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Wednesday, December 5, 2012 
This Christmas, an innovative digital campaign aiming to raise awareness of dementia has been launched. It's deliberately timed to remind us to remember, to help and to spot the early signs of dementia in our loved ones.
I don't approve of hashtags on Facebook. So imagine my disdain when an American woman announced the name of her newborn – Hashtag – via Facebook update. Twitter went wild at the news.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 
Leveson could change the newspaper industry. But if we're all publishers now should we all face the penalties publishers face? Libel? Defamation? Losing your house for an untrained slip? In a personal take this comms officer thinks so.
by Mark Allen
The on-line community feels it is the new voice of the people and for many reason it is right. The so-called citizen journalists are taking over.
But is it a case of the lunatics taking over the asylum?
It thought it was untouchable. Leveson would attack the traditional media, but left Twitter along – even though a lot worse things were said and more privacy invaded there.
Monday, December 3, 2012 
Staff are our greatest asset. How many times have you heard that? But if they really, really are then good internal comms really matters. Here's some feedback
by Liz Copeland
I had the pleasure of attending a very interesting Melcrum member event last week, which aimed to explore how delegates could maximise the strategic impact of their internal communications with limited resource.
For me the main themes of the day centred on two words:
Involving – engaging staff with the business so they are motivated to go the extra mile and in turn become more productive.
Sunday, December 2, 2012 
One of the good things about local government comms is that it can be varied. So, when flooding hit this officer rose to the challenge.
by Eva Duffy
The police van outside the Salvation Army centre was the only clue that this residential suburb was about to become the epicentre of a crisis response involving hundreds of evacuees, scores of volunteers and dozens of organisations. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the hamster.
Fifteen minutes earlier, I was at my desk anticipating a normal day at the office. Now, this is probably a good time to point out that normal is a very relative concept in a local government media team.
We operate along lines familiar to anyone who’s ever set foot in a newsroom with unpredictability our constant companion.
Thursday, November 29, 2012 
Here it is. Our 200th post. It's a landmark one too. A snapshot of what comms people think and do in the UK in 2012. Some of the results are surprising.
by Dan Slee
Okay, the results are in and in the first comms2point0 survey people have had their say.
A total of 151 PR, comms and digital comms people have had their say on a range of topics that face the profession.
It’s a quick snapshot of comms people and what they think.
Some things are becoming clear. It’s clear that digital communications is a growing field and will get bigger.
There will be fewer press releases by comms teams which underline the need to understand the new channels. But don’t think that the web is unleashing the latent ability of comms people. A majority of people think their job is harder.
Here’s a snapshot of the results:
Social media is more important than writing a press release. The biggest skill to have as a comms person in 2012 is the ability to use social media with 79.2 per cent choosing it – compared to just 48.3 per cent picking the ability to write a press release.
Being a comms person is getting harder. A clear majority think it’s a harder job with 69.7 per cent thinking so.
Thursday, November 29, 2012 
Unconferences are starting to become mainstream. Events where the attendees themselves shape the discussions Hyper WM in the West Midlands is in its third year. So what did one comms person learn?
by Emma Rodgers
Last week I went to the third Hyper WM in the impressive neon surroundings of the Public. For those who didn’t make it, I thought it would be useful to share what I learnt.
Hyper WM is a West Midlands unconference that brings together people under the banner of making local government better. There is no set agenda - attendees pitch ideas for what they want to discuss and it goes from there. Ideas become workshops and if there isn’t enough interest, the idea gets shelved and the next idea gets pitched.
At this particular event topics ranged from the welfare reform to open data. I was approached to pitch an idea so put forward e-newsletters for residents, not because I am an expert but because I wanted to learn from others about how they did it. That’s one of the great things about unconferences, even if you don’t have all the knowledge someone else will or you will at least be reassured that others are struggling to find a solution too.
So in no particular order here’s my top 3 reasons for going to the next Hyper WM and why I’ll definitely be signing up.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012 
Journalists it is said need rat-like cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability. Press officers just need to read this.
If you can keep your head when all around you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.
You’ll be a Press Officer my son.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012 
Remember local newspapers? You do? You may remember The Framley Examiner. Here's a call for a revival of the ironic website of the ironic newspaper.
by Dan Slee
Remember Venn diagrams? They're the two circles with two bits overlapping.
If you were to draw one and write 'the internet' under one and 'local newspapers' under the second the bit in the middle there would be written the words 'The Framley Examiner.'
A spoof newspaper, printed and uploaded to the web on microfishe it brilliantly nailed the small town newspaper with no news to report.
It became a web phenomenon in 2004 and in a brilliantly post-modern twist it then became a book.
Whoever wrote it clearly loved the medium.
Not only that, whoever wrote it appreciated the fact that sometimes local newspaper pageleads are, in the parlance, 'jacked up' from very little to pretend to be something approaching a furore to justify page 19.
As a junior reporter I may well have stretched a polite note on a school newslatter to ask parents to pick up crisp packets at the school gate into 'Outraged Head slams litter lout mums.'
In my dying days as a newspaper reporter the book of the website was passed amongst colleagues as an unofficial style book.
If you've never come across it I heartily recommend you spend some time looking at this most magnificent of online creations.
Sunday, November 25, 2012 
Three years ago at the Hyper WM unconference a press officer kicked off a heated debate with bloggers by claiming that he didn't see the point in talking to them. Three years on he's just signed-up a blogger to his press release distribution list. So, has his personal views changed? Errr, not exactly...
by Mark Allen
A few years ago I went to an unconference in Walsall and was met by some very closed minded bloggers – very dismissive of traditional media.
Just lately, bloggers and other non-journalists who have been posting comments in the media spotlight.
I'm so glad that a Tory Lord is looking to prosecute some of those people. It is time social media played by the rules the rest of us have to - I thought I would put forward my point of view.
Other delegates at the unconference seemed shocked that I said I would always give print and traditional media like radio, and TV more priority if I was on deadline for a number of outlets and had an number of enquiries to answer.
To me it is a no-brainer. In my experience bloggers are the the online version of jazz musicians.
I was struck by how many people – mostly local bloggers – seemed to write off the newspaper and local radio industries their online partners as yesterday’s news. It is obvious they have never tried to get a message out to a large group of people.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 
GUEST EDITOR: Jim Garrow 
comms2point0 has given us a platform to link up with some fantastic people from all over the UK and beyond. And then we stumbled upon the brilliant Jim Garrow doing great things in Philadelphia. We were chuffed when he agreed to be our Guest Editor. He tells us all about the importance of trust and reaching out...
What's up. My name is Jim. I work for the US government. (Audience: Hi Jim.)
That sentence there, "I work for the government," has been, at least in the last couple of decades, nothing to be proud of. In the US in particular, government has fallen out of favor.
Sunday, November 18, 2012 
LinkedIn with six million profiles in the UK is becoming the default way to look at digital CVs. But isn't it about time you made more of yours?
by Andy Ball
My LinkedIn profile is so important to my new business and because of this I probably spend more time than I should ensuring it is up to date, informative and accessible.
I despair sometimes as I view profiles on LinkedIn.
Would you send a half-finished CV, with spelling mistakes and a poor photo in for a new job opportunity you are really keen on?
REMEMBER – your LinkedIn profile is your CV, just in a different format.
Thursday, November 15, 2012 
Having gone down the traditional route one forward thinking organisation turned to the awesome power of cake to get the right people.
by Alex Abbott
Having presented at the CIPR North Conference on social media, the thing that captured most people’s attention out of all the things I mentioned was our success at recruiting through Twitter.
In particular our #gottalovecake campaign. With this in mind I thought I’d share the story behind the campaign.
So here’s the dilemma: We have five communications roles ready to recruit and we advertise in all the traditional spots like Guardian, PR Week, Monster etc.
The response was … well, luke warm. The result was no suitable candidates. Sound familiar?
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 
Sometimes digital communications can create unexpected results. Take this tweet after a tragic hit and run incident.
Social media is a cruel mistress.
In years gone by communications professionals could pen an informative press release or piece of news and send it out into the world.
Evaluating how well it was received was difficult. Apart from the piece being picked up by the media, and the prominence it received, it was hard to assess how the general public felt about it.
Not today, not thanks to the power of the Like and the Retweet.
Now you can add your piece of news to your social media channel and wait for the verdict. These days we’re awash with stats about online traffic, page views and the many Facebook metrics. Analytics can inform you about ‘reach’ and how many people have seen it, but the one that matters is the Like – the stamp of approval from a grateful public.
Sunday, November 11, 2012 
You think that everyone who likes your page gets your updates? Think again. Only if you pay. Here's a post that you need to read if Facebook is in your organisation.
Facebook. It's free and always will be. Just don’t expect many of your fans to see your posts anymore unless you pay.
That’s the stark realisation that page owners are coming to terms with after recent changes to Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm.
Previously, between 30-40% of fans would see your posts in their news feed. Now that Facebook has rolled out its ‘Promote this post’ feature, the percentage of fans seeing your posts has been slashed to 10-20%.
Working in digital communications for a local authority on Brisbane’s Bayside, I know how frustrating this is.
In August and September 2012, our Redland City Council Facebook page experienced some impressive organic growth. Yet by early October, the reach of our posts (the number of people seeing them) started to decline markedly. With our reach decreasing, so did our likes, comments and shares. This was at a time when Facebook rolled out their new feature ‘Promote this post’.
Thursday, November 8, 2012 
Facebook's darling is fading. Is it time to re-think how we use it as comms people?
Attention council Communications Teams. Nobody wants to be your friend, especially not your residents. Don’t feel unloved – what we do is vital to our organisations – but we need to work smarter.
Digital and social media has been heralded for years as the way forward for comms, and it is. But the world moves fast, and we need to keep up.
Facebook, the original social media darling, is faltering. Share prices are dropping, expansion is stalling, and it’s becoming clear that, while Facebook is a primary tool for social interaction, it’s not the place people go to for local information.
