End of my PR journey...or may be not :)

Hi guys, this is going to be my last post here. I want to take this opportunity to wish all my fellow Chinese PR practitioners Happy Chinese New Year! May your year be filled with luck and prosperity!

As promised, I will share a few corporate social responsibility (CSR) events that has been going on in my association, Curtin Sarawak. As a one of the top notch education institution, Curtin Sarawak has been implementing quite a number of CSR projects which bring benefits to its stakeholders and to maintain its long term sustainability.

I believe everyone here is familiar with media and press monitoring. I did the same during my internship too. Remember the amount of newspaper I read everyday? Through my whole internship, I have stacked up three piles of newspapers of my height! Instead of throwing them away, the newspapers will be tied up and sold to the recycle center. Not only that, the money gain from the newspaper recycling will be donated to Red Crescent Society monthly. Isn't it great? By doing so, not only that we can sustain the environment but also we give monetary aids to those in need.

If you think this is it, you are wrong. During the last day of my internship, I have attended Curtin Appreciation Night. The purpose of the event is to show appreciation to local high schools' in supporting in Curtin Sarawak's education welfare. From the presentation of our pr and marketing executive, Ms. Chen, she stated that Curtin has been organising motivational and career talks in local high schools to give students motivation in study and life annually. Besides, activities such as talks about sustainable development, health awareness campaigns and science exhibitions are also conducted for the local high schools students. All the activities conducted are aimed to advocate and promote in youth development. 

Other than that, on last Sunday, Curtin S'wak also collaborated with Sarawak Cancer Society, local enterprises and tourism board in organising an event called "Run for Hope". It is a charity event where the communities are encouraged to participate in either donating in form of monetary or join the marathon to create awareness on cancer. Although it was not part of my duty as a PR practitioner anymore, I still joined in the event along with my friends. It was fun! Plus, the joyous feeling after running for a cause is incredible!

So this is the end of my internship in PR industry. There are more CSR projects advocated by our association but I shall stop here now or this is going to be another long post! Time really flies. It is really hard to believe I learnt that much in such a short time. This internship has given me a lot of insightful experiences that I couldn't get during my study time. It also assured myself that I have made a right choice stepping into this industry. I feel there are so much more to learn and I don't want to stop learning! I am really enthusiastic about my future endeavor in PR industry. This is definitely not an end for me yet!

It's been a great pleasure to share my internship experiences here. Hope you guys enjoy this internship experience as much as I do!

Renee Tiong

Curtin Bentley

15621580

Advocating Stakeholders, Press Conferences and CSR.

Hi, It's me again! It has been an exciting week for me as there were two events in a week, a press conference and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony. I feel delighted to be invited to a press conference held by our campus, Curtin University Sarawak and a local renown poverty company, Naim Land. This alliance of both companies benefits to fulfill their common mission on community engagement. This is also an opportunity for me to meet more people and extend relationship with our stakeholders. 

The main purpose of this press conference is to launch and deliver the important details of the short video competition themed "My High-rise Home". This competition aims to gain local community's view of what forms of ideal high rise living and also collecting marketing messages through creative video productions. I personally think this is a great platform provided for the local youngsters to shine their talents and creativity ideals. 

After the press conference, the VIPs and journalists are invited to have a glance on Naim Land's newly launched architectural and interior miniature models displayed at the exhibition corner. Refreshment was served after that. I really enjoy the pleasant atmosphere where everyone stays to socialize with each other. It is really a great experience for me.

Q&A session during the press conference.

My colleagues and me. Refreshment was served after the press conference.

The second event of the week is Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony. This MoU signing event is to assure co-operation between Curtin and Samling group of Companies can be continue in broader range. 

The local journalists and managers of Samling Group of Company were invited to the event. Before the ceremony starts, media kits are distributed to the media journalists. The honored attendants of this event are Curtin Sarawak council's chairman, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan, Chief Operating officer (COO) of Samling company and vice-chancellor and chief executive of Curtin Sarawak, Ian Kerr. 

In Dr Chan's speech, he believed through this MoU signing not only it will reinforce both parties' relations but also continue to improve students' development through internships placement, scholarships, subsidiaries or guest lectures. This MoU signing also encourages collaboration in CSR activities advocate community's benefit and interest.

In this event, I learnt the procedures in organizing a press conference. My supervisor has been busy sending invitation e-mails to the journalists. We arrived to the venue early to ensure the sound system works, the backdrop is nicely put up, indoor lighting is bright enough and so on. Media kits are needed to be prepared and hand in to the journalists before the event starts. 

To conclude, I found out that the common ground of these two events are both aiming at gaining mutual benefits while advocate the other key stakeholders - students and the community. By having collaborations between the education institution and other enterprises help in gaining more stakeholder's support and useful resources. The press conference is a way to communicate with the stakeholder of what is happening recently. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is also one of the vital activities in our department. We often  collaborate with some of the corporations for CSR activities. 

Coming week, we will have another CSR event going on. I will share with you guys with my experience again on my next post!

Renee Tiong

Curtin Bentley

15621580

Embarking a new journey into PR industry.

Greetings to all PR practitioners!

Today marks the second week of my PR internship. But first, let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Renee and I am currently undertaking double major degrees of Public Relations and Management in Curtin Universtiy Bentley. However, I am currently having my internship placement at Corporate Communication department in Curtin Sarawak. This is the third internship I have in my higher education life. Previously, I had my practical internship in operational departments of Four Points by Sheraton hotel and Marriott's Resort and Spa respectively during my diploma study. Nevertheless, this is my first time undergoing an internship in administration department.

Entrance upon communication department Curtin Sarawak

Although I had a similar part time job experience in administration department yet being in communication corporate department is far more different than the one I had before. As you can see on the new signboard beside our department entrance, listed out the job scopes of corporate communication department. 

On the first day, I was warmly welcomed by my amicable colleagues and also my department manager, Mr. Nicholas Leong. I was quickly brief through on our department on-going activities and also events in coming weeks. Mr. Nicholas gave some brief yet detail information on the tasks. He also encourages me to partake in any tasks that I am interested to learn in depth. Due to that currently is just the beginning of the year, our department is not as eventful as the time around the year end. Hence, Mr Nicholas suggested that as a fresh starter in the department, I shall start from the scratch --- 

Newspaper for press / media monitoring

                           

Tadaa! Yes, that is the amount of newspapers I read everyday. I need to read through newspapers from different local or national press in three main languages -- English, Malay, Mandarin and occasionally, the native language. This is for the purpose of media and press monitoring. Later on, the articles featuring on Curtin Sarawak will be cut out and use as press clipping. I was told to monitor on the press or media released by our competitors as well. My supervisor taught me how to calculate the value of each news distributed or featured by different press firms. I was also given a chance on drafting a press release as well as monitoring few important information on the Curtin official webpage to ensure accurate information is provided to the web visitors. 

I guess that is all for my first week of internship. I certainly am more expose to the real PR industry. Not only that I manage to apply what I learnt academically into practical use, I also get to learn some new insights from doing different tasks given by my supervisor. I am glad that I have chosen the right place to learn the basic of the PR industry. I am looking forward for tomorrow task and coming Friday event! I will be sharing more of it after. I hope you enjoy your internship as much as I do. 

Till then!

Renee Tiong Ai Li

15621580

Curtin Bentley