Practicum
The last class for graduating students in the Kwantlen Public Relations Diploma Program is a one-month, unpaid practicum in an actual communications position.
Students find their own practicum opportunities and can apply their PR skills in any field that interests them such as fashion, sports, law, business, medicine, television, publishing, etc. The practicum placements can be in an agency, small business, large company or non-profit organization.
Of course, Kwantlen is always there to help with finding placements and managing all the relationships with employers. We prepare students for practicums and jobs by providing a course in Professional Readiness so they have experience with writing cover letters, preparing resumes, creating a professional portfolio and succeeding in an employer interview.
Want the real scoop from actual Kwantlen students? Here are some of the comments from the 2011 PR graduating class on their experiences on Practicum.
Highlights of 2011 Practicum of Kwantlen Public Relations Students
From Lydia, Body in Balance TV, London, England
I will be focusing a lot of my attention on developing a strong brand for the company though the media and through many of the events that are happening over the next few months. On Wednesday I worked on planning PR strategies for BiB's involvement in the Cannes, France - based exhibition known as MIPTV. This exhibition is the biggest in the world of its type with over 14,000 participants and billions of dollars of business deals being brokered over the weekend. I love my job. Honestly, I have learned so much already and have more fun at the office than I ever thought I would. Needless to say, I have fallen in love with this company and in love with London. One of best decisions I ever made.
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From Leah, ALS Society of BC
The organization currently does not have a communications specialist so it was my first priority to handle social media in regards to both Facebook and Twitter. Tuesday I spent most of the day writing my first draft of the Believe BC full page feature which will be printed in the Vancouver Sun on April 5th. I sat down with both of my supervisors to discuss details on the piece, and reviewed past features to get an idea of what was expected. I began writing and found the article actually quite easy to write. With a few minor changes the article is ready to head to press. Very exciting!
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From Leann, BC SPCA
Next year, the BC SPCA is going to be having a Gala fundraiser and they are in the midst of planning stages and preparing items for the Committee to approve. I spent a large portion of my week designing an entire branding package (logos, posters, postcards, flyers, etc) for the gala and its three possible event names. I also found myself designing buttons for the website and newsletters on Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. So far, everything that I have done this week has been pretty close to what we were taught in class. I haven’t found it hard to accomplish the tasks that have been given to me and a part of me always wants to ask for more work. I don’t think that they are used to having an individual that is as proficient with Adobe Creative Suite as I am because they are always shocked when I say that I have completed a task in 30 minutes that would take them three hours.
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From Dana, Think! Social Media
For the first 2 days of my practicum I was tasked on compiling a media list of major media and tourism media for the following regions: Vancouver Island, Vancouver, 6 BC regions, Canada and North America. This took 2 days since Think! doesn’t have access to a media database like Media Net Central (Terri’s note: Kwantlen PR students learn how to use Media Net Central in the PR Diploma Program). In the end I had 11 pages of contact information and media names! I found the media list exercises to be EASY and got the satisfaction of hearing Helen say that they were amazing. It got easier as I went along since I knew what to look for and where to look for it.
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From Mary, BC Centre for Disease Control
· Researched online on poison prevention in regards to the 2011 theme: Locked and Out of Reach, with an emphasis on young children.
· Worked on draft and set up appointment to meet with Debra Kent, Managing Director of BC Drug and Poison Information Centre for current info
· Had a tour of the Poison Centre with Debra and talked to pharmacist taking calls—heard about actual cases and their views on the issues involving kids
· Completed draft and sent for editing
· Learned about “crowdsourcing” “curating” “intelpedia” and “ideastorm”
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From Michelle, Reputations Corporation
Every morning, using a program called Beyond TV, I go through news from CTV, CBC and Global of the previous day looking for mentions of our clients or issues relating to them. When this is found, I clip it and the clip is sent to the client. One of the firm’s communications consultants created a comprehensive crisis plan for a client and I was asked to review and edit it. A video is being made for a client, and it was my task, using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, to create the storyboard for the video.
This first week has also taught me a lot about my own skills. It was certainly a huge fear wondering if what we learned in the last two years would transcribe into the ‘real world.’ Well it did. Going over crisis plans and communications plans is anything but a foreign language. For me, I sometimes wondered how often certain tools that we learned in class would be used. In the week that I’ve been here, there have been several op eds, editorials and backgrounders created. My design skills using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign have already been put to use and I really feel confident being given tasks.
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From Cherisse, Ki Communications
Once I familiarized myself with the various clients and what they do, I was immediately in charge of liaising with various contacts about a variety of media visits that were scheduled for the upcoming weeks. I filled out requests for flights for media from Tourism BC and coordinated a variety of media interviews. I have crafted 3 different press releases to date. These press releases will be sent to various media next week. Additionally I interviewed a new client whom I am now writing a PR plan for. In addition to writing press releases and a PR plan I have also trained on a website called Mail Chimp, I was in charge of writing and designing a media invite for Big White’s Ski to Tee Media Challenge. I have learned a great deal about Ki Communications and what they do to reach client goals. I have definitely received a refresher on crafting press releases, and even some design aspects. Everything is going well and I already feel like a valued member of the Ki Communications team!
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From Kaitlyn, PITCH-IN CANADA
My third day at PITCH-IN CANADA consisted of three main tasks: researching media sponsorship in Alberta, contacted a radio announcer that I know in Red Deer and write a pitch to two publishing houses. For my first task of researching media sponsorship in Alberta, I started with an online search for print media, radio stations and television stations. Once I had gathered all of that information, I created a contact list that we could pitch to once we had all of our media materials prepared. I created a pitch to two major publishing houses in Canada, who are responsible for the majority of newspaper printing. I’ve come to realize how applicable everything I’ve learned in the PR program is, especially when I was writing the announcement release and the pitch to the publishing houses. I’m much more comfortable with my level of writing than I originally thought I was, and I believe that this practicum will provide me with many writing opportunities.
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From Michael, Vancouver Public Education Alliance
Since the first day I explained what I can do, I have been put behind the designer’s chair to help along their marketing and promotion. They told me there’s a seminar event coming up so I jumped into the task of designing their poster and flyer. It is hard to make them understand that a promotional image should catch attention before delivering the information. Also it can only hold onto that interest of its audiences when it has significantly more images than words. All I can do is to make these promotional pieces more appealing, and create as much white space (rest areas) as possible. The president of the mother company in China was present this week and also had me help them develop their summer camp presentation PowerPoint slides. Apparently they liked the design so the marketing manager asked me to turn the slides into a template so the company can use for future presentations which was immediately applied in the presentation in the seminar.
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From Kelli, Kidney Foundation of Canada
Ø Researched 200 future contacts for the Susan Jacks Benefit Gala silent auction and put them into an excel document
Ø Compiled an excel database of current funds and donations towards the Susan Jacks Benefit Gala
Ø Created letter head and composed a letter to be distributed to all future silent auction contacts
Ø Emailed all 200 contacts regarding sponsorship requests
Ø Emailed/called all current donors regarding sponsorship opportunities
Ø Created a Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr account for the KFOC 2011 Vancouver Kidney Walk
I never thought working in nonprofit was for me, but this week I have learned how rewarding it can be. My eyes have been opened to the fact that expensive media campaigns are not always the answer. I have learned that through effective messaging the word can get out, at VERY low cost too! The biggest thing I have learned this week was that I have the skills to get the job done! The tasks that were asked of me felt so simple and I felt confident in the skills I had learned over the past two years at Kwantlen.
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From Mitch (also Kidney Foundation of Canada)
After we went over the different programs that the Kidney foundation has going on such as the scrap car, scrap metal, kidney walk and garage sale programs. We then finished off the day by searching out possible silent auction item donors for the upcoming Susan Jacks & friends…for Life benefit concert. I am finding that there is a large chunk of information from the fundraising class that I am recalling in this first week due to the fact that what they are mainly trying to do is raise funds. I am able to keep up with what everyone is saying because I have heard the terms before. The design classes have already come in handy as I have been critiquing the posters that not only they have created themselves but also those that were created for them by SFU students.
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From Sierra, Living Blueprint (agency)
My day started out with a meeting and we discussed what I could bring to Living Blueprint (LBP). I was told that we were going to begin a complete re-brand of Living Blueprint; this included a new logo design, letterheads, business cards, website and overall marketing strategy. We decided that one of my assigned duties would be to help Kevin with implementing a drip campaign, which was to design a PR strategy and help organize the first (of many) workshops that LBP will be hosting. (Terri’s note: The term "drip campaign" refers to the concept of an automated multi-step email campaign - the sort that you set up in advance, push go, and watch the results. Each "drip" is a single step within the campaign.) I really doubted myself in regards to the execution and speed with which I could produce written materials. I am really impressed by myself and believe that writing will not be as an intimidating of a challenge next time around.
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From Justinne, Vancouver TheatreSports League
· The first day, we discussed how I can help with marketing communications, the social media plan, the upcoming fundraiser for the Vancouver TheatreSports League and the Pi Theatre, and the company’s background.
· Worked and added to press release for upcoming fundraiser, Dare You. Here, I was able to use my Kwantlen PR knowledge, by adding extras such as the boilerplate, and answering WIIFM.
· Introduced to social media plan, and added my ideas. Because of my social media background, I was able to add in my thoughts and suggestions to the current social media plan.
· I created a list for the target audience that we’re having for the Spring Break Theatre Festival, of which three of the four shows are happening at the Improv Centre.
· Edited an image with Photoshop; Used Facebook (219 likes) and Twitter (1393 followers) to update social media
I found myself really seeing everything from a PR perspective, and relying on the knowledge I learned from Kwantlen. I also read PR blogs for help, and to make sure that I am on track (especially with pitching). Also, I would really need to remember what I learned from A Night of Make Believe in order to have a successful event as well.
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From Shaina, Ballantine PR, Venice Beach, California
On my first day I was assigned a research assignment for a local jewelry designer. I had to use Google search to find contacts for local boutiques around the Venice beach area. My second day I was assigned to write three bios on journalists who are looking to gain comp airline tickets for a safari in Africa. I used Google search for articles they were mentioned in or famous articles they have written in the past. After those bios were finished I was asked to work on a press release with my manager regarding an upcoming children’s event. I found the first week very easy. The people at Ballantine are wonderful and it is a fairly easy going atmosphere. I really like the work atmosphere because I am constantly given tasks to do and if I ever do need help or editing I can speak to any one of the account directors. On the three bios, my manager said that I had done an excellent job and that I didn’t make any mistakes. I really liked my first week here and hope to gain more experiences I go faster.
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From Carina, Canadian Bar Association
· Signed a confidentiality agreement, got a security pass for the building and went through a fire safety drill
· Updated 3 databases – MLAs, MPs, displayers for Law Day
· Spent a day on the phone calling displayers for law day; went to a staff meeting on Monday
· Met with our venue contact at CBC on Monday
· Went to a Law Week Committee meeting on Wednesday; researched sponsors for Law Week Fun Run
What I Learned:
· It is tedious to make databases and difficult to keep them up to date but they are invaluable tools for communicating
· Always send an email to the office when you do a large printing job
· When you make calls, have all the necessary info in front of you i.e. your own phone number
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From Lesley, Hemlock Printers
o Finding stories to write/draft for newsletter
o Cleaning up database of client leads and evaluating CRM software
o Media list cleanup/addition; Twitter background redesign with new branding
o Compiling a list of places that required the new logo
o Website rewrite project ; PowerPoint presentation redesign with new branding
o Marketing materials audit for rebrand
Mostly, I’m left to work on my own and (supervisor) commented that I worked very well independently. He was pleased with the work I’ve done so far. Every night before I go home, I have a quick five minute meeting with (supervisors). I give (supervisor) a quick report of what I’ve done throughout the day so he has a better idea of what I’m capable of. I’ve already shown both (supervisors) my portfolio so they know I have strong design skills, and it’s good to see they’re starting to use that more.
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From Jasmine, BC Persons With Aids Society
This past week at BCPWA has been a great learning experience. Some activities that happened in my first week had a lot to do with design. Currently, BCPWA is in the process of rebranding the whole organization from their new name to new letterhead. I was able to be a part of 3 meetings concerning the new rebranding of the organization. I gave tips such as; whitespace is always crucial. It was nice to feel like opinion finally mattered. BCPWA has a Silver Gala happening April 9th. This coming week is deadline for prints. Fortunately, I was able to help take part in designing the whole program for the evening. In just one week I can see how my skills have developed. I have realized that I love the event planning part of the whole experience. I was able to make a lot of decisions regarding logistics on my own and they were very happy about the choices I made.
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From Karla, Alex Lee PR
My week was very exciting. Right now, I’m working for two clients of Alex. The first client is Greg Mueller, a former professional hockey player, who is now a well known Poker player. I’ve worked on his social media accounts which were for Facebook and Twitter. He has a large fan base already so it’s more about cleaning up his social media and suggestions for better promotion. In addition, I had to find all recent articles published about Greg which we’ve accumulated for his website. I also began research and work for another client who is a Chef. We are largely focusing on social media for Chef “Josh Wolfe,” as well as I am helping develop a logo for him. It’s great to be working in the real world of Public Relations and I’ve happily found that lots of stuff I’ve learned in class is the same as what I’m learning from Alex. Lots of the advice she gives and examples I’ve heard from teachers, so it’s refreshing to know what we are learning in class is definitely useful for real work experience.
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From Brittany
This week I have helped promote the Surrey Foundation's annual gala The No Show Celebrity Gala through the use of social media (Facebook and twitter). I have also spent the week cold calling past grant recipients from the Surrey Foundation to set up meetings to learn about their organization and programs the Surrey Foundation has helped fund over the past several years. I have learned that networking, though it can be nerve-wracking in the beginning, is a critical component in getting your name out into the business world. I have also learned the dynamics of a community foundation and the importance this particular type of foundation plays in any community. Lastly, I have discovered the time and patience it can take to build a strong and lasting relationship with clients.
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From Charis
For the first week of the internship, my first assigned duties were to design and create various print materials for upcoming events at the BC Lung Association. I was in charge of producing poster ideas, re-design past letterheads and forms and re-vamp the look of an event website all using the Adobe software. I had free reign on designing the materials. My supervisor gave me examples of past work and was very open to new ideas. I was part of the special events committee meeting where the special events staff and volunteers come together to help plan and promote the upcoming event – RUSH (Race and Urban Scavenger Hunt). I learned about how the organization uses volunteers to help generate ideas to improve their events and how an event is put together.
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