Are we happy or angry? A survey of what 1,393 tweets say about the London Olympics build-up

Cutting through the hype can be difficult. What were people saying about London 2012 in the run-up to the event? This survey gives a snapshot 

By Dan Slee

A world united in sport? Or an Olympic army of occupation that is taking over London causing tailbacks and mayhem? What's the truth of it?

Taking a look at a snapshot of tweets some surprising facts emerged.

Using a tweetreach report on the #olympics hashtag that covers a three hour period just after rush-hour on Monday July 24 four days before the games started more than 1,300 tweets were analysed. They were not limited to a geographical area. 

Yes, it was a bit tedious going through them all and yes, some of the results are a bit surprising.

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let's play comms veteran i-spy

If you are a press officer, marketing person or work in communications the chances are you've had the same conversations if you work in Timperley or Timbuktoo. Now with this easy to follow checklist you can see how much of a comms veteran you are.

By Dan Slee

When I was a kid there were these books called I-Spy books.

They were designed to encourage people to turn into obsessives on a whole range of subjects. 

Smart parents would deploy them to their children to turn long distance journeys, trips to the zoo and country walks into learning opportunities.

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a brilliant internal comms case study

You know that line about staff are your greatest asset? Wouldn't it be great if you actually listened to them when shaping your internal comms? Someone here has...

by Stuart Mackintosh

We all love a bit of value, right? At Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, we love a bit of valuing, too.

The internal challenge was the most significant facing a new-look comms team installed in 2010.

We knew what we needed, that wasn’t rocket science – an army of well-informed and motivated advocates and ambassadors for an authority with plenty on its plate.

If you’ve not heard of us, we’re a borough of extraordinary contrasts up here on the North-East coast. We’re a genuine industrial powerhouse, from Europe’s deepest mine at Cleveland Potash to one of the largest deep sea ports in the UK, handling more than 40 million tonnes of cargo each year.

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a comms2point0 map of good digital stuff

Some of the best innovation is` taking place in unexpected places and often outside London. Here's a map of some of them. 

by Dan Slee

So, I got to thinking of the digital things that had knocked my socks off.

Those campaigns, Twitter accounts or social media things that had really impressed me.

The ones that I go back to over and over and tell people about because they're so good.

Like a tour of Britain in my head I went from Devon to Birmingham to Stirling to Orkney.

So I built a quick Google map. Go on. Have an explore.

From Northumberland to Norfolk good things have taken shape.

Back in 2008 when I started to work more in digital communications in local government rich examples were few and far between and eagerly shared.

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content creation and the power of stories

Storytelling.  One of many brilliant sessions at the recent Birmingham localgovcamp event demonstrated the need for us all to tell better stories.  Are you sitting comfortably? Then Matt will begin ...*

by Matt Bond 

I’ve been left pretty, nay, very inspired recently as I’ve begun to delve deeper into the world of content creation and in particular the role of stories in our lives both personally and as professional communicators.

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication known to man  - it is at the centre of all families, communities and cultures – and so it really shouldn’t come as any great surprise that the art of the story should be at the very centre of all our communications.

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facebook... don't go for big numbers... go for the right numbers

There's always pressure to generate higher Facebook numbers. But what do you want? An army of the disinterested or a battalion of the engaged?

By Dan Harris

It's the question I'm asked most frequently by friends, businesses and colleagues..."how do I get more likes on Facebook?" 

My answer is always the same "why do you want more?"

The number of likes a page has on Facebook is arbitrary.

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internal communications – it’s not rocket science

Internal comms can often be the Cinderella channel. But to get things right outside you need to get things right inside.

by Hannah Rees

When Cornwall Council was first formed three years ago, there were no real internal communications channels to speak of. An organisation going through major change, with seven councils merging, a total of 22,000 employees and a huge geographical spread, it needed some serious TLC.

We had several failing services, financial problems, a new Chief Executive, 123 new elected Members, a new political hue, Leader and Cabinet and a very strong new approach to our direction of travel.

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the 3 c's of business blogging

Why you should join the growing trend for business blogging and how to find your blogging rythmn.

by Carol Caveney

Across all sectors, from SMEs to newspapers, from think tanks to universities, blogging is becoming big business. 

As a result, increasing pressure is being placed on comms teams to create and deliver fresh blog content on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.  Not just any old content, but content capable of demonstrating expertise, building awareness, sharing values and, most importantly, building stronger connections with customers. 

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37 pearls of wisdom from charity comms people

Isn't it great, serendipity? That arch-serendipity machine Twitter threw up a rich seam from a meeting of Third Sector comms people that have lessons for us all.

by Dan Slee

It’s one of the great joys of Twitter... something sails past in your timeline and you come across a rich seam of learning.

That was the case with the #ccdigital hashtag documenting an event in London staged by Third Sector membership body Charity Comms.  

There’s wealth of learning there and not just in the Third Sector. The agenda you can actually find here. 

You can follow them on Twitter @charitycomms.

But aside from the wealth of good advice was the realisation that we're all trying to grips with it. As one person tweeted, 'none of us are experts yet - keep listening and learning.'

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a modest proposal: plan to get rid of press offices

GUEST EDITOR: Ben Proctor of the Likeaword consultancy.

What should press offices do when the printing presses go quiet? In this post a plan for revolution is drafted. But there's still a role to play for communications people if they adapt.

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hello world! a comms officer makes a digital promise

You've watched. You've listened. You'd like to dive in and really get to grips with social media. Here's how.

by Emma Rodgers 

When I was asked to write a blog for Comms2point0, I was excited but then the reality struck. What could I write that would be interesting enough to post on a creative, knowledge filled web site targeted at comms professionals?

And that in a way sums up my recent social media journey – am I interesting enough? Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a complete Luddite.

I’ve had a Facebook account since 2007 and a Twitter account since 2009 but it’s true to say I’ve been a sporadic watcher and definitely not a commentator.

And I’ve never been convinced by people who feel they need to tell the world their inside leg measurement or the full ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of how they’re dealing with breastfeeding on-line.

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what the k-hub can do for comms people

The Knowledge Hub is a platform for people in the public sector to share best practice. It can also be a place for comms people to start dipping their toe in the digital water.

by Leah Lockhart

The Knowledge Hub is a web based communication and collaboration platform built specifically for people in and around local government.

It’s secure, free to use, it’s not blocked by local authority IT security and it provides users with both basic and more advanced functionality as seen in popular social media platforms.

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the view is everything

by Darren Caveney

I don't know about you but I think that one of the easiest (bad) habits to fall into as a comms person is that of jumping both feet first into the next project without taking adequate time out to 'think it through.'

Yes, we all know the theory and yes we all know the importance and yes when it really matters of course we think it through. But with busy workloads, greater demands and the need to pull comms rabbits out of problematic organisational hats it's extremely easy to underplay thinking and planning time. And worse still, it's easy not to ask the customer what they actually want.

And so this week, when I attended my first LGcommunications national executive meeting in Blackpool, I was asked to pull together a seminar on digital engagement I immediately began pulling together ideas and scribbling notes about the format and content of the event.

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when a digital pioneer takes a giant leap...

Your organisation has one person who does digital. You hit a ceiling. Why? They've only got one pair of hands. Isn't it more fun to have more people helping? That's a giant leap that's reaping rewards.

by Dominic Chessum

I will no longer be the one who champions the cause of digital at our councils. There, I have said it. 

Given that I care deeply about digital engagement and am more enthusiastic than ever about its possibilities that is a hard thing for me to say.

So why stop? Well the truth is I'm not - I'm just changing tack. As one of my colleagues likes to say - "There is no I in team" and only with my team can we forge ahead with digital engagement.

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using pinterest as a comms channel

Pinterest is a platform that is sweeping all before it. Stats are amazing. In fact, in March 2012 the site served up 2.3 billion page impressions to over 4 million unique visitors a day. Can comms teams use them? Of course they can.

by Ross Wigham

Watching the Euro2012 football over the past few weeks I’ve found a really useful innovation on the BBC that enables you to switch between a range of different commentary options.

If you press the red button you can even select the option to have no commentary at all, immersing yourself in just the background noise of the stadium. I’ve nothing against Martin Keown but for me football is generally a more visual experience.

I don’t really want or need people telling me what’s happening during the game because I can already see it with my own eyes - I just want to watch the action unfold.

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