Public Relations = Performance Recognition

Hello everyone, I am Priya, 21 years, 3rd year BA Mass Communication student, Charles Telfair Institute.  I am actually conducting my internship in a  Multimedia Agency, MATAORA. They focus mainly on Web, Design & Net Buzzing (this is what i do). They do not have a real proper PR department, so i am getting the opportunity to act as a PR person for the agency, which is really amazing!!  

It's only my first week at work and i have been involved in quite some..., actually a lot of activities. Ive been net buzzing especially on social media, mostly professional social networking websites (like Digg, LinkedIn etcc...). Also written some online press release and articles, those have been published online since we work mainly with international (French) companies.

Now you guys might be wondering why my title is : Public Relations = Performance Recognition. this is actually quoted from Douglas Smith, later taken by my Boss. Actually in few weeks time, MATAORA will be launching its first Facebook Game (1st in Mauritius) and the agency is very busy since last week and since Friday we have been working real hard to have maximum of publicity over this the Beta Test for the game (its kind of a pre0test with professional poker players to see if its worth or nt). Since Friday, I've been doing  a lot of work around  and today during the meeting for the last week feedback, mt boss was so satisfied with team along with a special note for me!! he said , i quote " You are worth performance recognition, congratulation" and I was so happy that in my 1st week  @ work, Ive been congratulated by the Chef. :) i really had to share this!!

i just hope that everyone is really enjoying their internship, like i do. It hard for sure, for everyone to get the balance between courses and work, but its not only for the sake of  writing the report. Internship should also be fun and entertaining, enriching and inspiring.

In a few week time, the launching will be here and i know its going to be very busy around but i'm sure im gonna make through. I won't be giving too much information about this new game by MATAORA Games for now, that would come soon in the next post. for the time being, busy in buzzing the game beta test, and if you guys are poker player and know much about poker strategy, i guess this is your chance, go on the fan page of MATAORA Facebook and enroll for the beta test. (Sorry some publicity is gud, i could not resist :)
You have to market your success." - Lee Haney, bodybuilder and former "Mr. Olympia."

As from Wednesday (after the beta test) , the team will start the planning for the launching, so if anyone can suggest a launching party idea, venue etcc.. I'm open to anything!! Remember, its a facebook game launching party!!

Wishing you  all the best!!

First week in the shoes of a PR intern

Hello everyone...
I am Yashni, a 3^rd year BA Mass Communication student studying at Charles Telfair Institute, Moka. I am actually interning in a PR Agency, Odysseus. The agency mainly focuses on public relations and event planning.

As I know that nearly all PR students would be doing an internship in the future, are actually participating in an internship program, or dream of some day working in the PR field, I am going to reflect on my weeks interning so that you can indirectly learn from my experiences.

What would I mainly be focusing on?

Surely not about my day-to-day clothing selection, the food and shopping I did...

 I will be mostly laying emphasis on what I have achieved in my first week as an intern and also about some of my responsibilities within the agency.

I can't really believe it's been a week already since I have started interning at Odysseus. It somehow seems longer, but all in all I am pleased with how the week has gone. The overall feelings I have observed in myself this week have, aside from a sometimes debilitating tiredness towards the end of each day, been mixed and often very exciting, stressful, nerve-racking but constructive.

Unlike the usual first weeks of work in any organisation, my first week has been quite hectic consisting mostly of managing the invitations by contacting all the PR, Marketing, Event and Communication Manager, and confirming the VIP lists in regards to the ‘Salon de la Com’, the first Communications Trade Show in the Indian Ocean which will open its door at Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre on the 26 and 27 July 2012.

I cannot deny that it certainly took me some time to really understand what they are demanding from me and becoming more comfortable with the working place. However, my director was very understanding and flexible which eased me a bit. He did find some time out of his busy schedule to discuss the work with me, introducing me to the other staffs, which was great of him. By this point, I think I have met all the members of the team who without exception have been supportive, welcoming and encouraging.

My day at Odysseus normally starts with passing through all the newspapers of the day and looking for news for media clippings purposes. Currently, I am tasked to research and write for the company’s website whereby they are targeting a specific European market. I can say there are plenty of research work waiting for me this week. Will keep you guys informed on the details.

If I were to give you people an advice it would certainly be - When you walk in every day, just ask yourself how you can make the most out of this opportunity. It is high time for you to learn to accept criticism even though at times it can be a tough pill to swallow. Remember that only those who care will make the effort to guide you in the right path. You want to make PR as your career right? So take the maximum knowledge available from your supervisors and use this opportunity to the maximum to grow into a PR Pro!

Well, that’s all I have for today.

I will leave it to you now: Are you planning to do a PR internship soon? Have you started? What is your internship like so far? If you’re not interning yet, do you want to sometime in the future? 

Let me know in a comment...

UON experience- Media Releases

A while back I was asked to write a media release to relevant publications for my work placement UON. The story is UON's joint effort with the McGrath Foundation to raise funds for breast cancer.

As mention in my previous post, UON is a company specialize in providing businesses with remote power and water solutions, some of UON's biggest clients include mining giants such as Rio Tinto, BHP, etc. With that being said, other than look to the usual state and local newspapers, I also searched for any mining related publications as well as anyone who would be interested in stories on charity or breast cancer. A contact list of all the relevant publications were complied and ready to go once the media release is written.

After several attempts at writing a media releases that meet all the requirements of the company (fonts, style, information to and not to include) it was time to sent it out to all the parties in my contact list. Word of advise, make sure you check the email address and the precipitant's name carefully before sending the email out. Include any backgrounder, fact sheets and more importantly pictures if you have any, journalists love photos.

After all that, comes the waiting for the call back. More words of advise, don't wait for too long, 3 days max, you don't want them to forget you ever sent the media release in the first place. Do a follow up call stating who you are and a brief run down of your media release, follow by why they should consider putting you in their publication. Don't get too dis-encouraged if they say no, after all they get tons of emails every day and they can publish them all.

Hope y'all found this useful, till next time, take care.

Almost there...

Hey guys, I'm Sean, this is my first blog entry to the PR393 reflective blog. Starting tomorrow, it would be my second last week with UON Power and Water, my current work placement. I would just like to take the time to share some of my experiences with the company thus far.

UON is a growing company, they are specialize in providing businesses with remote power and water solutions. In other words UON can build, transport, install and service power generators, water pumps, switchboards and sometimes even entire power stations. When I first got to UON, I really had no idea what to expect. As busy as the company is, it's quite odd that the Marketing coordinator is the only employee in the entire company handling all marketing activities. My role is to work closely with the Marketing coordinator and basically be her assistant. Needless to say she welcomed my help with open arms.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at UON is that they have a set of rules and system of doing things, and everyone follow it to the letter. To further emphasis this, the marketing coordinator is a perfectionist, everything I do have to comply to company's standards. Anyway without dragging this blog out too much, my advise to everyone is to familiarize yourselves with how your company conduct business, because the quicker you become fluent in this, the easier your job will be. If you are unsure of anything, don't scared to ask. It's better to make your supervisor repeat what they are required of you than to complete the task and find out you missed the point and have to do it all over again. I found out the hard way.

Till next time, take care everyone.