The prospect of beginning the scheme in the Healthcare department was a little daunting. My previous PR experience was in a corporate department, and I was worried that I would feel out of my depth in the world of Health PR. I don’t have a science background (literature and languages are more my thing) and hoped this wouldn’t hinder my understanding of the sector. However, the team was extremely welcoming and put me at ease from the off. They are all very knowledgeable of the intricacies of the industry and were able to answer my numerous questions. Like doctors, the Healthcare team-members focus on their own specialist areas; for example, you might go to one person for nuanced in-depth review of the oncology sector, while someone else might know everything there is to know about international regulations around HIV vaccine distribution. In this way, like a microcosm of a general hospital, Edelman’s Healthcare team can deliver PR to clients in all different areas of the Healthcare industry.

The work I was given plunged me straight into several different projects; I was particularly keen to be able to help draft internal emails and newsletters in my first week. I also jumped at the opportunity to help with preparations for a new business pitch which provided me with a real insight into how a pitch snowballs from the prospective client’s first brief to the delivery of a well-crafted pitch deck. I helped provide research into the relevant market and competitors, and this served also to educate me in this often complex industry populated with rules, regulations and difficult-to-pronounce brand names. As well as this research, subscriptions to trade newsletters and journals were extremely useful in keeping me up-to-date with the latest developments – I found The Lancet and Scrip both particularly informative outlets.

I realised two important things by the end of my rotation. Firstly, that for the sake of my own health I really would have to start refusing the constant flow of ‘treats’ that passed through the department and secondly, that I had only brushed the tip of the pharmaceutical iceberg. There is a whole lot going on in the world of medicine socially, politically and economically. It hums away quietly without most of us noticing it. The amount of work involved in bringing new treatments to market is colossal, and Edelman’s work is a key part of this lengthy process.

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The SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation) Awards  are “the world’s largest awards competition for the public relations industry, the SABRE Awards celebrate PR campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of creativity, integrity and effectiveness.”

…its kind of a big deal. And guess what? WE WON!

Edelman won Global Agency of the Year, beating Burson-Marsteller, Fleishman-Hillard, MSL Group, and Weber Shandwick for the competition‘s top honor. Not only this, we also shared the Platinum Award and Social Media Campaign SABRE with Weber Shandwick, both for Pepsi Refresh, which was named the best campaign of the year in any region. Not bad going.

So this is just a little shout out to Edelman. Big thumbs up! I’m very proud to be an integral cog just a tiny part of this amazing, multi-award winning global agency!

I joined the digital team as an avid Facebook user, rare Tweeter and occasional LinkedIn visitor and that was about it. Having spent 3 weeks with the team-all of whom are really friendly and always helpful, I have learnt more than I thought there was possible (cliche!) about all things Digital from social media content and engagement, to community management and monitoring, to Facebook and Twitter analytics, and not forgetting CMSs, IPs, RTs, QBRs, URLs, CTRs and CSOs (seriously, none of those are made up!) It’s been a very steep curve for me, but I’m so pleased and relieved that it hasn’t gone over my head, and that in fact it’s not only sinking in but it’s getting embedded in my psyche. Apparently I’ve loved Digital all along.

So far I’ve had the pleasure of getting involved with 3 completely different clients, doing totally varied tasks for each. From a host of content and engagement related projects for an amazing leading tech brand (so amazing I can’t even divulge that much), to building fan profiles of The Dove Woman, (Dove are one of my all-time favourite brands and are part of the Unilever account), to launching and monitoring a Twitter campaign for Allen&Overy, a top law firm. As you can tell I’m now very busy and important (I wish) so I should get back to it, but watch this space for all the ins and outs of my lessons learned and clients covered during my days in Digital.

Sure I returned to the glorious duties of media monitoring and collating some biggie reports, but I also got round to assisting with a client event in a major way and doing meatier work like selling in stories, referencing expert sound bites from doctors, sorting out suppliers and fulfilling research requests from affiliate offices.

It always amazes me how global the work I do at Edelman is – and nowhere is that more evident that in the Healthcare team. Working on the Healthcare team is a real eye-opener for realizing how universal healthcare issues are and how central companies are to the process of improving people’s health around the world.

Within the first week of being on the team again, I had the responsibility of lending a hand to a US-based Edelman team that was coming over to work with a client on a 2-day communication seminar, including a crisis training exercise which I had the pleasure of assisting. Sure there was loads of printing and logistics to sort, but it was great being a key player on the team and ensuring the smooth running of the crisis training session. Smooth running of a crisis training session  – sounds like a bit of an oxymoron? J). Seeing people who probably don’t get much face time pull together in a mock crisis was very rewarding. During the session, a whirlwind of stories were escalating while bells were dinging and calls were coming in left right and center from the media and the public demanding responses. The training was a real case in point that knowing how to consult one another is just as important as knowing what to do. Not only that, but I got to meet some great people and witness some exceptional expertise at play from both our client and Edelman!

Oddly enough, each rotation I do feels a bit shorter, but my oh my, do I seem to get more done! This included having a little spare time – I rolled up my sleeves (not to mention donated a few) and did what I could for Edelman Boutique, our annual in house boutique jumble sale which this year benefited Leonard Cheshire Disability. I even got in a few productive lunches – including a lunch and learn session about billing management and a general contact lunch with the graphic head of the healthcare media company Anything After 9 (AA9). I’ve since signed up for three training sessions – (courtesy of Edelman University!), we’ll see how these go soon enough I am sure. . . .

That’s progress for you, I really enjoyed working with people I didn’t get a chance to work with before and can’t wait to enter the realms of Corporate and Finance! xC

Last week was the Edelman Christmas Party and in the interest of being fiscal in these turbulent economic times, we kept it in our offices in Victoria. However, this didn’t mean people gathering around their desks, having a glass of wine.

The theme this year was American Prom – something light-hearted and easy enough to dress for. On the day rumours were soon flying around that Same Difference of X Factor fame would be making an appearance but alas, this was not true.

The office was completely transformed, the meeting rooms at the back made into one large room. There was a checked floor, and huge plastic ice-cream cones and American diner tables. Not only was the normal bar transformed into a cocktail bar, but a second bar appeared on the edge of the dancefloor.

The smaller meeting rooms were also transformed – with karaoke in one and Rock Band in the other and as the night wore on more and more people found themselves being drawn towards them.

The catering team at Edelman went all out providing mini hot dogs, mini burgers, bowls of chilli, chips, potato skins, crab cakes, popcorn, doughnuts and jelly beans – making the American Prom Theme that much more realistic. The band we had were brilliant, getting people crowding onto the dancefloor for a bit of a boogie. There was also a photographer, waiting to take the customary prom photos as we entered the room and obviously then hanging around to take some embarrassing snaps during the night.

Even though we were doing Christmas low-key this year, as we all left, it was strange to think that we had been in our offices all that time.

Philip Hammond MP, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury was speaking and it promised to be an interesting evening. This was my first opportunity to go to such an event and I jumped at the chance.

The evening started with mingling amongst the attendees; a selection of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, some MPs and people from the city. This was a great opportunity to get the Edelman name around.

Phillip Hammond MP then gave an engaging and informative speech about the current financial situation, which was very well received. As Edelman has a host of clients in the financial sector, the talk was obviously of key interest to us.

As well as providing an excellent talk, the City Circle was a wonderful opportunity to ease into networking. At first, it was a little daunting having to explain to people what Edelman did and why we were at the event. However, after negotiating the art of eating canapés whilst still being composed and maintaining a conversation, I found it easier to tell people who I was and what exactly it was that I was doing within Edelman.

With plenty of people to talk to I found the event very enjoyable and look forward to the chance of attending many more events with my move to Public Affairs next week.