People working in communications jobs in Government nowadays face a bewildering range of choices to help them get things done. Random conversations about “what we are doing in social media” seem to forget that there are hundreds more tools than Facebook and Twitter, new TV and radio channels are arriving almost daily and meanwhile the

I was asked by the good people at IPAA NSW to come up with a few thoughts on how to get on in Government jobs. Here’s what I came up with… The decade I spent in Government was varied, rewarding and constantly challenging but most importantly, nothing like the stereotypical view of life in the

I’ve done a lot of travelling to watch sport. In the last 24 months, I’ve seen an Ashes test in Melbourne, Six Nations games in Cardiff and Rome, Racing in Sydney and Cheltenham and professional golf in Australia. The experience of attending live sport has two common themes. Three if you count the crowds. The

There’s not a Government in the world that’s not struggling with the “One Website” problem. And as news starts to break of trouble brewing at gov.uk, it’s worth stopping for a moment to try to understand specifically what the problems are and how we can adjust our approaches to continue to improve Government services. Because,

I’ve noticed over the last few weeks a plethora of posts updating us all on everything from the numbers of people accessing the internet by mobile (answer; lots and more than last year) to today’s publication of a list of magic words (follow, submit, please) that apparently will see your content shared more widely. It’s

It’s the buzzword of the moment. There are conferences dedicated to it. Big data enthusiasts passionately believe it’s the way forward. And I’m sure that in certain contexts, it may well be. But like any abstract concept, therein lies the rub. I’m pretty sure that 50% of the time spent talking about Big Data is

What’s your favourite strapline? One of most enduring things about the value that advertising agencies add for brands is the creation of great straplines. A strapline complements your brand and in just a small number of words, tells the customer who you are and what you stand for. Great straplines are long lasting and adapt

At the risk of repeating myself, every so often someone posts something on Twitter that makes me want to shout “No” at the top of my voice. Today was one of those days. The piece in question was an article about whether the “public sector” was innovative. It quoted a senior person in Government pontificating

I’m a big fan of the NSW ICT Strategy. Cynics might say that I would be, given that it’s the work of my recent colleagues, but that notwithstanding, I’m an acolyte because it continues to put the customer at the heart of its thinking. The announcement today of an app that makes vehicle registration easier

ICT v COMMS Three months into the launch of the business and a few themes are beginning to emerge from both sides of the table. Suppliers in general want to know how to “get to” people in Government with new ideas; Senior Government people are yearning for new ideas; ICT solutions remain focussed on process