Communication - all types of it - is key!

Hello all,

How goes the internships? I have to say while I am thoroughly enjoying working office hours in an office environment, I am looking forward to skipping the 2 hours I spend on the underground tube every day. At the moment in London there are tube strikes going on and so many of trains aren’t running. The result is lots of antsy people squashed into a worn and blackened carriage like sardines.

The other evening as a hoard of people got off the carriage and onto the platform alongside me, one lady said “Ah get that fresh air!” I wouldn’t consider the air in the underground particularly fresh; it hasn’t seen sunlight in days, it’s full of emissions from the trains and God knows how many people are down there every day breathing the same air in and out… Urgh. She hasn’t visited Perth clearly!

Enough about that. Working in beauty PR has been a lot of fun – a few free bits here and there and always plenty to get done. A few days ago The Communications Store hosted its biannual Press Day, and it was so amazing. They hired out this big old church, and I mean old, London style, and filled it mostly with fashion collections, and also with a lot of our beauty products and services.

The purpose of Press Day is virtually just an opportunity for the agency to showcase a whole lot of product all at once, and invite as many journalists, bloggers etc as possible to come along. I found Press Day interesting as it helped me understand a bit about the different models of communication that we learnt in University.

Now, I was always under the impression that symmetrical two-way communication was the only way to go, with clients, audiences and the press. I suppose I have an ethic which extends into my everyday life, and that is the motto ‘communication is key’. To me this means having frequent and balanced communication between all parties is the ideal way to build relationships, as it promotes honesty and trust.

For the most part, TCS works on the symmetrical two-way model of communication, as they place an emphasis on listening to the client’s wants and needs and keep them informed on any activity. However I see the Press Day as a prime example where Grunig’s “Public Information model” is used; as information about the client is simply distributed to the public without there being a conversation. This example showed me that two-way communication isn’t always necessary – sometimes it can be more efficient for everyone if the information is pre-packaged, succinct and in large quantities. I found this worked well for the beauty and fashion clients at Press Day, as they simply needed to display the exact same information and products to a large group of people.

So, it appears hands-on learning is all it cracked up to be! My placement continues to open my mind to how public relations operates in the real world and my knowledge on this industry seems to be growing.

That’s all for now folks. I hope nobody has nodded off over their keyboards!

Jessie x

It may be the end of the chapter but not of the story!

Hello PR fellows

I hope you are all enjoying your internship and getting the most of it. For my part, I reached the end of my placement at IMS. I spent 24 days which were rich in experience not only relating to PR but I had also a great human experience.

Application of theories

One of the major purposes of this unit is to apply the theories learnt during the past three years to real life. For instance, since the very beginning of our studies we learnt about the significance of communication through Grunig’s four models of Public Relations. More information on the models can be accessed on http://www.managementstudyguide.com/public-relations-models.htm. At IMS, the two-way symmetrical model is encouraged among employees themselves. This model “enables negotiations with the public, allows the resolution of conflicts and promotes mutual understanding and respect between the firm and its public” (Grunig's Four models 2013). The aim is to ensure that employees understand what it is all about, its relative importance so as to be able to apply it effectively when communicating with clients while encouraging good employee relations. Moreover, through several projects I learnt the real value of research.

Relevance of theories to my Internship

Nevertheless, I must admit that in general I recognised that what we learnt are only mere guidelines. For instance, I will share an experience regarding event organisation. We organised a dinner for one of IMS’s clients and the guests were supposed to arrive at 7 pm. However, most of them came at 6 pm while we were still completing the setting of the room. It was quite disturbing, but I had to guide the guests while still finalising the setting. From this, I learnt the prominence of being able to master several things at a time. What we learnt in class is how things should go in general but it does not include unanticipated events that could disturb the initial flow of the event. Thus, I also learnt the importance of considering such possibilities to try to avoid them since the very start and to have a plan B in case it still occurs.

Another experience that I gained is the relevance of proactivity. At IMS what they do is instead of waiting for a client to come to them they make a market research. Based on it, they approach potential clients that they believe need to increase their visibility. They want to lead by being proactive instead of reactive.

My Final Word

I realised a number of things while being at IMS namely the significance of communication, flexibility, polyvalence and proactivity to cite a few. Therefore, my final word for future PR students will be to enjoy their internship, to grasp this opportunity to develop networking as well as improving essential skills that will help them as future PR professionals.

For my part, it may be the end of my placement but it is undoubtedly the start of a long journey in the PR domain.

Reference

Grunig's Four models of Public Relations. 2013. IML. Accessed April 19,         http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall99/westbrook/models.htm.

The time has arrived for the ship to cast off

Good morning everyone

I am Sandra Thomas from the Charles Telfair Institute, Mauritius. I am doing a Bachelor of commerce in Tourism and Events management and Public Relations and I am in my last semester.

Actually, it has been five days since I started my trip at IMS Ltd. IMS runs several activities for instance, the development of strategies, communication and even aviation. For my part, I am involved in the communication department which deals with the promotion of the organisation as well as the promotion of other companies.

So far, I carried out a lot of research activities to gather information for a newsletter. These information will also contribute to the development of a portfolio on the relevant company.

Moreover, I attended my first meeting. It consisted of activities aimed at identifying our strengths and weaknesses and finding out how employees can contribute effectively to the organisation's success. The next objective was to determine how to become a professional in our domain. For my part, it was to establish the assets that I have to become a successful PR professional and what should be done to achieve this status.

From this meeting, it could be seen that IMS promotes the two-way symmetrical model of communication. Consequently, this could be a good opportunity to analyse the limitations of the model and how far is it beneficial to the organisation.

I was glad to share this experience with you see you next week for a new adventure.

In the meantime, below is the direct link of IMS's website so that you could get a better insight on the company.

http://www.imsmauritius.com/

IMS Ltd

IMS Ltd