by Emily Turner

Sam Masters, a Lambeth Council press officer, has left his post after posting on Twitter that he thinks Streatham, the area he looks after, should be napalmed.

He Tweeted, “Having spent a considerable amount of time in Streatham, my solutions for supporting the High Road mostly involve napalm.”

Local business leaders and MPs complained and Masters quit. But was the end result, the right result? Should Masters have felt he had no option but to leave? Was quitting an appropriate response to the Tweet content? Should it always be one strike and you are out?

What we need to consider is when are employees entitled to their own personal views and opinions, and when is it safe to express them? It is reported that he used his personal Twitter account and his bio did not mention where he worked and stated that his views were not that of his employer.

by Dave Musson

Day three of the LGComms event in Birmingham, and there was still plenty to ponder and, even better, learn from. Whether it was starting the morning being dragged into the light with a statathon on local government reputation, through to how tweeting plastic ducks are getting young people into golf, it was quite a spread.

The theme for the day was ‘evaluation communications – understanding audiences’, which, clearly, is key if you want your hard work to serve its purpose.

It was also, sadly, the end of this year’s event, which new LGComms chair Cormac Smith claimed to be the best one yet. It’s also been the second largest.

by Leah Lockhart

A few serendipitous events lately have focused my mind on issues around corporate communications and generally and in local government specifically.

Not just what it is, what it’s seen to be but who owns it. 

Some background: I’ve been fortunate enough to be at the unnerving and confusing end of local government ‘talent management’ and, while I’m paid to give housing advice and help write homeless prevention strategies, I’ve actually been doing work around increasing use of web and social media in the public services sphere for a little while now.

by Eleanor Willock

So, Jeff from the ICT team has just called you to admit that he promised his contact from the vendor of your new [insert baffling tech term of your choice] that he’d ‘give them a quote’ once the deployment was successful. “Jeff!” you want to screech, “what were you thinking?”

I imagine this happens to in house comms staff in the public sector quite a lot.

On the other side of the PR fence, is the supplier’s agency, who’ve just had this email:

“Great news! We’ve just won a deal at [insert authority, hospital or Trust]. Can you set up a call with Jeff from the ICT team, he’ll give you a quote”.

And more often than not, this is how we first get talking – the in house customer comms professional, and the IT company PR agency bod.

by John Fellows

I recently wrote about the use of social media by local authorities, which painted at best a patchy picture of how councils in Scotland are utilising social media tools in their communications work.

The truth is, however, that there is some excellent practice out there for organisations to examine and adopt, but for this to happen, some things need to change.

So here are my top tips for public bodies to begin to  improve the impact of their social media work.

by Sam Thomas

Social media has fundamentally changed the way Fire Services communicate.

Communications teams have had to learn to react directly and quickly to public feedback. Gone are the days when there was the luxury of having time to compile holding statements ready for expected Press reaction.

by Jon King

Here’s a little story about holding your nerve.

Cornwall Council recently launched a comms campaign to support the adoption of a new, unified waste disposal contract.

by David Elks

If there’s one thing I’ve found in my career in journalism is that the conversation is king.

I’ve found my best stories, either in print or online, have been based on relationships with people - e.g. press officers - who trust the journalist to provide the inside line on stories for readers.

But how do journalists and press officers react in an age when it’s often faster to send a 140-character Tweet than wait for a couple of minutes to go through switchboard?

by Hannah Hiles

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.

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.