PROPOSAL

I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A TASK TO COME WITH A PROPOSAL TO PRESENT TO THE COMPANY MANAGEMENT IN REGARDS TO THE UPCOMING EVENT...IN IT I AM TO INCLUDE ESTIMATES ON THE WHOLE EVENT COSTS,THUS ENTETAINMENT,GUEST LIST AND ALL THAT..

LASTLY I AM PROGRESSING VERY WELL AS OF FAR I MANAGED TO WRITE FOUR ARTICLES THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED ON THE COMPANY'S NEWSPAPERS..FOR MORE INFOMATION PLEASE VISIT www.gazettebw.com....and search my articles at timeout sction..

Different face of PR

Well, it’s my 4^th week here and how time flies!

 

Happy New Year before and hope you guys will have such a fabulous and blessed year ahead! :D

 

So yea, reading on others experiences, I found it that my experience here is not as hectic as others. It’s more to do on the admin sites.

 

Was talking to my Manager last month and he said what makes us unique as the PR practitioners here in the company is that we have to juggle things that is totally different than what PR agencies outsides are doing.

We don’t do much of press events, we don’t do huge events and once we are doing it, it must be someone from the Government side is coming to the jobsite and so on.

 

One of the ways we establish a good relationship with the local Government is by helping them with their travel arrangements. Being in a remote area like this is totally different than being in, Jakarta for example. There are limited planes available and the price itself is an on-going competition. So there are times when the GOI staff will come and asked us to help them booked a seat for them or even give them the ticket for their work purposes. We are helping them so just in case we need to collaborate with them in the future, they will not give us a hard time. There are times when it doesn’t look like its fair but again, being in an area where our clients can be a bit too demanding and later on bring complication, sometimes we just need to gulp it and help them as much as we can.

 

PR World is not all about glam and gazillions events at once. That’s what I learn. When you are in a remote area, foreign company, high demand from indigenous people and local government staffs, things like settling down airplane tickets and fuel, go to the court for hearing, lunch or dinner with the government member and also non-stop calls from the Government institutions that have their own needs.

 

So far I have been helping in making the Guarantee Letters for the meal and accommodations for Government guests from outside of jobsite, preparing the Government Support Request form, running up and down to the Accounting Department for the Custom’s payment, and also to other departments either to get the Vice President’s approval or simply to do a double check for the timber crushing issues.

 

I also learn that for a huge company like this, it is important to separates all the departments to make it easier for the employees to focus on their work but then at the same time one can’t stand on its own. We constantly need help from other departments.

 

Can’t wait for all my supervisors come back from their vacations and follow them again according to their specific duties to learn more!

 

 

Have a great day!

 

Gabriela Teguh

LUCT

on-the-GO! with a CSR event.

Happy New Year to all members of PR393 Reflective Blog! :D
Here's an overdue experience I'd like to share:

It was only my second week as the intern at GO Communications and already, I was exposed to the nit and grits of conducting a FULL-OUT CSR event for Kenny Roger ROASTERS!

The Wishing Tree Project is Kenny Roger's (our client) bit to help the less fortunate and my team was put in charge of helping them to manage and put together a small celebration for about 30 kids from a Care Centre whilst also drawing media attention. Prior to this day, media invites were sent out, confirmation of guests and celebrities were garnered and extra materials were prepared.

I was given the task of doing follow-up - calling each media person whom which has been sent with an invite to attend this little charitable event. As each editor or media person gave excuses on why they would NOT be able to make it, I began to worry that none might even show up! Then, one of my teammates suggested that I emphasized on the celebrities that have confirmed on their participation in this event. And so, I artfully inserted names like 'Daphne Iking', 'Atilia' (Malay jazz singer) and 'Vanessa Chong' (Amazing Race Asia contestant) into my conversations with the following media person and viola! I was fed with affirmative responses! Still, most declined politely, with reasons being "lack of reporters".

The show must still go on! I had utmost respect for my teammates as they scurried around a tiny Setapak restaurant outlet to set things up a few hours before the event - rearranging chairs, sticking labels, preparing game materials and hiding the newly-purchased presents under the table from child's view.

Sad to say, things were not as easy as we would want it to be. The CD-R containing the "Chicken Dance" song refused to play and one of the celebrities (Vanessa Chong) got the date of the event mixed up and was at Singapore at the time! Thankfully, my team leader managed to pick a random, catchy song from her vast music CD collection and so the 'Chicken Dance' was replaced with the 'Statue Dance' game. We got another lucky break when singer, Atilia brought along another local celebrity friend, Yasmin Hani!

The kids finally arrived. So did the celebrities and who would have guessed, a flock of reporters and photograhers from various media houses! I was placed at the 'Media Registration' table where I handed out media kits as well as small 'tokens of appreciation'. Its simply a small way to extend our gratefulness towards the media for taking their time to come, "despite their busy schedule and nagging datelines".

The whole event went on rather smoothly, with minor bumps here and there. Games like "Statue Dance" and "Pin the Chicken" were amongst the highlights and although things may look a little messy, most of the kids seemed to have had fun. After specific presents were distributed accordingly to each child, the modest event came to a close.

There you have it! My first ever CSR event hosting. Although I was only involved in the minor, itsy bitsy stuff, I still learned a whole lot! Would love to really immerse myself in more events but also be reminded of Murphy's Law where "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". But hey, as Dory from Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming"!

Cheers!
Mei Anne.

It is that time of the year,everyone s from the festive holidays..As an aspiring pr practitioner there is no time to lazy around.I have a lot of work to do,i am to submit a report about my company's performances for 2009 and make some recommendations where necessary.

the best part of it,is that i have been chosen to be part of the team that is to organise the event that will see long serving employees being awarded certificates...I am to come with the event plan

A good writing skill is indispensable to a PR practitioner....

Hey people, the internship is moving into another dimension. Am now doing a lot media collaterals especially the news releases, feature articles and Q & As. And the throbbing part is when the boss returns your work only to find corrections with the red pen all over. Even though it’s tiring I enjoy it because I know somehow its improving my writing skills.
PR is about communication and the basic form of communication is the written word. The secret of writing in PR is practice. Write and write more articles not only at work but even during your free times and do a lot of reading .I think you will end up enjoying it.
Thanks to Samanea PR
Good luck
Tinnah
LUCT

Be a team player

Hi everyone!

Handling client projects, meetings and planning/organizing functions is not easy at all. Sharing the workload is the best tool and being committed will result in well done job. I have learned that if everyone is involved in the planning and goal setting of the project, it is more likely that anyone can buy into the work to bring the fruition which makes delegation to be easier. Also, I have learned that before doing and getting involved everyone needs to know which way the responsibilities flows and who does what to who.

Through out the internship, my boss taught me powerful elements that will make one strong if he/she is a team player. He said this to me, a team player is valued in any organization and he continued by saying that a team player add more value to the company because effective team players enables a team to function and not just a few.
From that moment a learned that as a PR practitioner I have to consider these elements in order for me to excel well.
1.participation: I am not a person who likes to participate even in class I prefer to keep quite rather than to say something. However, today as I write here I have improved as now i can share my thoughts, opinions with other people and this has helped me a lot as during meetings when the boss ask me to comment there's no way I can hide from it. From this point, participation helps to brings new ideas into the table. Thinking about what the team is trying to accomplish brings ideas to help the team achieve its goals.
2.communication: I have learned and now trained to communicate my opinions and not to be afraid to talk.The reason I was afraid was that what will people say concerning my comments but now I am a free bull. This is because each person relies on the other to contribute to the team and do what is expected as the boss said we must trust each to accomplish the teams mission.
3.sharing:share knowledge, share power so that it enables others on for the team to succeed.
4.accepting criticism: As for the time I have spent at IPRM, I have accepted to work with all kinds of people willing. However, at some point when working on a project together, I had a problem of being criticized and from there, I will take that personally. As time goes on, I learned that a team player does not take it personally as these people are helping me to learn and gain something new from them.
5.flexibility: a sacrifice is needed when things gets tough to see the mission assigned accomplished. Having long hours meetings sometimes just brings boredom and causes loss of concentration.Therefore, patient is the weapon for more advanced better results.
From all the effective elements that I have discussed above, it really has took me some time, and still does to practice all of them. I do believe that by the time I complete my internship it will be 4 out 0f 5. This has helped me a lot as I can now feel free to participate, communicate and accept criticism from all people, not my workmates only. Fear is not my portion now, it has gone.

Thank you,

Tabona

First Week @ CosmoGirl! Indonesia

My first days as an intern in a magazine company was very tough. Everyone was very busy and always had work to do. At a magazine editorial I was told that i have to be an indipendent intern as there are only around 11 people working and all 11 people have their own responsiblities. I have a supervisor that helps me now and then but i had to know my position and basic responsibilities for the rest of my time interning at CosmoGirl! (CG!). As the pace of working in a magazine is very fast.

The minute i started my internship i was told that at the end of the week, the annual CosmoGirl Of the Year 2009 (CGOTY) will be held at a cafe located in a mall in Jakarta and that i came right on time as there was alot that was needed to do, and everyone was very busy preparing for the event.

As the PR Intern i was asked to review the press release for the event as the event will invite many medias. Then also i had to introduce myself to the 10 CGOTY finalist and talk about my experience so far as an intern in the company as many of the finalist is interested in interning at CG! By the end of that week i was in charge of handling the media who attended the event. I had to greet the people who represented the media, and give them the press release that has been prepared.

On Sunday, 27th December after the short christmas break i had to attend a press conference held by MindChamps. Which was a innaguration to the vocalist of an Indonesian band, Bams Samsons as the Youth Fellow of MindChamps. I was there representing CosmoGirl! as one of the press that will be reporting the story in the magazine for March edition.

Even though this is only my first week, i can honestly say that the real world is very very tough! I was given so many responsibilities as an intern, hopefully i will manage to keep up my work until the end of the internship.

: on-the-GO! for more media contacts.

Hi everyone!

Like most of you, I have been immersed into the bona fide realm of Public Relations, where datelines are never exact and work is ever-pending. It's been a whole month since I've started my internship at a PR agency swiftly called:

GO Communications.

Each morning, I walk into this tiny office space where rapid strokes of the keyboard is heard and visible stacks of today's newspapers are seen on Rachel (our media monitor person)'s table. The smell of freshly-stirred coffee tickles my nose, reminding me its time to be fully awake and concentrate on my easy-going yet daunting work.

Amongst the three teams in GO, I have been placed under a team of three ladies and as their new intern, I was given the task of arranging, labeling and updating their own virtual media contact list. It took me about a week to sort out the contacts on the existing Excel folder. I categorized each contact under specific tabs such as 'English Dailies', 'Chinese Mags' or 'TV'. Now, I have a mission to gain more contacts, constantly update useful insights into different media houses and cater to each of my team member's information needs so that their press releases would be targeted towards the right media sections.

At first, I found my mundane task to be petty and sidelined but slowly come to realize that without proper media profile and specific contacts, PR value would be lost amongst a sea of useless publicity. A feature article about parenting should be sent out to the editor of appropriate channels like ParenThots and not mistakenly sent to the editor of a youth-focused media, like The Star's R.AGE. Therefore, I make sure each contact detail is legitimate and each media outlet is easy-to-distinguish.

Besides updating the media list, I have also called up and emailed several media dailies and magazines to have them send over their Rate Cards which usually include the circulation and advertisement rates. Most importantly though is data regarding reader demographics. This is key in targeting the right sort of channel for the right publicity alongside our clients' areas of interest.

My team has an extensive and diverse line of clients, which include:Although my main priority of work is all-things-media, I have also had the privilege of writing some press releases and meeting some clients during various events. I will soon blog about such events so watch this space people!

Cheers & Happy New Year,
♥ Mei Anne

The downfall this far..

I would be lying if I said everyday has been a joyful one at work. But then that's how the working environment is. You can't be perfect, and at some point there will be someone who will not be happy with something you have done.

Having to work under the supervision of 4 people, I would say one thing that has been the downfall in my time as an intern is not being able to please all of them. Its so good that they are teaching me new things but its something else when every one of them teaches it in a different way.

The person who first introduced me to counting ROI did it differently from the one who assigned me to do it for one client of ours. I had to explain to her why I was doing it in that way. Realising she was not pleased with my explanation I figured that the best thing to do was to call my other supervisor and explain while she is there so that it is clear that i'm not just making things up.

In the end they explained that it was ok to use both methods. It still becomes a hard task when they have assigned me something, as i'm often torn between which way to do things..

Maybe one of you guys can tell me how you would handle the problem if you were caught in the same situation..

Segomotso

LUCT

The media calls

My supervisor told me that i'l eventually have to call the media to update the company's media list. I dreaded this and was procrastinating for a very long time until the day finally arrived when i finally made my first call. i guess the fear of doing the much dreaded deed came from the way one of my co-workers was always ill-treated by an editor from one newspaper when doing media calls.

I finally made my first call only to realise that it wasn't as much a hard task as i had thought it would be. The person who answered was very friendly and patient as i panicked at some point. The second call on the other hand was not an easy one. the lady kept on saying she could not understand my reason for calling. i tried to be as audible as i possibly could but the conversation was futile.

The media calls have been going on well. i can't say that calling the media is an easy task but i always remember my boss in the first meeting i attended advising us that we should avoid getting emotional when dealing with the media and that we should always ensure we are clear of the reason we are calling in the first place. That way i don't get intimidated when making a phone call.

Segomotso

LUCT

"The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all." Mark Twain

hi mates!!! Public relations is amazing you could never know enough... so far i have learnt quite alot but i still need to practice my writing skills.

issue identification begins with consideration of trends which precede issues. an issue is defined as "an unsettled matter which is ready for decision" whereas trends are detectable changes which precede issues.
it is advisable that issues be classified according to their type, impact and response source geography and span of control. the idea is that since it is impossible to manage every issue.. a company must develop a process by which it can identify and classify issues.
the firm has to monitor the media to get informed and get an insight of how their clients have been presented.
it does not always mean that there will always be an issue when a firm's client has been presented in a news article.when identifying an issue first take into consideration, your client's target audience and how they will be affected by what has been communicated in the media.

Remember!!
1) when presenting to your clients not to mention that something is an issue or has potential to be an issue without stating facts or proof as backup to what you are saying... so a lot of research will have to be put in.
2)this is not a matter of your own opinion, so don't mention that something is an issue just because that is how you feel it should be, or could be, and this is very crucial

the importance of identifying issues, and presenting it to your client, is that it keeps your clients updated of their progress, and also how they can improve their approach towards their key publics in order to achieve their goal..

its all about managing and maintaining the clients reputation

PR gives you an outstanding personality what do you think?

Three weeks since I have been with samanea PR and am getting there trust me. Really enjoying my field, can’t wait to graduate and have my office as a Public Relation Manager for my consultancy.

Finally am now used to our clients and it is easy with the media monitoring and the media updates. Last week Friday I had my first presentation. It really went well more than I expected. I still believe PR is about having confidence in yourself, knowing what to say, how to say it and where to say it, that’s all what PR wants. The client wants that which will make you stand out from other consultancies (crowd). So i want to encourage my mates to give it their all in their internship, take everything you do seriously, ask if you don’t understand, even when you have been given an assignment try and meet the deadline. And always remember no one is perfect we learn from our mistakes and last but not least have passion in what you are doing.

Really having a beautiful week ….

Good luck

Tinnah

LUCT