Your Custom Text Here
Business clichés. You really can't beat them can you? Actually, I'd gladly beat upon them.
You know the kind of annoying phrases I'm referring to - business buzzwords. Those thrown in by people in meetings often trying to show off, or, more likely, to cover up a lack of understanding.
Here's my top five most loathed business clichés, in reverse order...
What the closing ceremony to London2012 reminds us of when it comes to delivering good communications.
So after all of the well publicised, pre-event LOCOG branding silliness, London 2012 appears to have been a huge success on and off the track for both Team GB and GB PLC alike.
The opening ceremony was inspiring, and gave us all a timely shot of pride-busting steroids. Gone from our news channels was all of the doom and gloom of financial meltdown, unemployment woe, high street declines, Euro crises and other bad news gems our TV stations churn out one after depressing other.
One of the greatest successes of London2012, for me, has been the opportunity to kick into touch 'Daily Mail's Britain.' To forget, for a short time at least, that things aren't quite as a bad as some folk want GB portrayed
But would the closing ceremony fall flat and end on a bit of a low note our 16-day temporary detachment from reality?
Lindsay Nary is the sole PR and comms person in her organisation. Here, she shares honestly about her role and the pros and cons of this single existence.
Me, myself and I, All by myself. Countless songs in every genre have attempted to describe the ups and downs of being on your lonesome. Whilst these generally describe the woe of failed relationships, I think there should be a song in honour of being alone in the workplace.
I have no intention of penning a depressing ballad, but as I enter my seventh year in a singleton PR role I’ve learned a few things which I think are worth sharing.
There’s a photography exhibition going on at Tate Britain at the moment called ‘Another London’ and I went along to see it the other day. It’s made up of around 40 black and white photos taken between 1930 and 1980 by photographers who were foreigners to London – Henri Cartier-Bresson and Bill Brandt among them.
As the photographers were often commissioned for their work, there’s a lot of ‘touristy’ images of the capital – Hyde Park, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square – and images of Royal Weddings and Jubilee events, flags waving, Pearly Kings and Queens and fancy dress.
It was especially interesting to me as this week I too have been taking photos in Another London, and coincidentally it’s a London occupied by flag wavers, Pearly Kings and Queens and fancy dress.
The Olympic Park in Stratford is about as un-London as I have ever experienced. Forget grumpy people, rushing about and never saying hello or sorry or thankyou, everyone on the park seems infected with an Olympic glow.
A bit of creative thinking and forward planning led to brather brilliant campaign on popular Victorian author Charles Dickens. Actor Simon Callow came on board too.
One heady afternoon in July 2011, our press team at the University of Warwick were engaged in an activity we rarely have time to do, ‘forward planning’. Flushed with the success of finding a spare hour to think, we came up with an idea.
We wanted to mark the bicentenary of the birth of one of our greatest authors, Charles Dickens, in February 2012.
We thought a podcast series about his work might be a good idea and approached one of our experts, Professor Jon Mee in English and Comparative Literary Studies.
As we began talking to our academics about our idea and looking at the breadth of research across the University, it soon became clear that we could do much more than just a few podcasts. Working with our in-house digital team we created a Dickens sub site, hosting a range of podcasts, videos, interviews and articles on the life, times and works of Charles Dickens. We involved researchers and students in English, Health and Social Studies, History and Law.
It's fascinating seeing how different sectors approach the changing landscape. There's some excellent innovation in charities and volantary groups.
by Honey Lucas
From large international charities, to tiny voluntary groups comprised wholly of volunteers, the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the UK is extremely varied - but whatever their size, voluntary and community organisations and charities are increasingly adopting social media to help connect with their followers and supporters, spread their messages, and encourage people to take action.
Here are just a few case studies from the VCS that showcase the innovative thinking and friendly approach that is making the sector's use of social media such a success.
What works on social media is good content. Sometimes that content isn't about key messages and campaigns as almost 13,000 likes on a weather storm clip in Wolverhampton shows.
by Tim Clark
I was out on a site visit recently and at one point was using my smartphone to update some pictures to the council’s social media sites.
A non-communications colleague who had accompanied me quipped: “It must be nice having a job where you can mess about on Facebook all day!”
It got me thinking. She was right on one level, it is pretty amazing being paid to use new and evolving technologies to communicate instantly with thousands of people every day. However, she was wrong to suggest – even if in jest – that we are just “messing about."
Hello I'm Laila and I'm a digital-aholic.
But I've got a bit of a confession to make – despite being a digital geek with a degree in Computer Science and Art I've never worked in a start-up, I've always worked in the charity sector.
Of the many things that keep me in charities, a big one is the change I've been able to contribute to and drive. I'm not alone, digital staff across the sector are making waves.
This became really clear when I presented recently on the digital transformation work I've been leading at UNICEF UK (see my presentation on my blog here.)
Brilliant, wasn't it? It won over cynics and galvanised supporters. The 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony won over the nation. How can you have some of that to tell your story?
by Kate Hughes
I woke up as high as a kite after watching the epic, awesome Olympic opening ceremony.
It was an extraordinary display; a great love letter to our country. For me the thing that really elevated it from spectacular to oh-my-god-so-bloody-uber-amazingly-spectacular was the rich storytelling.
Danny Boyle crafted a story that is familiar to us (about our modern history) but told it in such a beautiful way that you couldn't help but be captivated. From the first scene change, the rolling green hills disappearing under the satanic mills of the industrial revolution, the audience could anticipate the story arc; but that only added to the sense of drama. The tiny details - the poppies swaying in the breeze, the torch under the bed covers - contrasted with the big bang moments, enhancing the story further.
I have watched with fascination the trials and tribulations over the past few months of the LOCOG team charged with ensuring that an incredibly rigid set of Olympic guidelines are enforced at all costs.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely understand the importance to the official Games sponsors of having exclusive access to the London 2012 logo. This is pure, hard-nosed sponsorship - for commercial gain -not altruism and anyone who thinks otherwise should go and enter the long jump.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
Why you should join the growing trend for business blogging and how to find your blogging rythmn.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
