It's Buzzcut Season

As I pulled out of the car park, I was reminded of the way I drove in 2 months earlier, listening to music to pump myself up for the first day of my internship. And on Monday, I pulled away for the last time, I felt a mix of emotions. I was sad to leave the amazing people at the Leukaemia Foundation who supported me, and glad that I had accomplished what I did in my time with the organisation. 

Last Friday, on March 14, we had our World's Greatest Shave public shave event at Forrest Place in Perth City, where anyone who is registered can come shave free of charge by one of the hairdressers, or those who aren't registered could pay $20 to shave, or $5 to colour. It was a great day, hosted by 92.9's Heidi, Will and Woody, who went above and beyond their roles of MCs to raise money for the cause, and Will ended up shaving his head, while Woody coloured his hair (temporarily) black. It was also attended by Chloe and Kelly, the WA girls from My Kitchen Rules (MKR), who went around the space with collection tins, and coloured their hair.

We had many people shave, sharing their inspiring stories, telling us why they want to do it. Some just saw what we were doing, paid $20 and shaved their heads purely because they thought it was a good cause. 

I was in charge of taking photos and videos of the event, as well as helping to set up and pack down. Back at the office at the end of the day, I kept checking 92.9's, MKR's, and Chloe & Kelly's official Facebook pages for posts about the shave in a form of social media monitoring. I was pleased when photos were shared, and considered the day a success. 

After checking the social media sites, and blogs, for 92.9, I started to think about the importance of social media, especially for a not-for-profit organisation and fundraising campaign. Considering 92.9 has 87,000+ Facebook likes, you'd think that the post would be seen by a large number of people. But in further investigation, they post several times a day, so it is easy for a post to get lost. However, I was pleased with the impressions that the photo got, and I think it gave good coverage for World's Greatest Shave.

I believe that social media sites are extremely important for most organisations, especially fundraising, as it raises awareness and helps to spread the message. 

After the World's Greatest Shave PR has been done and dusted (at least my part), I loaded blood cancer education and support session events onto the Leukaemia Foundation website, continued media monitoring and updating the print media coverage spreadsheet, and edited the videos I made for the public shave into a two minute summary.

Participating in a large campaign has been a great experience. I am confident in my new skills and I feel that I have made the right decision in pursuing a career in Public Relations. I have some great memories now and am satisfied with what I have learnt in my internship.  

The Little Things Count

Before the World's Greatest Shave officially began on March 13, there was a lot of work to be done to prepare for the public shave on Friday 14 to go smoothly. In this, I had to make sure that shavers in the office were working, and had all the measures. I also went through all the banners to make sure that they were labelled, and worked correctly. One morning, World's Greatest Shave had a segment on Sunrise, but we were unsure of the time, so I watched and waited for it to come on, then let people around the office know so they could come and watch.

Those these jobs don't sound glamorous, they are necessary to the smooth running of events. If someone grabs the wrong banner and don't have time to go back and get the right one, they won't have anything to put in the background for the media. I know that my contribution helps towards the success of a campaign and event. 

With the Friday public shave on March 14 in the city, I got to draft the photography brief for the day, specifying who to focus their photographs on and what kind of images were needed. The day will be hosted by Heidi, Will and Woody from 92.9, so they need to appear in the photos. I prepared media releases for one week until Shave and one day until Shave, and gather the MC packs for the 92.9 hosts, with an event run sheet and speaking notes.

I have had more media releases published, including one that made it onto the front page of the Canning Times! I was very happy.

Freo Dockers, O-Day, and Cupcakes

As of February 6, 2014, my first media release has been picked up. The article ran in the Eastern Reporter on Tuesday February 18, page 7. It is a fantastic feeling, seeing a media release through the entire process, from finding a newsworthy story, interviewing the subject, drafting the release, sending it off, being informed it has been picked up, and seeing it in print. I have a copy that I will be laminating and adding to my portfolio. I have also had 3 more picked up since, so I am eagerly waiting to see if they will be published. 

My time at the Leukaemia Foundation is going very well. I am picking up valuable skills and experience, and enjoying every moment.

A couple of weeks ago, a group from the LF office, myself included, drove to Pinjarra to the AFL Auskick Super Clinic, an event for school kids to participate in drills with AFL players. We were there for the World's Greatest Shave as 4 of the Fremantle Dockers were shaving their heads. Those players were Michael Johnson, Zac Dawson, Jack Hannath and Michael Walters. There was a 5 year old boy who has been diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukaemia who came and sat next to the players while the shave happened. The media were conducting interviews, and it was good exposure for World's Greatest Shave. I filmed the shave, thankfully able to work out the video camera and tripod thanks to my media classes in high school. It was an interesting day and great to be part of the event.

I have also attended ECU Joondalup and Mount Lawley Orientation days to promote the World's Greatest Shave. We have had a stall and offered cupcakes for a gold coin donation. The focus of these was to increase exposure and gain interested in the shave event.

I have drafted more media releases and conducted phone interviews. My media releases are improving. When I started, I followed the template we had been taught in uni: (name), (age), has _______ to _______. The more I write though, the better and more interesting they are becoming. I am definitely gaining more confidence in my writing and learning new skills.

I am sadly now more than half way through, but I am looking forward to the big Shave events coming up in March.

PR for the Brave Shavers

Day one. Cue the nervous energy that resulted in a drive or two around the block (good thing I was early). But when I was breathing steadily enough to exit the car, I commenced my first day at the Leukaemia Foundation. An in-house internship.

I am lucky enough to get to intern with this amazing organisation, and work on general Leukaemia Foundation tasks, such as collate events into flyers for Support Services, and make template media releases. But most importantly, I get to assist in the work towards the World’s Greatest Shave. For those who don’t know, the World’s Greatest Shave is a nation wide fundraiser where people get sponsored to shave, wax or colour their hair to raise money to fund research and support services provided by the Leukaemia Foundation. 

On my second day, we went to drop off prize packs for a 92.9 competition. Upon arrival at the studio, we met the account manager in the lobby, and were invited for a tour of the offices and studios for 92.9 and mix94.5. It was very unexpected and amazing. I followed in quiet awe. However, the reason for this impromptu tour had more to do with the marketing side of the organisation than the PR side.

As of my fifth day, I had written several media releases. My task was to sift through a database and find the stories to right a release about. The whole time I just reminded myself: quotes, good lead paragraph, call to action! Mentally ticking my checklist. Though there are some points I still need to work on, I know that it is something I am able to do, and being able to write about some of the World’s Greatest Shave participant is inspiring.

In my time I have learnt one very important lesson. When I was making phone calls for the media releases, I made I had everything prepared before the call, all the questions I wanted to ask. But I should have prepared something for a phone call that gave me very little answers for my prepared questions. I will in future prepare extra questions that are less specific to the vision I had for the media release.

This brings on the common question: is the media release dead? There are so many opinions about it, and I'm still making up my mind, but currently swaying more towards the use of them being relevant. This article raises a lot of good points, specifically in that press releases allow organisations to concentrate on the message they want to convey. I think in terms of the Leukaemia Foundation, media releases are still very much a valuable communication tool, as targeting local outlets ensures a wider reach of the message, which can prompt a community to support a World's Greatest Shave participant. 

The internship is an in-house position, and though I have not had experience in a consultancy, in-house positions allow you to thoroughly understand all the messages of an organisation and be involved in every step of the process. You can compare each task to the results of a previous year and work to improve exposure. Since this is still early days, my opinion is not set in stone, and I'd be interested to hear from anyone who would agree or disagree.

I’m just a quarter through my internship, but I love it so far, and the experience is priceless.