I discovered GlobCom in 2015, during my third year of studying public relations at Curtin University. I was undertaking the Cross Cultural Communications unit when my lecturer introduced the project to us and I was keen to find out more. I was told that GlobCom was an international project where university students from across the world come together, digitally and physically, and create a comprehensive public relations plan for a real life international client. In 2015, the real life client was WWF Malaysia and the brief was to create a public relations plan for the Heart of Borneo campaign. The idea behind joining a project to create something with a non-profit organisation that I had supported for years became even more attractive when I realised that I could put my learning to the test. I also loved the fact that I would be able to meet and interact with new people from every corner of the globe, with whom I shared the same interests and passions. My team had participants from Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and more. We had a team meeting on Skype every Sunday evening and our very proactive team leader would allocate tasks to us all.

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The hurdles we had to overcome were practical, in that we had to find a time that would suit around a dozen different time zones, but also philosophical, as we all had different ideas of what the different elements of the plan should be, and even what public relations means.  These challenges were difficult at the time but retrospectively, enabled my team and I to get a more holistic view of public relations, as we worked together to create our own meaning of public relations. Although participating in GlobCom was challenging as I had to juggle it with part time work and full time studies, it greatly assisted me through my Cross Cultural Communication unit. I was able to link theory with practice and felt like I had a deeper insight to global public relations thanks to the marriage of these two things.

 

Three months and many Skype Sundays later, the project came to a close. Curtin University (Sarawak) hosted the GlobCom 2015 symposium, where students from the 15 participating universities were invited to attend and take part in a three-day learning experience. I was travelling to Europe at the end of that month and was disappointed that I would not be able to find the funds to attend the symposium as I had felt that it would be the cherry on top of what had been a very rewarding cake. My lecturer announced that Curtin University’s School of Marketing will be funding up to 10 students’ trips to the symposium which was dependent on a written application. I was approved for funding and only a couple of weeks later, I boarded a Kuala Lumpur bound plane with my best friend and team mate. The symposium was, to date, the best experience of my life.

 

I got the chance to meet my team mates from across the globe and to see so many new faces, some who have become my lifelong friends. We were immersed in cross cultural communication, as we discussed pressing world issues, learned new words in German and Portuguese, and ate lots of delicious Malaysian food. We also got to see everyone’s hard work pay off, as students from the top three teams presented their public relations plan for a panel of judges, which included the client. We also watched interesting panels which discussed international public relations, specifically, and globalisation generally.

 

The symposium was an amazing conclusion to GlobCom and I left feeling inspired and fulfilled. The opportunity to participate in GlobCom was unparalleled to any other learning experience I had. I was able to learn about cross cultural communication and then practice it on Skype a few days later. Studying the Cross Cultural Communication unit while participating in GlobCom helped to put things in perspective and allowed me to understand different points of view. I walked away from the unit and the project with a more rounded view of public relations and I felt richer for it.

 

Note: Stav returned again in 2016 as an extracurricular GlobCom participant.

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Stav Pisk, personal reflection, June 2017