Cheers Four Seasons Resort Mauritius! (final post)

Hi all!

My internship at Four Seasons Resort Mauritius has come to an end this week! An unforgettable experience on the overall despite the initial anxiety trip I had prior to starting the internship. The step into the real life was bound to have that effect since we always learnt in class that theory and practice would not always coincide and we would have to adapt accordingly. A reality check I am certain many faced, me included! An example was the media clippings, one of my first and most mundane task which was different from what I learnt in the PR 250 (Media Relations) classroom. The media releases were also of a different format from what we were taught in PR 200 (PR Techniques). A wake-up call definitely!

But this aside, the placement has allowed me to perform a variety of Public Relations duties with a main focus on Media Relations. While I have had the chance to help organise a couple of events, I also managed to write a Golf newsletter. I also had to work on a couple of concierge based project. The concierge is a major aspect of a hotel or resort as it provides guests with the information on their destination. They are the most knowledgeable on the subject usually. To be able to do the project I was assigned to do, I actually had to learn about the concierge and the various tourist attractions in Mauritius. I also had to work on a ad for Easter holidays, an invitation for the Golf Masters and co-host a press trip. Press trips are common in the hotel industry as I've discovered!

However, the internship not only served to help me gain professional skills. It also helped me to hone my interpersonal skill, a requirement in the Public Relations field. No good PR practitioner can survive without a good attitude and good working relationships should not just be with the media. Internal communication is equally important as image building is crucial for us being given that we have to rely on the chain more often than not especially while in the service industry. I also found out that versatility and adaptability was a must. This placement has enabled me to combine the theories learnt in the various PR modules and real life. While the classroom may not provide all the answers to the workplace, it definitely provides the right tools to help us join it successfully.

Good luck to everyone for the report and future endeavours!

Cheers

PR and Journalism - The Yin and Yang!

Hi all!

Often PR and Journalism are viewed as complete opposites. Of course we would say they are different, with one loyal to the organisation and the other loyal to the general public! But to what extent is that correct?

While on placement at Four Seasons Resort Mauritius I have had the chance to perform several PR functions requiring good Journalistic practices - media releases aside!

One of my main responsibilities was the writing up and design of a Golf Newsletter. This required a good knowledge of the Golf practices, the terms, rules and regulations of the game etc.

When my boss told me that this would be my own personal 'baby', I was a little bit scared because I had no clue of where to start. So far, my news articles had been limited to class assignments and a newsletter that involved working in a team. Fortunately, she pushed me in the right direction and from there it was much easier to get my bearings. She scheduled a Day at the Golf for me! (unfortunately golf courses were not included) ;-)

I was a bit apprehensive when I got to the course but this quickly faded and I spent a wonderful day, learning a whole lot of processes and collecting all sorts of information as I went along.

Then came the puzzling part - sifting through the heap of information to do the writing up. I initially thought writing from a Public Relations perspective would be hard due to the loyalty issues but quickly learnt that it would not be so as long as I stick to facts. In the end, I came up with four different articles and my boss was pleased with the work I undertook and the styles used.

Moreover, I was assigned writing a profile for our Indian chef. This too involved a whole array of journalistic and Public Relations processes - coming up with the right questions, taking in the chef's demeanor, making him feel at ease, reassuring him about issues he may have, asking the right questions, at the right time and of course write up an interesting but factual article.

All these articles have been a great experience as it has allowed me to combined the skills acquired from my two majors namely Journalism and PR.

Furthermore, it has allowed me to reflect on the PR/Journalism tumultuous relationship that involves ethics, truth-telling etc. We constantly say that PR and Journalism are extreme - one black and the other white. But what if it is not as clear cut but instead it has more of a yin/yang relationship?

That would mean that each PR person requires some journalistic skills (e.g. objectivity, analytical) in him/her and each Journalist requires some PR skills (social skills, creativity) in him/her to actually be successful. And Journalism and PR are not diverging entities but actually complement each other.

Obviously these are just some personal reflections and I would appreciate your comments on the subject.

Cheers

My first hosting, Chocolate Room and the Earth Hour!

Hi everyone!

These last three weeks have been very interesting for me internship wise. I learnt a lot of new things. The main highlight was my first hosting! There was a group coming from an Italian magazine for a photo shoot and my boss Rhena told me that I would be accompanying her that day. I was both thrilled and apprehensive. I was unsure of so many things starting with the greeting! This may sound like a simple and trivial thing but I can assure you it's not. Greeting is something very much related to culture and I had no time to ask my boss about it. So there I was, in front of 8 foreigners and could do nothing but take it all in stride, put a nice smile on and introduce myself to everyone. After the first person, it really gets easier though! Then we spent the day assisting them during the photo sessions (and trying not to gawk at the gorgeous pre-fall designer collection), chatting and hosting them for lunch. Having to deal with various people with different temperament can be daunting and it's amazing how quickly you have to adapt to be able to cope. At the end of the day, I was exhausted from all the running and the sun but it was a great experience!

Apart from this, I also had to media pitch for an up-coming event which is a prelude to the Easter festivities. It took some time since this was a different list from the Golf event. I needed to find journalists who are in the field of entertainment and arts. The event, which is a Chocolate Room, is for the coming Tuesday and I can't wait to see the outcome! I saw the beginning of the work and it promises to be fantastic (also got to taste the oh-so-good french chocolate in the pastry kitchen)! :)

Some other projects I worked on involved an "Activities around Mauritius Guide" for the General Manager, a Golf invite for a tournament coming up and the Earth Hour. I had to research on the Earth Hour for my boss and everyone brainstormed to come up with some ideas on how to spend it at the resort. The challenge here was to find some ideas that were genuine and not simply some pitiful attempts at 'greenwashing'! Among other things, we decided to switch off the lights and use candles in restaurants, beeswax or soy based ones of course! The Food and Beverages department is adding its own touch to this! And I had to work on Earth Hour tips that are to be handed to the guests - on recycled paper obviously! Has anyone organised an event/activity related to the Earth Hour? Or planned any other event related to Corporate Environmental Responsibility? If yes, how was the experience?

I should be starting on a Golf newsletter soon. This is really a whole new world and I am going to be discovering the backstage processes of Golf at the end of the week - for the purpose of my articles! And I finally understood what tee-off and handicaps mean!!! ;)

Until my next post...

Cheers

Creativity versus constraints!

Hi everyone

Hope the semester started well!

The 2nd Anniversary of the Golf Club of Four Seasons Mauritius at Anahita was yesterday and it was a success!

We were expecting around 15 invitees and we actually had 25 persons present. The press conference also went smoothly and today I had to draft a french post release but did it in the form of an email with a summary of the main points to send to the journalists.

This week my work was focused a lot on research and finishing the presentation for the General Manager. I am discovering that a good PR person should have a keen eye for details!

Today during my placement, I also had to work with Rhena, my supervisor, to design a print ad for a long weekend that's coming up in Mauritius. March 12 is Independence Day, hence a public holiday here and another public holiday is on the 16th of March. This means that Mauritians will have plenty of time for relaxation. So, the sales and marketing department chose to advertise in the local media. Usually this is for advertising section but the resort does not have one and Rhena is the one who usually designs the ads.

To start with, I had to do research on previous ads that have been designed by other major hotels and resorts to have an idea of where to start. This yielded practically nothing particularly interesting and hence we had to rely on our own imagination and creativity. I came up with a couple of lines but we could not use that for the simple reason that we did not have a picture that would speak more than words. First constraint!

So Rhena worked on writing up a more detailed text for the ad and sent it to her two heads for vetting. As different individuals, they obviously had different opposing opinions and all had to be taken into account and text modified accordingly. Second constraint!

Then started the design of the ad (I learnt how to use Photoshop basics on the spot!) and that brought about the third constraint. We were to use one specific photo for retention and recall purpose but we did not think that it was adapted to our text. We then made the choice to find another that would be more appropriate even though this was not the initial idea.

In this end the ad was finally designed but was a lot more different than what we initially had in mind. These were simple constraints but they affected the creativity and artistic value of the ad. There may be other constraints that could crop up- time constraints, budget constraints, technological constraints etc.

Did anyone come across any other kind of constraint during their placement, which affected the creative aspect of their work? And if yeah, of what nature and how did you deal with it?


Cheers

Tavinia

A step into the Real World of PR!

Hello everyone,

By way of introduction I'm Tavinia from Charles Telfair Institute, Mauritius. I'm undertaking my internship at the Four Seasons Resort at Anahita and have completed 6 days of internship so far. The experience's actually really enriching!

On my first day, I was instructed on the ways of the resort - core values, principles, dress code etc. and was introduced to people from different departments. The cool thing was that everyone knew about me since it's the resort's policy to inform employees of newcomers via the internal network. I also had a guided tour of part of the resort and met up with Rhena, the Director of Public Relations for my briefing. The resort is mostly focused on sales & marketing, for obvious reasons, but Public Relations plays a major role in the Department as well.

During my briefing with Rhena, I realised that I'm finally stepping into the real PR world and there would be loads of time when theory and practice would clash. The first example was while doing media clippings, which also happened to be the first piece of work I was assigned to do. Since the articles are in various languages, including German, which I'm, unfortunately, not familiar with (nor is my Director of PR), the coverage book looks more like a kind of album than the typical media clippings that we learnt to do at university level! I actually had to skim through the German articles to find "Four Seasons Mauritius" to know it talked about the resort without knowing the actual content of the articles. That got me thinking about the language and cultural barriers and globalisation process that we learnt in PR340 (International PR)!

I came across several such examples during these 6 days. The media release format is so completely different from what we are used to working on in University but Rhena said I could do it my way, which was a relief. The media release is for the 2nd anniversary at the Four Seasons Golf Club and it was challenging trying to understand Golf terms. I'm still not sure I get the whole picture but working on it (still trying to understand what teetime means!).

I have been busy working on several projects at the same time including a Swiss Press Trip, the Media Golf Day planned for the 2nd anniversary of the Golf Club and a Facebook account and fan page. I'm updating a contact list on Facebook (the wonders of the internet and social media at work)!

Well this was just an introductory post! Until my next post, best of luck to you all!

Cheers
Tavinia