This year I've been fortunate enough to visit Cardiff, Shropshire, Norfolk and now Glasgow to share our learning and experiences and to soak up some fresh ideas and challenges.

Our comms2point0/Public Sector Forums event in Glasgow was a really enjoyable adventure and I was struck by the enthusiasm and professionalism of a bunch of comms people keep to learn more, create more, deliver more.

One thing is clear from the cross-UK visits I've made and that is this - yes there are demographic and geographic differences to understand but actually the same broad issues and opportunities exist for us all in the public sector across whether in Scotland, Wales or England. And one of the very biggest challenges for us right now is how we remain effective and relevant across multiple new AND traditional platforms.

by Darren Caveney

I’d lay a bet with you all right now: You work longer hours now that you did five and 10 years ago (and for our older followers I double guarantee than you work more hours now than you did 20 years ago)

Some of you will recall the very real process of ‘winding down’ at work before going on holiday (and I was working in the private sector at the time, before anyone pipes up about the cushy public sector)

Did you ever have to produce lengthy ‘handover’ notes for colleagues to pick up your projects whilst away?

And at the risk of sounding like a martyr, how many of you regularly take a proper lunch break? (a rushed sandwich at your PC whilst clearing your email inbox doesn’t count)