Public Relations and the Internet

The Internet has undeniably changed the way businesses and other bodies communicate and interact with their public  Communications and public relations help to facilitate the relationship between businesses and its audiences and play a significant role as it has become an essential communications tool for PR practitioners.

Constant global media demands instant information for many public and this requires companies to be constantly informed about their organisation, public and environment to be able to respond quickly and proactively.

Companies are investing more on online communication as it help to solve problems quickly and efficiently. This is done through well designed website with well-structured links, media materials such as press releases, archives, media clippings, latest news, ,photos and videos, virtual tours and films and even company executives profiles, public relations managers and practitioners contact’s numbers.

Media Relations

Media releases are not only for the media anymore today. Media releases which were traditionally described as a formal document designed to communicate to the public through the media were rarely seen by the public as only the output of the media release was shown in the form of news coverage. The web changed the paradigm, although there are still a number of professionals who still use to fax media releases. Media releases published on Internet allow organisations to communicate directly with their audiences through websites, social media, blogs.

According to Holtz, “The real benefit of doing media relations on the Internet comes from targeting the media as a dedicated audience and crafting a strategy that specifically addresses their needs. Ideally, the job of the media relations department is to help reporters do their jobs. That objective is entirely consistent with the broader goal of public relations, which is to manage the relationship between the organization and its various audiences (Holtz 1999, 115).

At Imagine…

During my work placement, I have constantly being exposed to the use if Internet as a day-to-day tool as all tasks had to be done quickly and as easy as possible. Starting from daily online media monitoring (locally and internationally), sending press summaries as quickly as possible to different clients, receiving important notices or demand which need to be done in one hour. But moreover, being constantly in relation which clients and the media although outside working hours and in the weekend.

It's hard to say goodbye!

When you have developed a relationship with these people, these working people, you can already call them your friends. Before i get to the sad part, let's recap shall we?

Advertising

Marketing team asked for my help to come up with a name for their new promotion. I started scribbling words that makes sense to me. I admit i might have cheated a little and used the thesaurus (EH! Hello! It's a book that provides you with knowledge! So it should be useful!) and found a few out of the ordinary words like "ballyhoo", "hullabaloo"and they chose "extravaganza" (ok, that's a little more simple and less crazy). So yes, my phrase was printed on to the promotional posters and was distributed around Miri and in facebook. 

Online Stuff

Amanda was on leave for a few days, so my assignment was to come up with short stories that fits a facebook status for her to post on MMRS's page once in 3 days. So i wrote quite a few, sufficient for 2 months. It covers just about everything - weather, fashion, entertainment industry, food, lifestyle, quotes from famous and influential people, like i said, everything i can think of. (Made me think for a second there that i could actually be a writer for a fashion magazine. pffttttt)

Marriott Matters

My assignment was to find suitable and impressive art that best fits the theme of Ramadhan, Eid Mubarak, Malaysian Independence, Sri Lankan food, and the London Olympics! My boss actually taught me how to use coraldraw and it was so user friendly and efficient. (Makes me think photoshop what? LOL) So basically i helped my boss in editing the Marriott Matters for July/August/September edition.

Birthday Card

Did i tell you that MMRS distributes birthday cards to their employees. YES! They do keep tabs on when your birthday is. Amazing right? Just when you think no one remembers your birthday, and suddenly you find a card in your locker. Brightens your day knowing that the management does care. So i helped Mr Jamal to insert the names of the birthday boys and birthday girls of the month and printed it on some cool paper they have in stored! 

Meet the GM!

Marketing team what shorthanded and they needed someone to go up and get the signature and pass something to the GM! I swear, my heart stopped beating for a bit. I don't know why i was so intimidated. Weird right? He's just another man working there. It was all in my mind about him being scary and all, when the truth is, he is so utterly friendly and smiles a lot. He actually made me smile just by looking at him smiling. So contagious. 

Making full use of the staff benefits!

Staff gets half price discount on F&B no matter lunch or dinner. So i went and have buffet dinner at Zest with my two friends. It was great! My attention was all at the dessert counter!!! Maybe it was because i have not had buffet meals in quite a while. 

And here's the sad part.

I told them that my internship period is up because i want to focus on my classes, halfway through the semester. And on my last day, they made me promise to go dinner with them, which i agree. They brought me to Dragons Seafood, Off Luak, Bakam road. I knew in my heart that i can never forget them. They are my friends that i cherish forever. 

Lobster that we had.

Appetizers! 

Sales and Marketing team, as well as PR Team. My Marriott Family

So you see folks, first it was work, then it became fun and relationships start t build up amongst friends that made them feel like family. And that was how my internship went in Miri Marriott Resort and Spa. 

This is Amira Saryati binti Misnu

Curtin University Sarawak Campus

I'm wide awake!

Katy Perry made a statement in her song saying that she's wide awake. That's how i felt when workload after workload is assigned to me. This is not pretending anymore, this is real. I felt the taste of how someone would be busy with work. With constant routine of daily media monitoring, reading newspaper after newspaper, the Food & Beverage requested for help from the PR department in assisting them to create a flag to decorate the dishes served. Picture taking with the chef, Shell and Petronas dinner coming up that need literally a thousand mini flags to be made, taking pictures of the dishes, arranging and preparing for the video shoot of the chef in Mulu - exotic food of Sarawak that will be filmed by RTM and footage will be shared with Asian Food Channel (AFC), there is so much to be done in so little time.

First Agenda
Proof reading for my boss's article for newsletter as well as the GM's letter.

Second Agenda
Fact sheet updates that needs me to research on the current property of Marriott chain. I spent a few hours in front of the laptop (thank god the internet speed is super fast, makes my life so much easier) opening websites, checking for validity of the information.

Third Agenda
Cutting and pasting of the mini flags. It's so tedious it was ridiculous! Printed mini flags, penknife, toothpick, the whole ensemble.

Fourth Agenda
Anticipating the call from RTM regarding the slot for chef cooking in Mulu cave filming

Fifth Agenda
Picture taking around the hotel.

I'm not complaining, i actually am very grateful that i received as much knowledge as they are throwing my way. I took on every task thinking that if i do great, it'll reflect so much on my impression with the hotel and my lecturer. And mostly, i just want to make a name for myself, make sure they will still remember me even after i have stop interning at the resort. Fingers crossed! Hopefully.

Updates will be up again soon!


A PR Practitioner to be,
Mea Misnu


Curtin University Sarawak Campus