A Change of Scenery

Hey everyone,

Today’s reflection is dedicated to the somewhat unconventional workplaces I’ve worked in for the duration of my internship. I don’t think I would be alone in thinking ‘internship’ and having my mind go straight to a large office space, cubicles, a copy room and coffee runs. So I was pleasantly surprised to be welcomed into two relaxed environments over the semester.

Firstly, working for an entrepreneur that generally works from home means no official office or workspace. Although rather than me and the other interns going to her home, we did most of our work at the Wanneroo Business Association (WBA) located at the Enterprise House. This provided a positive experience, it allowed us four to work closely and collaborate as well as take our lunch breaks and chill out together.

At times it hardly felt like work as I was completing tasks while enjoying the company of Mikayla and my fellow interns which I am extremely grateful for! The relaxed environment combined with Mikayla’s mentoring style made for an experience equally educational as it was enjoyable.

When the WBA was too busy or not an appropriate environment on certain days, Mikayla, myself and my intern buddies Ophelia and Simone, would simply pack up and head across the road to the Wanneroo public library. One of the great advantages of working from home or providing services solely online like Mikayla, is that you can pick yourself up and set up your office anywhere essentially (with a wifi connection). The change of scenery was a positive, and in our case, conveniently located above Cafe Elixir should any of us need a mid-afternoon pick me up!

See below the spacious corner of the library we called our own one Thursday, featuring Ophelia our graphic design intern.

Thanks for reading everyone!

-Bianca

It's Not Just a Post

Content creation is something we over look. Especially when you get bombarded with pictures, videos, graphics and so forth scrolling down your social media news feed. How often do you see a picture of smashed avocado on toast in a day? Or a flat lay usually consisting of a few products to create a feeling in the image #perthisok.

No matter who you are or how many followers you have, you actually create content every time you upload something. Of course as part of an organisation, your content is important to communicate and support ideas and activities surrounding a cause.

What I’ve learnt so far in my internship is using appropriate images to support up coming stories in the magazine that is yet to be released.

There’s more thought and consideration in these images then one would imagine. Like mentioned before, we see so many on the daily through our own social media feeds. An image is just an image. But when you’re creating social media content, your image has to be engaging, appealing and translate the message across.

You think about the time to post, how many posts to posts, what kind of filters you use to reflect the brand. Not to mention the consistent hash tags for association. I’ve also downloaded a range of apps that help with creating graphics. Not to undermine the laborious degree of smart graphic designers, but these apps (yes to technology!) can give anyone a very very short crash course in the simplest graphic design. If you can call it that.

One day, I spent 3 hours, walking around taking pictures for up- coming and future social media posts. Apart from the many weird glares and confused looked; I enjoyed scouting for content and thinking of how images could be posted.

This internship has taught me that you definitely have to get out of your comfort zone, even if it is walking up and down a street taking pictures! 

What have you done so far in your internship that has brought you out of your comfort zone?

Looking within and beyond!

Internal communications is of upmost importance during a time of change within an organisation; effective communication at all levels ensures employees are familiar with organisational strategic imperatives and that they have the information required to perform effectively in their roles in support of these changes.

In the beginning of the year, the Australian arm that operated international denim brand G-Star Raw known as Denim Enterprises (DE) entered voluntary administration. Across Australia, DE operated 21 mono brand stores and had approximately 200 staff within their business. Although stores functioned as per usual, on an internal level there was apparent disruption in communication during the handover to the administrators, and subsequently to new partners.

However by providing constant communication to the employees during the administration through the use of formal tools such as 'RAW news', the company's weekly newsletter, and top down communication from state managers to part-time associates, a sense of community was formed and more than 80% of the employees stayed on. In the next couple of months, G-Star Raw acted upon the change and took it upon themselves to continue to operate the Australian stores; similarly G-Star approached Denim HQ (the company I work for) to run the WA stores. To sustain the change and continue building relationships with its employees by encouraging a sense of community, they recently conducted the first of a series of training nights around the country. During my last days as an intern with DHQ, I was fortunate enough to attend one of these trainings and witness how the company has managed the change through communication points.

These points were:

1. Background of G-Star Raw in Australia and changes during administration
2. New operational teams and points of contacts
3. Communication points to convey to customers
4. PR and media campaigns
5. New products
6. Q & A

Denim HQ training night with G-Star representatives

Therefore it is with great sadness that my time as an intern with DHQ has come to an end, however nonetheless I am grateful for all that I have learned with this start-up company and incredible brand. Until next time! 

Kim 

BLOG ENTRY THREE: SHOOT DAY

Our client who operates two bikram yoga studios throughout London, have decided the expand their company into active wear. The idea came from realising their clients were at times not wearing the correct gear when attending bikram yoga classes. This week our task was to set up and organise a photo shoot for the launch of So Hot’s range. Here’s the catch, not only are photo-shoots normally organised weeks or sometimes months in advance, but we have been given a few days to pull together two models, a make up artist, hair stylist, a studio and a photographer. On top of that not only does the client want one photo-shoot to take product shots for the online store, but he wants another photo-shoot to shoot take campaign images, on the exact same day. Talk about stress!

If we were in Perth, I would have been able to pull people from my contacts that I have worked with in previous campaigns. However, in London we don’t know anybody and no one knows us! Lucky for us we were staying in a house full of models that have a long list of contacts within that particular industry. We were then able to source a location on the outskirts of East London that provided a photographer and an editor in the package! Another issue was raised when our client informed us that he wanted models that were able to demonstrate all of the yoga poses, with the correct technical ability. Most models are not yoga professionals, so from there we turned to social media. We decided to use a part time male dancer, model and committed yogi for the shoot, and a female health and yoga blogger.  From then on, my partner and I drew up a time sheet including both shoots, scheduling who was responsible for which task. Our client then informed us he would need a stylist for the shoot, fortunately enough I work for a styling company back in Perth and was able to cut down costs by fulfilling that particular role.

After a very early start and very long day, we were extremely proud and happy with everything we accomplished in such a short period of time. We learnt that its okay to speak up when necessary and to make sure our client was happy with all decisions made by the team on the day.

Emma

BLOG ENTRY ONE: LONDON TOWN

My first blog post ever! 

My name is Emma Ferguson; I am Journalism and Public Relations soon to be graduate (fingers crossed) at Curtin University.

Week one into my internship and I am feeling absolutely exhausted. At this stage I am not too sure if it’s the jet lag, the internship or the fact that it doesn’t get dark until 10:30pm over here, either way I love it. My overseas industry placement is with lifestyle and entertainment communications company The Movement. My internship partner and myself had been set the task to work in-house for an exclusive bikram yoga studio, So Hot Yoga based in So-Ho and Victoria.

It took only days for me to realise how fast pace and overwhelming (in a good way) my internship and the next 4 weeks are going to be! Working as a full-time intern doesn’t allow any time for rest or relaxation. I know they call New York the city that never sleeps, but London is close to second best. My partner and I have quickly learnt that preparation is key. After understanding the public transport system and the London way of life with a bit of help from our supervisor we are fitting in quite nicely. If you can already tell, yes I never want to go home. Day one included meeting our client, the owner and creative director of So Hot Bikram Yoga Studios Bill and Elaine. I have to say my partner and I are not complaining about the client. Working with calm vegan yogi’s is probably as calm as it goes, where bare feet are compulsory. 

After learning are tasks and goals for our placement, my partner and I begin drafting up our first task, our social media plan. Our client’s main focus is social media engagement through a variety of streams and platforms. Not only to engage their clients, but staff as well.

I am fitting into my work routine with the added bonus of enjoying the London life. Did I mention we have been given a bikram yoga membership for the time of our placement? Bonus!

Hope you are all enjoying this whirlwind as much as I am?

Emma

The secret to good PR – follow the money?

The organisation I am interning with is currently undergoing a rebranding process from the name iVEC, to Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, as a means of aligning the project's recognised title, with the services and facilities. The overall goal of a rebranding process is to change the brand’s image, which can be done through accumulative changes to the brand identity and the brand experience. Ordinarily, rebranding processes are tailored towards consumers and patrons within a profitable business model, as a means of meeting personal stakeholder goals that emphasise the continuation of profitable business practises. For example, the process of rebranding a profitable business must be undergone with stakeholder considerations in mind, to ensure that business will not suffer through consequential branding confusion or dislike. Subsequently, it makes sense to follow the rebranding trends and preferences of consumers, as they are the profitable driving force. Keep them happy, and the money will continue to flow. My boss refers to this process of consideration, as “following the money”.

However, when undergoing a rebranding process for a not-for-profit organisation, the obvious flaw in the plan is that following the preferential user trends of consumers is not as straight forward, as they are not the organisation’s primary financial stakeholders. Those who utilise the facility within which I am interning will continue to do so, regardless of how well designed the new website is, or how well the interface integrates with the their mobile devises. From a user perspective, the rebranding process does not change the scientific gain from our facility.

So in light of that fact, the question is, who do you tailor the trends of rebranding towards? One would think that you “follow the money”. The financial stakeholders, including investors, both public and private, are the people to tailor the re-branding process towards, right? But you see the problem then faced is then that there are only a handful of individuals that actually sign their names on the checks. So, do you design your entire rebranding template based on those few, in the hope that firstly they remain in their career position, and secondly that you’ve researched their particular tastes and preferences enough to be able to hit their nail on the head? I have since learnt that this particular avenue is both risky and redundant, because the real stakeholder group that holds the most investment within the rebranding process is the facilities employees.

A large number of the employees showcase their research achievements and progressions across the project’s digital presence and physical facility. The process of branding involves cohesively updating, changing and editing existing information to align with the new brand. Understandably, each member of staff has their own investment in public information relating to their work and the facility, and it would appear that meeting the personal goals of each employee, within each department proves, to be the most challenging task within relations to this particular group. One of the most important lessons that I am learning within this role is that diplomacy is everything, and that following the money will not always lead you to profitable outcomes, as people relations is a necessary skill required for successful public relations. 

Media relations in not for profits

The theme of today’s post is about media relations at Clubs WA – what is being done now, what could be done, how and why.

When I started this unit I told myself I was going to write a blog post at least every second week so I could keep a good record of what I was  getting up to at Clubs WA. But here I am just doing my fourth one - I really underestimated how busy this semester was going to be! Which I am sure all of you understand.

On top of my internship which is 30 hours a week, I am still doing a full course load, which included the mammoth unit to cap off my journalism major, Print Production.

This unit is insane, but I have definitely learnt more from this class than any other journalism unit, so for any of you doing journalism as a second major or degree definitely enroll in this unit!

This unit involves subbing every single journalism article submitted for assessment from second and third year students, at least six times, and then designing and producing the Curtin University newspaper, the Western Independent.

All the units I have done throughout my journalism and public relations degree have improved my attentions to detail, time management, and writing skills and I’ve come away with a whole new appreciation for the written word. I am a massive advocate for gaining real-world experience throughout my university degree, and PR393 and Print Production have done this more than any other units.

The Western Independent finally went to print today so make sure you keep an eye out for it around campus tomorrow to read the great news articles written by the Curtin journalism students. Now that this unit is over, I can finally make a decent dent in my PR report! I have had ideas and information floating around in my head for the past three months, and as soon as I have submitted this post I am going to start writing it all down.

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Media relations at Clubs WA

Communicating with the media is such an important part of corporate communications, and helps to generate publicity and could eventually influence investors, employees, customers and consumers. Clubs WA needs to increase its involvement with the media, in order to amplify its reputation amongst the West Australian community.

Media releases

I have been at Clubs WA for about 14 months now, and in that time media releases have only been sent out on four occasions.

1. January - to announce the launch of Clubs WA's Fair Go For Clubs Campaign
2. May - to announce Clubs WA meeting with south-west clubs in Bunbury to discuss the big issues facing regional clubs
3. April - to announce finalists, and then the winner of the 2014 Clubs WA Awards for Excellence
4. June - to announce the retirement of Clubs WA's Executive Director Peter Seaman, and to congratulate Karen Giles on taking up the position 

Looking at the above releases that have been sent out, you can see so far media releases have only been sent out to announce Clubs WA events.

Media outlets

Clubs WA’s media list hasn’t been updated for more than a year, and this was evident when media releases were sent out and the majority of them bounced back.

The goal of sending out media releases should be to promote Clubs WA as THE voice, and expert on the WA club industry. It should be made clear that if a story is published on a sport or social club, whether positive or negative, the journalist should automatically seek out comment from Clubs WA. Skimming over WA’s most popular regional and city print newspapers, there is at least one story written on a WA club in every issue. If Clubs WA were to become known enough that they were sought out for comment on even half of these articles, Clubs WA could increase their brand awareness so much!

I think if Clubs WA were to write releases with the angle being on a particular club, and just a small comment from Clubs WA within the article, they would have more of chance of getting an article published.

Journalism and public relations 

Journalism students are taught throughout their degrees that public relations consultants are media hungry, propaganda-spouting people who are only on this planet to send out agenda-setting media releases, and to be the annoying middle person between journalists and the truth. This is why public relations officers need to build strong relationships with journalists and media outlets.