An exit strategy.

KEEPING YOUR CHIN UP

Hi everyone, this is my fourth blog post about my journey with Perth Fashion Festival (PFF). It has been a tumultuous journey filled with highs but mostly lows. As future graduates about to embark on a new journey, we have spent a good set of years behind us being prepped and trained. But what do we do when we're almost at the end, and we are not quite ready to go past the finish line? My internship term at PFF has been over for a while now as the last few weeks have been spent reflecting on what I have learnt, what could have been done better and eventually what's next. This internship has made me question so many things about myself. I have evaluated my strengths and weaknesses and have been looking into further developing my set skills. I have been told many times that this was all part of a learning curve. Surely enough it was and PFF has given me plenty to carry on with. I have also met many inspiring people along the way within the industry and worked with peers who are also there to gain invaluable work experience. 

I am looking forward to feedback with regards to handling work pressure and how you would handle an internship which revolves around your discipline but it still being outside your comfort zone. Being a PR and Journalism student for instance, has let me work on overcoming the challenges of the very complex area of Marketing. But as I have mentioned in my previous posts leading up to this, disciplines like marketing, Public Relations and the likes are very much linked with one another. They surely cannot exist in a vacuum. I started contacting past tutors and reading up on more marketing related issues to help me understand how my department works. I was determined to learn and make the most out of this fantastic opportunity. 

Along my journey, I have heard countless amount of feedback from my peers doing their internships. I think it is important to take triumphs and downfalls in good stride and not let either define you. With the tasks handed to me under the sponsorship and business development department of PFF, I was constantly trying to find ways to learn and keep up. Unfortunately, I let the pressure get the best of me. I was constantly making tiny glitches that I would never make under normal circumstances. My advice to fellow future graduates out there is to never let others or your work define you. There are many paths we can pursue to eventually reach our goals. But at this point, I need to be out of my comfort zone and gain some experience in uncharted waters. Take the road less traveled and come out wiser.

Here are some tips that I found useful when facing struggles at my internship:

http://internships.about.com/od/internshiptip1/a/I-Am-In-A-Bad-Internship-Now-What.htm

Until the next post, this is Dhiva.

Keep your chins up and skin tough.

Dhivashini. T (Dhiva)
16106648 
Curtin, Bentley 

First bump on the road...and not the last

ACCEPTING AND UNDERSTANDING FAILURE 

Good day everyone and welcome to my third post about my Perth Fashion Festival (PFF) journey. I think it's safe to say that we all dread the day we make a detrimental blunder at our work place. Rehashing the required tasks as an intern, my job was primarily to assist with sponsorship proposals prepared on Microsoft Power Point slides. As a non-profit organisation, PFF heavily relies on corporate sponsors to come on board to support the Festival. In order to get a strong foothold on this task, it is vital to understand the organisation's business drive as well as their goals and objectives. 

Each proposal needs to be tailored according to its respective corporate sponsor - both current and prospective. This task involves a mixture of public relations, marketing and even some journalism. "A sponsorship proposal needs to be tailored to each prospective company by using available information to define the synergies between the respective marketing synergy and the sponsorship offer" (Ferrand, Torrigiani, and Povill 2007, 98). In a hypothetical situation, if an organisation offers brand building and profile, we must understand the prospective client's target audience. As a Fashion based organisation, PFF has taught me that you have to learn the "corporate language". My supervisor made an interesting point where she mentioned that as a fashion community we have to play with the people in suits. This applies to every industry co-existing within the corporate community. 

Gauging my experience as a journalism student I have heard on multiple occasions on how the grass is always greener and more truthful on this side as opposed to the public relations side. As different as these disciplines may be, some fail to see how dependent they are on one another and a mixture of these skills help you handle tasks better. As a PR and Journalism student, being placed in the sponsorship and business development department was challenging and became more daunting as the internship progressed. At the same time, I liked the idea of being thrown into the deep end where it is really a sink or swim sort of situation. I realized there was a lot more that this job needed and I started teaching myself about marketing to keep up. 

Handling these proposals and working on the day after day proved an amazing learning opportunity. It was my first attempt at putting together corporate proposals and my supervisor was supportive and willing to teach me tricks of the trade. Another point I would like to stress on is the importance of listening. This extends beyond instructions where it also applies to listening to your surroundings. Working in a new environment like Perth helped me learn different ways of communicating and also be more outspoken about my opinions. 

Reverting back to the title of my post - the first bump on the road. The day came sooner than no later. As an intern, you are determined to do your best and impress your supervisor. We may face various kinds of pressure to do our best and at times, we get caught up in the ride. In a fast-paced environment like PFF, time is always of the essence and we have to keep up. Once, in my attempt to do so, I had more than three (3) Power Point slides open and I was cross-checking one with the other. My untimely rookie mistake was trying to do more than I could handle all at once, only to have it backfire. This mistake was brought up after the document was sent for approval and it failed to pass. It was a horrifying experience and unfortunately, this bump was not the first of its kind. 

Being unable to cope with the internship's requirements was pressurizing and also made me realize how unprepared I was to embark the real working environment. As an intern, you are essentially on a probation period with less pressure from the organisation and not having to worry about matters like key performance indicators (KPI's). Simultaneously, being a student about to graduate, ideally you would want to learn how to swim before the ship sinks. This journey has been a 'Titanic' in its own right and has taught me an invaluable lesson - Embrace failures in a graceful stride and move forward. Amy Anderson, an entrepreneur and contributor on Forbes Magazine quoted this, "If we aren’t making mistakes, then we likely aren’t trying enough new things outside our comfort zone, and that itself is a mistake" (Forbes, 2013).

Here are some useful websites for you fellow comrades out there:-
a) http://www.thegrindstone.com/2012/02/15/career-management/8-things-not-to-do-when-you-make-a-mistake-at-work-734/
b) http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2013/04/17/good-employees-make-mistakes-great-leaders-allow-them-to/


Until the next post, this is Dhiva.

Keep your chins up and skin tough.

Dhivashini. T (Dhiva)
16106648 
Curtin, Bentley 


Reference
1. Alain, Ferrand,, Luiggino Torrigiani and Andreu Camps i Povill. 2007.Routledge Handbook of Sports Sponsorship: Successful Strategies. Oxon: UK. Routledge.
2. Anderson, Amy Rees. Forbes. 2013. "Good Employees Make Mistakes. Great Leaders Allow Them To". Accessed May 15, http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2013/04/17/good-employees-make-mistakes-great-leaders-allow-them-to/

A walk down memory lane..

EMBRACING THE INDUSTRY

Good day everyone and welcome to my second post about my journey with Perth Fashion Festival (PFF). My first event with this organization was the Western Australian Fashion Awards (WAFA's). Dubbed as the Oscars of the WA Fashion industry, it was the second biggest event run by the Festival. The event saw fashion designers, stylists, models and bloggers acknowledged for their contribution to the growing fashion industry in Perth. However, it can get chaotic behind the curtains when office staff and volunteers work vigorously to pull various resources together and make 'last minute' phone calls. This is a critical time in the build up leading towards an event and as an intern, it was my role to be a team player. It is important to understand that it is not about standing out as an individual but your contribution towards making the event a success. "The key point is that the idea of 'team' implies collaboration between 'players' or members to undertake a task." (Knights, 2007). With this in mind, my task was primarily to help any staff at PFF with various tasks including but not limited to packing 'goodie' bags to setting up the event space.

The glamorous side of the fashion industry takes place on the runway and ultimately ends there. This experience has taught me to embrace and merge elements of event management, public relations and marketing. As graduates who are about to embark on a journey within the working environment, we must realize that elements as mentioned previously have to learn how to co-exist. Being able to multitask is only part of the challenge. "Public relations and marketing are distinct yet overlapping fields" (Smith 2005, 4). Smith (2005, 4) goes on to explain that each discipline has its own focus and a particular role within an organization. 

Most of the elements building up the WAFA's within these disciplines happened prior to my involvement with PFF. Doing your research and being quick on your feet are key factors to being a good team player. During my course of internship at PFF, I found myself researching various tips on how to be a good intern. Albeit ridiculous (on occasions), the things I typed out in search engines like 'how to be a good intern' led me to websites like 'Internweb.com.' I came across strategy #2 which explained the importance of going 'above and beyond' (Internweb 2013). It is essentially about pleasing your supervisor but more importantly, it is showing an initiative that you are willing to go the extra mile in anything that you do. Your sincerity and enthusiasm will be the driving factor of making you stand out in the sea of interns.

The things you read in the form of theory will eventually materialize in front of you in the form of practical experience. As I am sure the rest of you reading are also in the same shoes, I look forward to hearing from everyone!

Below is the link to the WAFA's and some personal snaps from my phone I managed to capture before and during the event.

At the end of the day, the event was a success and being a part of something so monumental was a thrilling and inspiring experience.

Brookfield Place being set up for the WAFA's

Full house at the WAFA's

   

Mariella Harvey-Hanrahan
Founding Director of PFF

Lisa Scaffidi
The Lord Mayor of Perth giving the closing speech

For more information on the extravagant Fashion Awards and coverage of the event, click on the following links: http://www.perthfashionfestival.com.au/_blog/PAGES/post/Western_Australian_Fashion_Awards

http://www.watoday.com.au/photogallery/entertainment/your-perth/17th-annual-wa-fashion-awards-20130222-2evv4.html

Until the next post, this is Dhiva.

Keep your chins up and skin tough.

Dhivashini. T (Dhiva)
16106648 
Curtin, Bentley 

References

1. Knights, David, and Willmott, Hugh. 2007. Introducing organizational behaviour and management. London: Thomson Learning.

2. Smith, Ronald. 2005. Strategic Planning for Public Relations. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

3. Top Five Strategies for Making the Most of Your Internship (Part 1), Internweb. 2013. Acessed May 20th http://www.internweb.com/make-the-most-of-your-internship/.

Trailing behind..

The FIVE 5W's


Good day everyone and welcome to my first long overdue post. My name is Dhivashini but you can call me Dhiva. Having done my internship for a while now, calling my ordeal up's and down's would be an undeserved understatement. My journey albeit not being so unique in most eyes, was definitely a life-changing one in mine. My journey takes place in Perth, Australia.

As a fashion enthusiast, I have steered clear from desires of being a fashion designer long since and decided to be more realistic with my dreams. I construct action plans not garments. So I come to Perth - a place I have now come to call home. I was inspired by the change of scene and it pushed me to pursue my once latent dreams. The humble beginnings of my pursuit towards the fashion world begins at Perth Fashion Festival (PFF). Originally from Malaysia, working in a fast-paced, non-profit environment in a different country was definitely an experience I needed.

My hunt for a Public Relations post in Fashion proved to be quite challenging as it is still a growing field in Perth. I was excited such a prospect was being discussed more in this part of town. I was assigned to be an intern under the Sponsorship and Business Development department of Perth Fashion Festival. My first thought was this does not sound like the Public Relations that I know but I was about to learn how a non-profit organisation involves bits and bobs of basically everything we have learnt in class and beyond.

A large scope of my work involves assisting the Sponsorship and Business Development Manager in the writing and basic designing of sponsorship proposals. It also involves a lot of editing with sponsorship contracts and researching for prospective contracts.

This department also strives on one of the key Public Relations tasks we learn - RESEARCH, RESEARCH and more RESEARCH. This was heavily applied on one of my first tasks which was researching for the Windows of the City competition hosted by PFF every year where retailers in Perth City put their best foot forward and decorate their display windows. This project, heavily influenced by British retail giants like Harrods and Selfridges aim to get shoppers in Perth excited about the prospect of direct and face-to-face shopping Perth. I was told to research window displays all over the world to see what had been done before and what can be done to get retailers around Perth on board for the competition this year. This immediately took me back to one of my PR tutorials where we were told to look at best practice principles or examples when conducting our research.

That was the beginning of my PFF journey. I spent two full days researching some of the most artistic and creative window displays but then I remembered something that we were told in class countless number of times. It can take you a few weeks or even months doing research but it only takes us a a few hours to actually write the research down. It was a PR epiphany in the middle of the afternoon and it taught me that research was important to provide you with foundation. Essentially, Public Relations has everything to do with solid foundation. Good quality apart from being  presented on time also involves succinct and strong research. This is a key factor that PFF strives to uphold in every piece of work.

Note to readers: As this post is long overdue from its original date, my tumultuous journey at PFF has sent me over the moon and back but also kicked me to the bottom of the barrel. I am overwhelmed with the amount of experience I have gained at PFF and as this journey is still in progress, I wish to share my experience with hopes that it will help others who have been in my shoes.

Until the next post, this is Dhiva.

Keep your chins up and skin tough.

Dhivashini. T (Dhiva)
16106648 
Curtin, Bentley