Facebook Guidelines for Parents, Students and Schools

I thought you would find this interesting:

Facebook Guidelines for Parents, Students and Schools - http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wiredprworks/FkFt/~3/gCw0JhROIEM/

Shared from wiredPRworks, an iPhone app.

Open Government: The Canadian Way

Recently I met Canadian Chris Moore, the  Chief Information Officer for the City of Edmonton.

Chris is spearheading  efforts to deliver “Open Government” to the City’s citizens.  That means making the processes and data held by Edmonton's agencies more available to people …and in easily accessible forms.

The City of Edmonton is the fourth municipality in Canada with open government initiatives rooted in the IT department.  Chris’ measures include crowd sourcing new ideas and launching an Iphone app to allow citizens to easily report graffiti and potholes around the city to a municipal call centre. 

Chris has over 25 years of IT experience and has only been in his current job around 18 months.  Based on his experiences - which I’m sure have involved many bureaucratic struggles - he identifies three conditions as necessary in any efforts to make government more open.

• There must be support from the top which means political  and CEO backing.
• Administrative arrangements must support the move to change.
• There must be genuine community engagement with peers, staff and with residents.

Chris blogs Edmonton’s Open Government program here.

Follow the Australian Government’s progress on Open Government here.

Say It Loud

I have just started using Audio Boo, a new social media application that allows you to share audio files via the Internet.

Audioboo is an application for recording and sharing your voice with the world. The free version allows you to create audio up to 5 minutes in length and post that to an account on the web. You can add titles, tags, geolocation info and a photo to the recording before you upload it and all that will be saved with the file.

I recently "did a boo" especially for people who attended one of our workshops. A sort of enhanced word of mouth.   Listen here

Audioboo could be a good way to go if the people you need to reach, prefer to listen rather than read information.

Stories: The Key Ingredient for Successful Launches

A launch of a new product, service, idea or campaign can either be just another occasion or like the launch of a rocket heading to the moon it can be an opportunity to inspire.  Too often in the hurly burly of a campaign it is easy to overlook the power and importance of a launch and fail to draw maximum value from it.

A launch provides the chance to introduce new ideas, different ways of working or even to bring forward a new CEO or team.  It can start the telling of a corporate story or continue the telling of a necessary tale.  And it can be a golden opportunity to gather, energise and send forth key supporters to promote your issue.  

Of all the different types of events the launch is one that should be as impactful and emotional as you can possibly make it.  After all if you are not excited about your issue at the outset, then why should anyone else care?  And these days just having one speaker follow another - unless each delivers riveting presentations - is hardly likely to make the grade.  Today audiences expect something novel and compelling.

I have attended two launches in recent weeks - both on similar issues.  One used a standard format with a succession of VIPs speaking in generalities.  The other got real people to share with the audience their personal stories of tragedy, triumph, failure and achievement.   The first was scripted.  The other poured straight from the heart.

Perhaps there is an old lesson to re-learned.  The art and craft of embedding personal stories into a launch should take primetime over the logistics of invitations, catering and other things that can so easily overtake our pre-launch efforts.

 

32 Ways To Communicate A Construction Project

I have been looking at some recently completed community relations campaigns that have supported major developments in Australia.

Here’s some of the communications tools and strategies used by companies and government agencies to get community buy-in for large construction projects:

• Advertising.
• Blogs dedicated to the construction project.
• Complaint management systems to register and track complaints.
• Construction staff volunteering for local charities and events.
• Employing local people and buying from local suppliers.
• Conveniently placed information centres where residents can get information.
• Dedicated website or minisites.
• Demonstration projects.
• Displays at community events.
• Email channels for complaints or queries.
• Employing local communicators who understand affected communities.
• Fact sheets with specifc themes that can be mailed, emailed, downloaded or handed out.
• Information packs for businesses, schools and retailers.
• Interactive mobile kiosks in libraries, shopping and other high traffic areas.
• Leaving behind legacy projects after construction such as new roads, school improvements, parks and other recreational facilities.
• Media briefings on constructions sites.
• Media relations.
• One on one briefings with landholders and other key people.
• Operational changes based on community feedback such as scheduling work at night or during school holidays.
• Presentations to local groups on a one-off or regular basis.
• Print materials such as newsletters, bulletins, advisories, bulletins, posters.
• Transferring communications staff to live in the areas affected by construction.
• Research on audiences and attitudes before, during and after construction.
• Site tours and open days for the public.
• Specially equipped information buses that can travel around communities.
• Sponsoring organisations or events in areas affected by construction.
• Staff from diverse backgrounds tasked to communicate with multicultural communities.
• Stakeholder consultative bodies offering feedback on the effectiveness of communications.
• Thank you events once a project finishes.
• Toll free hot lines.

There was little use of social media in these constructions projects but this many change as more people use new digital platforms to get information on local developments.