up for the cup: april's top posts

April 30, 2013 Darren Caveney

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.

media law changes comms people need to know

April 28, 2013 Darren Caveney

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 Thing is after a busy few weeks much of it is obsolete.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.

behind the scenes at macmillan comms

April 24, 2013 Darren Caveney

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.

challenges in 2013 from a pr consultancy perspective

April 20, 2013 Darren Caveney

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.

digital communications and channel shift in government

April 16, 2013 Darren Caveney

With the pace of change ever faster there has never been a greater imperative to learn. Resaercher and blogger Liz Azyan has spent more than five years at first hand mapping those changes. She talks here about her second white paper on the subject. This time for Govdelivery and LGEO Research.

by Liz Azyan

A few years ago I wrote a white paper on digital communications in government. I received useful feedback and also insight into the world of governments everywhere on how they were embracing change that was happening in the digital landscape.

However, the landscape of government communications is still changing, especially within the digital space. And its not just the landscape, it US - as people, as individuals, have changed.

Head of Comms: JD 2.0

April 14, 2013 Darren Caveney

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.

sunderland, di canio and the pr perspective

April 9, 2013 Darren Caveney

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.

up for the cup: march's top posts

April 1, 2013 Darren Caveney

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.