my 20 hopes and wishes list from commscamp

Commscamp was an unconference for public sector communications people and based on the barcamp principles of no agenda. Here is what one attendee thought.

by Dan Slee

I wish there was more of these.

I hope that some people who came to commscamp left as  inspired as I did when I left localgovcamp in 2009.

I wish there was more time to stop and chat with more who came.

I hope people left for London with an inkling of why the West Midlands is good at this unconference stuff. It’s three c’s: cake, curry and conversation.

I wish that I’d have got those ‘stuff your press release’ stickers made in time.

I hope that our team meetings in future also run peer training which sees colleagues show others how they did something.

I wish that not just local government and central government share ideas better but fire, police, NHS and voluntary sectors too.

I hope that other events bring people from outside the comfort zone too with the confidence to point out things like that no, we’re not brands we’re people to a room full of comms people.

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'better connected 2013' is published tomorrow

Socitm Insight’s 15^th annual Better connected survey of local authority websites will be published at 8.00am tomorrow, 1^st March.  

by John Fox

The purpose of our report has always been to highlight and share good practice for the benefit of the millions who every month use council websites across the UK. Sharing best practice is essential at the current time when money, skills and resources are in scarce supply. Better connected provides a benchmark of what can be achieved, and, more importantly, clear guidance on how to get there.

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commscamp: my first unconference

Unconferences are events where the agenda is set on the day by attendees. Ideas are shaped, coffee is drunk and cakes are eaten. They're hot-houses for innovation. But as one comms person says don't be daunted. They really work. 

by Kelly Parkes-Harrison

Normally I approach conferences with mixed feelings, hope that I might be inspired by something and fear that there will be role play.

The notion of an unconference filled me with trepidation as I had no idea what to expect or how it would work without descending into disorganised chaos.

Commscamp 13 was my first unconference and I was quite relieved to find most of the people joining us on the walking train from Birmingham New Street to Digbeth were also unconference virgins.

My PR skills were called upon earlier than I thought as Si Whitehouse (@siwhitehouse) led the walking train through the backstreets of Digbeth. As we trundled past empty warehouses, derelict factories and graffiti in the drizzling rain, I gamely explained that Digbeth was the creative quarter of the city.

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commscamp: the low-down

On Tuesday 26 February, Birmingham stages the first national unconference for government and local government communicators.

by Darren Caveney

It's the event the world has been waiting for.  It's where creative communicators will come together.  It's taking place in what was once known as the 'City of a thousand trades', a creative workshop to the world.  And it's where cake will be eaten in very large quantities.

I give you commscamp.

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so, how does a tv journalist use social media?

So, this social media stuff. How exactly does it fit into the journalist's working day? It's as important as a call to the police voicebank or the fire station used to be back in the day, it seems.

by Anne Alexander

Four years ago when I joined Twitter, I only did so in order to use it as a device for a TV package I was doing for the BBC about how British politicians were using social media.

In my piece to camera, where I pretended to tweet from my new account, I basically said they were all a bit rubbish compared to Barack Obama who'd won the 2008 election off the back of a ground breaking social media campaign.

Apart from a few savvy pioneers at Westminster, that was mostly true back then. But how things have changed. And not just for politicians but also for journalists like me.

Social media is so useful for helping us to do our jobs I wonder how we coped before.

Here are five ways I use social media.

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the year our business went social

Just under a year ago, Northwards Housing introduced Yammer to their organisation, changing the face of internal communications.  One year on and Steve Finegan brings us right up to date with more fascinating insights into the benefits of implementing a social enterprise network.

by Steve Finegan

In 2012, my guest post described how Yammer had been an instant hit with our employees as we set about finding a replacement for our out-dated intranet.  Our voluntary adoption strategy of simply allowing employees to join the Yammer network started us on a journey, quite literally, into the unknown.  This journey was also reflective of the wider business of course, because we’re constantly evolving and responding to the environment around us.  This is an area where Yammer is strong.  It can be very responsive to change and discussions on the network regularly reflect live issues rising organically from literally anywhere across the organisation. 

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what are the barcelona principles?

It's not normal for a committee to come up with a good set of ideas. There's a set of guidelines that many pr people don't know that can help you navigate the comms landscape. They're worth taking a look at.

by Dan Slee

A short while back a PR person got very animated that people in the industry didn't know what the Barcelona Principles are.

For the most part I'd be amazed if the majority know what they are.

For the record, they're a set of principles US and UK private sector PR people drew-up in the Spanish city in 2010. They're not the be-all and end all but they are an interesting set of rules that stand scrutiny and you can refer to.

For the record they are here:

• Goal setting and measurement are important

• Media measurement requires quantity and quality

• Advertising Value Equivalents (AVE) are not the value of public relations

• Social media can and should be measured

• Measuring outcomes is preferred to measuring media results (outputs)

• Organisational results and outcomes should be measured whenever possible

• Transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement.

A more comprehensive explanation can be found here.

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lessons from 'house of cards'

There's lessons on the re-make of the political thriller House of Cards. Not just that if you live tweet a row with your boss you'll become an online hero.

by Will Mapplebeck

"Power is a lot like real estate. It's all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value." - Frank Underwood.

What's so different about Netflix's House of Cards?

After all, it has everything we'd come to expect from a hit US drama - high production values, a razor sharp script and a Hollywood actor (Kevin Spacey) in the lead role.

But this one is different and it has a relevance for the world many of us work and communicate in every day.

Difference one is how the show has reached our screens. House of Cards, a remake of the BBC original, is made and broadcast by Netflix, a subscription based video-on-demand website.

Netflix is the first content carrier that has gone from simply buying up and broadcasting other people's programmes, to making its own.

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picture this...

Move over crusty meeting minutes, forget scribbling in notepads and word documents are so yesterday. How about graphic recording the next time you run an event or a creative session...

by Claire Holgate

My name is Claire and I'm a graphic recorder. I draw pictures and graphics to help people understand things better. 

I’ve worked in lots of different roles throughout my career and I’ve sat through my fair share of meetings and workshops in my time.  

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up for the cup - january's top posts

Well the January blues didn't stop us receiving a swathe of great posts. But which one was good enough to nab the coveted, shiny, £1 cup for the month's most read post...

by Darren Caveney

January 2013 will be remembered at comms2point0 HQ as a good month. A very good  month.

We love it when we get to feature and share posts which genuinely make you stop and think.

Which make you shout 'Yes!'.

Which give you a fresh perspective.

Which spark new ideas.

Which sometimes make you think, 'nah, not a chance.'

Here's the top five most read, in reverse order (just to build extra excitement... )

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call for participants...

Are you using social media in your comms?  If so, why don't you get involved in a new piece of research taking place.

by Sarah Williams

Are you using social media?  Do you use social media platforms to engage local communities or hard to reach groups?  If so, I want to hear from you.

Following on from my research into general social media trends and skills in PR, my latest quest is to find out how public sector organisations use social media to engage communities and I need volunteers from the sector – you! - to help me with my project. 

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the 11 fundamental laws of building online communities

There's a stack of disciplines that comms people can learn from. Not least the art of online community building. It takes time. And effort. And simply building it doesn't mean they will come. But as the web increasingly becomes a channel for everything - not just comms - these are skills to look at.

by Richard Millington

1. You must have a community manager. You absolutely must have someone who wakes up worrying about your community every morning.

2. Your community must have a purpose. Your community must have a purpose that matters to the people you’re trying to reach. You shouldn’t be creating the purpose, you should find a purpose a lot of people care about and build a community around it.

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doing a newcastle: on balancing voices

Right across the public sector there are tough budget decisions being made. Some will make more noise than others but how do you give a voice to ordinairy people alongside the voice of a powerful lobby?

by Will Mapplebeck

In November, Newcastle City Council launched a consultation on its 2013-16 budget.

Like other local authorities across England we found ourselves faced with some awful choices to balance the books.

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a perfect viral storm

Once in a while a piece of brilliance comes along that deserves to be revered as a religious relic. Such a thing was Torfaen Council's YouTube clip of an Elvis impersonator singing a council gritting-related version of a classic. How did they do it? No, really. How did they do it?

by Neil Jones

Last week was not the first time I had sang a bad rendition of ‘in the depot’ across the office.  When colleagues in Neighbourhood Services need assistance it is often met with a warbled Elvis impersonation.

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make sure you bark up the right tree

How you don't need to just bang out a press release but bark up the right tree and at the right time whatever the channel.

by Alan Ferguson

We are a council. We have no competition. We will build a website and they (our residents) will come and visit.

As if it was all that easy. We are all fighting to get our voice heard in a noisy world, where we are bombarded with communication messages morning, noon and night. Web. Email. Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. YouTube. Press. TV. Radio. Where does it end!

You’ve heard the phrase “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got”. How very true.

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