The first half of this year (plus a bit) has been quite something! I’ve travelled the length and breadth of the country; completed some communications projects and started new ones; worked with great people I’ve known for a while and with fantastic new clients; written all sorts of news pieces, articles and reports; listened to … Read more
This week I’m pondering about tea (and coffee)…. I’ve just started a new interim contract with a client that I haven’t worked for before. It means a new organisation to get to know, new priorities and ways of working, a new office, new colleagues – and a whole new set of tea rules! Luckily things … Read more
Anyone for tennis? Continuing the topical sport theme, this time I’m turning my attention to tennis and the Wimbledon championships. For me, Wimbledon fortnight is a fabulous example of a compelling, engaging story. There are many reasons for that and, as always, for those of us who are looking to develop these kinds of stories … Read more
World Cup fever has well and truly set in at my house. The sticker book is almost complete, the wall chart is up and the relevant match times have been written on the calendar. There is much excitement and anticipation as we await kick-off of the first game. As usual, my thoughts are turning to … Read more
A few months ago I was asked by the Institute of Internal Communications (IoIC) to write a piece for a new series they were developing of practical guides for communicators. As regular readers of this blog will know, I have a passionate belief in the power of effective planning when it comes to communicating well … Read more
Every year, at about this point in the Spring term, my daughter’s school hosts a ‘Sharing Day’, where parents get to come into the classroom to share a lesson with their children. So today I found myself sitting on a small chair at a small table, surrounded by a gaggle of 5- and 6-year-olds making … Read more
I am the sort of person for whom values are important. Maybe that’s why I work in the not-for-profit and academic sectors. It certainly helps with running my own business – the values that frame my working life are now entirely my own, not something that has been dictated or developed by others in the … Read more
I attended a really inspiring meeting of my local voluntary sector forum this morning. We were talking about coproduction, the term for involving service users and their experiences in the design and commissioning of the services they need and want. This isn’t in itself a particularly new concept, but in these difficult financial times, when … Read more
“I wish they’d communicate directly with us and tell us what they’re doing,” said the volunteer in her high-vis jacket, desperately trying to co-ordinate the efforts to help the wretched residents of her village as they were flooded out of their homes. The ‘they’ in question were the Government and she was talking to the … Read more
One of the many places I go to work so that I’m not staring at the kitchen wall all day is my local library. It’s warm, quiet (except on nursery rhymes day and coffee mornings) and feels studious, which I find conducive to work. I have my favourite table to work at, tucked away in … Read more