The overall internship's experience has been so beneficial!!!:)

Hi to all followers,

This will be my last blog post which will encompass and wrap up my whole experience in the professional world as a public relations practitioner at Imagine Communication.

This was a great opportunity which I seize, to put all that I have learnt during my studies into practice and the team of Imagine Communication has believed in me and has entrusted various tasks to me.

This was interesting as I even have to deal with issues by myself and I was guided by the project executives other there. This trust that Imagine Communication had in me has enabled me to undertake work and projects in the appropriate way and handle them as a professional.

I have grasp the most out of all the work that I have undertaken such as media clippings, press summaries, press releases, cover letter, media contact lists, report of meetings and so much more.

Assisting in press conferences and meetings were very beneficial to me as I have been able to understand the steps and procedures that should be respected on the spot. I have also been able to meet prominent figure such as the Leader of MSM, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth.

The most interesting experience acquired is during my last week whereby I had the opportunity to deal with media outlets to settle appointments as well as to accompany our client to his meetings.

I am very grateful to the team of Imagine Communication who has given me this opportunity and I thank them for that privilege. 

Thank you for having followed me during my internship and hope that you enjoyed my posts

Natacha Rosalie

Organizing appointments

Hi to all followers,

So today, my fourth blog post will about a public relation activity that has been entrusted to me for my last week at Imagine Communication. This consisted of setting up activities for a candidate at the presidential elections of next year in Madagascar, Mr Raharimanana, to introduce himself and develop a contact book in Mauritius.

Our main tasks were to organise appointments for him with political parties, the media (radio and the press) as well as with the CEOs of the main companies of the country dealing with the economy so that he could present himself along with his projects for Madagascar and the region.

Minutes of Meeting

So firstly, was the meeting with the CEO of Imagine Communication, Mr Jean-Marie Richard who explained to us the project and gives us hints about whom to contact within each organisation. Then, after the meeting, we had to prepare the minutes of meeting which means structuring and setting up all information given to us to see if we are on the right track.

Cover letter

After this, I had to prepare a draft of a cover letter that would be sent by email along with his curriculum vitae and presentation of his projects. The project executive, who was supervising our tasks, has used my cover letter partly to write the mail.

Contacting the media outlets

Then, the other day, I was responsible for contacting the media outlets and setting appointments based on the planning of Mr Raharimanana. I also had to send e-mails of the cover letter along with CV and project presentation for them to have a look at and prepare questions which would be asked to them.

Redesigning the planning

At the end of the day, I was also asked to redesign the planning in a better format for Mr Raharimanana to better understand and not be confused. So, I scheduled the planning again, adding all new appointments that we had obtained during the day and search for addresses of the offices in which he had appointments.

Attending meetings

The other day, when the appointments were already fixed; we had the opportunity to accompany Mr Raharimanana to his appointments with the leader of MSM, one of the main political parties, Mr Pravind Jugnauth, with the Lord Mayor of Port Louis Mr Kodabaccus as well as with the Communication Manager of the Government, Mr Subash Gobine. This was the most interesting part of this project and a great opportunity for us as we have been able to learn how these kinds of meetings unfold and to better understand how politics function in Mauritius.

Report of Meetings

We have also been given the opportunity to write a report to the CEO about the meetings; in there, I included what Mr Raharimanana said and what advices have been given to him by the person he met.

This project for Mr Raharimanana, as a whole was a great opportunity which has enabled us to learn how to deal and make arrangements with those three sectors to obtain appointments. It was quite successful, as we have been able to achieve about twenty appointments.

It was not an easy task but which has been very worthwhile for us. It was enormous experience which I have grasped every single procedure which will be useful for me when I will be in the professional world.

Thank you for reading my blog post and I will soon be back for another post which will be to sum up my whole experience at Imagine Communication and the lessons I have retained form these experiences.

Natacha

'Doing it all'… Multitasking prone to PR!

Hello World!

It’s Yashni, intern of Odysseus PR agency...

Time really flies when you are having fun or should I rather say when you are busy. I have already completed 10 days of internship and I can say that PR is a fun department to work in because it’s a mix of almost everything. I’m leaning that people in PR have to simultaneously be able to handle different tasks. 

I guess you must be wondering why this title? 
Well this week has been an interestingly hectic one for me, the event is tomorrow and up till yesterday I had to run after the catering company for confirmation, to ask for the menu/price lists, and look for quotations of wine for the cocktail on Friday. At the same time, I had to research and write for the new website that I’ve been assigned to do and also to contact photographs, diving centers, hunting companies, etc.. to persuade them to give the right to publish some of their materials without any compensation. And I can say that I’m proud of myself for I have successfully been able to persuade them. I have realized that multitasking is a must in PR – varied clients, work, deadlines, etc…, all necessitate the ability to juggle multiple disparate tasks at once.  

Come and join us at SVICC on 26th & 
27th July 2012 for the 'Salon de la Com'

The event is at the door and during the whole week there have been meetings, appointments, brainstorming, mailing – and I have been realizing that - you just learn as you go and you take it all in. I can say that right now at Odysseus, you don’t have a day, an hour, or a minute for yourself. 

 But still I love my internship! I’m always so busy currently, and each day has flown by so fast, but I’m loving the experience. I know maybe some could have expected to hear some negatives about this internship, but besides the lack of sleep and lack of social life, I could not be happier! It has been an amazing way to meet people who are interested in this field. I’m already SO glad I decided to do it and I just can’t wait for tomorrow!

What about you? How far are you into your internship? Are you enjoying it?

Let me know in a comment!

Week Two- Monitoring print media, the phone and a hiccup

Watching the papers and answering the phone... and messing it up

14 May 2012 (Monday)

It is a very slow morning. Instead of 30 newspapers I only have 18 to look through which brings my 111 to 129 newspapers. Media monitoring is essential. This is what terms as 'free news' in which news that could be found with ease and not paying a private investigator to dig them out. One only needs to go and by a paper or hear the radio to get the latest. Being well inform brings a bout of advantages as well as backtracking what has happen in the past. Competitors would also advertise out what they have done in media releases of their own and their paid adverts. Government laws passed or bills enacted favoring the education industry will also be published or said out. Protests or even rallies that would effect the said industry would be highlighted. Ignorance is a sin and it must be vehemently avoided. Media monitoring is effective and efficient to keep one prepared for challenges to come. Even better, by monitoring, hardships to the company has a higher chance to be foreseen.

I have finished all the newspaper clippings of the day and managed to get 12 articles archived. Now I have been confirmed of given authorization to answer phone calls should Ian or Marcella are unavailable. I feel nervous again... Taking calls on behalf of the department... SQEEEEEEeee...

This is so exciting.... but it feels anti climactic because there are no calls today.

Besides that, I tied up all the newspapers and now it is ready for the recycling person to come by and take it away.

I went through the media release archaives to get a better insight on how Curtin is positioned before Nicholas gave me another job which is to align the photo albums. Taking this opportunity, I look through all the pictures as I work and I find them educational, exciting and enlightening. Here at my hands are the visual history of Curtin University Sarawak and they are full of stories.

After that, another task is allocated to me. Marcella ask me to look through the news clipping to search for any news regarding the Diploma of Business and Diploma of Ocupational Health and Safety. Than we are to scan and fax them over to whoever that wants them. I work slightly overtime until Nicholas says he's going back. So, much information to sift through and if Nicholas did not say to return home, I might have stayed the whole night there flipping over the files. I really do enjoy the work.

15 MAY 2012 (Tuesday)

The morning is still the same and I have looked through 18 newspapers putting 129 to 147, only grabbing two articles. I got my first phone call for the day when Marcella and Ian went out to meet several Ministry of Higher Education personnal. First thing, it is recommended to know how to greet the person calling. Have a pen and paper ready to take down particulars.

1) Say hello.
2) Ask who they are.
3) Who they are looking for.
4) Purpose of calling.
5) Any messages you can take for them.
6) Get the phone number.

This checklist is what Ian told me after I mess up my first call. It is a harrowing experience. I was extremely flabbergastered at my tongue tied behaviour. Do not panic or be nervous. I did that. Concentrate on the call. I did not get the message down properly due to me being worried if I had followed the textbooks correctly when answering the phone and it is embarrassing. 

Reflecting back today, I learn there are many ways to answer the phone and it is better to choose one which I am comfortable with instead of following the textbook from other previous PR units. As an after thought... take a deep breath and relax. It's just a phone call. I thought I would be fired as I had read in the previous textbooks in the other PR units, but it is a silly thought. I feel so bad the whole day because I messed up one phone call and Ian reassures me it is no problem at all when I apologise to him for my foolish mistake. The phone call was from PETRONAS and something about a RSVP to an event of sorts. This will be with me... FOREVER!!!
 

I have been allowed to observe a meeting between Ian, Nicholas and Flynn with Curtin Consultant Service. It is an enlightening experience on how they wanted to do a rebranding and generating additional funds for CCS to use. Beyond that, they discuss how they would acheive that but that's their plans not to be told out in this blog.

16 MAY 2012 (Wednesday)

The day begins with 9 newspapers on my desk bring my total to 156 in my print media monitoring duties and I have collected 6 articles.

I have gathered: (As of 16/05/1012)
7 Media Releases
21 Indirect Advertising
6 Brand Advertising
1 Feature Article
3 Events Advertising
2 Job Application
1 Perth Media Release
1 Tender Advert
1 Congratulatory Advertisement

I also learn today each department within Curtin Sarawak has their own well kept database and access are restricted to their own departments. At first it would seem strange, but when I ask I got vague answers from everyone within the room. I assume it must be they do not want people from other departments stealing hard thought ideas or concepts. It is logical to secure their files from being seen, especially when there are certain projects still underway. Throughout the day, I read through the whole media releases from 2006 until 2012. So far I am at 2011 and reflecting back, I have read how media releases should be written for various agendas and this is extremely educational and I am honoured to be given a chance to learn such information.

Remember, if you have access to the databases, I would recommend all our fellow interns to look through them all one at a time, prioratizing on which is more important. Only do this when all duties are done and there is nothing for you to do for the time being. Just go the extra mile and work hard. Read, ask and take the initiative to learn. In the databases, there are loads of information that has been used, so learn and read them as much as possible. This will also help you all in doing your duties better as the more informed you are of the company you are working in, the better you will serve and anticipate your workload. The added knowledge will help you work faster and complete those duties better. Knowledge is power, guard it well. Not only that, use it well.

End Blog Report of half of Week 2

Keeping Good Company

After a rather shocking previous week at the old internship, I had a rather lovely surprise follow it up!

My supervisor invited me along to the West Australian offices to present a thank you cake and certificate of gratification to the CHIEF OF STAFF AND SENIOR EDITOR OF THE PAPER (coooooooooooooooollllllllllll). The West were sponsors of our campaign that just wrapped up, the Five Cents for Five Senses effort, that was very successful this year.

Walking into the offices is exciting enough for a little third world child like me, but meeting the editor and the cheif of staff was exhilirating. Only to find they are completely normal, friendly, down to earth gentlemen who need no fuss made about them!

As I have blogged before, PR students tend to have a vision of the journalist as an A-Classs untouchable celebrity who unlocks the doors to public relation and media relation success. Thus, in my mind I may have pictured the two gentlemen as the Kanye West and Jay Z of West Australian news. Needless to say they were normal as can be, but I still felt special meeting them.

Going to the newspaper and meeting the journalists who print our stories and make our companies newsworthy makes all this experience real. We are not in the class room, and this is not a draught for an assignment. There is no Turnitin to check our work for us and it is not just our tutors who will evaulate our efforts. Everything we do now is authentic and real work that is building the foundation of our careers. It too me visiting the West and meeting these wonderful and successful people for me to realise this.

I am very grateful, at this point, for this experience and everything that I have learnt and I don't want it to end!

Daily Media Monitoring - everyone plays a role!

Hi everyone,

My firm has officially combined over the weekend and it has been an amazing experience witnessing the media buzz that is created around the combination of the Minter Ellison Perth office and Squire Sanders.

As you can imagine, it has been important for our team to capture the media coverage and monitor the local media in general.

I thought I would use this blog to reflect on how the Business Development and Marketing team monitors the media. Each person in the team is responsible for media monitoring on one day of the week, there is a set schedule and everyone is allocated a day. We sign up to the WA Business News daily alerts and scan the below newspapers;

• The West Australian
• The Australian Financial Review
• The Australian
• WA Business News (weekly publication)

The team call it 'news brief' and when it is my day I would brief the team at 9.15am for 15mins on that days key news. I would look for legislative changes, industry trends or clients that are listed in the news.

I find this method great as it spreads the load across the team and doesn't place the pressure on everyone to read the paper every day. It is also a great learning curve for me!!

What do other work places do?

Sponsorship Relations

As my firm Minter Ellison has combined with Squire Sanders, effective today, we have been keen to leverage any opportunities to profile the new brand.

A few weeks back myself and my Manager met with the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA). We are the legal and legislative partner for this association, which represents the urban development industry.

In this meeting we agreed that our firm would sponsor the October addition of the Quarterly Urban Development Index publication which will be published to their membership in a fortnight. This entitles our firm to 4 pages of content.

I came up with a plan for the four pages available to us, this included 1 full page advertisement, 2 pages for a thought leadership piece on regeneration or affordable housing and 1 page article profiling some of our lawyers who will speaking in their November professional development program.

This plan was approved by my manager and I began working with a graphic designer on the advertisements. They look fantastic and I am very happy with them. I worked with a graphic designer in our UK office, because of the time difference it was important that I knew exactly what I wanted and sent a detailed brief to the designer.

I have received some great feedback in relation to the work I have completed for this sponsorhsip. I have found the process of working directly with a sponsor very rewarding.

Hope everyone's placement is going well!

Jess

Week 5 recap

A bit late, but this is a recap of last week from March 7 to 11.

Okay again, quite a filling week, from meeting room discussions, interviews, traveling, transcripts and and analyzing.

Starting with the meeting room discussion from the beginning of the week, where m superiors, including the strategy planner, brand director where there in the meeting. I was in there with the summary of what we gathered from the interviews in the month of February, and i gave my full input, as i was following on every interview we had done. I was there telling the group about our findings in terms of what themes were consistent, the opinions they said on what the future of their company is and how each person, from the top level management to the staff. Thursday 10th March, i was part of the interview with the MD (Managing Director) of their company. After i recapped on the summary, we drew up on a whiteboard, what it is we can improve upon, so it is like a draft for their re-branding recommendation. It was about a 2 and a half hour back and forth, between me and superiors among each other, throwing up ideas, and seeing where we can focus on in terms of what is feasible. I cannot tell details of what needs changing, as it is P & C.

During the week, i would also help on other accounts, kind of ad hoc work for me, so i help out in other discussions of ground activation programs for a client wanting to do something for Mother's Day, so a lot of ideation and negotiating with what is feasible within the clients budget.

During the week, i noticed a growth of my responsibilities and the amount of verbal input i provide, my superiors would discuss with me on potential strategy plans for LBS re-branding, what kind of awards they should strive for, and what CSR program would be best.

All in all a great week, and today, starting another one. till next time.

Faridzul Fauzi LUCT