Public Relations = Being Versatile, Polymath and Multitask!

Today was the 8^th day of my internship. I actually cannot believe it, I feel like I have started months ago. Indeed, those 8 days have been quite demanding and stressful but I have to admit it was worth it!

During those two and a half years at university I have learnt that to be a good PR one will have to be versatile and often multitasking. However I never really realized how true this was until now. I always thought that in ‘real life’, I would only be dealing with the journalists and writing several press releases and kits, while designers and event planners would be doing the rest. The past days proved me wrong; I have learnt that the role of a PR is much more than that! 

Sunday 1^st of August, 12 Monkeys (My organisation), organized a charity event called the ‘Charity Run, Ride, Walk by SKC Surat’. Before the event, I wrote the media releases, called the press and helped for the Facebook page. I thought that as a PR, my job was done.

The track for the races was in the sugar cane fields around the Bagatelle Mall of Mauritius in Moka. On the day of the event, at 6:30 a.m. we went to put the markups in the sugar cane. I came back full of mud and dust and was now posted at the registration table as to take more candidates. At the end of the event I said to myself, ‘maybe the person in charge of this was not here’.

On the Monday morning, I started my PR task, which is Media clipping, when my supervisor called everyone for a meeting. One of our clients, Permoglaze (a paint manufacturer) was sponsoring a major sport event and needed an idea to attract people on the day without proposing paint (as it was not really relevant). There I was, giving ideas about how to design the Permoglaze tent! We came up with an idea of ‘photo booth’, where the participant would be able to take a picture and print it directly. It was a great experience to see the brainstorming during the meeting and I was proud as one of my ideas was approved. 

I spent the whole week juggling between designing banners, newsletters, bibs for coming sport events and Facebook pages. I am actually planning and organizing two different event at the same time, a press conference which will be held this Tuesday and a sport event which will be held on the 24^th. In the meantime, I am helping on photo shoots for newsletters.

To resume, it has been 8 days, and I worked as an event organizer, a PR, a receptionist, a designer and a photographer, all of these, in the office as well as on the field.  One might think that my supervisor just wants me to touch a bit of everything, but this is not true as even she is doing every single job. I thus realized that all of these forms part of a PR job. 

To be a good PR, one must be versatile, polymath and multitask!!

Isabelle