Radio news editor for The Gleaner/Power106 FM, Ceila Morgan (left), presents Novelette Bryan (right) of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, with a certificate of participation for completing 'The Practice of Public Relations' workshop. Bryan was also the winner of the Best Three-Minute Speech for which she received a LIME phone and an MP3 player. - Contributed
"Excellent", "exemplary" and "exceptional" were some of the words used by a wide range of participants from across corporate Jamaica and the public sector, who completed a two-day workshop, entitled 'The Practice of Public Relations', on October 16 and 17 at Courtleigh Hotel and Suites in New Kingston. The course was taught by pioneer in the field and executive director of Corporate Affairs Research and Advertising (CARA) Limited, Elaine Commissiong.
The workshop, which was a quick guide into the discipline, focused on writing news releases, captioning photographs, writing the three-minute speech, including introducing guest speakers, preparing special events and strategic planning and proposal writing.
Combined teaching methods
Commissiong employed a combination of lecturing, lively discussions and interactive class activities to teach these lessons.
Commissiong also had special guests at the workshop. Radio news editor at The Gleaner/Power 106 FM, Ceila Morgan, appeared on the first day to speak about what the media expects from public relations (PR) practitioners.
"One view from a journalistic standpoint is that PR practitioners are merely whitewashing agents, paid to disguise what is really happening in a company," she said. "That's how we see you! I'm sorry!" She urged the participants to follow the principles of news - the 'who, what, when, where, why and how' - when writing their press releases.
Best practises
She also gave the participants insight into the inner workings of media houses and advised them on how to best communicate with such entities.
On the second day, managing director of Office Outlet, Bradley Mahfood, provided a demonstration of the use of one of his products, the Resin Steel-Binding system by the Belgian company, Unibind.
Both guests assisted Commis-siong at the end of the workshop with the presentation of certificates to the participants, who openly expressed their joy.
Opal Davis, of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), who spoke on behalf of the "graduating class of 2009", thanked Commissiong and requested that a follow-up course be held soon.
The workshop was organised by CARA Limited and sponsored by The Gleaner Company, LIME and Office Outlet.