Well, here I am, halfway through my internship, and I’ve discovered the true nature of PR. The truth came by way of a hundred-pound Great Dane named Remy, who, caked in mud, whacked me in the shins chasing after a tennis ball.
Here’s the truth: PR is not always a glamorous job. It can be gritty, dirty, stressful and tense, and sometimes you find yourself doing something you didn’t expect.
I recently was out the door by 4:15 a.m. to meet Ginger at Canine Country Club for several early morning live shots on KARK. I was SO EXCITED. The whole way there, I’m thinking: precious dogs, big fancy cameras, a TV personality (DJ Williams at that – woo pig), and learning the part PR plays in these projects.
When I got there, my expectations went out the window, along with our plans. Before we could shoot the first segment, ominous rain clouds rolled in, sending our cameras, lights and ten dogs inside to escape a torrential downpour. The storm interrupted our broadcast signal and kicked us off the air at one point. The client’s TV time was at the mercy of Mother Nature. But the cliché saying, “the show must go on,” applied well in this situation, and Ginger was there to reorganize. We worked in the rain with lighting, moving cameras and dogs, and, despite our challenges, we produced several successful segments.
We ended up soaked from head to toe, lightly dusted in dog hair and standing ankle deep in mud (enter Remy and his tennis ball). However, I left that morning totally energized. The experience made PR more appealing to me, and I was happy that the client was happy.
That was a situation I didn’t expect to be in during this internship and, actually, a lot of what I have done has been unexpected. At the halfway point, I’ve stood in a local broadcast studio with the cameras rolling and watched a TV personality deliver the talking points I wrote (a proud moment for me). I was in the room as Sells Agency’s creative department, PR department and account executives came together to film a commercial for a client. These are just two of the most memorable experiences I’ve had so far – there have been many, many more.
You can’t get this stuff from reading a textbook and taking a test. This is real-world experience, and I am so thankful that the experts at Sells Agency have been the ones to teach me more about PR. I still have much more to learn, so check back in later for my third and final blog post about my internship!