the #backclimateaction twitter campaign

November 20, 2014 Darren Caveney

Here is an event that affects everyone that you can join in with to help with the environment.

With a big international summit in 2015 to agree a global cut in emissions, the world is talking about climate change again. Scientists are clear, climate change is happening, it is one of the most serious threats facing the UK and we need to take action now.

PR Week has started dedicating a page each month to climate change communications. Businesses are coalescing in groups such as The Climate Group and Corporate Leaders’ Group; and, NGOs have recently launched a For The Love Of campaign, to call for climate action for the sake of all the things that matter most.

At DECC, we’re piloting campaign activity encouraging people to #BackClimateAction, starting with a Tweetathon on 25^th November - timed to generate discussion on climate change the week before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima.

Our campaign focuses on the relevance of climate change to our lives by linking it to issues people care about most, such as food and health. This addresses the fact that while two-thirds of the public are already ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ concerned about climate change, they don’t always make the connection between the issue and their own lives.

Why a Tweetathon? The format enables us to show collective action on an issue where no one group (whether government, business or communities) or country can solve it by acting alone. We’re delivering the Tweetathon with a broad mix of partners across the public and private sector, and international organisations, including Sky TV, Unilever, Microsoft, the British Medical Association (BMA), former UK Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti and the Indian IPL cricket team Royal Challengers Bangalore. Within government, DECC, FCO, DH, BIS, EA, Met Office and the Scottish Government are among those already involved.

Anyone can get involved by tweeting questions as well and finding out what leaders in the field are thinking and doing on climate change. The tweetathon will be broken down into hourly slots, one after another, and each themed around a different subject such as health, cities and sport. Each session will be led by a different expert who will respond to your questions about how climate change will impact the featured subject matter or the action that can be taken.

We’ve used a ten-day countdown with a focus each day on a different theme (food, health etc) which has enabled supportive partners from each sector to start to amplify campaign messages. Tweets with images are 94% more likely to be retweeted so we’ve created a series of vines. Each vine is split in two with an an image and hashtag, which we supplement with a factoid. We name check relevant partners in our tweets on specific themes, which they are then retweeting to state support, while adding additional factoids of their own.

Half way through our countdown to the big day and, in terms of outputs, according to Tweetreach #BackClimateAction has reached 2.9m accounts and 9.6m impressions. With support from BIS, the event will be closely monitored and evaluated by Ipsos Mori to track changes in the online conversation around climate change. This insight will then be used to help shape future climate change campaign activity.

You can get involved using #BackClimateAction and follow @DECCgovuk. Submit your questions to @DECCGovuk in advance of the day and on the day itself and sign up to support theThunderclap.

Sara Vogt is Head of Campaigns at the UK Government Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC.)

Picture credit.

one rogue reporter screening

November 18, 2014 Darren Caveney

Heard the one about the tabloid reporter who had had enough? And then quit? And then made a film doorstepping newspaper editors to give them a taste of their own medicine? Rich Peppiatt is that man and there is a special screening in Birmingham.

By Alan Taman

One Rogue Reporter is the result: a 90-minute film which mercilessly and hilariously uses that irony to raise crucial questions about the graceless fall of the Red-Tops. About press freedom, privacy, and ethics in journalism. Questions which every journalist who claims to have a conscience (ie, is human) should be asking. As should every PR, because what happens in journalism echoes for (some would say is generated because of) PR.

using whats app as a comms channel

November 14, 2014 Darren Caveney

We use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube well. But after that it tails off. WhatsApp has 500 million users. But few people are using it as a comms channel. Not Shropshire Council who have launched a trial.

by Lorna Perry

Well, what a year it has been, and with six weeks to go before I leave Shropshire Council (to have a baby) I have been itching to try out one last thing – WhatsApp as a communications / customer service channel.

After seeing the huge success we have had on Twitter this year, really working hard on our engagement and gaining a massive 10.7k followers, I starting thinking about how people contact Elected Members and the Council in general.

not entered the unawards yet? here’s why you should...

November 7, 2014 Darren Caveney

The deadline for the comms2point0 inaugural UnAwards is upon us. November 12 at midnight is the cut-off point. In two minds? Let us persuade you...

by Emma Rodgers

You’ve thought about doing them but you haven’t quite got your act together. Here’s why we really think you should.

It’s super speedy to enter – you only need to write 400 words - you’d probably get that done in 60 minutes. That’s one hour – let me say that again – one hour to potentially win a good old bit of kudos for you, your team or the hard slog that you’ve done

#comms20unawards: who should win the lifetime achievement award?

November 6, 2014 Darren Caveney

There's not long left now until entries to our inaugural UnAwards close. But who should win the tasty Lifetime Achievement award?

by Darren Caveney

When we sat down and came up with a long list of potential UnAward categories we felt that a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award category should be in there somewhere. And when we whittled it down from our long list of 372, down to our final list of 14, we still felt it should be in there.

It’s maybe a slightly funny-sounding award title, and if you think about BAFTAs, OSCARs and such like they seem to go to people who have been around for hundreds of years.

stuff (and things) about making videos

November 6, 2014 Darren Caveney

There has been an 800 per cent increase in video consumption over the past six years. Moving from a nice to have they are becming 'must have.' But how do you make them tell your story?

by Mark Foden

Last year I made ‘The Gubbins of Government’, a simple animated video about the future structure of government services.

I made it to explain something that had been confusing me. It turned out to be a real success - lots of people seem to find it useful.

three effective rules for good posters

November 5, 2014 Darren Caveney

Posters. The drift to digital is strong but they still have a place in the comms armoury. They can be as powerful or as weak as you design them. But what do good ones look like?

by Susan Neal

Many hours have been wasted by me and my former Council communications colleagues in trying to convince services about the best way of getting their message across.

how much are your digital efforts worth?

October 31, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.'

vote, vote, vote for paul

October 29, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.

how russian digital engagement works

October 26, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.

why 300 seconds is a really good thing

October 20, 2014 Darren Caveney

300 seconds emerged from a realisation that women were not speaking at tech conferences. So, events to give speakers 300 seconds to talk on a subject of their choice happened. Here's why it is a good thing.

by Emma Rodgers

Last week, I went to a 300 seconds event in Manchester. It’s been a long time coming – I had hoped to get to an event since I first heard about the initiative at #UKgovcamp in January.

It was there, in an unconference session led by @annkempster & @sharonodea that I first heard about 300 seconds and what it is all about. Ann and Sharon had held a couple of 300 seconds events and were keen to get ideas and thoughts on how to take them forward. All in all, I found it pretty inspirational and knew I wanted to see and hear more.

what a cop show teaches us about comms

October 6, 2014 Darren Caveney

As communicators we are surrounded by learning opportunities. But can we learn about comms from a TV show? One communicator thinks so.

by Darren Caveney

Now I love film and tv. I mean love. Mrs C, in our early days of ‘courting’, once made the mistake of asking me what my favourite film was. 20 minutes later I had drawn up a top 50 for her. I was pleased with my work, she should have realised right then that she was dating an anorak.

But TV can be just as special as film. By TV I don’t mean most of the dirge that gets thrown our way in the name of entertainment. No, I mean the seriously good stuff – The Wire, The West Wing, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad. I’ve seen them all.

post-its and death, tax discs and behavioural science: how #commsforchange14 made me a better comms person

September 29, 2014 Darren Caveney

#CommsForChange14 was created to be a leading event for communications professionals dealing with change in the public sector today. But how did it pan out as a learning experience?

By Darren Caveney

We are often told that change is the new constant. But I have been communicating change ever since I entered the industry about a hundred years ago. You’ll be exactly the same. Change isn’t new and neither is communicating it.

So, we should be really good at it by now? Err, actually, not necessarily so.

a musical interlude: 11 ways bands can be better at social media

September 26, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.

intranets work now but what of the future?

September 15, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.

10 tips for local authorities & the online newsroom approach

September 15, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.

new twitter tools to try: flounder, good audience and sumall

September 7, 2014 Darren Caveney

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.