Day one. Cue the nervous energy that resulted in a drive or two around the block (good thing I was early). But when I was breathing steadily enough to exit the car, I commenced my first day at the Leukaemia Foundation. An in-house internship.
I am lucky enough to get to intern with this amazing organisation, and work on general Leukaemia Foundation tasks, such as collate events into flyers for Support Services, and make template media releases. But most importantly, I get to assist in the work towards the World’s Greatest Shave. For those who don’t know, the World’s Greatest Shave is a nation wide fundraiser where people get sponsored to shave, wax or colour their hair to raise money to fund research and support services provided by the Leukaemia Foundation.
On my second day, we went to drop off prize packs for a 92.9 competition. Upon arrival at the studio, we met the account manager in the lobby, and were invited for a tour of the offices and studios for 92.9 and mix94.5. It was very unexpected and amazing. I followed in quiet awe. However, the reason for this
As of my fifth day, I had written several media releases. My task was to sift through a database and find the stories to right a release about. The whole time I just reminded myself: quotes, good lead paragraph, call to action! Mentally ticking my checklist. Though there are some points I still need to work on, I know that it is something I am able to do, and being able to write about some of the World’s Greatest Shave participant is inspiring.
In my time I have learnt one very important lesson. When I was making phone calls for the media releases, I made I had everything prepared before the call, all the questions I wanted to ask. But I should have prepared something for a phone call that gave me very little answers for my prepared questions. I will in future prepare extra questions that are less specific to the vision I had for the media release.
This brings on the common question: is the media release dead? There are so many opinions about it, and I'm still making up my mind, but currently swaying more towards the use of them being relevant. This article raises a lot of good points, specifically in that press releases allow organisations to concentrate on the message they want to convey. I think in terms of the Leukaemia Foundation, media releases are still very much a valuable communication tool, as targeting local outlets ensures a wider reach of the message, which can prompt a community to support a World's Greatest Shave participant.
The internship is an in-house position, and though I have not had experience in a consultancy, in-house positions allow you to thoroughly understand all the messages of an organisation and be involved in every step of the process. You can compare each task to the results of a previous year and work to improve exposure. Since this is still early days, my opinion is not set in stone, and I'd be interested to hear from anyone who would agree or disagree.
I’m just a quarter through my internship, but I love it so far, and the experience is priceless.
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