Between the Lines: Putting Pen to Paper

As interns, we know the importance of taking notes to write tasks down, take meeting minutes, and keep track of what we did today... 

In this blog I thought I'd write about something we do every day; write. Yet how we write makes all the difference. 

Hidden Details

You always hear about people expected to be detail-oriented and be able to discern the fine print in most situations. It seems like common sense, yet sometimes you really miss what's right in front of you. I'm sure most of us would agree that doing the same thing continuously hinders our progress, and maybe even makes us susceptible to miss the finer details.

For example, when I noticed that the signature image at the end of our standard emails for potential exhibitors was from last year with the wrong dates, I just thought, how could anyone not have noticed? So I changed it and now it’s not misleading anymore. This really shows that it’s all in the details, and anyone can miss a minor hidden one; but if you're the one to pick up on these it's a good skill to have. 

Take Note 

Another iceberg, another lesson

Another good skill to have is the art of note taking. Recently I read this really interesting Harvard Business Review article, about the amount of information we miss when we take notes on our laptops instead of good old-fashioned pen and paper. Although we may take a larger quantity of notes whilst typing away on our keyboards, writing long-hand helps us remember the context of what we've noted down instead of a word-for-word transcript. This is something that I really resonate with; I've always been a 'pen and paper' kind of girl. Writing instead of typing always makes it feel like you're connecting with what you're writing, which makes you remember the context of your notes. 

Other articles I've come across about the art of note taking have been from Lifehack and Scientific American; all coming to the same conclusion that people who write out their notes long-hand have a longer-lasting understanding of the material, than people who type their notes digitally. I just find it fascinating, because in class most of us sit glued to the keyboard, transferring each word said by our lecturers onto the digital page, thinking we'll remember it all because we have such extensive notes. Yet in reality, how many of us go back over these notes, tucked away in some virtual folder, to revise them? When you've got something physically in front of you, I think you're more likely to tend to it.

I remember before I started uni, I was questioning whether I would have to bring a laptop with me to lectures to take notes; already imagining I'd be the only one who didn't know how to touch-type and scribbling away in a notebook instead. As usual, I worried about something that didn't need fretting about.  

Client Meetings
As interns we're bound to be in several meetings, trying to absorb as much as we can from team and client meetings. There have been so many things I felt like I needed to write down so I wouldn't forget them, such as tasks, deadlines, a brief to-do list (which ended up being added to all the time), key words, logins and passwords, phone numbers, random calculations... I find it's really handy, and quite frankly necessary, to have a notepad with you on the go. 

Meetings are a great opportunity for exposure to observe more. Such as how your managers interact with existing and/or potential clients, how they go about creative a solution when they can't see eye-to-eye, and how they maintain their client relations. Client relations in a Forbes article points out what we already know; that exceptional client service makes up the core value for organisations. 


I went a bit further and found a blog post which covered some tips for building long-lasting client relationships, and one of the first things it read was the obvious truth that there is a multitude of ways to keep in contact with clients; phone calls, emails, Skype, social media, face-to-face meetings... this brings about the question of how do you know which is the best to use at which time? 

In meetings I default to be the note taker, detailing discussion topics, general agenda minutes and key points to remember; either for the team in the future or just for myself. It's a really good way to remember important facts or helpful tips, and your custom hand-written notes are also great prompts to refresh your memory of what you did on any given day at your internship. 

And the best part is they don't have to be neat!

A Purple Beginning...

Hi everyone! My name is Stav and this is my first blog post.

Like the rest of you, I am in my final year of my double degree (PR and Professional Writing and Publishing), and I am really excited to have landed an internship with Cannings Purple. For those of you who may not know, Cannings Purple is a highly acclaimed PR firm in Perth, specialising in corporate affairs, government relations, stakeholder engagement, and other B2B PR-related areas. I decided to apply for an internship with Cannings Purple as these are the areas of PR that interest me the most, and I wanted to go somewhere that would give me a wealth of knowledge and experience in the world of corporate PR.

I go in to Cannings Purple two days a week, and my first week went by really quickly. On my first day, my supervisor showed me around the office, and it is really cool! It feels like a real office, with boardrooms, and people in smart clothing - the office looks out onto Perth's skyline, which makes it all seem very grown up and professional. I learned that the team has a brief meeting every morning to go over what everyone is up to, so that the whole firm is aware of what projects are undertaken and to have a general catch up. I was introduced in this meeting, and everyone was very nice and welcoming. After the meeting I got everything set up - I got my very own laptop, desk, and email address. I was given the task of writing up blurbs about hip local restaurants, bars, and shops for a client's website. This task flowed onto the following day - day two, where I worked closely with the Design & Digital team.

On day two, I joined the Design & Digital team at their weekly meeting, and it was a great insight into the more creative side of the firm (as opposed to the corporate side I had seen previously). I was responsible for creating social media content on Photoshop, working alongside the Art Director and the Digital and Social Media Consultant. This all tied in to the previous day's task, as these social media images linked to the blurbs I had written. On day two, I was also given small tasks by other directors in the firm which was mainly to do research on various vendors for events. It was nice to work with the Design & Digital team as they were all really friendly and keen to help.

My first week was enjoyable! Although the tasks were simple, I enjoyed writing and creating content. My supervisor highly praised my work which was nice, and I was proud to have played a part in creating content for a client. Looking forward to the rest of the internship!

PR VS JOURNALISM

Finally my time had come to start my placement at PPR (Professional Public Relations) and what an exciting, busy, stressful week it has been!!


Two weeks prior I was interning at the ABC office in East Perth, little did I know that maybe my colleges, fellow students, friends and family were actually right.. PR and Journalism are very different.


My days at ABC were spent frantically rushing to locations to grab an interview with a talent or writing news stories in 15 minutes for them to be edited, subbed and published online before I had a chance to blink. Whereas my first day at PPR began with a quick brief on McHappy Day which I am part of (I will be posting more about this in the up and coming weeks), a few media contacts who I had to call and pitch a story to and an Excel sheet!


At PPR I was thrown straight in to the deep-end and I am still loving every second of it, I think the skills that I learn at the ABC to work quickly and have confidence in my work have really enabled me to feel comfortable with the work I have been producing at PPR. We all know how daunting it is when a professional in the industry comes to you and says 'Please write me a detailed media plan and can I have it by Friday (when it is already Wednesday)... Naturally I wanted to cry but at the same time this is what I have been working towards for the whole of my double degree!


I managed to complete the media plan, call the media contacts to pitch the story and now I am an expert at excel sheets and that was all in a few days... I can't wait to see what the next few weeks have in store for me and see if the differences between PR and Journalism become more obvious to me.

The Importance of Being Able to Write Well

The 1,000 times tutors said that you'll never get anywhere in PR if you can't write well? They were right.

Since I've started my internship with the Department of Local Governments and Communities, I've learnt that it's not even just about being able to write promotional materials such as media releases and social media content. In the last two weeks, two of the things I've had to draft were a letter to be sent to a number of stakeholders, and a memo to request funding.

These were two things that I haven't had a lot of experience with before - other than writing cover letters when applying for jobs and this internship I don't think I've ever written a letter to someone. I kind of just assumed that everyone used email now. As for the memo, I was lucky enough to be given a template to work off of, which made things a lot easier.

The other big thing I've learnt about needing to write well is how there is a very particular way that you have to word things when you're writing them on behalf of your organisation, especially in government. Obviously it has to be professional, but there is a style that it has to be written in, and this changes slightly when writing things that will only be seen internally within the department and things that are to be sent out externally. I can't even describe what the style is, but it's definitely there.

As for picking up on how things are expected to be worded in government? I'm starting to get my head around it, but it's definitely all very different to uni. Hopefully by the end of this internship I'll be able to write up anything that's asked of me without having to reread it 20 times to make sure I've done it correctly.

That's all for now!

Zoe

All Roads That Lead To Success Have To Pass Through Hard Work Boulevard: Final Reflection

Unreal.  It's the final week of my final semester.  I'm sure I can speak for many of you when I say my computer is lucky to still be in one piece!!  

Having completed two placements within slightly different industries at the same time this semester, I have learnt about things that I enjoy doing in the workplace, and things that I don't enjoy so much.  Writing, as always, is one of the best parts of this public relations and communications industry.  Unfortunately I haven't done as much of it as I would have liked in my placements, and I can only hope that as my career progresses, I get to do it more and more.  I have thought about working in magazines in the past - perhaps this is something to consider as I move forward.

My times at Magnetize, the boutique integrated communications consultancy that focusses on online marketing and business development, and Muse Bureau, the luxury public relations and events consultancy, were very different.  Social media driven development of clientele and learning about industries like financial advising was part of my work there.  My roles at Muse were more publicity based, heavily involved with liaising with talent and media in the lead up to Perth International Jazz Festival over 29-31 May.

I have learnt so much about my own professional and personal skills, along with the differences between the classroom and the real world.  There is only so much that can be learnt at university, and experiencing placements in two consultancies filled with professionals has been an eye opening experience to what awaits me in the future.

The world of public relations and communications is so intertwined, I still do not really know exactly what lies before me.  The pressure of finding work is a daunting task that I must be ready to face - but I know I can do it.  Having grown as a practitioner in my field, I believe that whatever comes, my time studying and my placements have shown me that I am indeed capable of tasks put before me.  

I leave you with this quote - as graduates, we all have to start somewhere, even if it's not in the place we first saw ourselves coming out of university.  However, with at least one placement behind us, we all know that we are capable of hard work - that means we are bound to be successful if we put our minds to it!

Good luck everyone, and all the best with your future - congratulations, we made it!!

Laura xx

I write what I don't know.

I’m published. Be jelly. Actually don’t. But it feels pretty great. My first okay blog post has been posted on the World Wide Web forever -or until the company takes their webpage down. Anyway, this post daunted me, and ill explain more in a minute. Let me just revel in the fact that I am published, and not on just my own blog – of which I write on because I don’t want to do assignments or my mind is running wild at 3am.

This all began after I had been doing a lot of social media management (I use the term management loosely at this point in my internship) and post research for our clients for a few weeks. I then progressed to editing blog posts, just before they were to be published. It felt good to be given that little bit more responsibility. Then I was given my first assignment, to write a blog post. I was delighted at the prospect of this. That was until I was informed of what I was to be writing about. That’s right, Shotokan Karate. I’m sorry, pardon? My heart sunk a little, I am not even going to lie, I just didn’t know how I was going to write this post, I have never done any martial art in my life, and here I am about to tell people the benefits of it?

I was lucky enough to get a few pointers from my boss. And I didn’t want to let her down, and was determined to find out everything I could about this strange form of exercise. I proceeded to enter the research zone, and after around three minutes, I began enjoying the research. I know right, what? I hate to say it, but I judged this little subject by its cover and was wrong as ever. I found myself intrigued about this martial art, and couldn’t stop researching, wanting to find out more and more. As university students we would all be able to relate, researching is kind of death, I’m just going to put it out there. But this was not death at all; it was interesting. I found myself keen to even give this martial art a try.

Writing the blog post was even more enjoyable. I did it with ease keeping in mind my target audience already had an understanding of Karate. I read the post to a mate at the time, and he even said he would be keen to try it, and liked the information included. So I was left feeling pretty chuffed. Below is the link to the post if you’d like to check it out. I think for a first piece of published work, it’s not too bad.

http://www.thecolosseum.com.au/jujutsu/news/what-is-shotokan-karate-and-why-should-i-try-it/

I guess it’s just interesting how our attitudes can change as soon as we give everything a shot. I am not saying that I had a negative attitude about this topic; I just didn’t think I was suitable to write the piece. I always try to have a can-do attitude and I think that is something we can all use in life. If I had of listened to that nasty little voice inside my head, I probably wouldn’t have a published piece of writing.

Hanging up my AAA lanyard for the last time as an intern

All good things come to an end, and it has come the time to bid farewell to Mellen Events. After the craziness of Future Music and Good Life Festivals and spending 6 days straight on site, I was given a few days off to rest. I spent the next few days curating all my budgets and all my receipts with purchases and orders to be sent off to the Future Music office over in Melbourne. Obviously everything had to match, down to the last cent and this proved way more difficult than I imagined, as everything is split up into precise codes and categories to be paid properly. Paperwork was clearly not as glamorous as the other parts of the job.

In the week after Future my mentor had also finished her last day at Mellen Events and had immediately flown to Melbourne to help out with Victoria's Future Music Festival. Meaning I was somewhat left in the dark as to how to tackle sending out these budgets and how this would be effectively translated to accounts at the Mushroom Group. I also had to chase up all the staff that worked for me on the day of Future Music and Good Life, with tax forms and staff forms as they had to be paid for their work as soon as possible.

Ironically enough, a few days ago it was announced by the Mushroom Group that Future Music Festival will cease to exist within Australia as it is not profitable. Am I surprised? No. The sad thing is they believe the large scale music festival as an event is becoming extinct world wide, with Australia at the forefront of this. Why? With Australia being as remote as it is, transport fees are outrageously high, labour cost is high and international competition is fierce. Artist fees and hire costs continue to grow each year and entertainment companies are reaching a point where putting ticket prices up every year is simply not an option, as people slowly but surely stop attending these events due to financial pressure. Not an ideal article of news to hear after you have experienced something so life changing and something you could see yourself wanting to get into career wise. I do believe there will be a shift in popular music events within the live entertainment industry, with more focus and money being put into solo live music shows (take a look at the Perth Arena's success). So all hope is not lost.

So what happens now? I was lucky enough to build a great relationship with the Mellen Event staff, and have been given some paid casual work with them when it comes to some of their events. A few examples being an Evening on the Green concerts, Paul Simon and Sting concert, Rodriguez and Angus and Julia Stone etc. However their season ends after the warmer months, as they do not hold music events in Winter (can't argue with Mother Nature).

As I have mentioned throughout my blogging this was not entirely a public relations internship, which I realised after having begun. However I have definitely been able to effectively put into practice all of my skills learnt within my public relations units including my writing skills, communication and negotiation skills, organisational skills and time management skills. At the end of this experience I have come out with great references, a lot of great stories and a polished resume, which I am ecstatic about. I would still like to polish off my public relations writing skills though.

I look forward to reading how others finished their internships, and what they think "comes next" for them?!

All the best everyone!

Billie

Intern Excitement - The Joys of Getting Published

Three days into my internship and I’m actually loving it.

My main roles so far have been social media posts, including the brainstorming of potential blog topics, editing and drafting several posts for a medi spa and health clinic, along with writing some Facebook posts for several different clients.  I was extremely excited when Melissa called me into her office to show me my posts queued to be published!  It was a great feeling over the following days to see my work posted on behalf of the clients (and consequently I have been stalking their pages to see each update).  I also got to see a marketing strategy in the final stages and contribute to some parts, with the Magnetize girls presenting it to the client the next day with some of my work included.  It was interesting to note that the format for the strategy was indeed very similar to those we have prepared at uni - a relief to find that I already know the basics! 

As I really enjoy writing and playing with words to fit into themes and messages, these tasks have given me a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that my strengths are of assistance to the company.  I’m very grateful to Mel and the team for giving me jobs that are actually necessary for them, rather than slave labour jobs like photocopying that some of my friends have unfortunately had to do.  The praise for doing a great job is a mega confidence boost, and I can feel myself improving on things already.  I am also learning lots about time management in the industry, with efficiency and attention to detail being very important in the marketing and PR world. 

Now the initial nerves have worn off, I am confident that this industry is something I can look forward to being a part of in my future career.  Each day has led me to doing something different, and it is so great to be told you’re good at something by people you admire.  I am really excited for my next day (a whole week away L) and cannot wait until I can get a proper job in the industry.  I can definitely see myself as a corporate businesswoman either in the city or areas like Subiaco – having a coffee in the morning in a trendy café suits me very well!

Until next time.  I’m going to try and remember to ask at least one good question each day I’m there so that I can learn even more and make the most of the Magnetize team’s knowledge.  I hope everyone is enjoying their roles as much as I am and are learning lots!  

Laura x