I am obsessed with the movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Ever since I was young and had watched the film, I immediately decided that I wanted my career to resemble a slice of Andy Sachs' life; the main character. For those of you who have not watched this movie, it gives a glimpse into the "not so glamourous" fashion industry and brings to life the infamous cut throat and competitive nature of the business.
The heading I have chosen for my first blog for this unit, "By all means move at a glacial place. You know how that thrills me", is a quote from The Devil Wears Prada, and is an overall synopsis of what I have learned from interning so far. That is, that working hard and working fast is the only option! And something that I have found to be very motivating and fun.
I have landed an internship at Magenta, a boutique public relations consultancy located in Northbridge which specialises in fashion, retail, art and lifestyle, and is lead by PR guru Melissa Lekias. Magenta was established in 1999 by Melissa Lekias and her partner, acclaimed street artist, Stormie Mills. One of my first thoughts when entering the office on my first day was the magnitude of creativity in the office space which is nestled away from any commercial activity and definitely flys under the radar. Together, Melissa and Stormie have transformed Magenta into a contemporary and artistic space - I knew I was going to enjoy the time I had here just by staring at the walls.
Reception at Magenta
I was aware that Magenta was the leading fashion PR consultancy in Perth, however, in less than an hour of being there I realised that this place was much more of a bigger deal that I thought it was. I was greeted by Shannon, the receptionist and PA to all team members who gave me a tour of the office and introduced me to the design team, accountant and public relations team. My supervisor, Ivona, Shannon and I had a quick meeting in the impressively designed board room (think red walls and carpet, medieval style table and chairs and pendant lights) and then I was onto my tasks for the day - alphabetising magazines, archiving past PR reports, assisting in media clippings for a clients PR report and organising the office for an upcoming event in a few weeks. This gave me the chance to see what a real life client PR report looked like and all of the components to it - something that we aren't taught at university. Reports are created every few months or for a specific event. They are normally formed for retainer clients (clients that pay a annual fee to the consultancy and any requested work is done by Magenta) and display all of the coverage that Magenta has secured for the client, this ranges from print, editorial, radio, TV, social media etc. The PR value of the coverage is also a critical component. I was taught the easiest of value calculations, social media, which was very interesting.
My first two weeks at Magenta were quite steady, I was able to absorb how the office functioned, how the PR team spoke to journalists over the phone and the importance of making relationships with them, the importance of keeping to a schedule and creating deadlines throughout the day - nothing too fast paced. That was until invitations for an event that Magenta is producing for a client became one of my main tasks. The event is of a large scale and involves 3000 invites to a very important guest list. I was so excited to be helping with the project and knew that this would be the beginning of the fast paced, chaotic and exhilarating experience I had been anticipating. Labelling invites, packaging invites and a daily mad dash to the post office before it closed became my life for the next six days of my internship and I loved it. Even though these were small tasks I still really enjoyed being apart of the bigger picture and knew that this industry was where my passion lies. It was then that I realised I hadn't wasted the past three years of my life studying a degree I wasn't sure I would enjoy working in and I hadn't created unattainable career aspirations.
This task involved me utilising Magenta's master database and databases for this specific event. A database is one of the most vital elements in public relations and is built upon and updated continuously. The master database at Magenta is divided into national, international and state spreadsheets and also includes tags to make the process of sending out a press release or press kit smoother.
Another task that I carried out was calling different agencies and talent management companies to find out contact information for bloggers and celebrities for the same event. I have discovered that adept phone manner is another significant attribute to have when working in public relations and from being able to seek information over the phone or pitch to a journalist is key.
I have learnt an overwhelming amount of knowledge in just less than a month of being at Magenta and am so excited to continue to absorb and learn important skills to pivotal to my future career.
Keep an eye out for my next post!
Grace Stieger
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