a personal revelation: focus groups are actually quite useful

Ever thought of using a focus group? Neither had this comms officer. The results were surprising...

 by Julie Waddicor

I must admit that I’ve always been a bit sceptical about focus groups. Yes, they might give an indication of public opinion and yes, they give your work some ‘real life’ legitimacy but look at the downsides: they are bound to be a self-selecting, self-opinionated group of busybodies. At best, they will give you opinions that don’t really match the way you want to take your work forward and, at worst, they’ll tell you how to do your job.

So, it was with some trepidation that I approached my boss’ ‘suggestion’ that I run some focus groups to help the development of our residents’ magazine.

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we all need to change to get better - leaders too

by James Baker

"Have you ever done a search on CEO in Google images? (I got inspired after a recent social media training session I organised with the lovely Caz Yetman, and after reading this recent article on ditching the civil service tie.)

Go on, have a go - search, and see what comes up. How many people across the globe do you think might feel an affinity with the people in the results shown?

They don't really capture any expertise do they (despite the screaming suits and ties). Can you relate to them? Do they look like you? Your friends? Do you think they'd represent your best interests? Hmmmm not so sure now hey??

I think this also goes for the way in which CEOs, directors and politicians, have been positioned as some kind of other worldly creature, historically disconnected from the wider organization, industry or stakeholders.  

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up for the cup: april's top posts

You could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Our specialist team of engravers are about to get to work. It's that time again when we announce last month's top post...

by Darren Caveney

Well April has seen a record number of visitors to our little old site. We thanks each and every one of you. And an even bigger thank you goes to last month's contributers - there genuinely were some absolutely brilliant posts and case studies, which meant competition to win the coveted £1 plastic cup was tougher than ever.

So, here goes.

In at number five...

I always feel very slightly fraud-ish when one of ours appears in the list. After all, we could completely cheat and award ourselves all sorts. But fifth was Head of Comms JD2.0 by me.

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media law changes comms people need to know

Do you have a battered copy of McNae's Essential Law for Journalists on your desk? Many public relations people do. Thing is after a busy few weeks much of it is obsolete. In this post a media law expert runs comms people through some of the key headlines they need to know.

By David Banks

During the past week a significant shift happened in the lives of journalists in the UK.

The Defamation Bill finally passed, and when give the Royal Assent and fully implemented it will make a huge difference to anyone publishing here because of one key clause.

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behind the scenes at macmillan comms

Everyone has seen MacMillan. They've got good branding. They do good things. They're effective and they make a difference. But what's the reality of working in their comms team?

by Katy Davies

Working in a small yet productive regional communications team at Macmillan Cancer Support really demands a broad scope of skills and expertise to cover the range of communications activities we undertake.

There’s five of us, each bringing something different to the table. International development, broadcast journalism, stakeholder management, agency and digital pretty much sums it up.

Together, we work across London, Anglia and the South East to deliver communications plans across fundraising, services and increasingly, local campaigning. We are part of the England External Affairs team and work with two other regional teams to manage our reputation and brand at local level.

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challenges in 2013 from a pr consultancy perspective

It's a tough time to be in public relations. The landscape which has changed forever is just as tricky for agencies. Here is what one senior figure has to say:

by Mark Whitehouse

Every PR agency will tell you they’re different.

We measure success for clients differently, boast a unique team of people, are the most creative, can implement a media campaign like no other, turn water into wine and back again.

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the people using twitter are changing

Think you know everything there is to know about Twitter? It might just be time to think again.

by Guest Editor                                  Emma Rodgers

I’ve always used Twitter primarily for work. It helps me to get ideas, find out news, meet new people and speak with like minded people often doing similar jobs across the UK and beyond. But a crossover as to who’s using it seems to be taking place. Sorry to all those who already knew this but it seems to me that Twitter has become the new Facebook for teenagers. And I find that fascinating.

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Head of Comms: JD 2.0

Every job in the public sector requires a job description and a person specification. Many of them, it appears, hark back to a time before social media existed and when we still used fax machines.

by Darren Caveney

Job descriptions. You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them.

They quite regularly fail to portray the real flavour of what we do these days. In a fast-changing world they are, to a degree, quite flawed as a concept but we still need them in local government, not least to determine what salaries we get paid for our roles.

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sunderland, di canio and the pr perspective

So, appointing a manager with a history of making comments about fascism was never entirely a smart move. But did Premiership Sunderland make a tricky situation that bit harder?

by Eva Duffy

Last Monday was never going to be an average day in the office for communications manager Louise Wanless.

That Saturday her employers, Sunderland Association Football Club, had sacked The Nicest Man in Football™ Martin O'Neill after a defeat to Manchester United, the club’s eighth game without a win which saw the team precariously balanced just above the relegation zone.

The announcement of Paolo Di Canio as the new manager was always going to mean a challenging time for the club’s press office. Even as a player, controversy was never far. Most infamously, in 1998  he earned universal condemnation, an 11-match ban and a £10,000 fine when he pushed a referee during a Sheffield Wednesday fixture against Arsenal, a game I attended and left with a memory of the collective gasp of shock that reverberated around the stadium as the ref toppled backwards in slow motion. 

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up for the cup: march's top posts

Excitement always grows at Comms2Point0 Towers when the engravers get to work on the shiny £1 cup awarded to the creator of the top post for the month.

by Darren Caveney

March was a bumper month for both the number and quality of new posts. And this possibly accounted for a record number of visitors and page views in March.

Anyways, cue drum roll and we'll do this, as usual, in reverse order...

In fifth spot was the superb, unfortunately, essential, 10 things to do when your team is cut in half by Rebecca Crosby.

At number four was Liam Barrington-Bush with How an author is using small conversations and viral campaigning We were chuffed to receive Liam's debut comms2point0 post.

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listening and monitoring

Listening and monitoring is a challenge that every digital comms person must face when running a social account. Here are some thoughts...

by Simon Booth-Lucking

We sponsored and attended CommsCamp, an unconference for public sector communicators.

We had a great time and you can read plenty about what other people had to say about it in this round-up of CommsCamp.

We ran a session on Listening and Monitoring in Social Media that was pretty well received so here are the slides and notes for you and anyone who was there.

  1. This is a taster class from our Social Media School. It’s all about how to listen and monitor in social media using cheap tools and a few simple techniques
  2. And a lot of those techniques we can learn from internet dating
  3. Except we’re going to be very promiscuos, we’re trying to meet a lot of people in order to find our true loves
  4. So here’s the structure for the class
  5. Let’s start with a bit of planning first; although many of the tools are free your time isn’t so we need to have a plan so we’re making good use of our time
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