A endless journey begins...

Hello everyone,

It was a great pleasure to connect and share my views and experiences about my internship at Paradise Cove Boutique Hotel with you all. I would like to first of all thank my supervisor, my colleagues and all the management team of the hotel for having made my stay a memorable one. I have been very lucky when I got asked if I wanted to extend my training among them by the general manager. I am still part of my training journey at the hotel. I feel lucky to have a golden chance of expanding my knowledge and work experiences. I can furthermore be as a participant observer and also contribute to the working place. I also feel inspired by several blogs I read whereby they shared their experience and also help you guide you on how to be effective, productive , tell you even how different organisations function. It also gets you thinking of what if you got to work in such different category of organisation.

It helps to know how it would be like to be in such environment or specific field. As my journey is still going on as a Guest relations Trainee, I really look forward every day to learn something new in the tourism industry. This part is quite exciting and can never be a boredom for me as u always expect new things coming to your way as a lesson, as a reward or a lifetime experience.

I would rather say that PR internship was a cherry on the icing cake for my three year course degree; a door to another world of experience! On an ending note, I am sharing a few pictures of the hotel, I captured during my internship. Thanks for reading.

Front view of the hotel entrance

Hotel main entrance 

lobby

Private Jetty departure for sailing boats, Catamaran Cruise

By Tina Devi Halkhoree

Curtin Student - Charles Telfair Institute Campus, Mauritius

I.D. Number:17480767

Management Cocktail Experience is always thrilling!

My experience at Paradise Cove Boutique Hotel has been very fruitful and enriching. I could not have thought of a better place than that as I was warm-welcomed by the front office department and its members. I was well-groomed by the Frontline manager and have gained help and support from my Guest Relations team members of Frontline department. I was assigned to be a Guest Relations trainee of the Guest Relations Department.

One of my most favorite experiences has been the Management cocktail which is held every Wednesdays where you get the opportunities to connect personally with the guests and socialize with them. The purpose of holding the Management Cocktail weekly was an opportunity for all the departmental managers and the guest relations staff and most importantly the general manager to socialize with the external members. (Hotel clients are termed as external members/ guests at the hotel.) All the staff are to communicate with each and every guest to gather feedback of their stay as well as to take note of their recommendations to further improve the hotel service. By performing this activity by all our staff, it helps us know our external members individually and if ever they would like something to be tailored according to their preferences in their service.

Being a Curtin student, I found this platform to be a golden opportunity to practice my graduate attributes such as performing good communication skills with tourists from all around the world, having an international perspective, cultural understanding for others and also show my efficiency of working individually and as a team which fall under professional skills. I also got the chance to apply my thinking and information skills while dealing with different people of different backgrounds and cultures. It helped me enrich and broaden your knowledge while applying principles learnt in new situations. My duties and responsibilities were to conform to all the hotel standards and their 20 basic attributes yet blending in my personal touch as an individual outperforming my graduate attributes I have been exposed during my three year course.

Left side: Myself with the Guest Relations Coordinator and Right side with a staff member with traditional Indian attire.

Another highlight of the cocktail party is to introduce our variety of Mauritian specialty beverages such as rum - based cocktails inspired by our bar specialists, local house wines and also international beverages and local homemade snacks. And the surprise of the night is the local Mauritian live Sega dance by our local troupe. Its aim is to spark the holidays with fun and excitement for our external members with live entertainment and also ice breaking atmosphere to dance with other external guests. They are also taught a few steps of the typical Sega dance and introduced with the local instruments used for the performance. A Spa therapist is also present by the pool side to give the external guests a 2-3 minutes complimentary massage to relax themselves and also promote the spa services.

I would like to share a few pictures taken with approval during the Management cocktail of my experience as a Guest Relations Trainee.      

Live Sega dance Show

                                          

Managers and staff are at service of the guests.

Guests learning few steps of the Traditional Sega dance

References:

Paradise Cove Hotel,. 2016. Paradisecovehotel.Com. http://www.paradisecovehotel.com/en/album/.

Pictures used were taken and approved by the person depicted in the picture.

By Tina Devi Halkhoree

Curtin Student - Charles Telfair Institute Campus, Mauritius

I.D. Number:17480767

What to do when there's nothing to do

Ever felt like you were asking TOO many questions? Or that you were bugging everyone at the office by asking them "was there anything else you'd like me to do?" ten times a day?

I can guarentee you that you are most likely not alone in this. Experiencing my internship at a boutique agency (with only 2-3 staff in the office at a time) during a very busy period was stressful and chaotic to say the least. Sometimes I would be pounded with jobs, and other times I would find myself constantly asking for more and more jobs, but the fact of the matter is people can be too busy to respond straight away, so you just have to sit back and wait.

I found myself sitting awkwardly at my desk looking at my computer, while everyone's stress levels were through the roof,  feeling too afraid to ask for the third time if I could do anything to help.
During these busy times and only having 2-3 staff dealing with seperate client accounts, I felt like I was simply being 'annoying' for constantly asking for tasks to do.
The fact of the matter is that we are here to learn and we are only doing what is expected of us - however I have picked up a few PR related things you can do while waiting for a task to be assigned to you or even just if you want to do something extra in between jobs.

Mumbrella - This is something I discovered during the endless minutes of me staring blankly into my screen. It's a website that covers everything under Australia's media and marketing industry. This is very entertaining to read, yet you are still learning at the same time!
Slice - It is always good to do some media monitoring! You can learn a little bit more about what is being published about your organisation's clients - the more you know the more easier it will get for you to complete tasks related to that client. This will also give you an idea of what journalist's like to write about and what is being published about your clients.
Databases - Going through databases and checking media contacts and positions on media net! Of course make sure the database you are updating needs updating and make sure it is not one that your organisation wouldn't want you to touch! I did this with a media database that they actually asked me to update early on in my internship and one that I knew they always wanted updated as often as possible!

This might not apply to most of us as we are coming to the end of our internship experiences. However entering the workforce as a graduate will be a similar environment for us. If you find yourself waiting and waiting for tasks to be assigned to you - then take these points with you :)
Don't get me wrong - I am not saying do not ask for things to do - you should always ask for another job once you've finished something - but if you feel like you are asking maybe 5-10 times in the space of an hour, and you can see you are bothering your leader, then distract yourself with some useful reading while they can approach you in their own time.

Hope this helps!

It the Final Countdown (cue countdown music)...

So while I have technically finished my internship hours at Momentum Forum Events, I am hanging around for another few weeks as one of Momentums biggest events is next Friday and it will be so exciting to see another spectacular event come to life after months of long hours and planning.

As I go into my last few weeks it has been interesting to look back at all that I have achieved in what I thought would be a long time, but flashed by me so fast. I have experienced first hand exactly what we were taught during our PR classes but also learnt so many new lessons that I can carry with me in my future of Public Relations.

Thus for my last post, I thought I would share some of the little lessons that I learned along the way:

1. Networking is the key to your future!
While you have probably seen this on a hundred articles, heard it a thousand times and seen it with your own eyes once or twice, it has completely blown my mind just how incredibly important networking is, especially in this field. You can be the best public relations practitioner in the whole world with the top grades and the best ideas, but if no one knows that you are there, then you're just another fish in the big corporate sea. It is so important to go out there and meet people and share your stories and ideas. I saw it every day of my internship with Barbara McNaught, founder of Momentum Forum Events. She believes fully that networking is the best way to achieve goals and actively seeks out events to attend where she can meet new people. She has used this skill to seek out many of Momentum Forum Events sponsors and clients and attract the likes of the Bachelors Blake Garvey and the minister of foreign affairs, the Honourable Julie Bishop to her events.

2. Words matter!
Whether you are writing a media release, posting a Facebook status or talking to a client, what you say and how you say it matter. Words can easily be miscommunicated, whether it be by the choice of words or the way that those words are used. It is so important to make sure that your facts are always 100% correct and so important to check and recheck and then get someone else to check everything that is getting published to a third party.

3. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!
Public relations can seem like a tough gig from time to time, especially after you've made a million phone calls with rejections every time or after you've spent a long day on your feet running an event. When I'm in one of those situations I just think to myself, "if it was easy, everyone would be doing it." This industry is not for everyone, but for those of us with the passion, it is worth it in the end to finally talk to that positive client or to experience the magic of an event unfold. It might take a lot of hard work, long hours and stressful days but it is worth it in the end.

All in all it has been a wonderful semester and I hope everyone has had the most insightful and wonderful time at their own internships. Now to see what the future has in store for all of us...

Good luck for your future
Taila

All good things come to an end

Hey guys,
Just finishing the final touches to my report and reflecting back on both my time at Devahasdin and my university degree in general.

What I learnt from interning in a consultancy is to always trust your gut instincts,  I entered the workplace very nervous and unsure about my abilities as a PR practitioner. Did I know enough? Had I listened enough in lectures? Had I done enough readings to assure I would be fine?

I have left Devahasdin more confident in myself and also in this profession.  Studying both Public Relations and journalism, I have often deliberated in which path to take.  This internship unit has shown me that PR is definitely the direction I want to move towards.

I can't believe I have nearly graduated.  It seems like a lifetime away that I sat in my first PR lecture with Nigel, discussing that what Samantha Jones from Sex and the City says about PR is not entirely true.  Here I am now, with an in depth understanding of the field from both an academic and practical perspective.

PR internship has been one of my favourite PR units to date because it has allowed me to gain confidence in myself and my abilities.  I feel as if I had not completed this unit before trying to enter the workforce I would have been terrified and unsure of myself and my future.

I hope you all feel the same way once completing the unit :)

Thanks guys!

Claudia x

What Do I Really Know About PR...

It is my final semester at Curtin before I graduate and fully immerse myself into the real world.

Now it has come to that time when PR students are given the chance to showcase their skills. It will become an opportunity for me to apply my knowledge of PR techniques, skills and theories in practice at an organisation.

I am expecting the placement to be challenging and a definite change from working on PR Plans  in groups for unit assignments over the last few years.

For my placement I will be interning at a not-for-profit organisation called Global Hand Charity (GHC) Inc. The Perth based charity provides assistance and support to people living in third world countries by facilitating improved education. No deductions are made to employee staff or amenities, so everything done by the board members and staff is completely voluntary, and all donations go straight towards funding projects in Laos, its central focus of charity work. 

GHC has only been around for six years, so it is fairly new. I had no idea of its existence until I started looking for potential places to complete my placement. Global Hand Charity's goal is to raise the profile of its charity among the Perth community. 

Upon first meeting my supervisor at GHC, he asked me,

" What is PR and how will it help our charity?"

I had to pause and think about this for a moment. Not because I did not know the definition of PR, but I wanted to give an answer that would be easy for the supervisor to understand. A lot of definitions where going through my mind that I had learned and memorised throughout my studies, such as:

"The management of communication between an organizations and its publics." - (Grunig and Hunt, 1984).

                                                                                       

What I told him was "PR is similar to marketing, expect it is free." Not the best answer, but I did fell a little pressure on me, and it was simple enough for the supervisor to understand and get a grasp of. I gave him examples of ways that PR could help the charity raise its community profile, for example:

• creating a stronger and engaging social media presence;
• sending press releases; and
• creating a PR plan to ensure greater impact on communication to the target audience.

Until next time, 

Maria 15508764

Self Satisfaction feelings.

NEW HENNESSY BREAKFAST PROJECT 2014

Hi all!

I am now doing my final week of  internship at the Hennessy Park Hotel. In fact this department works in relation with the canteen. 

"becauuse innovation is indispensable, many companies always do so! " 

I was asked by my superior to perform a project about the canteen's working processes, Therefore, I was given a tour of what should be included in the project and was mainly concentrating on “workers’ control” themes. Through public relation techniques I include this in my project:

• 2 breads per worker.
• Choose from a variety of filling e.g. butter, cheese and banana.
• Follow the tea drinking structure.
• Have breakfast once.
• Only be served by a kitchen member.

Thinking about the project, I practically open my Power point program and started working on each point. The next day I showed it and asked for a feedback; the chef acclaimed it and immediately asked someone to print and stick it in the canteen. Every day going there to eat, I look at it. They seems to be liked hand outs, informing workers about the new discipline. There was not my name beyond these hand outs but a self satisfaction feelings.

Hoping you are feeling satisfied about your internship, please comment on this blog.

Patsy How Yin Fat

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