A trip to Exeter to deliver 2 events to the fine people of the South West of this wonderful country of ours taught me a number of things but 2 that stand out for me are as follows:

1. That the South West has been ignored by us and many others when it comes to getting together and sharing ideas and best practice around the ever shifting topic of improving service delivery and internal ways of working and that there is a great deal of unsung talent and interest projects going on in this area.

2. That the people of the South West are extremely hospitable and endearing folk that I look forward to meeting more regularly in the future.

The #EPIC Social Media & Channel Shift events ran concurrently at the Sandy Park Conference Centre, home of the Exeter City Chiefs and some of the best conference staff that I have met. We were were lucky with the weather, we had 2 excellent line-ups of speakers who managed by 2 excellent chairs, Ben Proctor aka @likeaword on Twitter in the #EPIC Social Media event and Gerald Power aka @geraldpower on Twitter.

The day was a mixture of presentations from practitioners in both streams, sharing their experiences , successes and in some instances, mistakes but with emphasis on sharing as much transferable knowledge as possible for attending delegates to take back to their organisations to implement.

Below are the presentations, selected tweets and supporting content fopr the #EPIC Social Media event for you to immerse yourself in at your leisure. Please feedback to us if you find this content useful

 

 

Getting the strategy right
Alastair Smith, Interim Communications Officer, Cannock Chase Council
Twitter: @alncl
http://al-smith.co.uk/

Despite what some may suggest, social media is not an isolated activity. The blend between social media tools and the other channels in your mix should be seemless and activities should be matched to the audience. Whilst is may be seen as necessary to be ‘on’ Facebook, Twitter, Google+, the next big thing, it’s more important to get the strategy right and work out what you want to achieve first. Unlocking new ways of working will also create opportunities to maximise the talents within your staff and can transform public facing services.

• Trailblazing to transformation – embedding practices
• Vanity or value – why are we doing this?
• Playing to your strengths – nurturing talent
• Corporate governance – getting your ducks in a row

Getting the Strategy Right presentation

Related Tweets:

• #epicsw @alncl up first in the socmed sessions this morning. Talking about getting the strategy right
• #epicsw @alncl speaking about the power of your network & importance of sharing learning from failure as well as success
• #epicsw social media forms part of overall comms strategy.
• Planning a comms strategy? Include digital in it. Don’t keep it seperate #epicsw
• #epicsw @alncl making an important point about political input around questioning value < often forgotten
• RT @carlhaggerty: #epicsw the importance of content is being highlighted – creating remarkable content
• A social media policy should help and support and not be a Big Stick says @alncl #epicsw
• Good SM policy is guidance on how best to use it. Not a stick to beat with! #epicsw
• #epicsw people centred – your own staff have additional skills which can create added value – go beyond the person spec
• RT @Nat_lucks: Some of the best Twitter accounts are run by people on the front line #epicsw
• People will assume you can contact a public sector social media profile. Think about how it can be monitored and how you can engage. #epicsw
• #epicsw the importance of content is being highlighted – creating remarkable content
• #epicsw @alncl talking about the why, what and who of social media – links being made to all other speakers today…should be fun
• Some of the best Twitter accounts are run by people on the front line #epicsw
• People in your org may be the frontline peopke. Not comms or IT. #epicsw.
• Experiment with social channels as yourself first, @alncl says. #epicsw.

 

Using Twitter better in the Public Sector: Tips for Starters and Old Hands
Dan Slee, Senior Press & PR Officer, Walsall Council
@danslee

http://danslee.wordpress.com/

Local government has embraced Twitter and now only a handful of authorities don’t have a presence. But are we using it well? How should the public sector be using it? How can it be used in a crisis? What happens when we open it up to others across the organisation. And series of tips and case studies for novices and the more experienced.

• Twitter is a powerful tool.
• It’s not just for comms people if you set the guidance right.
• Good things happen when you open it up.
• Case studies demonstrate its effective use across the public sector.

How we can do Twitter Better – Dan Slee

Related Tweets:

• How to do Twitter Better. #epicsw
• RT @comms2point0: Planning a comms strategy? Include digital in it. Don’t keep it seperate #epicsw
• #epicsw @danslee now showing off his primary school picture as part of a presentation about doing Twitter better in #localgov
• Mr @danslee talking now at #epicsw – “nobody is born an expert, there are no experts”
• #epicsw technology easy to use but it’s how we use it. Social media has biggest reach.
• Some lovely old Skool photos being used by @danslee < reinforces the human side in my view #epicsw
• Dan’s got some great stats on print media vs social media. Hope he’ll share later #epicsw @danslee
• How much effort are you spending on print and how much on digital?think now about changing #epicsw
• #epicsw How much time do you spend On print rather than digital? Good point @danslee
• #epicsw effective use of Twitter requires two way comms (as for all forms of communication).
• #epicsw people prefer to subscribe (Facebook, Twitter) rather than search for info on council website.
• People might go to social media instead of the council website forgot news…but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be on there #epicsw
• #epicsw if you trust someone to talk to people over a desk, why not via social media?
• #epicsw the big 5: be social, be a sharer, be connected, be timely, be informative.
• Why are organisations so reluctant to trust employees to use social media? #epicsw
• Start conversations that ask for feedback #epicsw
• Picture in a tweet is 4 times more likely to be opened than a traditional press release #epicsw
• You can spot a @danslee good point a mile away, everyone reaches for their phones to Tweet #epicsw
• #epicsw sharing other local organisations such as 3rd sector and other public sector can help increase the reach of the wider messages
• Share and share a like. Cross service promotion across accounts is good as long as its timely and has relevance #epicsw
• #epicsw don’t be frightened to innovate!
• Don’t automate press release tweets. It’s so anti social #epicsw
• Some good clear advice and experiences shared this morning from @danslee  #epicsw
• #epicsw social networking isn’t all about online.
• #epicsw everyone in organisation responsible for social media.
• #epicsw social media is not free. Good engagement has a cost.
• #epicsw vanity or value. Must have purpose and be measured.
• #epicsw some really great questions in the social media stream today…@danslee and @alncl are responding superbly *hat tip*
• Social media will be completely integrated in 10 years, with CRM too (hope so!!) #epicsw
• Excellence in SM in the future = integration and CRM. Some of the best ideas haven’t even happened yet.#inspired #epicsw
• I agree but why so long? @mattbond1: Social media will be completely integrated in 10 years, with CRM too (hope so!!) #epicsw
• #epicsw some really good pointers and references to #contentstrategy mentioned in Q and A
• By 2015, traditional press officers will be old relics, @danslee we need to be more innovative about stories and how we tell them #epicsw

 

Magic Numbers: Measuring the Quality & Quantity of Social Media Activity
Sarah Lay, e-Content Officer, Derbyshire County Council

Twitter: @sarahlay
www.sarahlay.com

At the start of any social media project, you should think about your goals, and it is these objectives rather than how popular your organisation appears to be that matter most when measuring your online success.

While social media can seem like a low cost resource, it can take a lot of time to manage these platforms and you may need to justify your activities, especially if you have a management team who are sceptical about its usefulness.

Measuring the response to your social media activity it is also important to record progress, record success and to learn from – you will never really know if what you’re doing is having any impact if you don’t record.

This presentation will focus on:

• What to measure
• Quantitative data & what to do with it
• Qualitative data & what to do with it
• Performance indicators / telling stories

Magic Numbers – Measuring the quantity and quality of social media activity

Sarah’s Blog Post on her Presentation & Event

Related Tweets:

• #epicsw Sarah Ley – Measuring Quality and Quantity of Social Media.
• @sarahlay #epicsw 5 point plan why, what, tools, crunch, stories…Sarah says it so much better of course
• What is success, why are we measuring? What are we measuring? Find the tools, number crunch, tell the stories! #epicsw
• @bmwelby @carlhaggerty I disagree. If we’re going to do it, lets try and do it properly. Nothing worse than a poor effort #epicsw
• #epicsw it’s a journey. Does your effort match your objectives?
• Whoop pres on metrics @sarahlay…if you don’t have objectives how do you know your doing well?! #epicsw
• ‘social media is a journey not a destination’ #epicsw from @sarahlay
• Try and measure from the start. It’s easier says @sarahlay. #epicsw.
• RT @jensKsorensen: Whoop pres on metrics @sarahlay…if you don’t have objectives how do you know your doing well?! #epicsw
• Are we shouting into the void? Click throughs are interesting ways to see how effective a campaign is says @sarahlay #epicsw
• RT @comms2point0: Try and measure from the start. It’s easier says @sarahlay. #epicsw.
• #epicsw all the metrics talk by @sarahlay is crucial for local gov #contentstrategy
• #epicsw Councilmonitor, RepKnight, Tweetreach?
• No. of followers in isolation is a bit pants as a metric. Focus on engagement. #epicsw
• Huge followings doesnt neccesarily  mean success says @sarahlay #epicsw
• RT @carlhaggerty: #epicsw all the metrics talk by @sarahlay is crucial for local gov #contentstrategy
• “Quantity of data is the easy part, it’s translating that into measures of objectives that matters” @sarahlay  #epicsw
• How many of your followers have done something as a result of reading some social content asks @sarahlay? #epicsw
• Too true – “Huge followers doesn’t mean huge success” @sarahlay #epicsw
• People don’t necessary engage with you…but you can measure them via click-throughs. I’ll be chatting about that this arvo too. #epicsw
• RT @comms2point0: Fascinating chat with engineers sceptical about Twitter Gritter. ‘Don’t people have radios these days?’ one asked#epicsw
• Share it with us @danslee Your magic Opportunities to View equation #epicsw  :0)
• @Nat_lucks School pic? There were much more embarrassing school pics that will *never* see the light of day : ) #epicsw
• #epicsw examples of digital messages reaching real people offline…
• Numbers sit best alongside stories when measuring SM #epicsw @sarahlay
• RT @markbraggins: Thanks for all the tweets from #epicsw Hope the bloggers there today will share their own perspective with those who couldn’t be there
• #epicsw @sarahlay breaks the golden rule of 5 steps by adding a sixth….
• Define success, measure, evaluate and go back to the start says @sarahlay #epicsw
• Nice quote from @sarahlay “don’t aim to be good at social media, aim to be good at serving your citizens through social media” #epicsw
• @sarahlay Don’t be good at social media, be good at serving your citizens through social media #greatpoint #epicsw
• #epicsw don’t be good at social media, be good at helping customers.
• Don’t aim to be gd at social media, be gd at serving your citizens on social media <3 that @sarahlay #epicsw
• RT @mattbond1: @sarahlay Don’t be good at social media, be good at serving your citizens through social media #greatpoint #epicsw

 

Internal Social Networking – Easy and Complex in Equal Parts
Carl Haggerty, Digital Communications Manager (Strategic Lead), Devon County Council

Twitter: @carlhaggerty
http://carlhaggerty.wordpress.com/

Digging deep into the reality of how social networking can cross the corporate divide and empower people in organisations. The challenge is easy and complex in equal measure and we’ll explore how organisations can take steps forward.

• Unpick the myths around internal social networking
• Understand the barriers and risks to adoption
• Explore the cultural and leadership challenges

This presentation will contain audio & video content.

Internal Social Networking – Easy and Complex in Equal Parts – Carl Haggerty

 

Don’t Sit on the Sidelines: Exploiting Social Media to Deliver Services today
Guy Giles, Operations Manager, Looking Local

www.lookinglocal.gov.uk

Looking Local is already helping over 120 Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Police and Health Trusts deliver front line services on Facebook. They are enabling them to extend their use of Twitter to every home in the UK that has SKY TV or Virgin Media TV. This presentation will focus on:

• Providing real life case studies showing how the service works
• Highlighting the associated savings from engaging via this new channel
• Demonstrating how the use of social media is a long way from vanity – it’s a very real and important channel
• Explaining how you can get involved without needing to reinvent the wheel

Looking Local – PSCSF – Social Media 2012-02-07

Related Tweets:

• #epicsw Guy Giles Looking Local
• Social media and channel shift are inextricably linked <– agree #epicsw
• North Lincs’ NLTV is a one stop shop to allow people to access public sector services. People don’t mind their TV remotes #epicsw
• #epicsw highest users of public services won’t use social media.
• Guy from LookingLocal now up talking channel shift. Most people who *really* need to access services don’t use the web #epicsw
• There’s 13m UK smartphones and lookinglocal think apps are a bit over rated #localgov #epicsw
• #epicsw the app is dead, long live the mobile web experience!
• #epicsw Looking Local uses Live service TV. Don’t try and develop bespoke mobile Apps.
• Make your website mobile friendly first before thinking of apps say lookinglocal #epicsw #localgov #localgovweb
• Apps suck from a cost and ongoing development perspective. It’s all about mobile websites #epicsw
• #epicsw the wii is used as an access channel as it is available in care homes as a fitness tool.
• RT @comms2point0: Make your website mobile friendly first before thinking of apps say lookinglocal #epicsw #localgov #localgovweb
• #epicsw Looking Local developed for use with Wii. Used in care homes.
• Lol! :p “@carlhaggerty @spoonoftweets: #epicsw the app is dead, long live the mobile web experience! < although they have still created one”
• RT @_jasonwilliams: “@comms2point0: Make your website mobile friendly first before thinking of apps say lookinglocal #epicsw #localgov #localgovweb” agreed!
• #epicsw all the digiTV stuff looks and sounds pretty cool but I have realised it isn’t actually aimed at me… #NotATypicalWebUser
• #epicsw @lookinglocal – Interesting thought – giving tablet pc to elderly for medication reminders, photo frame, access services etc
• Patient Opinion is a way of making #nhs feedback social. It’s frank and honest, Guy says #epicsw
• #epicsw I like the idea of cross-medium access to services… not sure looking local is solving the main problems tho, only niches.
• @carlhaggerty school meals, school entrances, housing allocations have all been mentioned today as top tasks #channelshift #epicsw
• ‘Looking local’ – opportunity for joint community working #epicsw
• North Lincs’ NLTV is a one stop shop to allow people to access public sector services. People don’t mind their TV remotes #epicsw
• #epicsw video of looking local example is reinforcing that it’s best served on a geographical level and not by council.
• People can renew books via NLTV as well as plug into Twitter. You can use TV, phone, Wii #epicsw
• Content is key. The technology will change, so make it about the content and people will chose the medium that suits them. #epicsw
• @carlhaggerty #epicsw exactly so has short life span. Those using Facebook etc now will continue to do so. Digital natives.
• RT @spoonoftweets: #epicsw I would like to see usage stats for this stuff, cos my expectation is that it is low!
• #epicsw have they tried using Sky’s interactive TV? I struggle, so not sure my grandparents would be able to work it out!
• Has anyone used ‘Looking Local’ interactive digital TV for public servcie information? Is it any good? #epicsw
• Hope my unexpected day off gives me a chance to eavesdrop on #epicsw
• RT @geordiejo_jo: Has anyone used ‘Looking Local’ interactive digital TV for public servcie information? Is it any good? #epicsw
• Looking Local, with usage breaking the 600,000 page impressions per week #epicsw
• @geordiejo_jo @spoonoftweets We get approx 30,000 monthly visits on the Birmingham City Council Looking Local channel #epicsw
• @danslee “Patient Opinion is a way of making #nhs feedback social. It’s frank and honest, Guy says #epicsw” Couldn’t agree more!
• @aguyinbrum @spoonoftweetsInteresting. We’re considering it but I’m sceptical. Surely you need broadband to access it? #epicsw
• RT @comms2point0: Make your website mobile friendly first before thinking of apps say lookinglocal #epicsw #localgov #localgovweb
• @geordiejo_jo No it can be accessed via smartphone or Sky/Virgin digi tv #epicsw

 

EVENT SPONSORS

Facebook is an online phenomenon. It is the site of choice for the UK’s social networkers (whether adults or teens) and is easily the most popular website in terms of time spent and comes in the top five sites visited by all age groups. In April 2011 alone Facebook was visited by 24.8 million UK internet users, around 40% of the population.

Looking Local is pleased to announce that a wide range of public sector services can now be accessed by the millions of UK social networkers, via a new app designed and delivered in Facebook. Whether you want to find a job, make a GP appointment, report a pothole or housing repair, Looking Local allows people to access public sector services within the Facebook portal.

Working with over 130 local authorities, housing associations, PCTs as well as Jobcentre Plus, Transport Direct and NHS Choices, Britain’s Facebook members no longer need to go to destination websites, as they can access and request services within Facebook with ease.

Contact: Guy Giles tel: 020 3239 5655 email: guy.giles@lookinglocal.gov.uk Web: www.lookinglocal.gov.uk

Asidua are showing off their Customer Contact PlatformTM (CCP), which is in use at several councils including: South Gloucestershire, Harrow, Chorley, Rossendale and Milton Keynes, and Police Forces.
CCP delivers seamless, cost effective citizen service, by streamlining customer service and fulfilment, delivering the most efficient joined up processes via any and all channels.
It is not just about a better website and persuading people not to call you. This is about genuine increased in service levels and satisfaction, meeting the needs of both the citizen and contact centre agents and managers. Our solutions are future proofed and agile, allowing you to become truly citizen centric whilst saving money.

Asidua are one of the (few) leading companies to have delivered Microsoft’s Connected Government Framework successfully to Local Government and the Police. CCP is built on top of Microsoft technology e.g. Dynamics (CRM), Sharepoint (website, workflow, content and document management), SQL (database server) and Windows Workflow and optionally Biztalk (integration).
Contact: Andrew Nicholson Tel: 0121 506 9671 Email: Andrew.Nicholson@asidua.com  Web: www.asidua.com

Police and Local Authorities are looking for effective software solutions to cut costs, transform processes, improve operational efficiency and enhance service delivery.

Astun Technology’s iShare data integration and publishing platform enables organisations to make the most of their own data, extracting it, transforming it and publishing it both internally and externally.

It can serve call centres via systems integration and citizens via the web with a rich mix of information and maps while delivering real savings through avoidable contact and transactional services.

iShare also provides a direct communications channel to citizens that subscribe to its automated My Alerts service.

Easily configured and completely automated iShare is a unique mix of the Astun’s own purpose built modules and the best Open Source components.

In use with over twenty authorities the award winning iShare platform continues to evolve to meet growing e-services needs.

Contact: Mike Saunt   Tel: 01372 744 009  E-mail: mike.saunt@astuntechnology.com Web: www.astuntechnology.com

GOSS delivers digital strategy, guidance and software to manage online experience based around our powerful Web Content Management system and online efficiency solutions.

Public Sector organisations are ideally placed to take advantages of the efficiencies offered by online solutions. The online channel, by far, offers the best value for delivering services and information. Streamlining the online efficiency of your organisation can significantly reduce administration costs.

Channel Shift is the process of refining and enhancing your online delivery and increasing channel shift through

• Usability testing
• Website review
• CRM integration
• Accessibility accreditation

Additionally the web can help you engage with your citizens and website users:

• Understand user journeys
• Develop effective site architecture
• Leveraging inbuilt analytics to measure your site’s success
• Create a successful Social Media strategy
• Utilise best practice advice, training and user community

Best practice tips and tricks www.gossinteractive.com/blog and Expert industry commentary and ideas @gossinteractive

Parker Software is an independent software house. Established in 2003 we have offices in the USA and the UK.

Parker Software develops innovative software aimed at companies that do business on the web.

Parker Software produces two flagship products: “WhosOn”, a tool for monitoring web site visitor activity in real time and “Email2DB”, a tool for integrating incoming emails with business processes.

Parker Software’s products are used by thousands of businesses, large and small, in all parts of the world. Our WhosOn product is sold both to end users and to hosting businesses who resell the service to their own customers under their own brand names.

We are a privately held company with no debt. All our software products are owned, developed & supported by us from our offices in the UK and USA

Contact: Ian Rowley  Tel: 01782 822577   Email: ian@parker-software.com Web: www.parker-software.com