Week 3 - chapter 7 : Strategy, planning and scheduling

I think the two keys points to remember from this week readings are how important as a PR practitioners to have a good strategy and make their planning well organized.

It is clearly written in the beginning of the chapter that strategy is a series of planned activities designed and integrated to achieve a stated organisational goal. Any kind of job that we take, strategic is very important as well as a public relation that focus on communication in front of public.

It was mention in the reading about an effective strategic communication plan, such as : being open and honest, two way and responsive, receiver-oriented, timely, clear and consistent and comprehensive. Those are the important points about maintaining strategic and planning. Budgeting and scheduling were also important to make the strategies more effective, but to get that points, we have to organised the strategies and planning nicely.

This week reading strongly enough covered and gave me a lot of information about public relation practice that I've never known before. The strategic, planning and scheduling of public relations is important to the effective management of the public relations. If there are good strategic, planning, and scheduling as well as controlling the budgets continuously, I think it will be easier to reach any goals that PR practitioners want.

Week 2 - Chapter 1,2,3 : Overview, a history of public relation in Australia and theory

I think the two points to remember for this week readings are public relation activities and skill needed in public relation. Those things are the crucial part to become a better PR person.It is important to know about the roles and key activities of public relation that may be undertaken as a consultant.

Even there are a lot of activities that mentioned in this book but there are 5 interesting points that we can focus on. Such as,
Communication – imparting or exchanging thoughts, opinions or messages through visual, oral or written means.
Promotions – activities designed to create and stimulate interest in a person, product, organization or cause.
Public Affairs/lobbyist – working on behalf of private organizations in dealing with politicians and public servants who determine policy and legislation to either maintain the status quo or effect change
Community Relations – establishing and maintaining relationships between organizations and community groups affected by each other
Media relations – establishing and maintaining relationships between the media and organization (Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi)

This is simply implying to our mind that standard job of public relations is should be like this. They have to get all the requirements, and cannot choose one or two points from the above. Have a good communication with certain people is not enough, they have to know how to have a make a good relationship with their clients so they can lobbyist them as well as a good connection with the media release and do a great promotion to the public.

There are certain skills needed by all the PR person that mentioned in this book, and divided to many kind of skills, like vocational skills that more concern to the research, writing, presentation and media, then networking ability, being thinkers as well as critical and creative, also professional skills that ability to meet deadlines and plan ahead.

However, the readings made me think more about public relation activities and skills that is not easy as other people thinks, since PR person have to responsible about anything that coming out from their opinions and they also have to meet any kind of people with their own characteristic, which is quiet hard for certain people to do that and yes, this reading makes me more appreciating a job as a public relation.