how social media fits into higher education comms

April 25, 2012 Darren Caveney

If ever there was a job that requires being all things to all people, the university communications officer must surely be high on the list.

The Vice-Chancellor wants to tell staff about changes to the University strategy. An academic wants to share her research findings with the media.

A member of the local community wants to know when the observatory is open to the public. A graduate wants to update their details on the alumni database. A current student wants to know where their exam is being held. A prospective student wants to know about sports facilities on campus.

These are all typical scenarios that come through our office, especially now that social media allows people to get answers quickly, easily and informally.

qr codes and big signs to stop cars driving into the sea

April 24, 2012 Darren Caveney

By Lindsay Green

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, just off the North East coast is beautiful.

It has been the setting for movies, TV shows and is a major religious destination for thousands of tourists heading to Northumberland every summer.

It has also been causing the council a huge headache for some time.

Why? Well, it seems that many people don’t associate the word 'island' with a piece of land surrounded by water, and instead try to drive straight into the North Sea without thinking about the consequences.

once upon a time...

April 23, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Phil Jewitt

About 18 months ago I was invited to a meeting (and I have a history with meeting invites!) Just a little project to replace Leeds City Council’s intranet and website! There were over 20 people sat round a conference table. We all gave our names and roles and then I thought I heard someone say “and I’m the Scrum master”

“Course you are pal” I thought, “and I’m the Gate Keeper and this is Ghostbusters 4, now let’s crack on cos I’m a busy man”.

six things you should know about using linkedin for an organisation

April 20, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Dan Carins

LinkedIn is social networking with a work hat on.

Rather than sharing holiday snaps and music tips it’s about sharing landmarks in your career.

It’s also about linking with people to help open doors.

film is often the forgotten medium

April 17, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Hannah Rees & Matt Bond

Film can often be the forgotten tool. Considered by many as too expensive, too technical and too time consuming.

At Cornwall Council, we started to embrace the medium around five years ago and put some communications resource behind it. We were right to do so and it continues to be an integral part of our communications mix.

My role as Communications Specialist now deals with film as part of a total social media and digital communications toolset, and works in tangent with our design team.

Film is a proven medium and has seen a surge in popularity in recent times for both internal and external communications.

little words mean a lot

April 16, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Sharon Telfer

Hands up, who knew what a jerrycan was?

If you’re like me – and possibly Francis Maude – you probably thought it was just a container for petrol.

If you’re like my partner, who happily spent the glorious March sunshine in the garage doing up a moped, you already knew it’s a large piece of military kit holding around 20 litres.

measure twice, cut once

April 15, 2012 Darren Caveney

by Darren Caveney

I’ve always had a fascination for stats, and a sadly photographic memory for stat-related trivia. This problem surfaced as a youngster. As a 10-year old I could reel off the brake horse power and top speed of pretty well any car in my Top Trumps sports cars pack.

I even began to memorise chunks of the more interesting sections of my 1977 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

When it came to football I could bore with the best of them on stats and figures. It partly came from spending too much time staring at Ceefax on a Saturday evening following the day’s results (pages 312 through to 324, for those in the know).

And I could probably tell you the attendance, to within a couple of a hundred, at most of Birmingham City’s key home games in the past 20-odd years.

So, no surprise then, that one of my favourite quotes ever comes from Vic Reeves who once said that “88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot.”

a date with the easter bunny

April 5, 2012 Darren Caveney

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)

in defence of fun

April 4, 2012 Darren Caveney

By Gillian Hudson

Like me, you probably spend 99% of your job communicating about really serious issues. Thinking back over the last week or so, I’ve worked on a projects on dementia, fostering and youth unemployment. But sometimes, just sometimes, I work on projects that are a bit lighter. You might even call them ‘fun’.

A case in point is the first anniversary of our Downing Street cat, Larry, arriving here to catch mice.

Now if I’ve learned anything during my communications career, it’s that celebs and pets go down well. You’ve only got to look at the popularity of Pop Bitch to know that. So I worked on a little digital communications plan for Larry’s first birthday here. There were pictures taken by a colleague, a couple of tweets and best of all, a Storify of his time with us so far.

communications: WD40 for organisations.

March 25, 2012 Darren Caveney

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?

birds in the nest

March 19, 2012 Darren Caveney

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.

in defence of communication ethics

March 12, 2012 Darren Caveney

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.