It's Buzzcut Season

As I pulled out of the car park, I was reminded of the way I drove in 2 months earlier, listening to music to pump myself up for the first day of my internship. And on Monday, I pulled away for the last time, I felt a mix of emotions. I was sad to leave the amazing people at the Leukaemia Foundation who supported me, and glad that I had accomplished what I did in my time with the organisation. 

Last Friday, on March 14, we had our World's Greatest Shave public shave event at Forrest Place in Perth City, where anyone who is registered can come shave free of charge by one of the hairdressers, or those who aren't registered could pay $20 to shave, or $5 to colour. It was a great day, hosted by 92.9's Heidi, Will and Woody, who went above and beyond their roles of MCs to raise money for the cause, and Will ended up shaving his head, while Woody coloured his hair (temporarily) black. It was also attended by Chloe and Kelly, the WA girls from My Kitchen Rules (MKR), who went around the space with collection tins, and coloured their hair.

We had many people shave, sharing their inspiring stories, telling us why they want to do it. Some just saw what we were doing, paid $20 and shaved their heads purely because they thought it was a good cause. 

I was in charge of taking photos and videos of the event, as well as helping to set up and pack down. Back at the office at the end of the day, I kept checking 92.9's, MKR's, and Chloe & Kelly's official Facebook pages for posts about the shave in a form of social media monitoring. I was pleased when photos were shared, and considered the day a success. 

After checking the social media sites, and blogs, for 92.9, I started to think about the importance of social media, especially for a not-for-profit organisation and fundraising campaign. Considering 92.9 has 87,000+ Facebook likes, you'd think that the post would be seen by a large number of people. But in further investigation, they post several times a day, so it is easy for a post to get lost. However, I was pleased with the impressions that the photo got, and I think it gave good coverage for World's Greatest Shave.

I believe that social media sites are extremely important for most organisations, especially fundraising, as it raises awareness and helps to spread the message. 

After the World's Greatest Shave PR has been done and dusted (at least my part), I loaded blood cancer education and support session events onto the Leukaemia Foundation website, continued media monitoring and updating the print media coverage spreadsheet, and edited the videos I made for the public shave into a two minute summary.

Participating in a large campaign has been a great experience. I am confident in my new skills and I feel that I have made the right decision in pursuing a career in Public Relations. I have some great memories now and am satisfied with what I have learnt in my internship.