#internblog

This week was enjoyable and normal. Yes... that's right actually normal. I did not mess up one thing and I surprisingly felt like I did a good job.

I continued to work at the Sales Coordinators desk helping the Sales, Catering and Tour manager with different tasks and such. Thankfully I didn't have to go on the road. It isn’t as bad as the first time but I definitely still get nervous having to talk to a variety of strangers in rapid concession.

I’ve started to get more comfortable in my duties at the sales coordinators desk. I’ve been answering the phones, taking event inquiries, inputting and filing past BEO’S and preparing the binder with the upcoming ones. I’ve also been continuing to create the Reader-boards and accompanying details. It's a good feeling to know your doing well.

I’m still managing some of the social media accounts, mainly instagram. I’ve created some nice flyers with room for growth of course. I brought my professional camera in and took some really nice footage of the grounds and i’ve been able to use that for better instagram posts!

Energetic

All great achievements start with passion, energy and motivation. People at Edelman have always been passionate about providing public relations counsel and strategic communication services to help clients build strong relationships; and influence attitudes and behaviors in a complex world.

Diligence

Diligence defines ideas and concepts when they start to take shape. It is of paramount importance to bury your head in for a purpose and create a culture around it when it comes to starting up a project. It is often said that great leaders and great companies never dreamed about success, but work for it. Only by being persevere can people at Edelman focus on creating the best strategic communication services to their clients.

Eulogizing

People at Edelman celebrate at all times. When a team experiences success, we do not brush over it, return to our desks and continue working towards the next goal without acknowledging what we achieved. Eulogizing among the team not only motivates the team to continue delivering good work, but also unifies the team around positive outcomes. Whether it is about signing a new client or promoting one of our team members, we celebrate at Edelman!

Crystal Poon got promoted as manager! Yay!

Learning

Edelman never neglects the importance of training and development. Edelman Learning Institute (ELI) provides training throughout the year during Lunch & Learn sessions. We are also given a personalized booklet which details all available courses offered throughout the year. Courses range from exploring new ideas, articulating trust to writing creatively. This helps build the Edelman community as a whole and fosters learning, understanding and personal growth.

ELI Booklet 2016

Mentoring

At Edelman, mentoring programmes are provided to help and guide new interns. Colleen is my line manager as well as my mentor. She is very willing to share with me her skills, knowledge and expertise. She also demonstrates a positive attitude and exhibits the personal attributes it takes to be a successful public relation practitioner. Besides that, she always provide me with plentiful guidance, constructive feedback and useful insights on how to improve in my next task. Now, I am more confident when completing tasks such as drafting press releases and media invitations. Thank you so much, Colleen! 

Assisting

Success is a team sport. No individual can run a company or organization on his or her own. At Edelman, there is a strong feedback culture. Everyone is willing to assist each other and provide feedback for us to learn and improve. We always spend time sharing our motivations and what we care about, which is also why the consumer team is such a good fit for each other. No one is born successful so we all have to work hard to become successful.

Story-telling time among the Consumer Team. With great food and drinks of course!

Nimble

People at Edelman are smart, passionate and curious. We embrace differences and diversity in terms of culture, background, experience and opinion; which are all recognized as the ability to deliver insightful and creative client programs. Edelman values relentless pursuit of excellence, freedom, curiosity and courage to do the right thing.

To me, the above seven values that I got inspired at Edelman can be applicable to different people in different age groups and occupations. If you are passionate about changing the world, having a clear vision to execute as well as team-building skills are key ingredients for anyone who wants to become a leader. What I learned at Edelman is not confined to practical skills such as conducting news monitoring and drafting press releases; but most importantly, I learnt the reason behind the unprecedented success of the Edelman team. I am determined to apply these seven elements in my life journey thereafter.

In the end, I would love to excerpt a quote by Mark Zuckerberg.

“To all the dreamers: it is because you refuse to recognize the impossible that breathtaking innovation happens.”

By Cindy Au

What is it like being a student intern? Occupying your days with photocopying, binding files and other miscellaneous jobs? After working as an intern at Edelman’s consumer marketing practice for over a month, my answer is an absolute NO. Edelman is indeed a very special workplace where you would look forward to and what makes it such a special and magical place is our people.

The only limitation is your imagination

Before joining the team, I tried imagining the life of a PR consultant and dreamt of working under glamourous spotlights and strutting around in heels. In fact, the experiences I gained at Edelman are far beyond my imagination. I was given ample chances to integrate into the agency, develop all-rounded skills and earn valuable exposures to the PR field. I was quite nervous about the scope of work before getting on board, but in reality my colleagues always encouraged me to explore different opportunities to develop myself in ways that I desired. It is also heartwarming to know that my supervisor and team seniors care about how I can learn the most from experiences

As for myself, I am the kind of person who never settles and is always on the lookout for opportunities to discover possibilities and thus gaining satisfaction. As an intern, I am able to participate client events, attend external meetings and engage in cross-team projects which allow me to learn from great individuals of diverse backgrounds and picture the real lives of PR consultants. There are always opportunities for Edelman interns to open up to challenges and get boundless career inspirations.

Be passionate, be curious

At a Lunch & Learn session where we enjoyed pizzas and consolidated what we learnt.

Apart from the thrilling experiences mentioned above, news monitoring is another typical job for PR professionals. It is very important to track media reports because they uncover important trends and insights for businesses. This serves as a good channel for our clients to make better decisions and respond to the market and community. Through daily efforts of looking into the news, I have deepened my understanding of different industries and society. A good PR professional should be a good storyteller whilst a good storyteller must be a great reader. I find myself opening up to the gate of unlimited treasury and unleashing my inner curiosity to see the world with new perspectives.

Another enlightening element at Edelman is its unique training programme. There is a special theme each month to encourage different activities and discussions in the office during a Lunch & Learn session. When you work in the fast-pace and competitive PR industry, you never stop learning, adapting or even leading trends in a bid to strike out. As an upcoming graduate, the most valuable lesson I gained here is to never stop learning.

Together wE Achieve More (TEAM)

Chinese New Year dinner with teammates.

It is incredible to work at a diverse place like Edelman because you get to work with marvelous people across the office to make dreams come true. I am also amazed by the team’s unconditional support for each other and feel so supported by everyone’s patience when coaching newbies like me. We never complete tasks alone at Edelman because being a team means Together wE Achieve More.

So what do we do outside of work? We love bonding over cupcakes and chocolates and pulling funny faces at the camera. I will never forget the team’s excitement when planning our Chinese New Year dinner which really helped ease my jumpiness from attending my very first meeting at Edelman!

Celebrating our Senior Director, Andres’, birthday

So far, it has been a holistic experience full of joy and laughter at Edelman. People here care for each other and everyone’s voices are heard. We also enjoy life as much as we do for work. I am really looking forward to my journey ahead at Edelman and I am sure you do, too!

What does an intern usually do? Fetching coffee every morning, making copies for the rest of the day and sometimes delivering mails to different departments? Let me tell you what interns do here at Edelman.  We participate in all kinds of thrilling activities to dive into the PR field while discovering our fullest potentials, because we correspond with the spirits of Edelman – work hard, play hard, sing proud and dance more! So here’s what I am going to share with you – the spirits of Edelman and be prepared to be impressed!

WORK HARD

My internship was kicked off with a whirlwind of activities and events. Within the first two weeks, I have already attended a panel discussion and a media tasting event.  I was given plenty of opportunities to involve in the planning of client campaign, contribute ideas. During brain storming session, I have learned to take a bold step and raise our voice is always being welcomed! Creativity isn't a talent you either have or you don't, it's a skill that you can build with practices. Sometimes simple thoughts might seem impossible can turn into something brilliant. We work hard to go beyond our client’s expectations and we all strive to deliver quality work.

Learning session by Edelman staff from New York office

On Thursday night (Nov 26), we have helped our NGO client, Make-A-Wish Foundation, to organize and launch their annual Christmas Market event. I am very excited to have this opportunity to contribute to pro-bono work. I worked hard with my teams to drive this great cause and supported our community to make magical wishes for children for life-threatening illnesses. In less than 2 weeks, we have to prepare for this event. A lot of hard work has to put in but it turned out to be huge success! Such experience is so rewarding!

PLAY HARD

Last week, we had a Halloween party in the office and we are all thrilled about this annual event. Shortly a week before, we are anxious in planning of the theme and ideas of our costumes. We all aim at the same goal – how can we stand out and win the highly competitive costume contest! Each team dressed up according to their theme and try to scare everyone with their special make up. Moreover, there is a Halloween committee helping to organize from decorations, selected special food items and also invited our guests & kids to join us. The office was transformed into a spooky environment with all different themes. All of these ‘hard work’ and committed to ‘play hard’ are very impressive.

Halloween Party 2015

SING PROUD

Our team are not shy to share our success and let others to learn from it, of course cheering for it as well! We are willing to share our stories on how we make that event being held so successfully. For instance, we had launched a press conference following by a cocktail party to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of our client and that party was a blast! It had drawn lots of media attention and the team shared their way of being so successful with us. Furthermore, two colleagues of us were also shortlisted as the “Rising Star” in the Marketing - PR Awards 2015. One of them was being recognized as the very best in Hong Kong and we are the only agency with 2 people shortlisted in this category. With all the achievements we have made, we ‘sing proud’!

DANCE MORE

We all have our own beat, our own ways that lead us to success. Everyone respect what you are doing and they trust that you can do it. This is why I enjoy every moment working at Edelman, I feel fully integrated within my team and I can’t wait to develop further into the PR industry with the spirits of Edelman! 

Hi, I’m Minnie and I have been working in the consumer marketing practice for over a month. Ever since I started working in the PR industry, a lot of my friends and family kept asking me the same question, “what exactly do you do?” Many believe that the job is all about reading magazines, attending parties and meeting celebrities… However, in reality, a PR consultant’s role is much more than what meets the eye. The role encompasses many responsibilities and is a versatile job that focuses on aiding and supporting clients’ business, so today I am going to reveal the life of a PR intern!

Media Monitoring

Media monitoring is one of the most crucial as well as common tasks performed in PR. My first task of the day is to start researching news related to our clients’ business as well as industry trends using various research tools. This is an extremely important part of our work given that it enables clients to keep up to date with the changing environment within their market and manage their corporate/branding reputation. Furthermore, we can also help to gather industry intelligence, to help our clients to better understand their competitors. By having the latest information at hand, it allows the client to have an edge over the competition.

Media Pitching

The goal of media pitching is to convince journalists to take our press releases and subsequently write their own article. However, journalists are often busy with their work and they receive stacks of press releases on a daily basis. One of our objectives is to understand how to catch the journalists’ interest when we are sending press releases. The next thing is the follow-up calls are very important. The purpose of follow-up calls are to ensure the journalist has received the press release we sent to him/her through email, highlight the main points and just to refresh their memory in an engaging way. At first, I got extremely nervous about calling journalists and prepared a script, I still stumbled over my words as soon as I got on the phone. Through my internship so far, I have learnt about the important thing like familiarising myself with the content and preparing what I’m going to say. Once I’m more confident, I’ll be able to speak smoothly.  Moreover, I also understand the techniques of writing a press release and how to do a good media pitch. This technique is also applied when we are organizing client’s event and required media attendance.

Event Management

Here comes my favourite part of all – attending actual events! A successful event definitely requires a lot of planning and preparation. That is why as part of our service, we offer strategies to our clients on how to launch their brand/product more effectively and successfully. We also help our clients to identify creative approaches in organising their events. Our role in PR does not end here, as mentioned earlier it is important to do media pitching before an event. What we offer our client is our great media relations to earn free media coverage.

There are several skills that I have learned how to effectively manage an event. For example, it is crucial to have excellent time management, how to communicate better and always attended to detail. Problem solving is also an important skill set. To have a successful event, a lot of hard work and team effort are fundamental.

Our Motto

At Edelman, our motto is “work hard, play hard, sing loud, dance more”! This is just self-explanatory and recently, I experienced the amazing annual Edelloween bash at the office which I strongly understand staff at Edelman Hong Kong is strongly living by this motto!

Check out the photos here and the amazing costumes and make-up of our staff at our recent Halloween party! Also our little guests crazy over the “trick and treat”!

Hi! My name is Claudia Leung and I recently graduated from the University of Manchester where I studied International Business, Finance and Economics.  Although I have always known that I wanted a career in marketing, I’ve always been intrigued by public relations, hence I thought, where better than to learn about this industry then at Edelman, the largest PR agency in the world.

 My position at Edelman is within the corporate practice involved in two teams – the internal marketing team and the business + social purpose. The tasks assigned included drafting press releases, creating pro-bono client event invitations, posters, packages and event proposals which I will be assisting in organizing at a later date.  I have also experienced contacting media, updating media lists and reaching out to third party vendors. There are several upcoming activities that I will need to help and planning for a client’s event. 

Social Media Content Calendar

As for my marketing role, I am given the responsibility of ensuring that Edelman’s social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and the intern blog are updated daily. With this task, I learnt how to create a social media content calendar. I understand the significance of why we have to prepare for a content calendar and here are a few points to share.

1.    It can help us to motivate our audience and what interest them so as to make a connection to our brand.

2.    It made the flow of content on social media platforms consistent so that we can maximize engagement.

3.    It can highlight any gaps therefore, we could plan ahead of time to think of ideas to publish.

4.    It can map time-sensitive content ahead of time and allows flexibility to any real-time activities to slip in.

My daily tasks involve exploring multiple global Edelman channels for interesting announcements, insights, blog posts or news concerning the PR & marketing industry. I also look through multiple Twitter accounts to stay up to date among Edelman offices around the globe – constantly updating the calendar content for the latest news/activities.

With this research, I prepare a weekly calendar of which I have to update daily in case new content arises.  From the content calendar, I have to prepare a caption for what we publish and always keeping it in mind that we must understand our stakeholders and connect the content to them and their interests.  The benefit of doing this is that it increases the awareness of the Edelman brand in Hong Kong and beyond.

I can honestly say that at Edelman, they definitely believe in giving responsibilities to their interns, treating them like full-time employees, which really makes this whole experience both worthwhile and rewarding. To help marketing the Edelman brand further is also a great achievement from my work.

Time Management

 On top of the responsibilities that Edelman gives their interns, they really advocate a positive training culture and invest in their interns by taking the time to train them.  During my time at the agency so far, I have experienced several training sessions and also two sessions on time management skills which is led by our regional director of employee engagement, Shirley Dirkin.  What these sessions taught me were how to prioritize, multi-task, schedule realistically and manage expectations.  Shirley introduced us to the time management quadrant and I found the quadrant very useful because it presented my deadlines in a more visual and organized manor. This has helped me perfectly when planning for the social media content calendar.

Shirley gave us great advice on how to live a more balanced life and reducing the amount of pressure we add with work.  She also asked us discuss what aspects of our life we thought we didn’t have enough of, for e.g. spending time with family or going to the gym.  

Time management training by Shirley Dirkin.

Work Life Balance

Learning from Shirely, I found the time management skills are essential. This week is “Work Life Balance Week (26-30 Oct)” which provides a platform for organisations to demonstrate their commitment to work-life balance and raises awareness.

At Edelman, as the balance between work and play is deeply imbedded in the company culture. We have planned to have our annual Halloween party with lots of kids invited to celebrate together, dressing in costumes and plenty of candies as ‘treat’. I can’t wait to experience this when the whole office will be transformed to different theme by each team and piñata, haunted house and scary faces.

Photo from 2014 Halloween party

As part of the work life balance initiative, all employees are “free @ 3” on the last Friday of October and we can leave work early! Stay tuned on our social media platforms, we will share more.

Finally, I am very excited for the remainder of my internship as next week I have the second chance to speak at a university for a talk about PR industry and introducing Edelman, another way to market our brand further. I will be presenting on how to kick-start your career in this industry and my experiences as an intern at the top PR agency in the world.

Talking at Chinese University recently about PR & Edelman.

As a fresh graduate, it can be difficult to know the best way to dip your toe into the corporate pond. Having studied for five years at university in Scotland, many of my friends began to flock to London en masse, leaving me contemplating whether I should be joining them.

As a languages graduate with a passion for communications, I craved an international environment where I would be pushed out of my comfort zone and face thought-provoking challenges. Two weeks later, I flew to Hong Kong to join Edelman as a Content and Studio+ Intern - and I’ve been learning ever since.

So why as a fresh international graduate flee the familiarity of home and head East to Edelman Hong Kong? 1)      Cultural diversity Hong Kong really is a cosmopolitan melting pot of young professionals. The Edelman HK office is something of a microcosm of the city around it, bringing together individuals from across the world. From Hong Kongers, Malaysians and Australians, to Dutch, Americans and Brits: I’m pretty sure our office could start its own UN. It’s the perfect place to pick up a new language, be it through the (completely unofficial) office tradition of ‘French Friday’, or my more novel method of learning Cantonese: sticking Post Its on my desktop.  Questionable language skills aside, the international mix at the Edelman HK office brings together people from a whole spectrum of cultures and backgrounds, and encourages us to celebrate the nuances, like different languages, working styles and cultural habits, which make working with an international team so rewarding.  What’s more, with so many expats and locals alike, the office has an open and welcoming culture which makes it easy to settle in. After all, many of your colleagues have been in your freshly broken-in expat shoes, so there’s a lot of common ground to cover with everyone you meet. 

2)      Lots of responsibility

Interning at Edelman is nothing like I expected; interns are completely integrated into the office in both a social and a professional sense. I’ve attended client meetings and brainstorms, helped on new biz pitches and mini-site launches and even turned my hand to translating some Portuguese – and I’m only half way through my internship!

The immersive approach which Edelman takes towards its interns means that you’ll pick up skills from across the board. Not only have my writing and time management skills improved, I have developed my problem solving and relationship management capabilities, too.

Flexibility is also a key trait of Edelman as a company, so even though my team is officially Content, I’ve worked closely with the Corporate and Consumer teams too, which means I’ve developed a comprehensive overview of the role of Communications Marketing cross-practice at the largest PR firm in the world.

My one word of advice? If you’re looking for an internship which involves coffee-runs and hugging-the-wall, then Edelman probably isn’t for you.

3)      High-profile clients

Edelman represents some of the biggest names in the Asian market, meaning the projects you’re working on are relevant and exciting. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve caught sight of a brand logo when walking around Hong Kong and thought: “Edelman do their PR!”

It’s no secret that the Asia Pacific region is set for massive growth in the coming decade, so receiving such in-depth insight into a market that many of your peers have no knowledge of can only stand you in good stead for your future career – be that in HK or elsewhere around the globe.

 4)      The Hong Kong experience

And if you’re still looking for a reason, this is the view from the Edelman HK office: need I say more?

Hi, I’m Alison Wong, a recent graduate from the University of Hong Kong majoring in Biotechnology. I decided I wanted to try PR, specifically PR for healthcare, because I wanted a job that would challenge me to think analytical and creatively.

Interns bonding time at lunch (Alison, second from the left)

When I first started I was a bit perplexed by the tasks given to me. But thanks to “Lunch and Learn”, I quickly learnt more about the PR industry. L&L helps interns and other staff members to continuously learn and improve their skills whilst working. L&L happens on Wednesday afternoons, lunch is provided and we have a staff member, or an external speaker teach us anything and everything about PR and beyond. These courses are tailored to staff at different levels. Interns will be joining any training that are assigned to our level.  Interns will be joining any training that are assigned to our level. 

Within my first month, I have attended two L&L sessions. The first is PR101. This course was really helpful in helping me understand more about what I was doing and why I was doing it. I learnt about the history of PR, the history of Edelman, and what PR is all about.  The most important thing I learnt from that course is PR is continuously evolving due to social media. This means marketing and communications are converging, thus it is important for companies to come up with a consistent and aligned message, service and experience.  The second I attended was open to all levels, Social Purpose and Business, by special speaker Jeremy Cohen, our Global Director, Strategy and Operations, B+SP. This session was all about the importance of “purpose” for companies. Purpose is achieved through CSR and sustainability. Purpose help companies find new business opportunities, more customers, loyal employees, but most importantly builds trust.

Business and social purpose not only drive sales, but also has a positive impact on the world. Through these trainings, I began to understand more about how my job helps companies to reach more of their target customers, and to build and generate goodwill.

(Business and social purpose ‘Lunch & Learn’ session)

In the healthcare practice, the first account I worked on was to pitch to a new potential bio-pharma client. This was a challenging experience. The learning curve was steep but I’m grateful for this experience, as I had the opportunity to quickly learn about the planning process involved and the scope of public relations as an industry. My tasks included researching country regulations on drugs, researching on stakeholders, help coming up with public engagement ideas through campaigns and events, deck making and even designing a mockup campaign poster. Apart from healthcare, I also had the opportunity to help out in other teams within the Corporate practice, including finance companies and property corporations.