wolverhampton parks: a case study in social media

by Dawn O'Brien and Dan Slee

It’s one of the fascinating things seeing how social media grows and develops in unexpected places.

Wolverhampton Parks is one of those places and Dawn O’Brien deserves heaps of credit in being one of the true local government heroes.

She has pioneered digital and made things grow at a time when the authority hadn’t really picked up the ball at all.

She works as a business development officer for Wolverhampton City Council for the parks and green spaces service. They look after city parks, district parks, local nature reserves, farm and country parks.

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communications: WD40 for organisations.

by Darren Caveney

So, spring well and truly sprang over this weekend.

Temperatures soared to a balmy 17 degrees in my back garden, inspiring me to dig out the trusty old lawnmower from the back of the garden shed.

An old petrol model, battered and bruised from some less than gentle handling, it’s now rusty with age.  But it can still be relied upon to tame my urban jungle of a lawn.

With the sun out, it was time for the first cut of the year.  Four hours preparation, clipping hedges and edges and weeding borders then the main event.  The glory job.  Can you imagine the sense of anti-climax when the thing wouldn’t start?

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facebook: how? and why? for local government

by Dan Slee

There's a great line from about a famous convict working on Royal Mail bags in prison.

"Sewing?" The Prison Guard asks. "No," comes the reply. "Reaping."

There's much work to do with communications in 2012.

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birds in the nest

by Darren Caveney

My dear old Dad used to say he was always happiest when “all of his birds were in the nest”.

His birds were, of course, his kids. He’d have done – and did – anything for those little birds. Right or wrong, he’d protect, support, help and nurture them and he’d flap and flutter whenever one of those birds left his well-kept nest.

I used to think that this was really funny, especially given he was a pretty tough cookie, unnervingly street-wise and the youngest of six kids from one of Birmingham’s harsher neighbourhoods.

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reasons to be cheerful - one, two, three...

by Darren Caveney

Several things hung around in my head in the days after the successful ‘facebook in the public sector’ (#fbps12) event held at my beloved St. Andrews.

First, the sheer positivity with which colleagues from 40 organisations are embracing the opportunity to communicate and engage better with their customers.

Second, a reminder that all organisations have their own individual strengths and weaknesses, things they do well, and things they could improve upon.

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in defence of communication ethics

by Sarah Williams

In a report in PR Week this week, Lord Bell, chairman of Chime Communications, the group that owns Bell Pottinger, claimed that questions about the conduct of the company’s PR division have had no effect on trading.

Bell Pottinger were last year subject to a sting operation, carried out by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and published by the Independent, in which senior members of the firm were alleged to have boasted about their influence in Westminster.

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journalists are still worth bothering with

by Charlotte Stamper

Yes, social media is great. Yes, it’s quick and cheap.

Yes, it’s a great way to bypass journalists and talk to (and often, with) your audience directly.

But that doesn’t mean it’s the right tool for the job all of the time.

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it started with a tweet...

by Matt Bond

At Cornwall Council we were gently nudged into using social media by some forward thinking Members and keen amateurs in the comms team.

Step forward @CllrAWallis, @CllrJeremyRowe, @RobNolanTruro, @SteveDouble and @alexfolkes, Cornwall Council’s self-styled ‘twitter gang’. When they first started tweeting from meetings, it’s fair to say that its potential as a groundbreaking communication channel between the Council and the public took us by surprise.

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managing your own reputation online

by Sarah Williams

Employers are increasingly turning to social media as part of the recruitment process. Whether you view this as a gross invasion of privacy or just a sign of the times, it is fast becoming the norm, so how far should you take this into consideration in your online life?

Nowadays, it isn't enough to simply be present on social media, you also need to be active, but exactly how much sharing should you do? More and more employers are looking at online profiles as part of the recruitment process, as this BBC news programme confirms, so do you play it safe and look after your reputation or throw caution to the wind and let everything 'hang out' online?

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35 bookmarkable links to help you use Facebook better

by Dan Slee

So, in the four months since we started Comms2point0 we’ve read and wrote quite a lot.

We’ve posted more than 1,000 links on Twitter and we’ve posted a couple of dozen posts on our fine website too.

Now we’re getting a bit excited about this Facebook event we’re helping with we thought it a pretty good idea to take a look back at some of the things we’ve written and linked to about this behemoth of a platform.

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turning tides

by Hannah Rees

We’re a bit different down in Cornwall. We’re not the sleepy backwater people might have once believed us to be. Since Cornwall Council was formed almost three years ago, things have changed significantly. New leadership, new Members and a new vision has revolutionised the way we do business.  For the comms team, it’s been a gift.

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future leaders network

by Kim Neville

LGcommunications has nominated 16 communications specialists from local authorities across the UK to take part in a new leadership programme. The LGC Future Leaders Network, aims to support up and coming officers, connecting them with peers and some of today’s local government luminaries to help them shape their thinking and forge relationships for the future.

What does the next generation of local government chief communications officers look like? I may have had a glimpse into the future yesterday when I joined the first gathering of LGcommunications Future Leaders’ Network in Westminster.

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a tale of two teams

A Tale of Two Teams – how Norfolk County Council made Twitter a genuine customer service channel

by Susie Lockwood

In October last year colleagues of mine in our customer service team took over responsibility for replying to enquiries we received through Twitter. I’d like to say it was my idea but actually the desire to do this, and the foresight of how it could be developed, came from customer services.

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toes in the water

by Ian Curwen

In the last week, much has been written about #localgov use of social media. Some people say we’re focussing too much of our time or resources on it, whereas others think we’re behind the curve.

In this blog post, I look at how Copeland Borough Council, a small Cumbrian district authority, has used social media to improve our communications and engagement work.

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social media and the council mag

by Ross Wigham

Council magazines may seem like a strange topic for discussion given the amount of time and effort we now spend on social media (see my previous post) but I just wonder if we’re now discarding a tool that’s still got so much to offer in the internet age.

Whatever the format, people still love reading stories that build a narrative about where they live and what interests them.

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