Small beginnings

If someone told you that they work for the 'Perth Symphony Orchestra' what would you think?

I thought finesse, class, composure, elegance and a glamorous office space to work in. Well I was wrong about that last part. Whilst Perth Symphony Orchestra (PSO) does encapsulate a realm of sophistication in their events and performances, behind the scenes, this takes a lot of work and sometimes you have to compensate the seemingly big ideas in your head and start out small.

Take their office for example. As the tight team at PSO says "it's a broom-stick cupboard in there". My first day at PSO felt very warm and intimate and that's not because of the broom-stick cupboard. PSO has a team (not including the actual orchestra itself) of no more than 10 people, now including myself. In terms of managing it's public relations, they occasionally work with a local public relations consultancy.

PSO/NSM Office AKA Broom-stick cupboard (Room 2)

PSO/NSM Office AKA Broom-stick cupboard (Room 1)

Knowing this I initially thought that my role as the 'PR Intern' would be rather insignificant. However after a couple of days with PSO I quickly learned that there was no such thing as a 'small role' and that I have many roles within the organisation. To top it off, I now have two interning roles at different organisations.

The other organisation I have the pleasure working with is North Street Music (NSM). NSM is a music management company that manages PSO whilst running it's own events such as Song Lounge, Chamber Jam and professional workshops for musicians.  

At first it seemed difficult separating the work load for NSM and PSO as what was required to do for one organisation seemed to be the same for the other. However it became apparent that there were huge differences when completing tasks such as event listing and researching content for their social media accounts.For example NSM has a completely different target public compared to PSO. Therefore the channels which we use to promote events will differ to attract each organisation's desired publics. 

One similarity between PSO and NSM is the pace at which they work. I absolutely love it. Working in a small team means that all ideas are taken on board; decisions are made quick and are effective immediately. I am also lucky enough to work in an industry which I am passionate about- music. 

I'm looking forward to tackling the next few weeks and embracing the amazing opportunity which I have been given.

The difference between Theory and Practice: Stepping into the 'Real' world.

The difference between Theory and Practice: Stepping into the 'Real' world.

    Throughout the course of our degree, we have been preparing for the 'real' world. The purpose of all those endless hours of academic readings and course work was to provide us with enough insight and broadmindedness to be able to tackle the numerous challenges we would face in the professional world.
    Now that we are at the door step of our careers, the hands-on experience we will acquire through our internship feels even more valuable as through it we will be able to connect the dots and draw the bigger picture of the Communications world in which we are about to step in.
     I have been fortunate enough to have landed my work placement in an industry that i have been passionate about for many years : The Music Industry. The recently created local music label 'Kabann Records' is producing its first big national scale project and I have been recruited to be at the head of the communications team.
    As opposed to what I had expected, there was no easing-in process and i jumped straight away to the heart of the matter in the first few days of the job. Major Brain-Storming sessions, writing the project plan, background research of the industry's requirements and competitors, recruiting the team and conducting the 'interview', drafting a communications plan; the list is endless. Through our general experience of life and our studies, we have acquired some background knowledge of various fields around us such as videography, photography, the media, the artistic world and so on. All this prior knowledge mostly falls under the theory aspect of these fields and its only when actually working in collaboration with professionals from these different areas that we actually get the real feel of how things are done in the real world.
   As a communications professional, in order to communicate efficiently, it is of utmost importance to fully understand the message to be passed on. So for the project that i am working on, the learning process is ever-present as i need to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Although I feel its going to be a bumpy ride, this internship has given me the opportunity of being part of a journey I am sure to come out of as ready as I can be to face the 'real' world.

Looking forward to this great experience...

Yashdith Bachwa
15886457