From The Age:
Red faces over Karvan baby
Red-faced publicists for Claudia Karvan say they accidentally misnamed the actor’s baby.
They said today the boy, born yesterday, is actually named Albie – not Thomas as they accidentally named him in their “excitement”.
From my days as a journalist I remember the saying “if in doubt, leave it out”. I’m not sure that really applies to the above “screamer” by Claudia Karvan’s publicists, but it is just as applicable to PR practitioners as it is to journalists.
We’ve all made mistakes. The trick is to learn from them, and never make them again. I suspect (hope) the publicists involved have developed some standard procedures to ensure this type of mistake doesn’t happen again.
Deakin 2005 PR graduate Annabel Carter (right) is just one of a quite a few former students who headed overseas soon after graduating. She arrived in California this week and wasted no time getting out and about.
Many students ask me about the impact heading overseas will have on their career. It’s a difficult question to answer; I’m not sure there is a correct answer. Most seem to want to travel for personal reasons, so it might not be the right question.
Perhaps the question should be “how can I use an overseas experience to benefit my career?”.
New York and London are well known as the (English speaking) world capitals of public relations. I know many practitioners who have travelled internationally and ended up working in one of those two cities. Most say work was reasonably easy to find, although many started in administration roles to get their “foot in the door”. Many have eventually returned to Australia and used their overseas experience to find PR work locally.
Maybe they would have had more senior roles if they had stayed in Australia and began work locally as soon as they graduated, but maybe they wouldn’t have found work in the industry at all! I think there are too many variables to give a hard-and-fast answer to the question “will travel have an impact on my career?”.
International travel is a fantastic experience, and doing it soon after graduation before you’re committed to a career seems logical. Life isn’t always best when you do the logical thing though, so my advice is to follow your heart (and send me the photos).
Because it’s such a new form of communicating, there are no hard and fast rules for writing and producing podcasts. A quick scan through some podcasts and podcast directories reveals that a range of podcast genres have emerged.
The radio news and current affairs style is familiar to most listeners, so it’s a style that I prefer. If you’re new to podcasting, having an understanding of radio news reporting would be a great advantage. You may like to consider completing Deakin’s Radio News Reporting unit.
There are a range of excellent websites that discuss the fundamentals of news reporting:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/radio_newsroom/1099302.stm
http://www.newscript.com/
http://www.iwmf.org/training/radio/
And of course there is a podcast about writing for podcasts:
http://trafcom.typepad.com/podcast/2006/01/show_16_writing.html
Since I’ve been spruiking the benefits of blogging, a number of non-third-year students (and alumni) have been asking about getting involved. I don’t see why not, so I’ve changed the name of my blog to be more inclusive. Phillip La Peyre has just set up http://deakin.prblogs.org/
Now that you all know about blogs, I’ve just set up a wiki…but more about that later.
PR, copywriting, event management and video whiz Tony Wragg is now on the Web. Great stuff Tony, (students and practitioners should visit his excellent case studies and videos) but where is your blog? Just kidding!
Tony worked for me when I was at Optus, and AMTA. He has an impressive list of other clients including AGL and the Paralympic Games.
As well as being an all-round nice guy, Tony is a fantastic practitioner with initiative, creativity, great writing skills, and very importantly, a great eye for detail. Just as importantly, he meets deadlines. The best work in the world could be a waste of time if it’s an hour late. Tony never let me down.
Maybe we’ll see this on his testimonial page soon?
I currently have two paid PR positions available to PR students. Both are in Melbourne. One is for a company in the technology related area, the other is in the fashion area. The position description for tech company is below.
If you are interested in either position, please send me your resume and a brief cover letter by this Friday 28 April, 2006.
Position Description – tech company
Working within a small, specialist group, the Corporate Affairs Adviser will play an integral role in proactively protecting, enhancing and building the company’s corporate reputation and public profile.
In particular, the Corporate Affairs Adviser will assist in developing and implementing communications strategies aimed at positioning the company and the broader brand family within key media; and assist in developing and implementing community relations strategies aimed at positioning the company as an employer of choice and good corporate citizen with staff and key external stakeholders.
Technical competencies
•   Minimum two years study in a recognised communications course.
•   Ability to assist in end to end event management.
•   Strong writing skills.
•   Basic familiarity with Australian media industry.
•   Strong familiarity with Microsoft Office.
•   Ability to co-ordinate the production of content across a range of media.
•   Ability to professionally manage external stakeholders such as charities and community organisations.
•   An understanding of Corporate Community Investment strategies and Corporate Social Responsibility trends.
Personal Competencies
•   A self-starter with the ability to plan, manage and prioritise workload.
•   The ability and preparedness to work in a team environment and contribute to the benefit of the broader team.
•   A strong desire to grow and learn and to help others do the same.
•   Strong interpersonal communication skills.
•   Able to work with more senior staff including Exec team.
•   Highly creative – able to generate innovative ideas that can be smoothly implemented with minimum fuss.
•   Logic and reasoning.
•   Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
Key Relationships / Interactions
Key relationships will include:
Internal: All business units and the company’s Community Champion network in conjunction with the Corporate Affairs Manager & Community Relations Manager.
External: Will have a potential role in relationships with print and electronic media, a range of vendors and key external community partners.
Key Challenges
•   Assisting with the implementation of Corp Affairs’ strategic plan while dealing with a constantly shifting environment;
•   A strong commitment to skill and career development;
•   Maintaining and building on strategic communication skills, particularly written communication;
•   An ongoing understanding of the company’s business and the environment in which it operates;
•   Maintaining an innovative approach to the development of opportunities and the meeting of challenges;
•   Pro-active contribution Corporate Affairs initiatives;
•   Identifying, understanding and managing issues proactively; and,
•   Assist in developing and maintaining strong, positive relationships with relevant stakeholders
Thinking about podcasting? Many organisations, including Telstra (see www.nowwearetalking.com.au), are already producing them as part of their communication program. However there are conflicting reports about the popularity of podcasting and its future.
Despite Oxford University Press naming “podcast†as the 2005 “word of the yearâ€, news from Forrester Research suggests 73 percent of North Americans have never heard of podcasting – and apparently they “don’t care to learn more about itâ€.
Over at Billboard Radio Monitor, the news is all about podcasts “coming of ageâ€:
A year ago podcasting was just a fad with a cool name. In recent weeks, the format has taken several steps toward becoming big business. The audio blog phenomenon that began as free, grass-roots rantings is being commercialized through advertising and subscription fees.
Worldwide, especially in North America, the number of new Internet users has stagnated, but according to ClickZ Network involvement has deepened. Online developments such as podcasts, and RSS feeds are driving Internet usage and setting the pace globally according to the Internet marketing resource site.
My straw poll of corporate communication professionals I’ve met during the past month indicates there is a huge gulf between the technology “haves” and “have nots”. Reactions to questions about use of new technology ranges from “what’s a blog†to “I couldn’t survive without RSS feedsâ€.
Political parties and politicians are arguably at the cutting edge of community consultation and not surprisingly are generally making use of new technology. In Australia, the Greens, Democrats and the Australian Labor Party have embraced RSS feeds. At least one politician, Senator Andrew Bartlett, writes his own blog. But no podcasts as yet.
In the lead-up to the 2008 US presidential election, the Democrats have fully embraced technology with both a blog, called Kicking Ass, and podcasts featuring on their federal site.
There’s no doubt audio, and video content, on the Internet is here to stay. Convergent technologies will mean that multimedia content will increasingly be easier to access, and with this we’ll see even more people listening to podcasts.
For communication professionals, maybe the lesson is that podcasts could be an effective way to reach a specific target public.
Radio advertising research group Arbitron, for example, suggests:
Podcasting attracts a youthful audience: one out of five who have ever listened to an audio podcast are 12-17 years old, and more than half (53 percent) are under the age of 35.
Other research indicates more males than females are listening.
So whilst it’s not a tactic for every campaign or issue at the moment, it could be a useful channel to reach particular target publics.
Some analysts have predicted that we’re moving out of the “early adopters” stage for podcasts. How quickly they become mainstream is yet to be determined, but when they do they’ll become a regular tactic for communications professionals.
AdNews reports that those New Zealand hypnotic groovers Fat Freddy’s Drop, with the help of the marketing agency Dot.Ink, have helped finance a new clip with the help of nine product placements.
Their previous clip for “Wandering Eye” was smattered with six product placements – Becks, Wattie’s, Sealord, Huffer Clothing, Phoenix Organics, and John Deere it was reported. Most of the placements are quite subtle I find. It’s a funky song, and a great clip. The clip is available on You Tube.
…and speaking of Dot.Ink, one of their clients is Ansell, who promote “horizontal folk-dancing” (you can buy the Horizontal Folk-Dancing Champion tee-shirt from their website). So I Googled that phrase and “New Zealand” to find out what else Ansell do to promote that style of, ummm, dancing.
In doing so I found possibly one of the most unfortunate media quotes I’ve come across in a long time. Promoting a study that found New Zealanders are more active than Australians, the NZ Sport Minister Trevor Mallard challenged the Australian High Commissioner, Allen Hawke, to a best-of-three race up the steps of NZ Parliament House.
Apparently Mr Mallard won convincingly. After the three races, Mr Hawke admitted to the media he was “buggered”. Then asked what Australian men are doing instead of being active, stuff.co.nz reports that Mr Hawke said “A bit of horizontal folk dancing I guess”.
Chris Piper, a Deakin Lecturer and Overseas Aid Consultant, compiles and distributes the Australian Aid Resources and Training Guide.
According to Chris:
The Guide is a window into which the aid practitioner can plug into the humanitarian/development world. It consists of four sections:
1) Advice for those seeking overseas work or in Outback Australia
2) Useful Australian contacts in the aid or Community Development (CD) field
3) Useful Overseas or International contacts related to the aid field
4) The main aid and CD-related training courses on offer in Australia
The information in the AARTG is designed for a number of people:
• Practitioners involved in Community Development (CD) projects in either Australia or overseas
• The volunteer, student or other person wanting to explore CD in Australia or overseas, or appropriate training offered by Australian training providers
Chris is a great leader in the Aid sector and a credit to Deakin Univeristy. The Guide also demonstrates that he’s a great communicator. PR students and practitioners should be interested in the Guide for at least three reasons:
- It’s a great example of effective communication.
- It’s a great example of how to network, and be (and be seen to be) a leader in a particular field.
- It’s a great resource for those wanting to find work, or help out in the Aid sector.
I’ve spoken to two recent graduates in the past month who want to use their communication skills to assist Aid organisation overseas. One is already working after hours help those in Melbourne less fortunate that herself. I’m VERY proud of both these students. So if you’re interested in this type of work, take a look at the Guide.
The guide can be viewed (in PDF format) on the following Australian websites:
• Australian Development Gateway
• Australian Council for International Development (ACFID)
In this month’s edition, Chris also gives his thoughts on what constitutes an effective Aid Worker/Community Development Practitioner:
• A Passionate Heart
• Good Relationships
• Clear Objectives
• Transferable Skills
• A Reflective Practitioner
…all attributes that I hope my graduates have.
To help you all think about graduating, and your first jobs, I’ve asked a few recent graduates to comment on where they are working, and the work they are doing. Some may even give you some tips on finding that first job (hint, hint).
