Week Seven: 19 - 23 July

It is week seven of the first Brunswick Internship programme for 2010. The interns talk us through what they got up to day by day.

This is the eighth blog entry from the 2010 Brunswick Six,
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By Brunswick Interns

Monday 19 July (Nahidur)

Monday morning we all got our feedback from most of the people we have encountered during the internship so far. The girls then had a one on one session with Sarah to discuss their feedback. This gave us (the boys) some extra time to work on our presentations on Huntsworth PLC, which really helped.

In the afternoon we had a session with Chris. In the first half, we went over our ThreeWeeks work, which involved writing press releases, letters and information sheets. Akila and I worked on a letter, which we intend to send to potential sponsorship and CSR partners. In the second half Chris began the first part of his session on copyright, trademarks and libel. Most of us had an understanding of copyright and the likes, but Chris’s in-depth knowledge helped us further develop our understanding in the context of media.

Tuesday 20 July 2010 (Ataur)

On Tuesday morning we had a free session, the only free session scheduled in for the week. As we were due to present to Lord Chadlington from Huntsworth and Chris Satterthwaite from Chime Communications, we knew we really had to step it up this week.

We knew we had to make the most of this session, so we continued to research and build on what we had started at the weekend. We also decided to call the press offices of the companies and try and find out any further information, but weren’t entirely successful. However, we felt that by 1pm, we had enough information on Huntsworth, its CEO Lord Chadlington and the group companies; Red, Grayling, Huntsworth Health and Citigate Dewe Rogerson.

In the afternoon, we were to watch the comedy film ‘Thank You for Smoking’ and write a review about the film. After overcoming a few technical difficulties, we finally managed to get it to work. The film was about a PR lobbyist representing the tobacco industry, and having to defend the industry from criticism coming from the media and politicians, while protecting his son and revealing too much to his journalist girlfriend. After finishing, we wrote a short review of the film in 200 words.

Our final session was with Patrick, who went over some grammatical errors in our written work. It was a long and tiring day, and I was relieved when it was over!

Wednesday 21 July (Akila)

During the Wednesday’s morning session we talked finance with Miranda: she explained to us about the ins and outs of how a company’s balance sheet would work. To most of us, this was a whole new experience, and understanding the basics of calculating those figures was a much tougher task than first anticipated. We found this session to be very useful, as it gave us an insight into the world company finance.

In the afternoon session we had our regular trip to Taylor Bennett, and had a CV workshop session focusing on trying to improve on our personal CVs. It was led by Leila Reuter, who has had years of experience in dealing with other peoples CVs, and who set us mini tasks to complete, one of which was to write a short statement about ourselves. She also gave us guidance and advice on moving forward in our personal career paths.

As the afternoon session came to a close, many of us decided it was a good idea to go back to our offices and work on our upcoming presentation.

Thursday 22 July (Brenda)

Today we were supposed to be visiting the offices of Farrer and Co (Solicitors to the Queen, don’t you know) in Holborn, a trip I was especially looking forward to as it would have offered another important insight into a one facet of PR. Unfortunately, it was cancelled, so instead we had a free session. We all worked on our presentations for Friday morning instead, in expectation of a large audience.

In the afternoon, Chris gave us a session on copyright, which covered a lot of ground, and included a look at libel and slander. He also gave us the basics of understanding the relevant laws, with an emphasis on privacy and decency laws, which may be of most importance to PR practitioners. It was really interesting learning about how long a copyright lasts for depending on what kind of work the copyright is in. With hindsight, the trip to Farrer would have been great, in order to hear from the practitioners… but Chris’s session, as always, was a very sufficient beginning.

Friday 23 July am (Keosha)

This morning meant two big presentations: the boys on Huntsworth, and the girls on Chime Communications. The big extra this week was that the CEOs of both these companies – Lord Chadlington of Huntsworth and Christopher Satterthwaite of Chime – were expected to watch our presentations. Nerves were high as was the anticipation of their arrival, and though in the end only Chris Satterthwaite turned up because Lord Chadlington could not attend, the pressure was still on.

On meeting Chris, my nerves eased off slightly, because the image of an intimidating CEO that I had conjured up in my head faded; we came to realise that some of the nicest people are in the top positions of highly valued companies because they treat everyone around them with respect as they have made the journey upwards.

The presentations went extremely well, with feedback being at its most positive ever; people were commended for their memories, their breakdown of financial information and having a good grasp on the companies and how they operated. Chris and others gave us valuable feedback that I am sure we will all keep in mind as the last few weeks continue to unravel.

Overall, a really good morning…

Friday 23 July pm (Thandi)

This Friday after our presentations we headed off to our weekly session at Brunswick to meet with David Yelland, who spoke to us about his past experiences as a journalist, and how these experiences have helped him in his career in PR.

We also met with Michelangelo Bendandi, who spoke to us about the changing media landscape, and how important it is for businesses to adapt to that change. He pointed out how social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become vital platforms for communicating with stakeholders and the public.

We ended the session with some role-playing; Roberta Whitter from Brunswick acted as a journalist and we acted as Comms/PR professionals. We talked through different scenarios, such as how to handle yourself when journalists ask tricky questions. I really enjoyed the role playing session, as it gave me a better understanding of the types of situations I should prepare myself for as I enter the field of PR.