On Monday morning, some Ranger Media Arts program participants paid a visit to the Communications trailer. There, they had a chat with PR and Media heads Carrie and Laurie, as well as the  Travel and Visitors centre head, Ming. While there, the Rangers observed and asked some questions to gain a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes at GM.

Question: What is in the Communications trailer?

Answer: Public Relations heads Carrie and Laurie work in the trailer, as well as Travel and Visitors head, Ming.

Q: What does your job entail?

A: Since Carrie and Laurie head public relations and camp media, they are responsible for sending media to camp as well as bringing media in. They are also in charge of creating a media advisory, which is a write-up that is sent out to the public about 2 days in advance (before weekends) sharing information about camp.

At this point in the interview, a reporter from French CBC Radio called, requesting an interview about camp life. A challenge that was brought to light was that a fluent French-speaking girl was needed fast. In order for the interview to be taped (easier than doing it live), it had to be recorded by mid-day.

Q: Is monitoring the GM social media accounts part of your job?

A: Carrie and Laurie run the GM Flickr account. The rest of the social media accounts are monitored by another team.

Q: Why do you use Flickr?

A: Flickr is a media that displays photos that are “more professional.” The main purpose of the GM Flickr account is to highlight samples of these photos for the media to pick up on and want to bring GM to the public eye. Carrie and Laurie also shared that when posting photos, a PR group must think of what sells pictures and stories to newspapers. From many years of experience, they shared that news groups tend to prefer featuring action shots, as well as photos with people in them.

Q: How many photos would be typically sent for a media release?

A: It depends on the content you’re sharing. For example, on a recent media release, three different photos were sent to local media, but different groups chose to feature different photos.

Q: What would be an example of a recent GM media release?

A: The most recent story produced from the GM PR team was an explanation of opening ceremonies and all the events surrounding it. This, again, is to pique  interest in the media about GM.

Q: What kind of hours do you work?

A: Hours for a PR person are long, late, and odd. Carrie and Laurie shared with us that yesterday was an 18 hour day for them due to news groups contacting them about GM, which can become quite stressful.

Tip from Carrie and Laurie: Always look after yourself, no matter what field you are in. Set aside a time every day to check in with yourself and do something that you want to do.

Q: If we’re all inside camp, why is it important to spread the word about GM in the outside world?

A: Obviously, promoting GM is also an opportunity to promote Girl Guides, and the amazing things happening inside GM. Courageous girls are pushing personal boundaries, proving that girls can indeed do anything they put their mind to.

Tip from Carrie and Laurie: Include Guiding on your resume. Employers connect important values such as work ethic, demand, and respect with Guiding.

At this point, we turned the spotlight on Ming, the head of Travel and Visitors, to ask a few questions.

Q: What kind of travel do you look after?

A: Ming takes care of arrival and departure of the many patrols and core crew to/from GM.

Q: What sort of challenges do you face in your field?

A: Challenges include flights not being booked in time, figuring out how many meals would be needed for Core Crew before camp, as well as the many emails Ming receives on the daily.

Q: What is the largest group you’ve accommodated for GM?

A: Ming claims the largest group — 117 girls and guiders from Manitoba — was the easiest to deal with. All Manitoba patrols travelled to GM together on the same flight. There were no mistakes on any documents, which very much impressed her.

Q: Are you in charge of organizing Visitor’s Day? If so, how many people can be accommodated?

A: As many people as needed can be accommodated, provided visitors show up at set times for one of four camp tours, which are each 90 minutes in length. Visitor’s Day is completely free and open to the public.

We thank Carrie and Laurie from the PR Team and Ming from the Travel and Visitor Centre for giving us insight into their roles at camp. If you see these ladies around camp, be sure to say hi and thank them for helping to make GM 2016 great!