A blog from Faye Saville, Account Manager, Frontier PR
A daily
challenge will not ruffle the feathers of a Comms professional – in fact, it
comes with the territory.
Comms folk thrive under pressure, we get excited about creating change and we
enjoy nothing more than exploring the unknown, producing the unexpected and of
course getting results.
But all that said, there are times when we need to take stock of what we’re doing,
how we are doing it and most importantly the reasons why. We need to embrace
those unchartered Comms waters, rip down barriers to success and push our own
boundaries.
This is
the reason why I went to last month’s CommsHero in Manchester. It was the fifth
event produced by @ResourceHousing for Comms people across the UK, and I
finished the day feeling motivated and inspired, whilst pledging to live
outside of my comfort zone whenever possible.
Having attended the very first CommsHero event in 2014, I had no hesitations
about re-fastening my superhero cape, donning a mask and joining more than 70
Comms people for a day to remember.
After all, it’s important for us superheroes to touch base from time to time.
We need to pool together our creative ideas, learn from each other, see where
we are going wrong – and most importantly find solutions to the issues we are
facing.
It’s true that we don’t have all of the answers, but as specialists in our field we are empowered and trained to provide the best advice we can to our colleagues, customers and organisations on a daily basis. We shouldn’t be afraid to be bold in our communications, or to try something different. Instead we should “seek forgiveness, not ask permission” – great advice shared by speaker Amanda Coleman, Head of Corporate Communications at Greater Manchester Police (@amandacomms).
CommsHero
spoiled us with an action-packed day. Aside from the singing, creative breakout
sessions and delicious food, we heard engaging presentations from talented
Comms professionals: Grant Leboff, Sales and Marketing strategist
(@grantleboff); Bridget Aherne, Head of Corporate Communciations at
Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service (@BridgetAherne); Caroline King,
Group Head of Brand and Communications at Torus (@Caroline_Torus); Asif
Choudry, Chartered Marketer & Marketing Director at Resource
(@AsifChoudry); and Heather Wagoner, Head of Internal Communications &
Engagement (@Heather_Wagoner) and Paul Facer, Senior Internal Communications
Business Partner (@paulwfacer) – both from London Underground.
As an audience we heard about how Greater Manchester Police uses multi-channel
campaigns to engage with a broad audience (including a 227K strong twitter
following), how Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue is focusing on the mind shift
to more proactive communications, and Caroline King inspired us to be brave
when building up our own personal profiles and networks, as after all, we are
all ambassadors of our own brands.
The power of face to face and personalised communication was shared by Asif,
whilst Grant focused on the customer experience and the importance of aligning
our messages to what matters to our audiences.
Lastly, we heard about the communications challenges London Underground has
faced and overcome as it gears up to launch Night Tube – a new weekend 24-hour
service from September. The team shared the benefits of storytelling to engage
their audiences, and on behalf of
@CommsNerds (ran by Heather and Paul) we explored the significance of the art
and science of communication – and realised this is something we should all
explore further.
So there you have it, CommsHero has opened the doors to a wider professional
network and also bought people together from a variety of sectors.
A huge thanks to all of the keynotes and Resource Housing. You’ve left me with
a hunger to push the boundaries, think more, learn more, and be the best Comms
person that I can be.
Connect with me on Twitter: @FayeSaville