So, what do you actually DO...?

So what is PR? Is it throwing parties and making cool contacts?

...

Yes. My Interning experience is fun event planning, with endless funds and media contacts, and everything falls into place without any hiccups.

Has anyone gotten these questions before? Perhaps from friends or family members?
Like most of us here, I am in my final year of uni, yet I still find it hard to explain to people what my degree entails and what I am doing as a PR intern!

When I tell people the list of things I do in the day, saying it outloud makes it seem like it isnt that hard/complex/time consuming, and I find myself wanting to ellaborate just to make it sound interesting! Dont get me wrong, I really have enjoyed myself throughout the entirety of my placement, but do you ever have those moments when you are telling people and it just sounds so... mundane?

"Today I worked on a story for our newsletter, sent some questions to an author and am waiting reply, then added some pictures to the website, did some mailouts and had to reply to teachers, booked some even space for an upcoming book launch..."
Wait, how did THAT take up 8.5 hours of my day?!

They all sound pretty straight forward don't you agree?
But all of this stuff takes time! Oh is it time consuming to think of questions to send, get those questions checked by my supervisor and then our editor, wait on the responses... Go through the tedious Photoshop steps to resize and scale an image so it works on the web... Find contact details for event spaces, research and send countless emails sometimes for WEEKS to places when wanting to book spaces, drafting media releases or stories a few times, and then a few more, before getting it edited and checked before it gets the go ahead, waiting on draft images from our graphic designer... I think I have been blissfully unaware of the small details that go into PR and marketing. Maybe its like that with all jobs.. There are so many things, seemingly insignificant and small, that make the bigger picture what it is. The devil is in the details as they say!

This is just a little blog post today, a stream of consciousness if you will, about the daily tasks in my PR placement.

Do you guys find people asking you the same thing about your placement / degree? Is it as easy/simple/harder than you would have imagined? Its funny how small things take such a big chunk out of your day.. but I guess it is those small things that make it all work!

 Please let me know if you guys have had the same questions or experiences as me!

Until the next post,

Anouka

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong ...

Hi everyone

As promised in my previous post, this blog is going to be a little bit about the T.A.G Hungerford awards night that Fremantle Press is involved with.

So firstly, what is the T.A.G Hungerford awards? Administered by writingWA, the award is a $12,000 prize awarded to an unpublished manuscript by a previously unpublished Western Australian author. Alongside the prize money, the winner gets their manuscript published by Fremantle Press.
The winner for 2015 was Madelaine Dickie and her manuscript, Troppo.

Winner of the T.A.G Hungerford Award, Madelaine Dickie

Held at the beautiful Fremantle Arts Centre, the setting was perfect ... But as many of you know all too well, anything that can go wrong will go wrong for an event! Claire and I were joking about this on the day, exchanging stories in the car as we set off in the car to drop some things off and begin setting up the event.

The Fremantle Arts Centre was the perfect venue to host the awards

Claire hadn't heard from Madelaine all morning, and we were both growing a little worried ... she was coming to Perth from Broome, and we knew that flights had been delayed because of torrential storms up North! This wasn't ideal for any shortlister not to be attending, especially the winner. Her plane was set to land around 2pm, and we didn't hear from her until around 4.30pm ... it is safe to say we were a little relieved when the text came through that she had arrived in Perth.

As we began setting up, we realised that The City of Fremantle hadn't dropped their pull up banner stands off. Seeing as though they were a sponsor, this wasn't ideal. Setting off in the car once again, we had to call them on the way and have one run down stairs at the town hall as Claire raced in to pick it up. Drama averted.

Back at the office we were finalising last minute things, including the guest list, name badges for the board members of Fremantle Press, and the media kit. Claire thought it was a little odd that she hadn't heard back from their usual flower company where they source bouquets for the winner from so gave her a call ... The florist had a wedding on that day and had completely forgotten! With a few hours up our sleeve, she promised to have the flowers delivered in time. Drama averted again.

Getting to the venue, I was posted at the front desk and was in charge of greeting guests and ensuring that all board members got their name badges and the judges had their assigned envelopes with the running order inside. It was then that I realised I had forgotten one of the name badges ... not the end of the world but when there are 8 others and one person missing I thought that it wouldn't look great! I had five minutes before guests were set to arrive .. armed with my clipboard, I raced down the street (thanking that our office was so close!), printed off another name badge, ran back up the hill (easier on the way down may I add) and got to the gates catching my breath and trying to look calm and collected as I rounded the corner and saw the start of our guests waiting at the closed gates... it was 5.58pm, and showtime!

Despite all of these little hiccups in the day, the night was a great success!

This blog post wasn't to criticise or point out or the flaws in the evening ... it was truly a successful night and everyone that came complimented Claire and the team and thanked us at the end of the night. I even got thanked in one of the speeches which was a nice, albeit unexpected little shock, hearing my name amongst a crowd of one hundred plus guests!
We did put time a lot of time and effort into the night, and it paid off.

I wanted to use this post to point out that no matter how well things are planned, there is always something that will go wrong ... it just depends on how well you handle these curveballs!

I remember from my PR Techniques class, writing running schedules and putting together media kits and having everything ticked off the list, thinking 'well this is perfect! Nothing could go wrong'
 - this awards night was a real life example of how you need to be prepared for the unexpected, and that you need to be flexible when things don't always go to plan!

Mayor of Fremantle Brad Pettitt announcing the winner

Madelaine with her certificate

Has anyone had similar experiences when interning at an events company? Or perhaps running an event for the company your interning at like I did? How did YOU deal with an unexpected surprise on the day of something important? I would love to hear about them in the comments below!

Thanks for reading,


Anouka
Interning at Fremantle Press,
Marketing and Communications Assistant

How I made my boss cry

The theme of this blog is event planning and I’ll be talking about a Farewell Reception I organised for my boss and a big event I’m planning for October 22.

In a bittersweet moment, I had the opportunity to organise a Farewell Reception for Clubs WA's Executive Director of 14 years, Mr Peter Seaman. It was held a couple of weeks ago at the University Club of Western Australia and aimed to be an intimate and laid-back event where Peter could say goodbye to the "VIPs" of WA's club industry. I was very nervous as this was the first event I had to organise for Clubs WA, and really the first event I've had to organise ever. Thankfully the University Club hosts thousands of events every year and are prepared for almost everything. 

Below I have listed briefly what I had to organise in the weeks leading up to the event:

• Booked the venue and confirmed day and time.
• Put together a guest list of relevant Ministers, Corporate Partners, industry representatives, supporters, State Council and staff.
• Sent out save-the-dates.
• Followed up save-the-dates with emails to Ministerial secretaries, and other VIPs.
• Drew up budget.
• Sent out official invitations.
• Bought a gift for the ED.
• Visited the venue to get an idea of room layout and AV equipment.
• Chose the food and beverage menu.
• Confirmed all attendees and the correct spelling of their names.
• Printed all names onto name tags.
• Organised everything for a registration table.
• Plus so, so much more. 

The event turned out really well and thankfully ran smoothly. Sport & Recreation Minister Tuck Waldron, Racing & Gaming Minister Mick Murray and Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll each made a thoughtful and personal speech about their experiences of working with Peter over the past decade or so. My boss became quite teary at one point and Mick Murray made a funny speech and both of them turned red.

Although the event was quite small, with about 60 people showing up, it was still nerve wrecking having to organise the event with absolutely no experience! But it has prepared me for my next event in October, which has an expected attendance of about 130 people.

The next event I’m organising and the one that’s causing me heaps of stress is the Clubs WA Training, AGM & Networking Event on October 22.

I’ll admit that I haven’t been given a huge amount of guidance or instruction when it comes to organising either of these events and it’s making me pretty stressed. I’ve basically organised this AGM & Networking Event by looking through the previous Events Officer’s file where she has kept hardcopy invoices of everything she ordered for last year's event, and then deciding what was useful this year.  I’m so grateful that she kept such good records of everything and I plan to do the same!

Last year’s event began at 10am with an hour long Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Clubs WA company update, followed by a luncheon, trade expo and then entertainment.

This year we have decided to tie the event in with the launch of two new training workshops, Good Governance and Workplace Relations, which will begin in the morning, followed by a Canapé Reception, AGM, Clubs WA Update, Networking Luncheon, Club Leadership Panel, and then a Social Hour. This year’s theme is training and networking and we think this will boost numbers opposed to an otherwise boring AGM.

My three biggest fears for the AGM Event are that we don’t get enough numbers, that I haven’t planned well enough, and that the event goes over-budget.

Achieving the attendance goal:

I set myself the attendance goal of 130 people but I’m quietly hoping for 150.

Other than for that fact that it would heartbreaking if no one came, our Corporate Partners (sponsors) are attending so they can network with our members, and I don’t want them to think the event was a waste of time.

Last year’s Trade Expo component felt a little pushy, and most of our sponsors have been with us for a long time so their products are well known by our members. This year, I’ve planned lots of ‘break-out’ sessions for networking. For example, rather than having a three-course sit-down meal, I thought it would be nice if we served the entrée as a ‘canapé reception on arrival’ – this way our members are able to mingle and network with other industry reps and sponsors in a more informal way – think a bigger version of  ‘water-cooler talk’.

We’re 12-days out from the event and so far we have a 110 people registered which is 23 more people than last year! I think I’m doing okay promotion wise, even though I was aiming for 130 people.

We started promoting the confirmed date of the event in May, and since then have been putting articles in our monthly newsletter/magazine, in our fortnightly email blasts, on the website and through social media. My boss told me that 6-weeks out from the event we should start calling clubs, as phone calls are so much more personal. However, when we started calling clubs 6-weeks out, the majority of people we called didn’t know much about the event.

Our monthly newsletter is only sent to one person on a club’s Board (usually the Club President or CEO) and the fortnightly emails to two or three – so from calling our members I’ve realised that the Board Members do not pass information on!

So 6-weeks out from the event, instead of convincing people to purchase tickets, we were calling people to tell them about the event, which was frustrating. I instructed everyone to follow-up any phone call they made with an email thanking people for their time and to attach a copy of our event information pack and registration form. Luckily this seems to have worked, and I’ve left a note for next year’s event organiser to make the calls much earlier – I really think this would boost the numbers!

You can have a look at some of the information that was included in the event info pack and an article about the speakers written in the monthly newsletter, by clicking on the below images.

         

Event planning

I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m one of those people who leave things to the last minute (some of you will know this ;)). I think that I know myself pretty well, and I know how long I need to get things done properly. Looking at the timelines and schedules from last year’s event I know that the previous Events Officer had written the MC Script, running sheet, staff roles etc. more than three months out from the event. While this might have suited her, she would have had to of updated the scripts and running sheets constantly in the months leading up to the event as new things were decided – and I personally feel like this would have been a waste of time. Instead, I spent a total of eight hours working on the MC Script, running sheet, room plan, assigned staff roles, and an overview running sheet for sponsors just a little over two weeks from the event, and they were all approved within two days and I may only need to make one or two tiny changes. I do believe there is such a thing as over planning!

My point here is to know how long you need to complete tasks properly, and how to work to be productive.

If you have any easy networking ideas to get people talking, please feel free to share! One idea I’m thinking of is to ask people to write three words on their name tag, for example, Cambodia, photography, cricket, travel or scrap-booking, to give people conversation starters. Maybe there’s a person who’s thinking about going to Greece and then they spot someone who has Greece written on their nametag... BOOM conversation starter!

Anyway, until next time!

You can find my past blog posts here:

1. Make us famous - P.S. there's no budget

2. Don't dread the red pen

I hope everyone else is still enjoying their internships, and if you have any tips about event planning, promotion, or networking I would love to hear from you J

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