Well now that the end of my internship has come, it's time to reflect on my time spent there and all the things I learned and liked or didn't like. I am definitely sad to leave the hotel and it feels strange to me to no longer have to go to work everyday and not have to think about the hotel's doings as I'm no longer part of it. Recently, I will saw a mention of the JW in a magazine and thought about notifying my PR manager about it before realizing it is no longer my concern.
But I had a great time at the hotel and I took away so many valuable experiences. I now understand what it is like to practice PR in the real world and I finally know that this is the career path I want to take after I graduate. Before I started, I was so unsure because the idea of PR sounded stressful and pressure filled. And while yes, I learned PR is stressful, I can see how it works in the real world and it looks really manageable at least from an in-house perspective. Oh, and that's another thing, when I do go into PR, I want to try in-house because it seems less stressful and more focused which is better as I'd like to put my efforts into improving one company, rather than several.
I would say the best parts of my job have been the media events both outside the hotel and inside. I loved getting out there and meeting media people, chatting to them, making connections. And when it came to media events in the hotel, I loved watching the print media and TV crew/radio crew come in to film/review our hotel and restaurants. I loved how I got to have input on who we should allow to come and feature our hotel and who shouldn't. It made me feel like part of the team. We also got to plan the annual MICE press trip for our hotel which was a lot of fun too and again, great having that input.
The more menial part of my job was the media monitoring It can be tiring going through all those magazines and newspapers but then I enjoyed the feeling I got when I found something and got to make a clipping for it and then file it away in the PR report. I loved being able to tell my boss how our value was looking at any time during the month. Then of course there was the media database which was tiring to put together even if it is a critical part of PR.
I really regretted not being able to stay longer though. At the end of the month, the annual media blitz would commence where the team visits all media outlets to send them gifts and further cement the PR-media relationship. But I also got to experience alot too in my time there so I'm fairly satisfied.
This is not the end of my PR journey though, and I hope to have many more great experiences in the future!
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
Showing posts with label resume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resume. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
The Media Database
In my second last week here at JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok, and things are quite uneventful. Seems like PR has downtime, usually around late December to early January because everything has been tied up for the year 2012.
The next major thing to look forward to is the PR plan for the year ahead. My boss has said that she will allow us a look at the plan and a discussion session so we can understand how it works and talk about it. This should be interesting to see whether it ties in with the PR plans we study about in class. Will update you more on that next week when she shows us it.
Other than that, we interns are put to work on another important part of PR which is not really mentioned-the media database. In other words, the database that consists of the list of media contacts with telephone numbers and emails so that we can send press releases to be published in magazines, newspapers, etc.
This is something that obviously needs to be updated properly as people are always going in and out so emails and numbers will change. The difficulty with doing this is finding the right telephone numbers (usually online or in the magazine itself) and then calling them one by one to get the right email to send press releases too. Simply looking up a valid email and filling it in the database is just enough-a publication can have multiple editors/writers and simply sending it to one lowers the chances of it being published, so you have to make sure you have the one who handles press releases.
As this is my second last week, I'm starting to feel quite melancholy. I had a great time here and I feel like I got exposed to alot of things, from the day to day media monitoring to the more exciting events where I got to meet members of the media. I'm almost 100% sure this is the career path I want to choose. I'm so glad I got the chance to pursue this internship. :)
More next week!
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
The next major thing to look forward to is the PR plan for the year ahead. My boss has said that she will allow us a look at the plan and a discussion session so we can understand how it works and talk about it. This should be interesting to see whether it ties in with the PR plans we study about in class. Will update you more on that next week when she shows us it.
Other than that, we interns are put to work on another important part of PR which is not really mentioned-the media database. In other words, the database that consists of the list of media contacts with telephone numbers and emails so that we can send press releases to be published in magazines, newspapers, etc.
This is something that obviously needs to be updated properly as people are always going in and out so emails and numbers will change. The difficulty with doing this is finding the right telephone numbers (usually online or in the magazine itself) and then calling them one by one to get the right email to send press releases too. Simply looking up a valid email and filling it in the database is just enough-a publication can have multiple editors/writers and simply sending it to one lowers the chances of it being published, so you have to make sure you have the one who handles press releases.
As this is my second last week, I'm starting to feel quite melancholy. I had a great time here and I feel like I got exposed to alot of things, from the day to day media monitoring to the more exciting events where I got to meet members of the media. I'm almost 100% sure this is the career path I want to choose. I'm so glad I got the chance to pursue this internship. :)
More next week!
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Making PR Mistakes and Dealing with Them
Hey everyone,
This isn't an easy post for me to write but I thought it necessary to share with you the recent hiccup I had involving a printed mistaken price error in the newspaper.
My boss recently assigned me the task of drafting up press releases which would then be translated into Thai by my Thai intern friend and would be used as the basis for a feature we were promised by a local Thai newspaper. The press releases involved prices and was promoting the Christmas buffet lunch/dinners and New Year's Eve buffet our hotel was offering.
I thought I had done a good job on the press releases and sent up all the documents which were then forwarded to the editor of the paper. When the newspaper came out with our hotel mentioned in it, we were obviously very happy... until my boss noticed an error in the listing of the prices. After going back and checking to make sure it was not the paper's mistake and going through the Thai translation and then my copy, we discovered that I had incorrectly typed up the prices. Of course I was very upset because I hadn't made a mistake like that before but thankfully, my boss was understanding, saying that she should also have properly double checked the prices before sending. It's still a shock to the system because this isn't like a mistake you make in school. Mistakes like this could be potentially damaging if not dealt with immediately and properly.
Right away, she got to work on handling the situation. The first step was to call the editor of the paper and ask if they could make a change for the following day. She made it clear that it was not the paper's fault and apologized, smoothing things over and thanking them again for offering to feature us in it. Unluckily, they couldn't which meant the prices for Christmas Eve dinner were printed incorrectly and was going to come out like it was. So then my boss asked to change the prices for Christmas Day (this day was the 23rd) and luckily we still had time to change it and were also able to correct prices for New Year's Day.
At the end of the day, even though this was not a pleasant experience, it taught me a great deal about making mistakes in the PR industry. As my boss later told me, everyone makes mistakes and even she has done so on occasion. There is no use crying over split milk and the best reaction is instant action. Call immediately and check to see what can be done to rectify the situation as much as possible. Make sure you make it clear it is not the media's fault but your own if it is indeed your mistake. Above all else, make sure you double-no make that triple-check your work before sending it off, particularly when it comes to numbers and prices.
Till next time,
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
This isn't an easy post for me to write but I thought it necessary to share with you the recent hiccup I had involving a printed mistaken price error in the newspaper.
My boss recently assigned me the task of drafting up press releases which would then be translated into Thai by my Thai intern friend and would be used as the basis for a feature we were promised by a local Thai newspaper. The press releases involved prices and was promoting the Christmas buffet lunch/dinners and New Year's Eve buffet our hotel was offering.
I thought I had done a good job on the press releases and sent up all the documents which were then forwarded to the editor of the paper. When the newspaper came out with our hotel mentioned in it, we were obviously very happy... until my boss noticed an error in the listing of the prices. After going back and checking to make sure it was not the paper's mistake and going through the Thai translation and then my copy, we discovered that I had incorrectly typed up the prices. Of course I was very upset because I hadn't made a mistake like that before but thankfully, my boss was understanding, saying that she should also have properly double checked the prices before sending. It's still a shock to the system because this isn't like a mistake you make in school. Mistakes like this could be potentially damaging if not dealt with immediately and properly.
Right away, she got to work on handling the situation. The first step was to call the editor of the paper and ask if they could make a change for the following day. She made it clear that it was not the paper's fault and apologized, smoothing things over and thanking them again for offering to feature us in it. Unluckily, they couldn't which meant the prices for Christmas Eve dinner were printed incorrectly and was going to come out like it was. So then my boss asked to change the prices for Christmas Day (this day was the 23rd) and luckily we still had time to change it and were also able to correct prices for New Year's Day.
At the end of the day, even though this was not a pleasant experience, it taught me a great deal about making mistakes in the PR industry. As my boss later told me, everyone makes mistakes and even she has done so on occasion. There is no use crying over split milk and the best reaction is instant action. Call immediately and check to see what can be done to rectify the situation as much as possible. Make sure you make it clear it is not the media's fault but your own if it is indeed your mistake. Above all else, make sure you double-no make that triple-check your work before sending it off, particularly when it comes to numbers and prices.
Till next time,
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
Sunday, December 16, 2012
PR and the media
Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been a while. Been very busy with work lately. Everything is going well though and I'm loving my internship! I'm almost certain PR is the right career choice for me as I love everything my boss gets me to do. Yes, I know it can be a stressful job but I have the genuine interest in it.
Lately, my boss has been asking me to draft up releases for Christmas promotions as well as New Year and Chinese New Year specials. Getting these releases done early is vital as magazines will close the books for the following month at a certain time. PR and the media have a very co-dependent relationship. It may seem like PR need media more but this is not the case. Editors do call in sometimes to ask for any promotions to fill up their columns. It was great to be actually writing a real press release that could appear in a magazine soon!
Besides print media, my bosses and I have been looking at TV opportunities. I attended a shooting for a cooking show featuring our head chef which was great fun! I got to see how a cooking style show was filmed and it surprisingly only took an hour and half to compete it all! Very soon, we will receive a CD from the TV company with the clipping which we then use to calculate PR value in our monthly media report. We look at the time and multiply that by the amount of people watching to get a number. Obviously this is so much more valuable than a print article.
Another TV channel has expressed interest in our Japanese chef and his unique style of cooking. Our job was to get all the relevant information such as the time it would take to perform his 'tricks' and how many he could do in a certain time, as well the ingredients he would need. I also filmed a short clip to showcase his skills which we then sent to the company for them to decide whether they want to confirm the real shooting. Fingers crossed we get it!
Then we had a new chef come in and I had to draft an 'appointment' press release for him. My boss went to personally interview him as she wanted to find out if there was anything he could do specially that could garner media attention. Turns out, he was writing a cook book and it could be useful to plan an event around it in the future.
So when dealing with the media, it's important to analyze the media potential in what you have and look for any media opportunity you can in print, TV and radio and try to get something in there. You never know unless you try!
Until next time!
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (for Sem 1, 2013)
Sorry it's been a while. Been very busy with work lately. Everything is going well though and I'm loving my internship! I'm almost certain PR is the right career choice for me as I love everything my boss gets me to do. Yes, I know it can be a stressful job but I have the genuine interest in it.
Lately, my boss has been asking me to draft up releases for Christmas promotions as well as New Year and Chinese New Year specials. Getting these releases done early is vital as magazines will close the books for the following month at a certain time. PR and the media have a very co-dependent relationship. It may seem like PR need media more but this is not the case. Editors do call in sometimes to ask for any promotions to fill up their columns. It was great to be actually writing a real press release that could appear in a magazine soon!
Besides print media, my bosses and I have been looking at TV opportunities. I attended a shooting for a cooking show featuring our head chef which was great fun! I got to see how a cooking style show was filmed and it surprisingly only took an hour and half to compete it all! Very soon, we will receive a CD from the TV company with the clipping which we then use to calculate PR value in our monthly media report. We look at the time and multiply that by the amount of people watching to get a number. Obviously this is so much more valuable than a print article.
Another TV channel has expressed interest in our Japanese chef and his unique style of cooking. Our job was to get all the relevant information such as the time it would take to perform his 'tricks' and how many he could do in a certain time, as well the ingredients he would need. I also filmed a short clip to showcase his skills which we then sent to the company for them to decide whether they want to confirm the real shooting. Fingers crossed we get it!
Then we had a new chef come in and I had to draft an 'appointment' press release for him. My boss went to personally interview him as she wanted to find out if there was anything he could do specially that could garner media attention. Turns out, he was writing a cook book and it could be useful to plan an event around it in the future.
So when dealing with the media, it's important to analyze the media potential in what you have and look for any media opportunity you can in print, TV and radio and try to get something in there. You never know unless you try!
Until next time!
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (for Sem 1, 2013)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
PR Events
What an exciting week it's been for me working at the JW Marriott! I'm loving learning more about the real life duties of a PR manager from my very talented boss.
Last week on Thursday, I had my first event which was a press trip for international members of the media who toured various Marriott hotels around Thailand. The first two were beach hotels and our hotel was the last stop before they headed back home. The purpose was to highlight to them the MICE properties of the hotel. MICE is an acronym for meeting, incentive, conference and exhibition. JW Marriott as a luxury business hotel offers facilities to accommodate the business traveler's needs, such as meeting rooms, an executive lounge and specialized executive rooms to stay in. My job leading up to that involved the planning and organizing of the activities they would take part in during their stay. Me and the other intern sat down with the PR manager to discuss the activities chosen which was actually a clever and fun way to get them to remember important facts of our hotel so they could go back and write about it.
After that, it was out duty to create the tools needed, such as a crossword board and a power point presentation of a JW Marriott style quiz game, testing them on the important facts of the hotel. On the day itself, we had to standby and make sure things ran smoothly and be on hand so that we could help out if needed. I ran to the different locations to check with the staff that everything was set before the media came to visit. It was tiring but everything went smoothly which was good and hearing the very positive feedback from one of the cluster PR people that came with the media was great. Hopefully, we'll be seeing some more coverage of the hotel in the news soon! Last Monday brought some difficulty with one media who was asking more than what he would give us back in PR value, and we had some debate about how to handle him as it was a delicate situation. Thankfully, it went ok. This is the real trouble of PR-deciding whether the return and PR value for the media is worth what we are giving to them, whether it's a free lunch (for a food review) or the use of a hotel room for a night (an extra cost so they can do the review).
And then yesterday night, I attended an event hosted by a local magazine which was a good opportunity to network and meet important people in the industry and of course to maintain the important relationship between media and PR. I had two events this Thursday to attend but we had to pick only one. I learned that you have to set your priorities in PR and as one was for the launch an up and coming magazine against one for a party for a magazine we already have good connections with, my boss decided we should go to the first one so we could try and create new connections.
That's all for now!
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
Christy Lau Su Mei
15130659
Curtin Bentley (Sem 1, 2013)
Monday, November 12, 2012
First Day of Work: Impressions of Being a PR Intern
Hey everyone!
Today was my first day as PR intern at JW Marriott Bangkok. I was super nervous but also super excited to take all the things I learned in my course and apply them in the real world. I knew this would be a good experience as doing PR, especially in a city is extremely high pressure and there will always be something to do and something new to be exposed to.
Right off, I got introduced to the PR manager who gave me and another intern a long briefing about the 3 brands we'll be looking after under the Marriott name. Each brand has a unique writing style which will be used for the press release. We continued later with her explaining the different tasks we had to do under PR including drafting press releases, monitoring media clippings, event planning and strategy. All of the things felt very familiar as I had already covered them in PR 220 but she did mention calculating PR value which was something I wasn't too familiar with. This is basically calculating the ROI by measuring the inches of space any mention of the hotel took up and multiplying it by the ad value, followed by the PR value. All this has to be recorded in a spreadsheet which will make up the basis of the monthly media clippings report.
After this, me and the other intern got on with our work which was going through all the different magazines sent to the department, finding any mention of JW and marking it down. Then we had a meeting with the event organizer about Thursday's press trip where members of the press will come down to view the hotel and which featured an 'Amazing Race' style contest to make things more memorable. This will be a major event that we interns have to take part in and we were allowed to give our input and suggestions on how to improve it.
After that it was back to the media monitoring and then it was time to call it a day.
I definitely feel excited about what else is to come now that the initial nervousness has worn off and I know more what I am expected to do. Everyone is super friendly and even though the hours are long, it's quite enjoyable as there was (and hopefully will be later on as well) lots to do. This wasn't how I expected it to be because I thought PR would be rigidly strict and stressful but you still have fun as well! I think PR 220 and 250 will be the most useful for my time here as I will be expected to help out a lot in the creation of PR documents, more so than any planning or strategy making.
I look forward to my first big PR event on Thursday!
Till then!
Christy Lau 15130659
Bentley (for Sem 1, 2013)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)