Goodbye Internship, Hello Employment!

This blog post was done on October 5, 2012.

Havas Worldwide Siren, formerly known as Euro RSCG Siren, holds a special place in my heart. For the past two and a half months, I was surrounded by talented and passionate people who inspire me, encourage me and reaffirm that I am in the right industry and doing what I should be doing with my life. Of course, it was not always smooth sailing (believe me, there were many times when I got reprimanded especially for not meeting deadlines) but what’s an internship without the bumps?

Siren has not only provided me with insights into the working world of PR but I have also taken away many valuable lessons that I will carry with me as I take the next step as a PR Executive. Below is a list of some of the many things I have learned:

A PR practitioner can never do too much research. The cornerstone of any solid PR effort, research helps you to understand your client and the industry it is operating in. This in turn helps the consultancy to develop effective strategies and tactics to meet your clients’ needs.

In my time at Siren, I have done research on various topics from logistics providers to international business schools. (I can tell you the difference between a 3^rd Party Logistics Provider and a 4th Party Logistics Provider but trust me, you would not want to hear me expound on that). I have sourced potential and relevant speakers for a programming competition prize presentation ceremony as well as potential fashion and lifestyle bloggers for various fashion-related events.

Another benefit of working at a consultancy with a diverse range of clients is that you get to work with and gain insights into many different industries. The learning never ends.

I also learned that as an intern, you should always do everything that is thrown at you without grumbling – be it to re-write an article for the umpteenth time or to buy lunch for your colleagues. This learning attitude will help you build the basic nerve for the hard knocks to come at work – and in life.  

Another lesson is that persistence pays. Try and try and try until you succeed – whether it is trying to get hold of an elusive journalist or honing an article until it is perfect. Never say die.

Finally, I learned that PR is simply about building and maintaining relationships. And in walking the talk, I have to learn to build constructive and rewarding relationships with my colleagues and my clients. At Siren, I am fortunate to have warm and wonderful colleagues who welcomed me with open arms from day one. They have guided me, taught me, encouraged me and many of them have become my friends. These are people with whom I hope to keep in contact for the rest of my life.

I am thankful to Curtin University and the Public Relations (Professional Practice) 393 team for giving me this opportunity to complete an internship and see for myself, firsthand the ‘real’ situation working in a consultancy.

I am pleased to let my readers know that this internship has led to an offer of full time employment as a PR Executive with Havas Worldwide Siren.

Goodbye internship, hello world!

Li Xian Seow

15135214

Curtin Singapore

A Day in the Life of a PR Intern

This blog post was done on October 1, 2012.

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share with you what goes on in a day at Havas Worldwide Siren, where I was interning.

9.01 am                Made it to the office just in time. Phew!

9.05 am                Check emails while savouring my first cup of coffee. Start replying to emails and make  follow up phone calls to journalists.

9.40 am                Prepare for Work-In-Progress (WIP) meeting. Check updates on 313@somerset’s “Are You Our Next Cover Model” Finals with my colleague.

10.00 am              Update team on progress of the upcoming event and general idea for story on the article I’m ghostwriting for ISC Global. One of our team members reports that our latest new business pitch was unsuccessful. Uh oh! The boss is not happy.

10.30 am              Grab my second cup of coffee for the day on the way to my desk.

10.35 am              Make quick phone calls to the 12 finalists of “Are You Our Next Cover Model” and brief them of actual event day.

11.00 am              Sit down with colleague to plan out programme schedule and tasks and responsibilities for actual event day.

11.20 am              Research on 4^th Party Logistics (4PL) Providers in relation to the Life Sciences Industry to gather information to ghostwrite the article.

11.40 am              Respond to emails from fashion bloggers about the event at 313@somerset.

11.50 am              Quick chat with boss. She wants me to update the presentation slides for a new business pitch by end of the day.

12.00 pm              Start working on editing presentation slides. My colleagues nudge me to go for lunch but I have to take a rain check and ask them to take away Nasi Padang for me.

12.35 pm              Still at it. Hit a road block. Not sure how to calculate PR media value. Unfortunately, there is nobody to check with cause everyone is out at lunch, including the boss! In the meantime, start crafting article on the steps in adopting a 4PL model for ISC Global. Stomach growling. I hope they come back soon with my lunch.

1.15 pm                435 words down and another 600 more words to go. But my lunch is here, at last! Head to the pantry to catch up with colleagues while eating my lunch.

1.45 pm                My third cup of coffee. Check with my Client Services Director on how to calculate PR media value. Finish up presentation slides and sent off to boss for review.

2.27 pm                Make a few phone calls to journalists. It’s a good time to catch them when they come back from lunch. Manage to get through to one and invite her down for the 313@somerset event. Hope she will turn up :/

2.45 pm                Back to the article. Oops, writers block! (Again.) Take a short break and head out of office to buy a snack for tea time.

3.05 pm                Share snack with colleagues while I pick their brains for the article.

3.17 pm                Uh oh! Boss is back. Hurry back to desk and article.

4.30 pm                The article is finally done! Check for grammar and typo errors before emailing it to boss for review and approval.

4.41 pm                Surf the net to catch up on current affairs. Read on PR Newswire that PR practitioners have the most stressful jobs. Hmm. Am I in the right job?

5.00 pm                Make as many phone calls as I can to journalists. (This is the best time to catch them as they are more relaxed and also more receptive and friendly.)

5.20 pm                Hurray! Managed to get through to three more journalists. It’s my lucky day!

5.25 pm                Half an hour more before I can call it a day. Fill in timesheet hours. Make plans to have dinner and drinks with colleagues after work.

5.42 pm                Urgent phone call from client. Sit down with colleague to make changes to programme schedule.

6.15 pm                Send off amendments to client and wait for approval.

6.23 pm                Client reverts back and is not happy. More changes to be made. Brainstorm once again with colleague on how to fix problem.

6.55 pm                Still in the office. Waiting for client to come back with remarks. Hope no more changes to be made. Start doing research for second article for ISC Global while waiting.

7.13 pm                Still no news from client. Not a good sign! Can hear my colleague’s stomach growling.

7.20 pm                Client finally reverts back and no more changes need to be made. Phew! Time to pack up and get out of here to the nearest watering hole.

This basically is what goes on at Havas Worldwide Siren on an average day.

I would love to hear from you fellow interns on what goes on at your office so do comment below.

Li Xian Seow
15135214
Curtin Singapore

The Perfect Pitch

This blog post was done on September 30, 2012.

Hello everyone,

This is your stressed out intern checking in.

One of the many things I have learned so far at Havas Worldwide Siren is how to make a perfect pitch to journalists or bloggers.

Now, as you know, journalists are probably the most difficult people to get in touch with, after the Prime Minister! They are hardly ever at their desks, they do not pick up their calls, they do not return calls despite your many voice messages and they certainly do not entertain PR practitioners, especially interns.  

But they are the most important people a PR practitioner has to build a relationship or rapport with. So what to do?

At Siren, I learnt that there is still no better way to get a story in the media than reaching out to a journalist or blogger directly and pitching an idea by email or phone. However, using social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn are also becoming very effective tools to get in touch with them. (A word of caution: this should only be done when you have already established a relationship with the said journalist or blogger.)

Pitching to these skeptical people is very challenging – especially when you are working under impossible deadlines and extreme pressure from your boss and your clients.

Each pitch must be carefully crafted and tailored according to the target publications and most importantly, their readership. If the readers are not interested in the topic, most likely the editors will not be interested either. After all, they know their readers best. Therefore, when pitching, it is better to pitch to fewer select media than to just send the same information to all and sundry.

My first attempt at pitching to media via email received no response. No surprise here. However, I persisted and spent several hours each day making follow up phone calls to try and get in touch with these journalists.  

I had to pitch a general story about the theme of this year’s code::XtremeApps:: 2012 Programming Competition - The Silver Generation. This was no easy feat. Firstly, I started with some background research on the ageing population and tried to link it with raising awareness amongst young people. This also had to fit in with the aim of the competition which was to challenge the teams and individuals to develop innovative applications that will impact the Silver Generation positively. Despite my efforts and relentless follow up phone calls and emails, we received no pre-event coverage.

In my second attempt, I decided to narrow down the list of target publications and leveraged on the fact that the second prize winners for the Junior Category were two Malay sisters. This created interest from the Malay newspaper, Berita Harian, and subsequently the two girls were interviewed and featured in a story in the newspaper. My first breakthrough!

Using the same strategy, I was also able to secure media coverage in Lianhe Wanbao on code::XtremeApps:: 2012 Open Category winners. My client (and more importantly, my boss) were quite pleased with my effort.

Lesson learnt: It is possible to get media coverage if you put in the right effort and never give up. I would love to hear from you if you have had similar experiences or tips on how to make the perfect pitch.

By the way, for all you budding PR practitioners, here are some useful links on the art of pitching:

• 10 tips to perfect your PR pitch
• 10 tips to write the perfect email pitch
• How to Take Your PR Pitches to the Next Level
• How To Create A Perfect PR Pitch: Why Less Is More?

Li Xian Seow
15135214
Curtin Singapore

Starting out with a Bang!

This blog post was done on September 28, 2012.

Hello fellow interns!

I hope you all have enjoyed a fulfilling and worthwhile internship. I certainly did!

I am Li Xian, but most people call me Lix. I am currently a final year student at Curtin University in Singapore, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing and Public Relations.

I have been an intern at Havas Worldwide Siren, formerly known as Euro RSCG Siren, for the past two and a half months.

For those who are unfamiliar with Havas Worldwide Siren, it is an integrated public relations consultancy which operates under the Havas Creative Brand, Havas Worldwide.

Based in Singapore, Havas Worldwide Siren operates in collaboration with its associate public relations partners in South-East Asia. It focuses on brand reputation, earned media channels and influential communication.

Because Siren is a relatively small PR firm with no more than ten staff, I was fortunate to be able to get involved in almost everything they do – right from the start of my internship.

In fact, in my first week there, I was literally thrown into the deep end when I was brought along to a client meeting. (Most interns, as you know, probably spend their internship scanning newspapers for media monitoring and updating media contact lists.)

In my first month at Siren, I was mostly involved in the preparation for code::XtremeApps:: 2012 Junior Category Programming Competition which was held at Maris Stella High School. This was a competition catered to children under 11 years of age. The participating teams from different schools had to create their own fun and creative games, stories or applications using 'Scratch' software to help the elderly connect with the younger generation. 

This must have worked out quite well as I was appointed assistant project manager for the second part of the competition – code::XtremeApps:: 2012 Open Category Programming Competition, held at Singapore Management University. My input here included crafting information kits, planning the programme schedule and making sure everything was in place at the venue. For this project, my colleagues and I worked many late nights and burned two whole weekends.

Apart from this, my job scope at Siren included assisting project team leaders in programme executions, identifying and securing editorial opportunities and assisting in social content management. I even got to facilitate two media interviews!

It has been an exhilarating albeit tiring and often at times, stressful experience. I realise that working in a PR agency is hectic but also quite a lot of fun. It is very rewarding to see the events that you have hosted featured in the media and knowing that your pitches and relentless emails and calls to them have been fruitful. And I know that what I have learnt so far during my internship at Siren will stand me in good stead for a future in PR.

Stay tuned for more insights from this stressed out intern!

Li Xian Seow

15135214

Curtin Singapore