I arrived in London to commence my internship with Van much like Dick Wittington in search of fame and fortune in an industry I had always imagined to be laden with glamour. I envisioned the working day to comprise of wining and dining clients, hob-knobbing with London’s social royalty and attending parties all night, every night. Champagne would flow, canapés would be plentiful and I would be social networking for a living.
Now whilst there are elements of this ideal that permeate the industry, the reality was a valuable and educational learning curve. It was exactly what I wanted to get out of my internship. I have discovered that what we see and what we think we know of PR is actually only the tip of the iceberg.
There is much more to PR than meets the eye and my internship has allowed me to pull back the curtain and realise what a career in this area would entail. I have seen the evolution of ideas and the mechanics of how they are transformed and moulded into what the outside world knows of PR.
My Van adventure has been a richly diverse experience. I have participated in brainstorm sessions, conducted research, contacted national newspapers, launched the future of post and even met an A-list celebrity all in the space of two months!
As I leave the bright lights of the Big Smoke I find that I have unearthed a mystery as puzzling as the Bermuda triangle. I now understand what PR actually is. The veil has lifted and the penny has dropped. I would thoroughly recommend a placement at Van to any other intrepid adventurer who is searching for the answer to the eternal question…
…What exactly is PR?
