As the new and awkward post-teen intern, it’s my turn to post something. Hurray for being the new guy!

The first time I stepped into Rice Communications, I was perturbed by how quiet the whole office was. I even brought it up during the interview with Donna. I was afraid that Rice would be one of those offices where no one talks except through Skype. I find the lack of interpersonal interactions unsettling. Having been here for close to a month now, I guess that one day was one of those odd “blue moon” moments. Either that or I’ve been making way too much noise since I’ve started.

Working in a public relations firm has been, for lack of a better word, enlightening. Without going into a lengthy exposition of how I achieve such zen-like consciousness at work, I am going to say that working and learning at Rice has been fulfilling. I never feel as if I’m doing something irrelevant, and this is definitely not the typical “would you like some coffee” kind of internship.

There are two schools of thought about public relations. One, it’s all about cocktail parties and socials. Two, it’s a dead-end desk job that will eventually “lead to unemployment” (quote from my uncle, March 2010). The truth is, PR is neither a super glitzy job nor career suicide. It’s proper work. It’s crucial. It is nearly impossible for a company to get its name out in the industry without some form of PR. Even a huge bank cannot survive without having good PR. Maintaining good relations between investors, clients and partners is a must.

I enjoyed working on the NZTE, BoxSentry and AdMob accounts. Each brought different aspects of public relations to the table. For NZTE, the iCTLT was an eye-opener to how we handle people from the media. Despite requiring tiresome media lists, through working on both BoxSentry and AdMob accounts I have learnt how to engage journalists, write media pitches and send out press releases. One thing I will probably never forget from this experience is chatting up American journalists at 2 am, fighting the onset of sleep and trying to concentrate on securing interviews for BoxSentry at the RSA Conference, San Francisco.

After weeks of looking up opportunities for AdMob, I will be helping Nat to write an outline for a contributed article for submission to the iMedia Brand Summit. Who said we’d be able to stop writing after leaving school? It must have been a really ill-informed individual. “Somebody’s gonna get hurt real bad”. But what the heck, we must learn every aspect of a certain something to be truly good at it.

We have officially hit the after-office hours. I think the lack of coughing in the office is making everyone sleepy. Where is Daphne when you need her? We need something to shock us into alertness. [Daphne would like to defend herself by saying that her sneezes are more shocking than her coughs]

Today has been a good day. My work day isn’t complete till something funny comes out of the Orange room, or till Hema references her time in the SIA. So, check and double check.

O brave new world! That has such people in it!