Keeping WA moving through communication!

Welcome to my blog. I am Caris Dinardo, and this is where I will be sharing my opinions and experiences as a Public Relations Intern at Main Roads.

When undertaking an internship you’re not quite sure what to expect. Whether you will be successful, whether you will learn from others or whether you will be misused as a coffee assistant.

Luckily for me my Public Relations internship at Main Roads Western Australia has allowed me to have a greater insight into the Public Relations world. My first day quickly made me realise that our tutors weren’t lying, communication really is everything.

When going for this Internship I was asked by my supervisor which areas I was interested in working in. Coming to the end of my degree, I’m still unfortunately not aware of what areas in PR I feel most passionate about, but I am a firm believer in the importance of experience and asked to be put in any area that would have me.

So for my first day I was put in the Customer Information Centre. My day started off normally, meeting all the employees, being welcomed to the team and going out for coffee. Automatically I knew I would fit in well because of the amazing work culture Main Roads have created.

I was given the chance to work alongside the manager to see what her daily tasks involved. Checking emails every 5 minutes, dealing with complaints about road closures, traffic complaints, fault reports and the list went on… The phone was constantly ringing and not one call went through to voicemail. The Customer Information Centre team plays an important role in communication with stakeholders, as they are the first on duty to contact for any emergencies or general queries.

Now for the interesting stuff:

As a team, they are hugely important in crisis management. Without their input or communication, stakeholders would struggle to find out important information as they are constantly being communicated through website updates and social media updates.

Unfortunately, on my first day there was a crash  that had 3 fatalities in Geraldton. I witnessed first hand the importance communication plays in crisis management, as the team were constantly ringing the media, the Main Roads team and sharing posts to make sure the effected publics were aware of any delays and the full story of what exactly had happened.

By the afternoon, the team had also had to deal with a possible fire outbreak in the Southern suburbs. Through constant updates on their Twitter sites (which has over 400,000 followers) and phoning media outlets the Main Roads Call Information Centre team were able to alert the community of the possible fire outbreak. Fortunately, I was able to contribute to several Twitter posts which made the public aware of nearby crashes. This was great to finally see how important the role of social media plays when organisations regularly communicate to stakeholders.

Main Roads have recently changed their corporate brand and logo to the focus of ‘Keep WA Moving.’ My experience within the first day made me realise that communication plays a huge role of ‘Keeping WA Moving’ as they are constantly communicating to stakeholders to make them aware of what is happening on Western Australia’s roads.

It was only my first day and it was an eye opening experience. Throughout University I have studied different Public Relations theories. But seeing those theories in the real world made me realise how important communication is to successfully develop strong relationships with stakeholders. Another outtake would be the importance of having a team that is aware of what to do in crises, as the steps you take in those situations are extremely important.

I am thankful to have this opportunity and to be undertaking this Internship at Main Roads. This is only day one and I can’t wait to gain more insight into what they do.

How were all my fellow interns first days?

Until next time,

Caris Dinardo.