Always Leave them Wanting More

Back to where it all began

It's that time of the year again when exams approach and everyone's stressed. And it's also the time when semester is ending; along with my internship. Oh, what an experience that was at Momentum Forum Events. Cannot believe it has been over 20 weeks already! Since the internship experience is coming to an end, I thought I'd reflect on what was and what there is to look forward to in the future (I'll also pepper some useful articles here and there for you to read).

Lanyards Galore 
In preparation for the Perth Pet Expo there have been a lot of arts and crafts going on in the office, the floor turning into a litter bug for double-sided sticky tape scraps and cardboard signs. The table was hidden under a blanket of lanyards, loose pieces of paper and smelly plastic sleeves. It was great to be more hands-on involved. I didn’t use my laptop once! It will be a great experience I'm sure to be a volunteer at the Expo, and to be surrounded by all sorts of animals. 

And this was only one out of three piles!

The (Intern)ship has Sailed
As the Expo nears (it’s this weekend!) so, too, does the end of the internship. It has been an interesting experience doing the placement at Momentum; an events management company that is so different from the standard event planners you all might be familiar with. Instead of running events for clients, they continue to organise their own signature events for charitable causes and always look to raise awareness. Thinking about the report that I’m writing now on Momentum and how the role of PR is defined within it, I also start to retrospectively wonder about the things I learned. Let me know what you did too, and what you did differently.

There are many ways to be a good intern, as there are also many ways to stand out as an intern. Before undertaking mine I read some articles about what others out there say is the key to doing well at your internship, and whether I had similar ideas. This article makes many credible points, but one of them stood out to me; ‘keeping tabs on your accomplishments’. Analysing your own performance is important as much as analysing the corporate environment you’re in. That’s why through writing these blogs, we are all able to reflect on our own performance and gain insights into how we see ourselves as interns, as well as how our colleagues see us. 

This is something important to remember when it's time to give presentations! Many people don't like them, and then there are those that go on TED talks and let us in on the art of great communications. We are told many tips to relax and remember to stick to the points. But for me, it all comes back to good preparation to calm the nerves. Take the time to organise your thoughts, what you want to say, why it is relevant, and determine the best flow. If you have other tips, share them below! 

I remember a lot of late days and tired but happy eyes. At the end of a productive day I would think about what I've learned that day, and what I could improve on next time. Yet after a while of this routine, along with more assignments and the usual stress of a uni student, I began to feel the burn. Burnout is something you think you don't have time for, yet this can be a real eye-opener: it forces you to prioritise. This exhausting insight can help challenge the way we think about our habits and what we consider to be a 'busy' versus 'productive' use of our time.  

Connecting the Dots

The world of PR was elusive at first; so general and broad - oh, the roads you could travel. The internship gave me valuable experience to navigate these paths and provided insight into which road I'd like to travel some day. It enabled me to be mentored by a seasoned professional and get to be part of a great team. But most of all it exposed me to 'the real world' and connect the dots between what I've learnt at uni, and the difference between applying that theory and at many times realising that theories can only get you so far before you have to get creative. 

As the time draws to a close of being an intern at Momentum, there is one key thing I want to bring up. There have been so many cases in which interns don’t treat their placement like a ‘real’ job. It’s disappointing to find this reality, because internships give you the opportunity to gain a foothold to start your career. First impressions count, but your ongoing attitude is what employers remember. And if your attitude is to look at a placement as a short-term activity without viewing the long-term possibilities holistically, then it’s time to start connecting those dots.

 

That's the interesting part about going out there and finding internships that allow you the opportunity to grow your skill set and take on new challenges. I hope you all had a wonderful time at your internships, for those who are finishing up at the end of semester too, and are looking forward to the next chapter in your PR careers! 

Wishing you all the best, 

Ewelina 

A unique and gratifying journey!

On my two last weeks of work I had to work on a very important project with my colleague Fiona Rome which was the arrival of Mrs Vera Baboun, Mayor of Bethlehem to Mauritius. The three things I learned the most from during those two weeks were the Facebook page that I created and managed with my colleagues, attending and assisting during the events and the post event work. Imagine Communication was asked to promote and accompany Mrs Baboun on her journey in Mauritius and this was a frantic but educating and wonderful journey for me.

Promoting the event

After the promotion of the event I never looked at Facebook the same way again! I never realized all the precautions, preparations and planning that were needed for the creation of Facebook page, so when my supervisor asked me to create and manage the page of the event I learnt pretty fast how detailed and tedious a task it was. It was quite a shock to me when my supervisor asked me to create a list of profanities or offending set of words that I thought should be set as restricted words on the page. The Mayor of Bethlehem being the center of the event I had to restrict any words that could be linked to terrorism or anything related to it and also any vulgar language or swear words, so you could imagine how long my list of words was! I also had to set the profanity filter to strong. I then had to carefully plan which cover and profile photo I would use. Finally after publishing the page it was all about creating a plan of each and every posts that I would add throughout the week before the event. The hardest part was managing the posts that were to be added immediately after each and every events. Some of the event started at 6pm and finished at 8pm and it took me one to two hours to get home so how was I to immediately update the Facebook page, but I was lucky to work in a collaborating team of coworkers so we helped each other out. Fiona sent the picture we took during each event to a coworker who immediately posted them to the Facebook page with a brief description. Below is a preview of some of the projects I worked on for the Facebook page:

The event

I also learnt a lot during all the events to which we accompanied Mrs Baboun but most of all I learned to multitask. Our boss accompanied us to all the events so we had to assist him in every little tasks. Fiona and I had a set of tasks to do, from taking pictures of each events, to recording any part of the speech of the Mayor he would ask us to. I once even had to join a group of photographers from the press on stage to take some shots of Mrs Baboun and the Mayor of Quatres-Bornes at an event at the Municipality of Quatres-Bornes. This was one of the most embarrassing and tedious task that my boss gave me. First of all I felt awkward getting on stage to take the pictures required but my boss insisted, then the fact that I am quite short made it hard for me to snap a picture amongst the crowd of agitated photographers. I named them the pack of hyenas throughout the whole evening while complaining to my colleague Fiona, as I got elbowed and pushed quite a few times which I found impolite and unnerving. I may have faced a few irritating or inconvenient moment during the different events but in the end I learned a lot and I loved working on this once in a lifetime project. Check out below two of the pictures that I assiduously took standing amongst the pack of hyenas:

Post event  

The next day after each events Fiona and I had to work on the press release, for the first one we worked on it was a bit hard because our recordings of the event were not that clear, but in the end we managed. We worked as a team on this project which quite helped as we had to manage media monitoring and follow-up calls at the same time. I felt confident and independent when we were given the task of writing the press releases and I also learnt how it was to actually write one in real life and contemplate the possibility that the information that we provide may actually appear in different newspapers.

In the end I learnt a lot from this unique and wonderful project and I am really grateful for having this unique opportunity to work on and participate in such an event. This developed many of my working skills such as managing social media, writing press releases and promoting events; and hopefully prepared me for all I may face in my future in the PR industry.

Cheers,

Sophie.  

The Royal Show

My day 15 was during The Royal Show week. I get the chance to be part of the WAEC team and help at a booth (stall) that the WAEC had organised. The booth was located at Silver Jubilee Pavilion, booth 324, where it was next to one of the exits.

The purpose of the stall was to get as many people to either enrol to vote or just check whether they are already enrolled and make sure their details are up to date. To check people's details, we had a laptop contained a snapshot of the roll and a 'simple to use' look up system.

The one shift at the Royal Show was to approach as many people as you can. We approached them when they were close to our stand or coming close. The most important thing of approaching people was 'DON'T BE SHY!'

At the beginning of the day, it was very quiet as there were not many people coming inside. We discussed that it might be because it was Tuesday and its after the public holiday and also the weather was not looking too good. But during the heavy rain, we managed to get more people and that actually was our highest peak for the morning shift. During the shift there were one or two people that came to us because they wanted some merchandise but we encouraged them to check their enrolment as well.

To try and get people interested, the WAEC had prizes. We gave out entry forms for a prize when they either confirmed their enrolment via the look up tool on our laptop or filled in an enrolment form. The prizes were a daily prize of a $50 IGA gift card and a grand prize of an iPad Air 2 32GB Wi-Fi.

Working at the Royal Show was a great experience because I got to see all different kinds of people. I was surprised that not everyone was interested to win prizes and they all thought that checking their enrolment was not important and assumed they had already voted, which meant they are enrolled to vote. Also some people didn't even know that there is a state election coming up in March 2017.

I enjoyed working with my intern colleague, Ed, and another WAEC staff, Katherine, who is the senior enrolment officer. I think we did a great job in approaching people.

Although, this kind of job doesn't really link too much with PR, it is still a very good experience in seeing all different kinds of people and using our own techniques to approach people.

I am glad that I found my internship at the WAEC, as it is fun working there and I can get a lot of experience in all different areas! 

Enrol Now!

The WAEC Booth

Merchandise

Getting out of the Office! Meeting Time!

Day 13 of my internship at the WAEC. After all the research and writing up a proposal, we finally got the chance to be involved in a meeting!

Today’s meeting was with Murdoch University, we met the Senior Executive Director, Steven Dickson and some head of departments. We were there to discuss about early voting on campus.

The meeting went on for 45 minutes, the topics we discussed include;

•          Are they interested in the project?
•          Day(s) (3 days, 1^st -3^rd March 2017)
•         Time
•    WAEC marquee is 8am – 6pm
•    Main peak hours on campus are 10am – 2pm
•          Location (Bush Court)
•          Key issues
•    Parking ( from 4.30pm onward parking is free for the general public)
•    Security (Campus has 24/7 security)
•    Promotional materials cannot be distributed outside the Marquee area (from candidates).
•   Communication Channels (Social Media)
•   How many students are there?
•    900 teachers, 3000 parking bays, 1000 others = 5000 students/staffs on campus during the 3 days

At the meeting, we first introduced ourselves as interns and the main spokesperson for the WAEC was Justin, supervisor of the early voting on campus project. As interns, we were just sitting the side listening, but during the middle of the meeting, when they talked about communication, Ed had a chance to speak out, and he talked about the communication channels and how this is promoted out.

This meeting was a great chance to see how a meeting works although it was quite informal and was just like a chat.

This meeting helped me gain experience on how to communicate with people in a meeting, and what things we should consider. The most important thing is to be prepared and know what you need to say.

By listening to Justin speak, I have gained knowledge on how to host a meeting with clients which will help me in the future.

I have found the presentations we have done in other units (Cross-Cultural Communications, Media Relations, etc.) to be very useful because it helps with speaking and passing on messages in front of people.

This is the first time I have been in a meeting and representing an organisation. I was nervous to speak and was a bit shy. The things I want to improve after the first meeting is to not to be shy and afraid to speak out. My goal for my next meeting is to speak out!

I can’t believe after all my research and calling people, we actually got to go and join the meeting. It was a great experience!

I love working at the WAEC, and am starting to worry about this internship coming to an end! 

Looking through Rose-coloured Glasses

As I'm writing this, it is 1:38am on Sunday, and I just came home to hear the neighbours cranking up some loud music *lovely* Also, as I'm writing this, my feet ache once again from an exciting and crazy night spent at another signature Momentum Forum Events function: the Brian Gardner Pink Ribbon Ball. 

Behind the scenes

T'was a Pink Night
Held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, the massive ballroom was lit up in pink. Before the guests were to arrive at 6:30pm, setting up tables with name cards, raffle tickets and envelopes, auction catalogues, and corporate signage was the first task our group of interns. It was great to see you all there again (you know who you are!).

From the get-go I had an inkling that the night would have it's stressful moments; as is expected from helping to run an event. The corporate signage list wasn't set out according to a previous version, and the guest list pinned to boards by the entrance weren't printed well; raffle tickets had to be counted and re-counted, and laid out on all forty-six tables, and so, too, did the auction catalogues; all neatly rearranged to accommodate everything else crowding the table. There's a lot more paperwork at an event than you'd think.

Pink Ribbon Ball 2016

As the guests arrived in the foyer, enjoying their bubbly pre-drinks and came over to the table where raffle entries and door prize sign-ups were happening, the excitement started to build together with the decibels of conversations. The rainy weather withdrew into the night, and soon everyone was filling the ballroom, anticipating the night ahead.

The Pink Ribbon Ball is an annual signature event, since Barbara founded MFE in 2002, and its support for breast cancer awareness is amazing. It's sad to realise that this illness is something that everyone in that room had a connection to; either because they experienced it, they guided someone else going through the rigorous treatment, or because you want to support others discovering the painful journey. Behind the pink lights, the sequinned dresses and the grand ballroom, we are real people gathering to support a cause that we, sadly, hear about too often. This is something our guest testimonial speaker Debbie Clarke was sharing with us last night.

Going One, Going Twice, Sold!
Behind the scenes and away from the reality check felt across the room, the live auction was coming up soon. But before the real hustle began, Jess and I got the delicious task of showcasing a 10kg life-size Cadbury chocolate bar, tempting everyone, which was really fun!

Colour me pink

And so the serious bidding began. In addition to the team which was handling the auction, us interns were made to divide and conquer, and be 'spotters': signalling anytime someone in our section raised their hand to place a bid to benefit the auctioneer. My head was swirling from one side to the other, patrolling the area if you will, trying to keep up with the pace of the auctioneer's speedy monotone of which bidding price we were at. There was also a silent auction, but it was pretty quiet on that front; I wonder if any of those silent auction paintings got sold...

Wrapping it Up
In the end, everyone was dancing and having a good time. The live band got a crowd of their own up on the stage, singing away as the smoke machine fogged the disco laser lights. The atmosphere was infectious. When all the auction catalogues, corporate signage and other bits and pieces were collected, it was time for us interns to get together and have a glass of wine. What was a nice surprise was that the kitchen had some desserts left over for us to enjoy. Chocolate cups with raspberry coulis, macaroon meringue and flower petals was truly a treat!

The A-team

All Done and Dusted

I am FINALLY posting my final blog for my PR internship, even though I finished over 2 months ago, I wanted to post it at this time so you guys could benefit as you are about to finish up your internships.

Well, well, well, this brings me to the end of my internship blogs, and I would just like to say a huge thank you to the team at CBH for taking me in with such welcoming arms. My overall experience has been well worth the hour long commutes into the city centre and the constant walking in high heel boots. 

I would just like to give a tip to those of you who are finishing up their internships, make sure you let the workplace know how much you appreciate them dedicating extra time and effort to give you work to do, and thank them for the both work and personal level you got to know them on. Below is my final email I sent on my last day, as a general thank you to everyone who I worked with in my corporate affairs and marketing team. 

“ Hi Team!

This is my last day and I would just like to thank you all for the dedication you have given to me in my time here at CBH.

My time here has been great and I have experienced what it is like to be involved with a team that works so closely together. Thank you for letting me tag along to your meetings and giving me real jobs to do while I was here. 

I wish you all the best, especially Sarah, Nikki and Jody with your soon adventures. Have a great time!!

Thank you for a great internship! And I will be sure to write some positive notes about you all in my Final Report. Also cheers Roz, Kate and Matt for being boss pod buddies, and Sarah, Susan and Christine on my days in pod one! 

Will miss being part of the CBH team and I will see some of you at the Dowerin Field Day, and other farming things I am sure. 

Keep representing us farmers well!!

Regards, Rachel Clarke (The Intern) “

Throughout my time I created a very personal relationship with a lot of the women in my office. Therefore making an email such as this one very appropriate to show my gratitude to everything they had done for me over my time.  I cannot emphasise enough how important it is, good experiences or bad, to say thank you. It is something we are losing in today’s world and I believe people who dedicate so much free time to you appreciate this at least.

As a final parting gift to my group I left chocolates and some slice, this is something I do regularly and was a slight bribe as they are now on my resume as a reference. Remember to be smart as this is one of our first experiences into the PR world which we wish to enter.

ANY WHO, over my past four blogs you have read my rants, my confusion and most importantly my interest in what we do. So now I say good bye and GOOD LUCK! Make every last day worth it!

Happy Interning

-        Rachel

Week one: Success!

Hi everyone! I am currently entering the second week of my PR internship at Cannings Purple, located in West Perth. 

On my first day, I arrived at the office at 8.20am, surprisingly feeling much more relaxed than I had anticipated. As I walked into the office I introduced myself to one of the colleagues I recognised from my interview a few months prior. She gave me a tour of the office and pointed out what the different areas were and who worked in which department. I was introduced to a number of people and was greeted with a warm welcome from everyone who passed me in the office.

At 9.00am, the office has a daily meeting which they call WTF, or What’s the Focus. These meetings are designed to keep everyone informed of the daily activities occurring in the office, and give people a chance to put their hand up for extra work when they have capacity. The meetings are usually quite short, but there is always some form of banter going on between everyone and a lot of laughter. I think the meetings are a great idea, as they not only keep everyone up-to-date, but they also get the energy of the office up and create a happy environment for everyone to begin their day.

Once the meeting was finished, I had a brief chat with one of the executives to discuss what I would do on my first day. She directed me towards the Investor Relations area, and from there I was given a research project on dysprosium, a rare earth element that is predominantly mined in China. The reason for this research was to gain an understanding on the future outlook for dysprosium in order to give advice to investors on whether they should invest in a client called Northern Minerals. Northern Minerals is a mining company that is currently set up in the Northern Territory who are the first mining company in Australia to mine the rare earth element. My research for this project is still underway, however I have definitely learnt a lot from it, as it has not only broadened my understanding of the element and its uses, but also on how to conduct effective research. I found this task very interesting, as I discovered that dysprosium is a material used in many sustainable energy innovations, such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. As sustainability is an area I am very interested in and hope to end up working in, I found the content that I researched very valuable to learn. 

I was then given my second task for the day, in the area of Corporate Affairs. This task involved generating social media content for a client called Business Foundations. I produced a total of 18 Facebook posts and 18 Twitter posts on a variety of subjects regarding the company and their service offerings. My supervisor was very pleased with my work, which was a big confidence boost!

My second day was very similar and just carried on completing both tasks from the day before. On day three I was given a new task that required urgent research for a client called Landscorp. I was instructed to gather information such as population and economic data for various WA towns. The information needed to be sourced from credible sites and completed by that afternoon. Finding population size and demographics was quite easy, as I gathered most of this information from the ABS website. However I was surprised to find that the most recent data was taken from 2014, and even then majority of the information I needed was from 2011. I began to stress that the client would not be pleased with these outdated results. From there I became more stressed when trying to find information regarding any major projects occurring in the area and really struggled when it came to some of the less well-known areas. Thankfully I sent a draft copy to my supervisor of the work I’d already completed and was told I was on the right track and to continue doing what I was doing. That was a major relief and suddenly the task was much easier to do.

After completing my first week I can definitely say I am looking forward to graduating university and entering the workforce! I know that this internship will be a valuable learning asset towards my career and I am very excited for the days ahead! 

I Survived!

I did it! I completed 20 full days at my internship!

During my last few days many of my colleagues were asking me questions in regards to my time in the office. One reoccurring question I got asked is, “Has this experience been everything you imagined?”

To be very honest before starting my 20 days I assumed everything I had learnt would come rushing back to me and I would be completely fine. Considering I had sat through 3 years of theory and practical PR classes. Put in countless hours for assignments and exams and interacted with multiple students across the course. How different could PR in an office environment be to a classroom environment?

Probably a naïve thought right? Never did I imagine I would be writing articles, pitching to newspapers, speaking with journalists, or be involved in confidential projects. All of this and more I can say I have achieved in just 4 short weeks.

I have been very fortunate to experience my time as an intern with another intern Jess from Curtin. Having someone beside you defiantly make things a little easier when you are asked to do tasks such as monitor the media room of a large Oil and Gas conference! A crazy job for 2 inexperienced PR girls, but what better way to gain experience then to be thrown straight into the deep end.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt coming out of my internship is to believe in myself and trust things will work out. I have never been one to enjoy change, so when day one of the 4 weeks began, everything that I was used to was completely different. Instead of driving, I was catching the bus, instead of lazing around in the afternoons, I was working on client pitches. All in all, my days were completely different to what I was used to. However, the knowledge and experience I gained doesn’t compare to anything else I’ve done before and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

If there’s any advice I could give to someone thinking about doing an internship or work experience for a company, I would 100% say go for it. Take every opportunity you get, (even if it seems scary)because the only way you’ll learn is if you give it your best shot!

Completing my internship has made me excited about the future and where my degree will take me. I have more experience, I have more confidence, Now I just have to secure a job....Wish me luck!

Yummy Morning Tea from PPR to thank Jess and I for our time in the Office.

How to be a good intern

It has been just over two weeks now since I finished my internship at PPR. Reflecting back on it I started to think about what in my mind makes a good intern. Couple of things came to mind that I learned during my month long internship so I decided to write them down. Hopefully they can be useful for anyone who is just about to start their internship or doing theirs at the moment.

Here are my top seven tips for anyone interning:

1. Listen carefully and ask questions

Do not be afraid to ask questions. It is very important that you understand the work you are given and how to do it in order to be able to complete the task successfully. If you do not understand something just ask, most supervisors are happy to explain and make sure you are confident in completing the task rather than later having to have to fix all the mistakes that were made because you did not understand the scope of work. It is also important to listen carefully of what is being said because as an intern you know less than your supervisors. They have years of experience and can teach you a lot if you are willing to listen and learn.

2. Actively seek work

Sometimes people can get busy with their own work and don’t always think of what they can give to the intern to do unless asked. I found it very important to actively show interest in different projects and talk to people in order to get work. Your supervisors will appreciate the enthusiasm and people are more likely to give you interesting tasks to do.

3. No matter what the task is – always say yes

That is of course if you have the capacity to do the work, if you are already overloaded with tasks try and get the deadline extended or let your supervisor know. I found that at times doing tasks that did not seem so exciting lead into more interesting ones. Often by accepting mundane jobs you are showing to your supervisor that you are willing to learn and do well at any job given to you.

4. Do not forget to ask for feedback

Most of the time I found in my internship I got given feedback right after completing my task but at times I had to ask for it. It is important to seek feedback to give you opportunity to see what you did well and what you can improve on.  Be open to any feedback, including criticism, as it is all useful for you and will help you develop excellent PR skills.

5. Work hard

If you want to succeed you need to work hard and make a full contribution to the team. Take time to complete all the tasks given to you. Always proofread everything before submitting it. Be mindful of deadlines given to you and follow up once you have completed your task to see if there is anything extra you can do. 

6. Don’t be afraid to talk to people

One of the tasks I had to do during my internship was calling people and interviewing them for possible news articles. At first it seemed a bit daunting but I quickly realised that it is just part of the job and once you get comfortable calling people, be it a person you need to interview or a journalist to who you will pitch a story idea to, it is a useful skill to have. After few of those calls it wasn’t that intimidating anymore and by the end of the internship I felt fairly confident calling who ever was necessary. Just try and be enthusiastic when pitching stories to journalists and patient and curious when interviewing people for news articles.

7. Have fun

Last but not least – have fun. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn everything about the PR industry and to soak in all the knowledge the people in your company have. If you are enthusiastic and willing to work people will be more willing to teach you and to include you in different activities and meetings.

To finish up here is a photo from the RSPCA cupcake day that was held at the office on my last week of internship. 

Attention to Detail

In life we all know there is an importance when it comes to detail, although in a public relations sense, detail is everything! It is the reputation which you are publicly representing; therefore anyone can see the mistakes. 

Recently it has been my responsibility to send emails back to people who have submitted photos into our competition and to thank them for their submission. This is where the little things of PR really make a difference, such as; not giving people the wrong idea about their submission, or making sure it is BCC not CC when replying to them all as we don’t want to give out peoples private emails. Also it makes you read every word carefully, as it would look horrible if the email (sent to over 400 people) had spelling mistakes or errors throughout. 

Also over my internship I have been conducting a booklet which is to be used for a Growers Tour to China and Vietnam. This booklet is being released to 50 people who are attending the tour and was proofread by 5 people in the department including myself. Although some things did not seem important or noticeable, it was the small things such as commas before and after numbers that I managed to pick up. For example it said Wednesday 7, September and the next one said Thursday, 8 September. These minor details were not important to the information, although they made the document look unified when it was all completed. This is something I have enjoyed about my internship, is finishing a project and seeing it completed, printed and binded. It is such an achievement and makes it worth putting the effort into your work.  

Throughout the time I am at CBH we have been using things such as campaign monitor and other software programs that allow us to evaluate how many internal employees open links and read what type of stories. This attention to detail meant that I had to write a newsletter piece with more of a personal twist as people opened links to stories that moved more away from business information and more into the environment of the people in the building. When analysing this information it shows the importance and effort you have to put in to communicating and the best way to do this.

Also at CBH the decision was made within the internal communications team to release more documents as videos rather than emails or documents published to the website, therefore a video planning meeting was set up between 4 people including myself to discuss how this would be done. Video planning meeting process was extensive and broken up into 4 sections; idea, processes, actions and objectives. Using this 4 section process means that each important point can be taken into consideration and the action which the team needs to take to tackle each obstacle. This is something we have been taught over our entire degree at Curtin, to double check everything, make sure you have the facts, and assess the situation accordingly. 

So remember my fellow PR brothers and sisters, pay attention to detail, it is a reputation on the line!

Happy PR Interning :)

-Rachel 

The Importance of Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness

I think this is a topic worth discussing, cultural sensitivity and awareness.  Only during my time at AIME have I really understood how PR can be affected by culture, and how it is our duty as PR practitioners to be conscious of these societal differences.

I studied Cross Cultural Communication last semester, focusing on the relationships between organisations and different cultures. We looked at how differences in culture may impact the way in which PR Practitioners create and send out messages and respond to issues that arise.

As I am interning at AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience) it has been really interesting working in an environment that is culturally aware of the Australian Indigenous community and the issues that Indigenous youth are facing today. In all honesty, before my internship I had only came to know a couple of Indigenous Australians, from netball teams and school. Therefore, being immersed in this culture is quite a new experience. Perhaps for this reason, it has never fully occurred to me the extent to which the Australian Indigenous culture is different to the secular Australian culture.

As part of my internship I attended a mentor training session at Notre Dame University. I think it is valuable to have an understanding of the Indigenous culture and to be aware of the past tragedies (Stolen Generation and the closing of communities etc.) that have caused so much pain in regards to loss of identity and cultural traditions. I remember learning about the stolen generation in year 7 yet that is the extent of my schooling on this issue. An issue that is still having a major impact today.

Why have I not been exposed to this culture? 

So to bring it back to PR, perhaps we need to invest a little more time into understanding the cultures within Australia. Although we may aspire to work overseas or be involved in a global company, working with AIME has taught me that not enough Australian’s know and understand the Indigenous culture or its people. 

We learn how PR professionals need to be culturally sensitive and aware when dealing with organisations from different backgrounds. So why is our learning narrowly focused on countries across the border?  I have only discovered this reasoning from the time spent at AIME, that there is a widespread need to acknowledge and understand the Indigenous culture. Even if it is one seminar, to be a PR practitioner that is aware of these differences and how this may affect the messages sent to an ‘Australian’ audience will be greatly beneficial.

 

This instagram post by aime_wa 

 is so eye opening to the misconception of identity.

"We identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by blood, culture and merit. Not by skin colour." 

I am grateful that I am now attentive to the identity issues that Indigenous Australians face and experience on a day to day basis. This will prove to be a valuable mentality when heading into my future career, whether it be PR or another pathway.