operations and activities of a not-for-profit organisation.

Thanks for sharing your experience and good luck in the future!

Unknown said...

Hey Olivia,

Your post was so great to read as I feel I can relate to having to find different avenues of PR that don't cost the earth for my placement.
I also liked the three words you chose to describe PR, they definitely get it right.

Thanks for your insightful post :)