Chantal Riley aims for the events division at PR Worx
09. Jun, 2009
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Trail blazing public relations company, PR Worx recently secured Qatar Airways‘ account under stiff competition from other industry players, how much do we know about the people handling the various accounts within this communications firm? Today I chat to one of their team members, Chantal Riley who takes us through the behind the scenes and declares her career goals…
What is your position at PR Worx?
I am an account manager and deal with lifestyle and leisure portfolios including Qatar Airways.
How long have you been with the agency?
Almost 3 and ½ years
What were you doing before joining PR Worx?
I was completing my honours degree in Marketing Communication
Tell us about your typical day in the office?
A typical day involves general client interaction, writing releases for clients, media liaison, and maybe a status meeting or two depending on the day.
What have been your highlight(s) since joining PR Worx?
When you work on putting a strategy together for a client and they sign based on your ideas that is a definite highlight. I am also extremely proud when I meet my own personal goals in terms of getting media coverage for clients and creating successful events for them. To give you an example, The Baby Expo, Africa’s largest and most successful parenting and child expo, is also a client in my portfolio. The team and I recently generated over R13-million worth of free publicity for their Johannesburg expo whereas their previous agency was only able to generate R1,3 million press coverage for the same event, the previous year.
What do you like or don’t like about your job?
I love the fact that everyday is different, it might be doing the same things but there is always a different angle to pursue. I’m very much a people-person so I also enjoy being able to interact with clients, media and suppliers. I work with a great team of people – we work hard and we play hard!
What is your long term goal within the agency?
I’d like to continue to grow within PR Worx and become an account director. I’d also like to see us expand on our event arm and head up that division for the company.
Who is your role model and why?
Bobbie Houston from Hillsong Church in Australia. She just gives 110% to everything that she is involved in whether it is personal or professional. She does what she loves and loves what she does.
How do you use the internet to improve your work?
The internet is great way to search for information, have a look at what clients’ competitors are doing and get some ideas for stories. Is also a great medium for generating coverage for clients which many agencies do not take advantage of.
What do like and don’t like about industry blogs like travelwires.com?
Like I said the Internet is a great medium for generating coverage and blogs are one of the ways in which to do so. Many people follow blogs and so they are fast becoming an imperative source of information.
NEXT WEEK: The spotlight is on Bongiwe Seeti from FD Beachhead.
My name is Muzi Mohale a full-time travel blogger, your host at Travelwires.com responsible for all editorial on this blog. I blog about the travel and tourism industry in Africa. Apart from blogging about tourism, I also run 
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