I was very apprehensive going into this hardworking area of the office. I have very little political background – I only studied political history until GSCE level and a bit of political philosophy during my degree. I had become interested in UK politics during recent years as I got older and changes in government/bills began to affect my day to day life. As a country girl I was one of the many to march in Hyde Park about the hunting ban, and David Cameron is my home MP for Witney, so I was looking forward to learning more about this world.

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of work when I started three weeks ago. Clare was here before me and she told me about some of it and the clients’ accounts she worked on, but nothing prepared me. In my first week (first week of January) the buzz word was new business so I was doing lots of research into new ideas. I was also shown how to do some monitoring for press mentions about one of the clients and research for clients in the news.

PA deals with so many different aspects of client work that every day is different.

In the second week everything began to get very busy as I was asked to help with work for a new and really exciting client. I also asked if it would be possible to help on one of the new pitches and was able to do some research, so at least I can feel I helped, a bit!

With the General Election coming up there is work related to Parliament, with some work for Reed in Partnership where I was liasing with MP offices and writing biographies. David (the new intern) and I have also been asked to put together biographies to help the team in their preparation for the Election period. This is helping me to learn more and more about current UK politics and also about how the team works.

The team have been fantastic, when I came in Paul (my line manager) was on holiday and Lyndsey, Peter and Mark took care of me. When Paul came back he has helped me to get to work on some great clients and asked me who I would like to work on and if there is anything I feel I haven’t done yet.

Last night Spook challenged the office to a pub quiz – It was great fun as the  PA team are competitive and we did manage to win! No hard feelings ‘eh Marcus – but we did beat you by a little bit. Plus anyone who says there were too many PA related questions – our best rounds were Literature and Food and Drink!! It was a really good opportunity to get to know more of the team who have made me feel very welcome.

I’ve got four and a half weeks left with this team during the grad scheme and then it will be on to Healthcare (my last rotation). The new grads have started now – there are three more girls to make up a pretty good group of us, together with the interns David and Olivia (who I have met). I was very pleased that Francesca joined the grad scheme after being an intern at Corporate with me, and I wish Francesca, Erin and Maggie loads of luck.

As I explained in my last blog, I was somewhat aprehensive about life in Digital, especially considering that I cannot operate my own DVD player and the world of twitter was an alien language to me! However, the digital team (very patiently) took me under their little wings and introduced me to the likes of Google Chrome and Radian 6!! I worked on many really interesting pieces of work during my two months with digital, my favourite being for the client BBC. Again, after the two months of this rotation I felt as though I had learnt so much, with a new found digital confidence. One thing I will certainly take away from this rotation is how fun everyone in the digital team is, once I had learnt that I could type with drum and bass in the background on a monday morning and Jazz Thursday, I felt quite at home! My time with digital absolutely flew by, with very fond memories!

Another big event that us grads threw ourselves into was the Christmas panto!! My fellow grad Clare did herself proud with lots of the pre-organising of the event and a finely tuned version of a pantomime horse. Abi also did a fine job of keeping us all under control backstage! Alas, I fear that there will never be another occassion where I can perform both Princess Jasmine and Cheryl Cole. The after party was fantastic, with a really good vibe after an epic panto!

Afer a fab Christmas (oh and getting married) I have now found myself in Corporate, the others have really enjoyed the range of client work and buzzing atmosphere that there is here, so I can’t wait to get stuck in! I will report back to you (before the end of this rotation) I promise.

Last week the Corporate team had the Christmas lunch – I think I was possibly the only person who left their present at home and had to rush out and buy another one. It was a great afternoon as we all hid in a pub from the snow with plenty of..water, honest.

The lovely intern at Corporate also got onto the next intake of Grads for January so I want to extend my congratulations to her – she’s been great to work with and I wish her all the luck the world.

So far whilst working for Edelman I have been in two totally different departments but I have enjoyed the challenges of all of the work. We are now halfway through the Graduate Scheme and we have done two rotations. I have been at Corporate and Digital. These teams differ in clients and type of work – for example at Digital you very rarely pick up the phone to call a jounralist.

At Corporate I have now also had the chance to work on some sport clients which has been very enjoyable, and I hope to carry on working on this in the New Year.

So, off to PA next! It will be a learning experience for me who has not studied Politics before. I have been interested in it, but as David Cameron is my home MP it is from a less objective stand point.

I  hope that everything is going well and that the teams are pleased with my work, especially as I feel I have learnt so much in the past 4 months.

I’ve now been in London for 7 months and it feels like years! Having come here in June to settle in before starting work I feel like I have gotten to know the city better (although there is so much I don’t know – the East, West and North for example!) I definitely think that I have made the right move, and although I miss home and the countryside, London is a great place to be.

I feel that within the Grad Scheme we are looked after and hopefully gaining the experience we need. I am still not sure what area of PR I would like to specialise in but I think that the next two rotations should help me to decide.

So I leave the office in 2009, when I come back it will be a new decade, possibly with a broken leg (I’ve never been skiing before!!). Have a great Christmas break everyone and a merry New Year’s!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this rotation and the experience has definitely reignited my interest in politics that I left behind at A-level and only briefly dabbled in at university with American political science. The team have been fantastic, very patient and supportive, especially when I was off helping with the panto.

I know Abi has already written a little bit about the panto, so all that’s left to say is that it did go fantastically well (even if I do say so myself!) I was responsible for organising all the actors and coordinating rehearsals. The actors were brilliant and I was so proud of what we had achieved. (And loved performing as the Panto horse!) The panto was also a great way to get to know lots of people across different departments. And the party was a lot of fun, the hangover afterwards…not so much.

So a big thank you to PA, and here’s to Healthcare in the new year. Merry Christmas!

A few months ago it as announced that the theme for this year was a pantomine – meaning we were going to be putting on a pantomine – acting, costumes, crew, make up, food the works!

Last night all the hard work paid off – the performance was brilliant and as the last notes of ‘Reach’ boomed out I felt a huge surge of relief. I was doing the stage management (together with my partner in crime Francesca, an intern with the Corporate team) and cueing actors onto the stage, which involved two stressful days of hoping everything would go ok. It did, and the fabulous actors and band received a standing ovation. Everything was brought together by our wonderful directors Jon and Lucy, and the endless working and organisation of Edleman’s finest: Pip, Tori and Vanessa.

I got to see senior members of staff in drag, singing on stage, and dressed as animals! It was surreal but all 60 plus members who got involved came together as one team to produce something we can be proud of – and all in my first few months of working here!

After the panto…was the party! Lots of drinking, dancing and rock band!

Hence why today everyone seems to be feeling a bit on the fuzzy side. I think the adrenaline has finally worn off.

Work wise I have been involved with working on some Shell research together with Starbucks, Get Safe Online and Mitsubishi. It’s great to get to work on all these different clients within the team. I’ve spoken to some of the members of the team about working other clients and they have promised to give me the chance.

I cannot believe there are only two weeks until the end of my Corporate rotation, it’s nearly Christmas (and nearly my holiday) but the weeks are still flying by.

Over the past two weeks there has been quite a bit going on over ths side of the office, and time has gone past very rapidly. The Get Safe Online Summit happened last Monday (I could not sleep on Sunday night hoping everything would go ok), everything seemed to go smoothly. I had spent most of Friday making name badges and had visions of them all being wrong!

This week, I have been selling in for a another client – something a bit different for them, and me – the arts contrasting and mixing with electricals. This is a very interesting project because it is giving me great experience of media relations. I think I have managed to move past my fear of speaking to National newspaper journalists…as long as my script is good.

Speaking of arts, we have been rehearsing for the panto – I have found myself writing stage notes at the rehearsals and chuckling about the impending laughs and fabulous acting! Over in the Corporate department there is a lot of dance talk – so I have high hopes!

A couple of weeks ago the three of us Grads were asked to shoot the new video for the website, and I have to say well done to the former grads who got involed and those who helped out – it looks really great.

I have settled in with the Corporate team now and I’m finding the work easier to get my head round. I’ve been doing little bits for lots of clients, including VisitBritain and Sime Darby, and then bigger bits for Get Safe Online, Starbucks, Reed in Partnership and Mitsubishi.

Whilst I have been here I’ve helped out with the Tweetminster event and hopefully a few more before the end of the year.

We also had some Grad training last week in Crisis Management which sounding fascinating; it would be so interesting to be on the frontline of the breaking stories – some late nights and early mornings though I’m sure.

The next few weeks are going to be hectic with the panto, work and the countdown to Christmas…a month! I’ve managed to buy wrapping paper and a few cards (none of which have been written in), I just need to actually buy the presents now!

On a bit of a sad note it’s Jason Mical’s last day with us today – drinks were great on Friday, going to miss you loads Jason, take care!

All 4 departments that we are rotating through are very different, which makes the work more interesting and challenging, and as I have not gained experience in a lot of PR areas, this is a great way to learn what style of PR suits my skills and personality.

My first week was quite hectic, with two PA events to help out with. The first being Tweetminster, an event held at our offices, which invited three MPs from the three main parties, to discuss the way Twitter and blogging sites now have such a huge impact on parliamentary debate and public opnion. The event was a great success thanks to the event organisers and speakers, we even had Sky News interviewing our CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa whilst the event was going on!

I also helped out at the launch of a new Starbucks store on Conduit Street (just off Regents Street) a fabulous new design store to demonstrate the creative ingenuity of Starbucks’ designers. The event invited attracted lots of media attention and neighbouring businesses and Starbucks’ employees friends and families attended the event too.  Again this event was a huge success with many people commenting on how much they loved the new look store.

My work in PA, like Corporate, is also challenging and very interesting, and so I very much look forward to the next few weeks, especially as I am performing in the Christmas panto, the details of which I shall save for my next blog…

I am now in the Corporate Department which is extremely different to Digital. I jumped into work on the Get Safe Online summit, Starbucks, Mitsubishi, Sime Darby and Reed in Partnership. I was following my fellow grad Clare into the department so had to take over from where she left off. It took almost all of the first week for me to get my head around it all.

On the first Friday I found myself selling in a story for one of the clients and helping with the organisation of an event with another. I am now into my second week with the team, and although the work load is quite heavy at the moment I have found the work challenging and enjoyable. It is also nice that there is an intern, Francesca opposite me on the pod, we can share any problems and difficulties we are have with the work. I just hope that I am completing the work to their satisfaction.

The team have really welcomed me and have certainly given me plenty of work to do. I am looking forward to seeing what else I will get the chance to be involved in before Christmas. This week and next are going to be busy ones!

The Christmas panto is also coming along well, I have be assigned to take notes on stage management at the rehearsals – so desperately trying to read the script before the first one! Hopefully it will all come together at the end, although there is going to be lots to do in the next month.

I cannot believe how fast the last 10 weeks have gone past – its going to be Christmas in 6 weeks..!!

Despite having to whip out the old GCSE  ’flowcharts’ to remind myself of what on earth insulin actually was, I have learnt so much during my time in Health-care. However, on Friday it was time to bid a fond farewell to those in Health-care; there was an emotional exchange of gifts, during which I acquired a Canadian moose. Friday was also a fantastic day for the grads fundraiser, we raised £286 for breast cancer through our ‘WEAR IT PINK’ day, we are so grateful for your donations! 

Post health care, it is nothing short of a miracle that I have not left the department a ‘ten tonne tessie’ I have never been surrounded by so many treats, I have been been part of the digital team for 1 hour and 27 minutes and already feel as though I am on detox…

So now I am part of my new team, the digital department, who have quite the fun reputation!! Abi massively enjoyed her time here, so I am excited about embarking on my new digital path and very grateful for the crib sheet of everyone’s names that Tori has just given me. However, I fear digital may have their work cut out with me. I held out for as long as possible to join facebook and pledged never to be seen on twitter, needless to say I am on it now, but only in secret. Nevertheless, perhaps in my next blog I will converted to the wonderful world of social media and all it’s glories?  Until then, Adios.

Work wise I have been given new things to work on, as well as still carrying out daily reports and monitoring. Anna, my line manager even asked if there was anything I thought I wasn’t getting to work on.

The build up to the Christmas party is beginning to get into flow. I have volunteered to be part of the stage management team – this is the chance for me to be involved as much as possible without being on stage (get a bit of stage fright!). On Friday we had a sort of rehearsal party. This was in the theme of Pirates (a not so secret love of one of the Spook team). We got dressed up and took part in a treasure hunt. This I am pleased to say we won – after an extremely loud rendition of ‘What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” I suspect that the image of people racing through the office dressed as pirates searching for items was extremely amusing, as well as a little bit weird!

I am now getting to do more challenging things, using many tools that I will use in the future for research and reports in other practices. I’m getting to dip into the big consumer clients as well as tech and healthcare ones on a daily basis.

Heather, Clare and I have announced that we will be wanting everyone to think pink on 30th October, with more details to follow as we get closer. This is our first separate project so fingers crossed it all goes well.

Last week we got some great feedback out our work in the teams, which has really boosted my confidence, just hope I can keep it up!