I was told early on during my internship at Paternoster about a face to face ‘team day’ at the time we signed the lease on our new office in WC1. As we got nearer the day, I learned that this wouldn’t only be the first day many actually met in person, but it also included guests and a training session. I found myself counting down the days until I could come into an office and actually meet those whom I had been working with for the past several weeks.
Finally, the day rolled around, and we all headed towards Tottenham Court Road en route to 55 New Oxford St. Knowing everyone on friendly terms from weekly Teams catch-ups before I attended helped, and being trained later that day by industry veteran Neil Boom on the art of writing press releases was something to look forward to.
Sharing the opportunity to be taught by Neil, Paternoster invited two guests who joined our training day; Felicity, a UCL student studying Linguistics and a member of the Taylor Bennett foundation, and Pippa; a first-class History MA from University of Edinburgh. Meeting everyone from those just interested in PR to the firm’s founder and MD on the same day – and getting on well with them all no less – really brought alive what Paternoster is about.
Our two guests threw themselves into this group session. I will let them speak about their experiences of the first Paternoster training day:
“As someone starting out in the PR industry and an aspiring PR practitioner, I found the training session by Neil really helpful… I have learnt the key characteristics of a successful press release and what to avoid. I also learnt more about how the media landscape plays into this and how to make this work in your favour. I feel much more confident now going into my internship that I have the knowledge necessary to draft a good press release! Visiting Paternoster was a wonderful experience. I felt very welcomed by the whole team and I had a great time following a workshop there. I look forward to more training sessions in the future!” – Felicity
“As a fresh graduate myself exploring different career paths, indeed, my day spent at Paternoster only fuelled my interest in PR. Neil Boom’s ‘How to write a Press Release’ presentation provided us with valuable insights: varying from what to expect in the typical day of a journalist, to how to craft our own stand-out headlines. Everyone in the room was positively encouraged by Neil to have their voices heard. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience that day at Paternoster, where the intelligence, creativity and friendly environment in the office was infectious.” – Pippa
The day was a real humdinger. Skills were shared that benefit employees and the firm, and relationships were formed that will be maintained in the future. Sharing information and experiences with others outside of immediate employees is central to the firm’s ethos and I look forward to working regularly in the office with my new ‘real life’ colleagues.