FD Beachhead has been my induction into PR – Bongiwe Seeti

I my quest to getting the people behind the scenes within industry PR agencies celebrated, today am chatting to Bongiwe Seeti who shares her role within FD Beachhead…

What is your position at FD Beachhead?
I am an Account Executive working on a variety of clients and being support to the Account Manager and Account Director.

How long have you been with the agency?
It has been over two years, two years and eight months to be exact, since I started at FD.

What were you doing before joining FD Beachhead?
I was a full-time student studying Public Relations Management at the University of Johannesburg.

Tell us about your typical day in the office?
My day starts at 08h30, I catch up with the news, and making sure as advisors to our clients we are aware of what is happening in the world. This assists in being able to monitor news relating to our clients’ scope of work and act accordingly and timeously. Once that is done I attend to client work and make sure deadlines are met.

What have been your highlight(s) since joining FD Beachhead?
Joining FD has been the highlight of my career as working there has been my induction into the PR and media relations world.

What do you like or don’t like about your job?
To be honest, there is really nothing I don’t like about my job. I especially like interacting with media and as a company we enjoy good working relationship with the media.  Also between all my colleagues we have expertise spanning different areas, for example Investor Relations, Financial Public Relations and Crisis Communication and I am able to call on them to assist.

What is your long term goal within the agency?
To be able to work with diverse clients representing different sectors, learning from my colleagues on how to be better and better at what I do. And to build on our travel and tourism client base – we already do work for the Destination Marketing Organization for South Africa and our knowledge can be useful to the private tourism organizations.

Who is your role model and why?
FD Beachhead’s Managing Director, Jennifer Cohen. The way she advises and works closely with clients is valuable and impactful. She has gained her vast knowledge through many years’ of experience in this industry and the work she delivers is still relevant and innovative.

How do you use the internet to improve your work?
It assists with researching of projects and verifying information. It is also the best way to keep up with news without having to move from my PC.

What do like and don’t like about industry blogs like travelwires.com?
I like the immediate nature of industry blogs. They serve as tools to inform your client on what the consumer thinks of travel and this assists in customizing/honing your advice to client.