Hi guys!

I’m Crystal, and I’ve been interning with Epic PR for the past three months. In the second last week of my internship, Mylinh added another thing to my to-do list—“a blog post! With photos!!” – and of course, no one can say no to such an enthusiastic request (from your boss)(from whom you’d just requested for a reference letter)(I’m kidding! I’d write this post with or without the letter! … With that being said, I’m still getting it, right guys??)

So with that long-winded, parenthesis-filled introductory paragraph – I assure you my press releases are more succinct than this, courtesy of the training by the Mother Hen of Interns (a.k.a. Kay Ling)– let me elaborate a little bit more on my time at Epic.

 The Epic team after a crazy successful media event
(“A 100 percent media attendance! That never happens!!”) 

Epic PR is my first foray into the oft-misunderstood arena that is Public Relations. Most people I’ve spoken to have the misconception that PR is all about:

1. Boozing and schmoozing somewhere very glamorously while perilously perched on some serious high heels, or
2. Putting your best fake smile forward, or
3. Both of the options above.

We have Samantha Jones of Sex and the City to thank for these illusions, but while I assure you we do run around in ridiculous heels sometimes, we are never boozing nor schmoozing (at least not during office hours—I mean, come on we were based at Ann Siang Hill), and the team at Epic is anything but inauthentic.

If these aren’t genuine expressions of joy (read: relief), I don’t know what is

I could have only enjoyed my short stint at Epic as immensely as I have thanks to the warm, encouraging ladies at this agency. Though the keyboard tapping never stops (hustlers gotta hustle, as they say!), it’s always lovely to have our little breaks, be it for a online shopping delivery moment where we do our little ooh’s and ahh’s over the new purchase, or for us to discuss the latest pop culture tidbit that serves as office fodder. It was in my second week when the office exploded the moment someone mentioned the sartorial choices at the Met Gala. It was amidst the choruses of “what was she wearing?!” and “she looked gorgeous!” when I realized I was undoubtedly in for a fun time, especially with this animated bunch.

One of our #TryDayFriday’s, though we’ve technically tried this (amaaaazing) fish head curry twice now (oops!)

While it may seem like it is all fun and no work, I assure you it is definitely not the case. I was given about three days to settle in before the real work started to arrive via a flurry of emails, and when I say real work I mean real, actual client work and not just coffee runs (funnily enough I’d never had to do those).

I’d chosen a boutique agency because I preferred the more hands-on experience, where you could be given work that would come to fruition. Much like the numerous literature published on my fellow Gen Y workers have explained, I too would like to affect real change while I’m at a firm, and I’ve been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to do so at Epic.

Doesn’t get anymore hands-on than riding on the back of the truck with the office furniture

I was appointed to manage a PR project that the team had won,  and trust me, to be able to see the project from start to finish is something that I have not taken for granted. Many of my peers are currently interning as well, and whenever we meet for dinner to catch up, I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to be at this firm, as not only do I have a supportive team, but I was also doing work that I actually enjoyed, and was delivering real, tangible value to clients.

I can’t emphasize enough how much teamwork is valued and prioritized in Epic PR. While I was drafting press releases, completing reports, and responding to clients, there was never a moment when I had no one to consult with or to ask for advice from. On my first day here, I was told, “Always ask when in doubt! There are no stupid questions”, and I’ve heard this adage repeated every time a new intern joins our brood. Despite everyone being extremely preoccupied with their own clients, you could always turn around (literally, because the new office space puts us at extremely close proximity to one another) to ask for fresh eyes for your work, or to simply ask for assistance. July was a particularly busy month for us all, and even then the team would never hesitate to help each other out when needed.

When one of us gets donut cravings, we all get donuts as well. That’s teamwork innit?

Working in Epic PR for the past three months has been nothing short of illuminating, not just about the industry but about a boutique agency as well. Sure, it may be tough at times, but you also get to learn so much across a wide range of industries. It is exactly because of Epic’s boutique status that we are nimble enough to service clients from a plethora of sectors, and that’s where the real fun is because you get to see and experience for yourself how each of them work.

I must admit that I had chosen this industry due to some of my own misconceptions – that it will be fun, boozy, and glamorous with a little bit of grit (fine, I had been Samantha Jones’d as well). I was mostly right—it is fun, it is (a little!) boozy, but the glamour and grit comes in equal servings. I love that it allows me to continue what I’ve always loved doing – writing – and at the same time meet people from all walks of life, something else I’ve always enjoyed.

I have definitely learned beyond what I’d expected to whilst my time here, and if you haven’t been able to discern from this lengthy blog post, I’ve enjoyed myself far, far beyond I could have imagined as well. I mean, seriously, do tell me what other job will bring you to the Metropolis for a R&D start-up launch one week and to Joël Robuchon for the unveiling of a rare whisky the next? Not to mention the giggles we get when people call us looking for an agency to help with their PR residency (that actually happened, I kid you not).

And with that, I bid you adieu!

 Crystal out!

Working in a public relations agency, we are reminded everyday of the increasing importance for the need to have an engaging and easy to access social media news room to share all the latest happenings from our company and the work we do for clients. Having an interesting news room with links to the latest press releases, social media platforms, galleries of notable press coverage, videos and still images will help us get noticed by the media looking for a good story with one of our clients. In addition, having a good social media newsroom will help us generate inbound interest for our PR agency.

At Epic PR, we embrace the idea of a social media newsroom, and are currently building one.

In order to be an effective content hub, there need to be sharing buttons throughout the news room to allow easy sharing of information between the media and their peers. Other than press releases, an ideal news room should also be rich in useful content to the media that are properly organized for easy viewing and have easy to use search tools for them to navigate throughout the news room.

We also have to understand that the information that journalists look for may not always be available in the news room. Journalists usually go for interesting, quirky news to cover and spread to their audience, and they will usually report stories in interesting angles to appeal to their audience. However, most corporate news rooms tend to only provide straight-forward information in the form of press releases, newsletters or executive summaries of their clients/company. Hence it is crucial that we know what is more popular amongst the media in order to produce articles for the news room that will inspire a journalist to write.

After reading all the tips and tricks to a good social media news room, we hope you are now more convinced that it is actually a quick and simple way to generate inbound public relation coverage for your company. Good luck setting up one or call us if you need our help to build one. In the meantime, I’ll be busy setting up the one for Epic! 🙂

-Winnie

Hey There, Chums!

Li Ting here, finally making my – long overdue – contribution to the Epic blog. I’ve been with the Epic team since June 2013, and oh boy, it’s been a helluva year!

High up on the list of surreal moments in my PR career would have to be launching the HTC One (M8) in Singapore earlier this year. It was HTC’s flagship device of 2014, and our very first media event for HTC since we won the account (woohoo!) in January. Hopes and expectations were running high – I’ve probably never had as many cups of coffee each day as I did during the two weeks leading up to game day.

I will go on to reflecting on that nerve-wrecking day, but first – let us take a #wefie:

From left: Shane Chiang from HTC, Li Ting, Gabriel
Fun fact: Did you know HTC One (M8) packs an amazing 5MP wide-angle front camera, PERFECT for “wefies” that will give Ellen’s Oscar selfie a run for its money? 😉

I believe all of you PR practitioners, event organizers and marketing folk out there would understand when I groan about the STRESS of the arrival of The Day: Did enough people RSVP? What if all of them don’t turn up? Should I send yet another reminder? Will they get bored and leave early? What if there’s not enough food – or worse, not enough alcohol?!!

Working at Epic PR for almost a year now, it seems this game-day anxiety does not ever go away. Each event brings its own set of possible ways of crash-and-burn – but this volatility is also what makes our line of work ever-so-exciting. It keeps us on our toes and our minds alert.

The HTC One (M8) launch night went by like a blur for me – so many names, so many faces, but gosh the THRILL of seeing the room fill up, the guest list ticked off and feeling the anticipation in the air – nothing beats this high we get from what we do, and it is what pulls me through those dull days of churning out reports and calculating advertising value equivalency.

In that night, more than 60 influencers and journalists graced us with their presence. Two months have passed since the launch, but I’m happy to say we are still receiving the ripple effect of its success. Hugest thanks to all who came, all who gushed over the gorgeous work of art that is the M8, and all who took a wefie with us that night. Till our next event, fellas! 😉

That’s a wrap! Live band in the background at our European client’s facility opening in Singapore.

Hi Everyone,

Victoria is my name and client servicing in a PR agency is my game. I enjoy fiction writing, watching a good spy flick and cannot resist a good cup of tea.

My interest in writing led me to select some public relations modules in university, and that was how I became drawn to the field of public relations and embarked down this profession.  PR for me primarily involves telling stories as well as helping shape how people view and connect with companies and brands by the messages we communicate to the market about the brand via the media and social media.

What’s great about Epic PR is that anyone who is lucky enough to join this firm gets to experience a wide variety of sectors and come away learning a broad range of skills.  Corporate public relations is one such sector that I have a keen interest in and have had the opportunity to delve further into just recently.  A couple of months ago for example, Epic PR helped launched the opening of a large European manufacturing firm in Singapore, the first global hub outside its headquarters and I got to work on it.

Besides functioning as a regional hub for the eastern hemisphere, this cutting edge manufacturing company is also investing in local talent and will offer internships to students at selected universities to nurture young engineering talents for management and leadership positions within the facility.

And that’s what I mean, being able to experience the whole cycle of formulating a PR campaign in its entirety from conceptualization to execution provided a rare insight into the industry, and for that I am grateful to Epic PR for this journey so far. The diversity of accounts – from corporate to healthcare to consumer – means that there is never a dull moment. Working in a PR agency makes for a steep learning curve, and I look forward to keep on learning and delivering value for our clients with a great team we have here at Epic.  More posts from me soon!

                                      That’s me on the left, with a very cool online media personality!

Hi everyone! I am Winnie! Something about myself: I love theme parks and would hope to get on all the rides at Six Flags one day and conquer my fear of heights! Shopping is my way of relieving stress and on weekends, you can either find me at the malls or cooped up in my room binging on American dramas (Scandal is the current drama of my life).

Since joining Epic, I have been quickly learning the ropes of working in a PR agency including how to write effective press releases and media pitches. Of course, in a PR agency, pitching and enabling media interviews is one of the key things that we do for our clients, and so I was glad to be given the opportunity to be involved in obtaining media interviews for a healthcare client.  As a result, I got to work with doctors and health professionals as well as interact with journalists who often can ask very probing questions.

This particular healthcare program was very interesting and we learnt a lot about men’s health in the process.  The results were several media interviews held at the lounge of Pan Pacific Orchard. We even managed to get the doctor on a live radio talk show that lasted an hour and listeners were able to dial in with questions. It was thrilling!

The best part for me was seeing the published articles on the various newspapers after the interviews, which gave me a huge sense of accomplishment!

I am still exploring Public Relations but so far, I like what I am doing! After several months in Epic, I have learnt so much from my colleagues and managers, and I am actually having a lot of fun, one word to sum it up and it has been said before , but Epic PR is – epic!  Alright, I gotta head back to work now! See you all soon 🙂

Hello everyone! My name is Zhen Rong and I’m the newest addition and most unique (only guy) addition to the EPIC team at EPIC PR. Working at EPIC PR has been a hugely eye-opening experience and I am grateful for the opportunities that come with meeting new clients and media people.

Of particular interest to me is seeing how our boss pitches to potential clients. Having never been in a pitch/new business meeting before, this really opened my eyes as to how this whole thing usually goes down. The back and forth as well as on the spur of the moment question and answer is really enlightening. While preparation for meeting any client is definitely key, some clients just do not openly publicize specific information with regards their core services and products on their websites and being able to give appropriate answers and advice in the heat of the moment is essential.

One other thing that did not surprise me is how little what we actually learn in school is relevant in the real world. Although I have heard many people tell me this to be the case, it is still somewhat frightening that we spend so much money on educating ourselves in a specific industry only to have very little of what goes on in the classroom be of any real use. Either that or maybe my school was just lousy.

But otherwise, it has been great learning and listening (or eavesdropping) in on office conversations and slowly, but (hopefully) surely, figuring out the who’s who of contacts.

One main takeaway that I have learnt in the past one month plus or so is that this is first and foremost a relationship business. While the other services (such as media monitoring) provided are most definitely substantial, the relationships between us and the media is what clients want us to leverage on and this is what earns us our daily bread.