The more you can measure the impact of your communications, the more your communications can do. There's an event for that.

by Dave Worsell

Good comms people know the challenge of measuring and placing a value on communications efforts isn’t a new phenomenon. Long before digital outlets or data analytics even existed, U.S. 'pioneer of marketing' John Wanamaker (1838 - 1922) said: 'Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half.'

The PRCA elections are upon us and one public sector communicator is asking for your support.

by Paul Masterman

After hundreds of years advising politicians on reputation, I am about to put myself through an election.  And I am shamelessly touting for votes. 

It’s almost shockingly exciting. 

Fairly recently, Staffordshire County Council’s in-house comms team joined the Public Relations Consultants’ Association.  The PRCA started out to raise standards in the private sector agency world, but now represents over 150 in-house teams, including many of Europe's leading corporations and UK public sector organisations.

Russia is an enormous, continent-sized country, made up of 85 different federal parts, 22 of which are republics, in nine time zones. How does local and regional government digital engagement work? 

By James Willsher

The Open Innovations forum took place in Technopolis, a vast warehouse-size venue in one of Moscow’s regenerating old industrial areas. Amidst all the start-ups and intriguing nanotechnology companies displaying their services, I found myself drawn to the refreshingly non-austerity exhibition stands of the regional governments, or oblasts, hoping to attract tech companies and investment.  

Being in a band has never easier thanks to social media, right? All a band needs for success these days is a page on Facebook and a Twitter profile and they’ll be headlining Wembley in no time, right? Erm, no. One digital comms bod – and guitar playing future rock god – explains why, when it comes to social media, it’s a long way to the top…if you wanna rock and roll.

by Dave Musson 

Ah, social media. The sure-fire tool for a band to go in the blink of an eye from unknown to unable to walk down the street without being mobbed. Upload a couple of songs, watch it go viral and then ditch the day job for a life of sex, drugs and rock n roll.

That’s what some people might think, but it’s really not that easy.

For many comms people, the intranet is an overlooked and unloved corner of the landscape. But there's a dedicated community who love making intranets better. They came together at the first intranetnow event in London. But things are changing. The intranet is aimed at staff. But when staff can cut and paste and make public within seconds what is their future? When supermarkets employ 200,000 across hundreds of sites is there a need for them?

by Steve Murgatroyd 

On 2 September, I went to the first ever IntranetNow conference, I fantastic day, with some great speakers.

As an Internal Communicator by trade it was fascinating to be surrounded by people who would class themselves as Intranet Mangers (other job titles are available) but maybe not Internal Communications.

With the media landscape changing the idea that the public sector comms teams should be press release factories is changing. But how to make the shift? Think more like a media company.

by Laura McLean 

To keep up with developing trends in communications and the changing media landscape, many organisations are beginning to think and act like media companies, a strategy which we at Mynewsdesk refer to as the online newsroom approach.

One of the great things abut Twitter are the tools that are created to help you carry out a specific task. Here are three.

by GUEST EDITOR Ben Matthews 

I've got a strong feeling that I'm like the rest of the comms2point0 community and like to try out new tools on a regular basis.

PR and Comms is a fast-moving industry, so there’s always a new product or service to play with that may improve your comms campaigns and change the way you communicate with your audiences.

How do you share new ideas? There's a team in Wales who are finding the answers and finding ways to make them available. 

by GUEST EDITORS Ena Lloyd and Dyfrig Williams

The Good Practice Team have come together over the last 18 months with a purpose of sharing new and emerging ideas to help improve Welsh public services.

We have a very tight budget, so we need to be very creative with how we make the most of our resources.

We have learnt over the last 18 months that different people take information on board in different ways.