are you getting the social balance right?

Plan and research, by all means. But don't overdo the hard sell in social channels. It's about earning the right to sell.

by Dan Slee

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for comms planning and having a purpose.

If the aim is to do something then it makes sense to have your comms pointing at that.

The only thing is that social media isn't like that. It's social. So, a stream of call-to-action updates just won't work. It's as social as a stream of flyers being pushed through your letterbox.

So, what's the answer?

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telling truth to power: don’t flinch

The problem with blowing whistles is, it can mean everything stops, or something wrong is about to be put right, or a journey is about to start – or you are about to climb up out of the trench and face murderous machine-gun fire. The trick is to ensure you get the first three and never the evil fourth.

By Alan Taman

Dan Slee wrote that whistleblowing should be a part of the pr contract. Well, yes it should. But I would argue that in talking truth to power, and not being cut down for it, there are several things that need to happen before you even get to the point of putting whistle to lips. Without any of them, you can hear those hammers being primed. It’s only a question of time. And they are all about perspective – how the senior people see you, and see comms.

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what a cop show teaches us about comms

As communicators we are surrounded by learning opportunities. But can we learn about comms from a TV show? One communicator thinks so.

by Darren Caveney

Now I love film and tv. I mean love. Mrs C, in our early days of ‘courting’, once made the mistake of asking me what my favourite film was. 20 minutes later I had drawn up a top 50 for her. I was pleased with my work, she should have realised right then that she was dating an anorak.

But TV can be just as special as film. By TV I don’t mean most of the dirge that gets thrown our way in the name of entertainment. No, I mean the seriously good stuff – The Wire, The West Wing, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad. I’ve seen them all.

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why jamie from the thick of it is my pr hero

Who is your PR hero? For one comms person who has left the industry to return to journalism its the unlikely face of a supporting character from a BBC satire.

by Gurdip Thandi

When you think of The Thick Of It, Armando Iannucci’s peerless satire of a Government department, it’s nigh on impossible to get away from the character of Malcolm Tucker.

Played superbly by Peter Capaldi, Tucker is the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications or, in reality, his henchman. A vicious enforcer who spits, snarls and terrifies ministers, officers and the media through four series and three specials.

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a lesson from parliament: blogs and forums matter

Chances are as a public sector organisation you have content. Masses of it. The trick is to know how to shape the content to get it out.

by Dan Slee

So, there I am looking out of the window at Big Ben and I'm recalling a punch-up that took place in Walsall four years ago.

It was a right hum-dinger of a scrap. An epic barney. It took place at the first Hyperwm at a session between bloggers and press officers to work out what that relationship should look like.

In the blue corner, bloggers thought there was no point in talking to press officers as they'd 'all be out of jobs soon.'

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twitter chat: Have your say on local government social media advice

We're helping the LGA draw-up some useful advice for local government and social media. We want you to help too between 1pm and 2pm on Thursday October 9.

by Dan Slee

One of the things that's close to my heart it is how social media in local government.

It's fired my imagination since I started working with it back in 2008 and I know it fires my long time colleague Darren Caveney too.

It can connect, listen, talk, explain and communicate with a whole raft of people who wouldn't otherwise think of talking with local government.

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up for the cup: september's most popular posts

September. A season of mellow fruitfulness. And back-to-work after holidays. But what was our most popular post?

by Dan Slee

It's a bit like New Year for the working man and woman, isn't it? You're back after holidays and there's a clean slate.

Back to school, back to work and if only you could start afresh with a new teacher and swap your current hopeless manager for someone different.

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urgent: stop firefighting you're not helping anyone

You're good at firefighting? Stop. You're not helping yourself.

by Dan Slee 

Comms people are too good for their own good and it’s going to be their downfall.

Too good?

Too good at fire fighting, pulling people out of holes and working wonders in almost no time and zero budget.

Let me explain the point I’m trying to make.

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post-its and death, tax discs and behavioural science: how #commsforchange14 made me a better comms person

#CommsForChange14 was created to be a leading event for communications professionals dealing with change in the public sector today.  But how did it pan out as a learning experience?

By Darren Caveney

We are often told that change is the new constant. But I have been communicating change ever since I entered the industry about a hundred years ago. You’ll be exactly the same. Change isn’t new and neither is communicating it.

So, we should be really good at it by now? Err, actually, not necessarily so.

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#commsforchange14: in doodles

We staged the #commsforchange14 event in Birmingham last week. There was a lorry load of learning. Here's a few thoughts and a few doodles.

by Dan Slee with doodle from Karen Jeal

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we think that worked alright, didn't it?

Our first #commsforchange14 event was staged in Birmingham last week and was by all accounts quite a success.

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a musical interlude: 11 ways bands can be better at social media

Being in a band has never easier thanks to social media, right? All a band needs for success these days is a page on Facebook and a Twitter profile and they’ll be headlining Wembley in no time, right? Erm, no. One digital comms bod – and guitar playing future rock god – explains why, when it comes to social media, it’s a long way to the top…if you wanna rock and roll.

by Dave Musson 

Ah, social media. The sure-fire tool for a band to go in the blink of an eye from unknown to unable to walk down the street without being mobbed. Upload a couple of songs, watch it go viral and then ditch the day job for a life of sex, drugs and rock n roll.

That’s what some people might think, but it’s really not that easy.

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help us help the lga shape social media in local government

We're hugely excited to be helping to draw-up new guidelines to help Councillors use social media better. We'd love it if you can help us too.

by Dan Slee

We think social media has the power to transform how organisations listen to and communicate with people.

We think that local government has the power to improve people's lives for the good.

We think social media can build a bridge between the elected members and the people they serve.

That's why we are hugely pleased to be asked to work with the Local Government Association (LGA) improve the guidance it gives not just to councils but to councillors as well.

Firstly, we'll be drawing-up a short off-the-shelf social media policy.

Secondly, we'll help update the seminal 2010 publication Connected Councillor. This document which has stood the test of time but now needs updating.

We'd like your help to shape the guidance that will help thousands of.elected members use digital channels to serve those who live and work in their area.

We'll be working with partners on this but to give us your views on social media use and how we can support, we'd love it if you can complete our survey here:

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LGAsocial

The LGA is the national voice of local government. It works with councils to support, promote and improve local government.

Dan Slee is co-founder of comms2point0.

Picture credit.

social media and new year local government predictions

Here's a thing. We were asked by The Guardian to make some predictions for social media in local government in 2014. With the year two thirds over this is the piece from January. How is it looking?

by Dan Slee

Soon after the new year champagne had been drunk, dark clouds started gathering for local government in 2014. Job losses, cuts and unhappy residents have been predicted in a landscape of gloom that matches the grey UK weather.

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12 pearls of wisdom from the north east pr q and a's

We love the Q&A format. We loved it as kids when Shoot! used to run them as a regular feature with footballers. Back in the 1980s all footballers favourite meal was steak and chips. One of our favourite bloggers asked PR people the same questions and the results were illuminating.

by Ross Wigham

Sometimes the germ of a good idea, a bit of summer downtime, a lack of meaningful transfer activity at Newcastle Utd and some blatant laziness can all combine to create something useful for others.

As a keen supporter of emerging communications talent through an internship scheme I set up in local government, I often get emailed or contacted on twitter by students asking questions about PR in the region.

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intranets work now but what of the future?

For many comms people, the intranet is an overlooked and unloved corner of the landscape. But there's a dedicated community who love making intranets better. They came together at the first intranetnow event in London. But things are changing. The intranet is aimed at staff. But when staff can cut and paste and make public within seconds what is their future? When supermarkets employ 200,000 across hundreds of sites is there a need for them?

by Steve Murgatroyd 

On 2 September, I went to the first ever IntranetNow conference, I fantastic day, with some great speakers.

As an Internal Communicator by trade it was fascinating to be surrounded by people who would class themselves as Intranet Mangers (other job titles are available) but maybe not Internal Communications.

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