Adelaide University Internships - Gilianne Restor
Welcome Gilianne!
Gilianne Restor has joined the Media and Communications Team for her Adelaide University Undergraduate Professions Internship which began on the 22 March 2023, and finished on the 17 May 2023.
Gilianne completed a 100-hour internship onsite, 15 hours a week for approximately 8 weeks around her responsibilities with her university studies. A portfolio of Gillianne's media articles created for the SAcommunity service can be found >>here.
Personal Biography
Personal Biography
Gilianne is a final-year undergraduate student at the University of Adelaide, pursuing a Bachelor of Media with a focus on Visual Design. She currently also works in customer service at a call centre, with over three years of experience in this team-based environment.
A digital creator, she produces music videos and photo content which combine her passion for video editing and design, with her music interests (guitar, vocal), along with photography, taken as an elective in her undergraduate studies. Distributing the content in various formats (MP3, MP4 etc.) across a range of media channels including YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
A digital creator, she produces music videos and photo content which combine her passion for video editing and design, with her music interests (guitar, vocal), along with photography, taken as an elective in her undergraduate studies. Distributing the content in various formats (MP3, MP4 etc.) across a range of media channels including YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
Drawn to the the creative side of things, Gillian aims to gain work experience in the SAcommunity Media and Communication Team at Connecting Up. She plans to broaden and experiment with her knowledge by learning new things, connecting with her peers, and expanding her network of media professionals.
In the future, Gilianne aspires to work in design and video editing, specifically as a video editor for film/television, and for a graphic design company. Intending to pursue her Masters degree after completing her undergraduate studies, she also plans to teach at university after gaining further experience in the film and design industry.
Image: Infoxchange People and Culture Online Lunch and Learn meeting 17 May 2023 - with cake!
Eric Jenkins, Account Manager, Volunteer Camille Sze Pui Ko, Intern Jordana Izquierdo, Chloe Le, Marketing Coordinator, Volunteer Stathis Avramis, Rob Kalka, Business Development Manager, Intern Ada Wing Yi Wong, and Intern Gilianne Restor + Infoxchange online
Work Experience
Infoxchange People & Culture Sessions
Volunteers and interns are encouraged to become involved with Infoxchange online activities to learn more about their people, activities and the organisation as a whole. Infoxchange has offices across Adelaide (Connecting Up), Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia and in New Zealand, with staff operating on a hybrid onsite/offsite model and as a technology based not-for-profit .
In order to connect and engage employees, the People and Culture (HR) Team run regular online Lunch and Learn meetings on topics of interest, from social issues, current projects, services and products, to introducing various sectors/divisions which are open to attend by all staff, Gilliane attended the session (above) on Wednesday 17 May 2023. To maintain communication across the organisation, there are also weekly information emails via Yammer, and the CEO David Spriggs provides a weekly update on social issues, activities and events from across the organisation each Friday.
Connecting Up Monthly Staff Meetings
Image: Infoxchange People and Culture Online Lunch and Learn meeting 17 May 2023 - with cake!Eric Jenkins, Account Manager, Volunteer Camille Sze Pui Ko, Intern Jordana Izquierdo, Chloe Le, Marketing Coordinator, Volunteer Stathis Avramis, Rob Kalka, Business Development Manager, Intern Ada Wing Yi Wong, and Intern Gilianne Restor + Infoxchange online
Work Experience
Infoxchange People & Culture Sessions
Volunteers and interns are encouraged to become involved with Infoxchange online activities to learn more about their people, activities and the organisation as a whole. Infoxchange has offices across Adelaide (Connecting Up), Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia and in New Zealand, with staff operating on a hybrid onsite/offsite model and as a technology based not-for-profit .
In order to connect and engage employees, the People and Culture (HR) Team run regular online Lunch and Learn meetings on topics of interest, from social issues, current projects, services and products, to introducing various sectors/divisions which are open to attend by all staff, Gilliane attended the session (above) on Wednesday 17 May 2023. To maintain communication across the organisation, there are also weekly information emails via Yammer, and the CEO David Spriggs provides a weekly update on social issues, activities and events from across the organisation each Friday.
Connecting Up Monthly Staff Meetings
Gilianne participated online in the Connecting Up staff meeting held 19 April 2023 with Adelaide staff members, volunteers, and other interns attending either onsite or remotely. She listened attentively at the team meeting and learnt about the positive impact Connecting Up has made, by providing technology products at low cost and discounted training webinars for the benefit of NFP organisations. She also had the chance to hear about each business team's progress over the previous month and their plans to enhance their impact for the charity and NFP sector over the coming month.
Intern Gilianne Restor interviewing the Lyndoch Social Dancing and Lessons Coordinator
Media and Communication Project - Storytelling articles and Media releases for the Not-For-Profit Sector
As part of the Media and Communication Team, Gilianne has been working on writing stories about local charity and not-for-profit organisations and how they help the community of South Australia. Bringing people together based on the services they provide to assist people's immediate needs, as well as those organisations that foster people's interests and passions and help them participate in their community.
Image: Intern Gilianne Restor practicing her telephone techniques with the assistance of Volunteer Rex Porter
Telephone Techniques
Gilianne's tasks involved making phone calls and sending emails to various organisations requesting permission for media releases or interviews, in order to publish their stories and promote their upcoming events. In order to complete these tasks, she was provided with Telephone Techniques training which included email templates, a telephone script, and an interview guide used in tandem with a skills training overview from Volunteer David Webb and practice scenarios with Volunteer Rex Porter. The interview guide provides a series of prompts on asking how the organisation began, and how people became involved, as well as how the service helps the community and any upcoming activities and events for interviews with organisations over softphone or Microsoft Teams.
Image: Intern Gilianne Restor assisting student Stephanie Hoi Ching Wu as part of peer-to-peer capacity building
Media Tech Tools
Gilianne was introduced to a variety of media technology tools during her internship, such as communication tools Office365 for emails, 3cx Softphone for phone interviews, and Microsoft Teams for use in Staff/Team meetings and/or media interviews, and the Media and Communication Team channel, hosting media content planner, media templates (requests, interviews, follow-up) article drafts, as well as Slack for daily communication.
Gilianne used the templates available find, gather, interview, compose and collate storytelling articles, along with images to help promote community organisations on the SAcommunity website and repost her stories across Instagram and Facebook. She was able to apply her prior knowledge of Canva graphic design platform plus a few new skills learnt from Connecting Up webinars to create suitable images for her events calendar and eNewsletter created in BeePro for release in Campaign Monitor. She was then able to assist another student Hoi Ching Wu in using these tools to create her story.
Storytelling Articles
Interns are encouraged to start their first story on a community group, topic or cause that is important to them, starting with a familiar subject to pave the way for future stories on new organisations. Giliannes favourite sport is badminton, so she was able to share her interest in a storytelling article to encourage others to join the sport. She also interviewed Sharon Riggs, the secretary of Badminton SA, the peak body for Badminton in South Australia, to find out more about their activities and how they support the sport, sharing her article across the SAcommunity website blog and social media channels: Facebook, Instagram and the June issue of SAcommunity eNews.
A portfolio of all the stories and media releases Gilianne has published on the SAcommunity blog can be found >>here and includes: Badminton, ever played? Lyndoch Lunch & Tea Dances, The SA Wooden Boat Festival, Unley's Cross Stitch Workshop, and Grassroots Grants these blog posts are the central stories from which all the associated social media channel posts, SAcommunity Events Calendars, and SAcommunty eNews articles emanate.
SAcommunity eNews
The blog stories written and monthly calendars published by the SAcommunity Media and Communications Team are collated for the release of the monthly eNews. This email campaign is designed in BeePro, an email design suite for export to Campaign Monitor, email marketing software.
Gillianne collated stories from the team for the June Events Calendar and then explored and used BeePro to collate stories and images for the SAcommunity June eNews. Using Canva to create her own designs to improve the overall eNewsletter design, creating an informative and beautiful eNews for June 2023.
Image: Eric Jenkins, Account Manager, Products, Services & Tech, Connecting Up and Intern Gilianne Restor
Mentor Meeting
Mentor meetings are an opportunity for mentees to select a member of the Infoxchange staff for a session in which they can explore educational and career options, obtain advice on professional growth, and gain perspectives on pathways and connections. Gilianne chose Eric Jenkins, Account Manager at Connecting Up as her mentor for the mentor meeting held 31 March 2023 to discover more about his pathway to employment, his current role, and his advice regarding success strategies at work.
Eric Jenkins began working for Connecting up in 2015, and, after two years of employment with the Customer Support team, transitioned into the role of Account Manager, Products, Services and Tech with the Business Development Team in 2017. He is in charge of managing the connections that Connecting Up has with particular clients, including company and local business suppliers, organisation partners and key charity and not-for-profit customers.
His work involves attaining both customer demands and corporate objectives by acting as a conduit for communication between the clients and the organisation. Eric has all-encompassing knowledge about Connecting Up, delivering high level customer service with a view to develop and support long-term customer relationships, and he is the go-to person for challenging inquiries.
His work involves attaining both customer demands and corporate objectives by acting as a conduit for communication between the clients and the organisation. Eric has all-encompassing knowledge about Connecting Up, delivering high level customer service with a view to develop and support long-term customer relationships, and he is the go-to person for challenging inquiries.
Gilianne and Eric discussed the following career-based topics:
1) What does it take to be a successful career professional/media and marketing professional?
1) What does it take to be a successful career professional/media and marketing professional?
2) What is an account manager’s opinion on visual and graphic design from a marketing perspective?
3) How have you learnt to become more resilient in the workplace, particularly with multiple challenging or changing demands, and what strategies do you use?
3) How have you learnt to become more resilient in the workplace, particularly with multiple challenging or changing demands, and what strategies do you use?
4) What attributes are employers/recruiters looking for, and
5) What are the most important traits to develop for career success?
5) What are the most important traits to develop for career success?
Gilianne’s 5 takeaways from her mentor meeting with Eric were as follows:
1) To be a successful career professional in an NFP, it's important to work to an ethics code/code of conduct. Maintain your ethical principles and behaviour by always being appropriate to customers and other employees who work in your industry, and use this to align the work you do everyday. Setting the ethical tone will be very beneficial in any workplace, regardless of the industry or individuals you work with. Eric described how his role involves marketing to not-for-profit organisations where it is important to prioritise the values and needs of his customers. Therefore when considering media marketing, while fear-based marketing and emotion-based targeting may generally yield positive results in other markets, they are not suitable in this NFP sector, where creating beneficial relationships and a harmonius workplace environment are more important.
2) From a marketing perspective, visual design plays an important role in creating brand identity, establishing a visual market presence, conveying a consistent message and engaging the target audience. My future aspirations are to become a graphic designer and/or video editor, and Eric explained the importance of developing strong communication skills and understanding and interpreting the clients' requirements as well as the target audience. These are key factors in achieving success in the creative industry, as the process involves continuous collaboration and communication with clients. Changes are constantly made, some elements are added or removed all up until the customer is satisfied with the finished product, this is the reality of working in the creative industry and I must keep this in mind.
3) Eric related how with multiple work challenges and demands, burnout can happen, and there are strategies people can use to mitigate or prevent it. He explained that although it seems like common knowledge, breaks are important and individuals need to frequently simply take a step back, breathe and absorb everything at a slower pace. As I approach my final year of university and balance paid work, classes and an internship, I have learnt that the importance of building-in strategies for taking even small breaks in my timetable, to foster resilience and simplify the tasks ahead of me.
4) In our discussion, Eric and I talked about how employers in the media industry are actively seeking people who prioritise team development, collaboration and continuous learning. While graphic design and video editing (post-directing fields) involve independent work, the media industry thrives on teamwork and the ability to contribute to, engage with, and learn from, a team of individuals is highly valued. It is crucial to allow a professional to grow intellectually, increase your level of knowledge and expertise, and maintain an open mind to new possibilities, all traits sought after by recruiters in this field.
5) The most important traits to develop for career success are a combination of hard skills and soft skills. Eric outlined that while soft skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving are important, hard skills are equally vital to develop, and it is highly appealing for employers if you can demonstrate proficiency in the various relevant software applications relevant to the field you are interested in working with.
For example, I am aware that in the media industry, tools such as the Adobe suite online design and editing tools (i.e. photoshop), 3D modelling programs, and other relevant technologies are important. While the learning curve is steep, it is essential to invest the time, effort and dedication required to master these technical skills, recognising that although learning how to use this software will not be quick and easy, it will be worthwhile and this strong foundation will enhance my chances of success in the workplace.
Team Building: Volunteers Yang Jiao and Jiahon Su with Interns Sarthak Jain and Gilianne Restor at lunchtime table tennis 
Training and Education
Gilianne gained an understanding of media in not-for-profit organisations from her onsite training as well as informative webinars from the Connecting Up Digital Learning Platform, an online learning service for training and growth that offers a variety of useful live and recorded webinars, workshops, and web conferences.
Gilianne's interests in design and content growth were the primary focus of the courses she has chosen as part of her internship schedule. Gilianne watched webinars primarily on design and how to "conquer" social media by making the most of it. A variety of subject-matter experts who also have in-depth knowledge of not-for-profits offer training webinars that students can use to help them with their SAcommunity media projects as they plan and create stories and blogs for their selected not-for-profit community organisations.
Weekly Webinars:
Some of the webinars selected by Gilianne for her internship training included:
Some of the webinars selected by Gilianne for her internship training included:
Become Canva King or Queen by Kat Lees
Webinar Recording: Adobe InDesign for Beginners by Ryan Jones
How to Design for Change using Canva by Robyn King
Interns Stephanie Hoi Ching Wu, Ada Wing Yi Wong, Nicole Cheng, Rhea Rao, Volunteer Stathis Avramis, Intern Gilianne Restor and Jordana Izquierdo and Volunteer Camille Sze Pui Ko
"As I am wrapping up my very first internship, Connecting Up has been such an incredible experience. I am extremely thankful for everyone's encouragement and am pleased to have completed my university internship here. I look up to our host supervisor since she made sure that everyone acquired something out of this internship, made good use of their time, and felt at ease at work. Writing articles and blogs was an enjoyable endeavour for me, and I also enjoyed using Canva to produce infographics. Most significantly, my position as a Media & Communications Intern allowed me to interact with people in the community and at Infoxchange. I am looking forwards to using my knowledge and skills when I join the world of work.”
Intern Gilianne Restor, Rhea Rao, Stephanie Hoi Ching Wu, Sarthak Jain, Jay Tayiana and Ada Wing Yi Wong
