the future of local government comms leadership is... female

October 18, 2015 Darren Caveney

The Future Leaders programme run each year by LGcomms is a fantastic initiative. Each year it offers a dozen or so comms managers and officers the chance to join a development programme aimed at bringing forward our next wave of comms leaders, heads and directors. This year’s intake has one thing in common: They are all women.

By Darren Caveney

I have been mentoring comms managers in the UK for several years now and always enjoy the process - meeting new people, sharing ideas, jointly tackling issues and hoping to impart a smidge of what I have learned after 20 years in the game.

So I was very pleased when I was again asked to speak at the launch of this year’s Future Leaders programme in London last week and be a mentor once more.

What struck me instantly the moment I arrived in Hackney Town Hall was that I was the only man in the room.

top tips for success in the UnAwards 2015

September 25, 2015 Darren Caveney

We know many of you are working on your entries and nominations for the UnAwards 2015. We thought it would be useful to share some top tips on giving you the best shot at success this year.

By Darren Caveney

You have six weeks to work on your entries. Sounds plenty of time doesn't it? But the deadline will be here before you know it.

We’ve all left award entries until the last minute in the past due to other competing work demands. But is that what your best work this year deserves? No, course not.

So use the time wisely and have a think about which of the 15 categories are a best fit with the activity and projects you are most proud of. Grab a coffee, sit somewhere quiet for 10 minutes with a pencil and a piece of paper and begin sketching out your ideas or a small mind map for your entry. Focus on the best way to make it stand out from the crowd.

10 years of being a head of comms and what do I have to show for it?

September 23, 2015 Darren Caveney

10 years in communications is a long time. 10 years being a head of comms is a really long time. Lessons are a plenty so here’s a post which attempts to capture the key ones.

By Darren Caveney

Well here’s the thing. I woke up this morning and for the first time in 10-years I am not a head of comms. This is a good thing because it means I have moved on to an exciting new phase of my career.

It’s an obvious time to reflect. Has 10 years of being a head of comms made me a better comms professional? And would I recommend the role to someone else? Here’s my take on it, my top tips and answers to these two simple questions.

I have had some fantastic opportunities. Worked with some brilliant colleagues. Won over a dozen industry awards with them and learned way more than you could ever capture in a single post. I have also sat in some dreary meetings. Had to argue the case for comms, over and over and over and over, and crossed swords with some quite unpleasant people. The rough with the smooth. You know the score.

why your communications strategy might fail without text messaging

August 27, 2015 Darren Caveney

Govdelivery's annual UK Public Sector Communications Conference has become an essential part of the September calender. Why? It delivers good content. You can learn more about this year's line-up here. We take a look at one of the key speakers on the role of text messaging in comms.

By Michelle Lee

Look around in a public setting. You will notice more people hunched over a mobile device to communicate or access information than ever before. More than 35 million UK residents own a mobile phone and they’re accessing their devices for an average of 3 hours and 16 minutes each day – the equivalent of almost a full day per week.

Mobile, as a marketing channel, can no longer be ignored in order to succeed in today’s world – especially in public sector communications. Accessibility, convenience, clarity, and universality make mobile an essential channel to communicate with the public.

making video to kill the radio star

August 24, 2015 Darren Caveney

Making videos doesn't have to be an epic production as one communications officer discovered on one of our courses.

by Rob McCleary

My memories of making videos at University mainly involved me falling asleep in editing rooms whilst my colleagues did all the work. I always had more of an aptitude (and face) for radio so when I decided to get into video making for my council’s social media page I hopped on a train and headed to the comms2point0 video course only armed with my trusty iphone 4 and a sandwich.

The day long course started off with introductions from Steve from the Film Café whose CV includes working on Dr Who and Torchwood. Our first icebreaker task was, in pairs, to go out onto the distractingly pretty corridors of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry and film each other talking about what we wanted to get out of the day.

what’s your best work?

June 3, 2015 Darren Caveney

Wow, 20-years. 20 years working in the comms and marketing industry. That’s a good time to reflect on the best bits of work you’ve ever delivered.

By Darren Caveney

Yesterday I had the opportunity to present some day job work to a panel of awards judges. And it got me thinking about what I thought had been my best work ever. The projects which I’d enjoyed most, had delivered the best results, or just given a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

A few sprang to mind...

whatsapp for elections

May 1, 2015 Darren Caveney

A few years ago it was considered revolutionary to use Facebook to tell people election results and now its expected. Now it is experimenting with messaging app WhatsApp that is the latest frontier for one intrepid council.

by Geoff Coleman

At the risk of incurring your wrath, can I mention the election? I know, I know... we're all probably getting a little fed-up with what feels like the longest campaign in history. Personally I'm taking the opportunity to experiment.

I work at Birmingham City Council and in recent years we've gradually built-up our election coverage and the combination of web updates, tweets, videos and more always attracts a decent audience.

My boss Janet Priestley is always encouraging us to experiment with new platforms and channels and recently challenged me to build on our previous election coverage. So this year we're sharing voter information, candidate lists results and other election news via mobile messaging service WhatsApp.

In part this was inspired by Shropshire Council's experiment with WhatsApp late last year.

into the confectionery stall and out again

April 11, 2015 Darren Caveney

Like many people I was sad to hear of the death of cricket commentator Richie Benaud on Friday.

by Darren Caveney

Richie Benaud defined cricket commentary for my generation and I’ll always remember his rich words during that iconic summer of 1981 and the greatest test series I think ever took place - Botham’s Ashes.

But it was Richie Benaud’s articulate, measured, soothing descriptions of events taking place on the pitch that elevated the games from brilliant to unforgettable.

And it spawned my favourite piece of sporting commentary ever when he described a huge six from Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham against a flagging Australian side:

“Don’t even bother looking for that, let alone chasing it. It’s gone straight into the confectionery stall – and out again.”

It’s been a much repeated quote since his passing but those who were around at the time didn’t need a reminder, it was tucked away in the memory bank for life. A truly brilliant and totally unplanned line.

To me he was just an incredible communicator and storyteller.

your ‘cut out and keep' guide to saying NO to daft requests

March 16, 2015 Darren Caveney

No can be the hardest word. But often the kindest. Here's a cut and out and keep guide to saying no when you really do need to politely shake your head at someone you work with...

by Darren Caveney

so what makes you the right person for the job?

March 15, 2015 Darren Caveney

One of our key reasons for setting up comms2point back in the day was to share and to encourage sharing across comms and digital folk. And we said that the ultimate outcome for us would be to help someone find a job no matter how small that bit of help might have been. Well what do you know...

by Ant Gale

I’m trying to remember how I first came across comms2point0. I think it was a random retweet I scrolled across during a work break.

Little bit of back-story on me – I had been working at Sainsbury’s since graduating with a Media Technology degree in 2012 (shout out De Montfort University) and I was doing one day a week work experience at Staffordshire County Council.

what’s in your comms room 101?

March 8, 2015 Darren Caveney

I'd love a chance to appear on the TV Show Room 101, although I'd struggle to narrow it down to just five choices. But what would your 'Comms 101' choices be?

by GUEST EDITOR Emma Rodgers

I have been lucky recently to get to a couple of top-notch learning events – the LG Communications Digital seminar in Coventry and the comms2point0 Campaign Masterclass in Birmingham.

Instead of doing a blog on all the things I learnt from the event (of which there were many), I’ve instead opted for a post that will hopefully act as a little bit of therapy for comms peeps. It certainly did for us anyway at the time.

I’m all for sharing and while I’m generally always focussed on what the good things are to share. This time when pitching on both days, I was keen to take a different tact. It was a sharing, cathartic session whereby anyone who came along could get it out as to what was annoying them the most to do with digital at the LG Comms session, and what was annoying them most to do with campaigns at the masterclass event.

ten things internal communicators can learn from wales

March 1, 2015 Darren Caveney

To mark St David's Day we thought that it would be rather good to have a Welsh post and a Welsh guest editor. Over to you, Nat Corney...

by GUEST EDITOR Natalie Corney

Please indulge me here, I wrote this for St David’s Day. Yes, there is some stereotyping, yes, it could apply to other countries and areas etc., but go with it – I think it has some important points...

1.Be proud

Welsh people are incredibly proud of where they come from – and not just the country – their actual town or village. There is a great affinity to home. Whether people still live there or whether they’ve moved somewhere else in the world, Wales is still home. It doesn’t matter if it’s the smallest village or the biggest city.

using targeted tv advertising

January 22, 2015 Darren Caveney

Foster carers are hard to recruit. It's a demanding but rewarding job. Each one can save an authority thousands of pounds. But how to find them? One forward-thinking council has turned to targeted TV ads.

by Anushka Desai

We had been looking for innovative ways to recruit more foster carers, so when Sky TV approached us to use their new targeted advertising system we had to give it a go.

Like many authorities we are struggling to recruit more carers for teenagers. We currently have around 430 children in care in Buckinghamshire, with the majority being of teenage age. Currently over 50% of our children are placed outside of the county, as we don’t have enough in-house foster carers.