Geoff Moffett leads a busy life as a freelance communications consultant and SIT2LRN facilitator, and he is also currently completing his own post-graduate study through SIT2LRN.
With a wide background in media and public relations (PR), Geoff’s career spans four decades in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom in newspapers, radio, and magazines.
However a career in communications was not initially on his radar. While Geoff’s favourite subjects at school were English and history, he didn’t have any real idea of what he wanted to do when he left school.
“In my last year at Nelson College I went on a career’s seminar to Wellington, looking at a variety of potential jobs. One of the visits was to Wellington Polytechnic’s journalism school, then in its very early days. That just piqued my interest. News and writing! It all clicked, and I got a place in the next year’s intake.”
His entry in media began with a cadetship at the Nelson Evening Mail, and he has enjoyed a diverse PR career with various roles for national and multi-national companies and organisations in fields such as finance and automotive, mining and energy, government and education.
“I ventured into PR, initially lured by better money. PR writing led to corporate roles in various companies, mostly in Sydney,” he said.
“Understanding how both media and PR work helps with facilitating a communications degree course where PR practitioners and media share a symbiotic, if sometimes cynical, relationship.”
This wide-ranging experience is invaluable when it comes to facilitating five Bachelor of Professional Communication (BPC) papers, providing a valuable base of knowledge that SIT2LRN students can now draw on as they develop and enhance their skills, he said.
Geoff was introduced to SIT2LRN by two facilitators and long-time friends, Annabel Schuler and Robert Horrocks, who felt he would be an ideal fit as a facilitator for the programme.
“I now facilitate several BPC papers which all relate to my public relations and journalism experience. It’s a key part of my work these days as a freelance communications consultant.
“I thoroughly enjoy the SIT2LRN work. I ‘meet’ students from all walks and stages of life, who are motivated to take up study, or return to it for the first time in years. It’s satisfying if I’m able to help them achieve their objectives.”
Becoming a student again himself, studying a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Management, was also bringing benefits to the students he was facilitating, he said. “It’s a real eye-opener, reminding me of the realities of being a student while dealing with all of life’s other pressures. Believe me, I do empathise!”
“It’s a busy life being a facilitator, a student – and operating my one-man freelance communications business. I take on various business marketing and communications/PR projects with a few regular clients. I’m also close to finishing writing a commissioned book on an historic South Canterbury property and I write a monthly car column and occasional features for a Nelson-based magazine.
Yes, there’s lots of juggling going on, but there’s rarely a dull moment and that’s good!”