First Steps

It’s been great to finally have a break from the stresses that come with #unilife, but for me it’s time to hang up my bikini and take my first steps into the ‘real world’.

The day is finally here.



I’ve been up all night trying to decide what outfit will most effectively portray the fact that I am keen to learn, professional and above all capable of what they are about to throw at me (even if that include ‘I’ll get a skinny long mac topped up- no sugar’.

I’ve taken my first steps into the office with the social precedent of the word intern hanging over my head, and excitement running through my veins. I keep thinking ‘all I’m going to be doing is filing, getting coffees and running errands- I’ll be fine’.  Boy was I wrong.

I thought that wearing the intern paper crown meant doing the slug work, yet in the first hour here  I feel as if I’ve been thrown into the deep end, and I can honestly say that I’m loving it. The work that I am doing is challenging, interesting and it gets me thinking. It’s a great change from my usual boring 9-5 retail job. I get to apply what I’ve been learning at Uni in a real life situation where it’s actually all starting to make sense now.

Media releases, blog posts, ‘what’s happening’ research, social media- you name it, I’m doing it!

I’ve found myself having been thrown into a world of events and public relations that I honestly love doing- and I’m being intellectually challenged every day I’m here, having to push myself and feeling like one of the head honchos and actually contributing to the team and the business operations.

I had the stereotype in my head that an intern will be placed in the corner, doing silly work that doesn’t make a difference in the businesses success, rather just helps them out with jobs around the office. The tasks and to do lists being passed my way include researching client content and Event/PR topics to include in media releases, event listings and blog posts. I’m liaising with companies and clients and surprisingly I'm actually implementing the skills I’ve learnt at University.

Being thrown into the deep end is an understatement to say the least. 

I’m so happy that an Internship is included in my degree as it really has opened my eyes to the sides of an Event Management and PR organisation that I didn’t realise were so crucial to raising business awareness, gaining momentum and reaching success.

Having a large amount of previous Event Management experience I was already aware of the planning and organising that is contributed towards achieving an event- so that to me was no surprise. Yet what has actually been a surprise to me is the work that is done behind these events that have the potential to make as business great, or give them the image as just another Events and PR company. Of course I knew these things existed in businesses, I just didn't realise how crucial they actually are in all aspects of any business- not just PR and Events! It comes in portraying your business and selling yourself to your desired public's and demographics.

I’m realising how important components like social media, marketing and client management are to the success of an emerging organisation in the market, and I know I will definitely embrace these elements of running a business when I embark on my own adventure. It's definitely relatable to me and what I want to do.

The day is coming to an end and I feel like in one day I have already learnt so much. I was required to do research such as content and image publications to be comprised into promotional material for the business. I never realised how significant components such as promotional and informative e-book’s (electronic material) are in showing your public's what you’re made of and what you can offer client's. These are elements of owning your own business that I didn’t realise mattered as greatly as they do, and I can confidently say that I will definitely be implementing this into my own business path and my career.

I’m actually quite surprised at how easily I found I am fitting in to my new environment. I feel like what I’ve been learning at University I am easily able to apply this into what I am working on. The experience from just one day is extremely surprising and I'm gaining experience that will help in making my own path.

Some could say I'm pretty happy where I am right now, and for some odd reason working for free or slave labour as some might say isn't actually as bad as it sounds.

Momentum Forum Events 'Kisses Violence Against Women Goodbye'

Today I am going to share with you my experience at working at the  Medaesthetics International Women's Day Luncheon!

Each of the interns (including myself) arrived early at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre around 9.00am. We were then greeted by our glamorous employer and CEO of Momentum Forum Events, Barbra Macnaught. Inside the preparation room were the models, make up artists, and hair dresses  and stylists, preparing Barbra and the models for the event. Unfortunately the other Interns and I were not fortunate enough to share this glamour and glitz!

We were put to work straight away manoeuvring sponsorship signs and event equipment into a backstage room.   Meanwhile answering phone calls giving guests last minute directions and information! Barbra then delegated each  of us  a specific job to do through out the event. She gave us a run down for the day and put us under the instruction of her Marketing Director.   Like most events their are small bumps or hiccups that cause disruption. Unfortunately this event was no different!

The event before us had lagged behind and then the staff that were in charge of re setting up the room were lacking in numbers.  The interns and I quickly used our initiatives and began setting up the room for the event that going to start in only an hours time! Thoroughly and quickly we re -dressed tables, dressed chairs and set up sponsorship signs and tables.  After we had finished setting up we quickly  put on our exclusive 'Kiss Violence Against Women Goodbye' T shirts on and began greeting guests that were accumulating outside the room.

We designated guests to their tables and were even able to get a glimpse of the Honourable Governor Julia Bishop.  The press from channel 7, Channel 9 and Channel 10 all gathered around her to hear about her opinion and support for the charity event Kiss Violence Against Women Goodbye!

Other Important VIP guests were Betty Tran, an international fashion designer showcasing some of her garments. But the most inspirational individual to attend in my eyes was Dana Vulin,  a survivor of Domestic Violence.  She once again told her story and her emotional and physical journey to get to where she is today.

The day was spent by me and the interns attending to guests requests in correlation with a charity auction we were hosting and providing tickets for them to purchase.  However later on in the day we were lucky enough to participate in a live auction for gifts worth  between $1500  to $5000 each. We were asked to stand behind guests as they raised their hands during the auction, to assist the auctioneers in keeping a tally as too who was bidding. This was something I didn't expect I would be doing as PR event  and had only come close to witnessing on TV!


 The day concluded after the auction and the  Women's Day luncheon had been an amazing success!  This event had taught me to act quickly, use my initiative and had increased my confidence when dealing with the guests of the general public. I did feel a slight panic when hiccups occurred in the event but I kept reminding myself that;

"Just because it's not going to plan, doesn't mean it's going wrong!"


Momentum Forum Events has had yet another successful and amazing event.  I am so grateful to be apart of cause with such compassion.


P.S Check out the picture of me and the other interns with Blake Garvey ( The Bachelor) another VIP guest at the luncheon!

Till next time guys!


Mica Nelson

It turns out I actually do know things

Hi, my name is Alyssa and this semester I managed to secure an excellent opportunity working as an intern for Mills Wilson – one of the largest PR consultancies in Perth.

Walking in on day one I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I kept imagining worst case scenarios and felt seriously unprepared. I doubted whether anything that I had learnt throughout my 3 years in my PR and Marketing degree would help me in the slightest.

It turns out I was wrong.

I couldn’t believe how closely the course work coincided with the everyday workings of a consultancy. Although a lot more time pressed and fast paced than a Uni assignment, it was pretty much bang on what I had expected.

As I walked in on the first day, I scanned the office to find it was open plan and FULL of paperwork, newspapers and an entire wall of files. Although it was a little intimidating, I couldn’t wait to get in to it.

Not really knowing what to expect in terms of what exactly it was I would be doing I was a little apprehensive but the work was not far from anything I had done before. I got to write up EDMs, shorts paragraphs for client websites, short articles for client newsletters as well as a blog post for an insurance company website and captions for photos.

The first day flew past and when the end of the day came along I couldn’t believe how fast time had passed, I was busy all day! It just goes to show that when everyone tells you that you never stop working as a PR professional, it’s true! There was never a lack of work.

Leaving the office for the day I was excited to see what the rest of the internship would bring.

Hanging out with the Pirates

Hi all! My name is Emma and I am in my final semester at Curtin. In just a few short months I will have completed my Commerce degree and will (hopefully) be ready to step into the big wide "real world" as a graduate.

I am currently interning at a local music station in Fremantle - Pirate 88FM. Having been there since the last week of the mid-semester break, I’ll be the first to admit I am a bit late to write my first my blog post. Nevertheless, I now have plenty to tell. 

I was pretty intimidated by the whole experience at first. Having not done much in the way of work experience relevant to my degree, I came into the PR Internship unit with a slight “I’m not good enough” mentality. You know the one – where you feel like you’ll be at uni studying forever, then all of a sudden the end of your degree is near and it’s time to put theory into practice. Determined to be organised, I began searching for a placement a couple of weeks into the semester break. I googled, I applied, I rang, I waited. After weeks of no response, I started to freak out. Maybe I really wasn’t good enough? Was there something wrong with my CV? Did I apply for positions wrong? I was starting to get desperate.

As it turns out, I was just being impatient. I woke up a couple of days later with two offers waiting for me in my email inbox (that’s right, not one, but two!). One I had applied for weeks prior, and another I had found in a desperate attempt on Gumtree. After a bit of thought and consideration, I accepted the role at Pirate as I felt it offered more relevant and valuable experience. Plus it's a radio station - how fun is that?!

I have no doubt I made the right choice. The next day I threw together the most professional looking outfit I could find and made my way to the Pirate 88FM office in O’Connor, putting on a confident façade to hide my nerves.  As I sat with my supervisor my nerves flooded out the door within minutes and excitement set in. I already had so many ideas.

Pirate is a very young business. Founded in 2010, the station has very limited awareness and operates on a very limited budget (which, as it turns out, works out great for myself as it gives me lots of freedom to play around with ideas). For those who are unaware (and unfortunately I’m sure many of you are), Pirate 88FM is a local music station that is passionate about supporting the local music scene, giving local musicians as much exposure as they can. 70% of the music played on air is local music, and there is hardly any talkback. They are very community focused and consider themselves “the Fremantle sound”. Due to having a restricted license, the station is only broadcast in the Fremantle area, however can be streamed globally online.

I have only been with Pirate for a short time but I have already been tasked with, and accomplished so much. On my first day, I was asked to do a short write-up on that week’s 'Featured artist of the week', 'The Seals'. I was a bit daunted by the task at first. Having limited musical knowledge and no clue how to even describe an unfamiliar band, I had no idea how to start (although, I guess it is a music station - what else should I expect?). I jumped into some research and after reading a few online reviews, listening to a few songs and reading their bio, I found myself completing the write-up in less than half an hour. After showing it to my supervisor and getting the all clear, I was asked to put it up on their website, and I now do a write-up on a different band each week.

My first band write-up at Pirate

I’ve also been given the responsibility of updating Pirate’s website (as well as helping update their social media pages). If you have a visit, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s no secret the website needs a bit of work. After refreshing my memory on Wordpress and navigating my way around the confusing settings they currently have in place, I took some initiative and volunteered to redo the whole look and feel of their website (very cautiously I may add, I didn’t want to offend anyone!). They agreed the website needs a makeover and were happy for me to take on the task, so I’ve since been working on this as a “major” project at home. I will admit that I slightly underestimated the amount of work that goes into completely redesigning a website, but it’s a project I’m really excited about, and I can’t wait to see the new website go live. 

There is so much more for me to tell - events I’ve been able to help run and promote, bands I’ve helped interview, promotional material i've created, radio advertising I’ve helped produce (and voiced!) - but if I keep going this blog post will never end. I’ve made a very stern mental note to myself to not wait weeks before my next blog post! I will share some of the exciting things I've been up to soon.

Until then,
Emma.