Libby Fordham Communications

When was the last time your organisation took a long hard look at their approach to internal communications?

Why do so many companies ignore their best advocacy audience and why are many spending the big dollars on engaging only external audiences?

Here's my opinion piece in Australia's B&T magazine.

If you'd like an assessment of how you can rejuvenate your internal communications, please call me on 0411 473 938.

Question – would you be able to give the instruction, push a button and put into a play a communication across the length and breadth of your organisation’s networks to gain the most for your latest campaign?

If the answer is yes, then I commend you.

But the real truth is that while we spend a lot of time talking about strategy development this, and social media marketing that, the main treasure which supports the communication of any campaign, targeting any segment, should be at the ready. Most of the time it’s not. Sometimes it's as bad as not knowing what the next department is doing, let alone the exploits of your volunteer supporter group.   The treasure is the intelligence you have about your network – who are they, what are they, where are they and what are they up to.

Read more: Is your PR intelligence stuck in a silo, a timewarp or no-man's land?

Australia’s media last week has been in a flurry thanks to Gina Rinehart’s bid for editorial influence at Fairfax media but why all the shock and awe? With the Leveson enquiry providing a decent lesson in the realities of media ownership, Rinehart’s move can be seen as a natural progression in the ecology of how traditional media works in this country.The biggest surprise is the blatant nature of the move, which was thwated today, and there has been no shortage of commentators from within and from the periphery talking about why it’s happening.

Meanwhile, the traditional media finds itself hamstrung in assisting the media landscape to be any different. It is a self-perpetuating quagmire of rules, editorial dictate, ratings and circulation.The mistake here is to think the traditional media beast still has as much control as it thinks it does. The past twenty years has seen massive adjustments to how media operates reports and generates revenue in order to deliver information each day.  Things have changed. If you take the insular view and look at broadcast and print media as a single entity this week’s news is nothing short of dire.

Read more: Getting around Gina; how digital provides a backstop

Call for Entries - The Minister for Social Inclusion, the Hon. Mark Butler MP, launches the Volunteering Video Competition for Young People.

See the media release here

The Volunteering Video Competition for Young People is open from 9am Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) Thursday 19 April 2012 to 5pm AEST Sunday 22 July 2012.

The theme for the competition is "Your Passion, Our Nation. Volunteer Now!"

Entrants to the competition will be divided into two age groups:

Category A - Aged 15 to under 18 years

Category B - Aged 18 to under 25 years

Entrants are required to submit a 30 to 60 second audiovisual advertisement to promote volunteering to young people. Video entries will be vetted by the Office for the Not-for-Profit Sector to ensure they meet the competition eligibility criteria. Eligible submissions may be published online on the Competition website.

Prizes include:
Canon 5D Mark II video kit which includes a Camera, Canon 24-105mm f4L lens,Rode Video Mic Pro, Dead Cat and more

You can follow us on twitter or Facebook 

You can enter via the offical competition website, which can be found here

Neighbours across the country are getting ready to celebrate their communities with barbecues, street parties and other local events for Australia’s Neighbour Day on Sunday 25th March 2012, the national event’s 10th anniversary.

“Neighbour Day has evolved to become Australia’s annual celebration of community and it’s all about building connections between residents wherever we choose to call home,” said Neighbour Day founder and Australia Day Ambassador Andrew Heslop.

“Councils and shires have also become involved by organising festivals, open days and community activities in parks and other public spaces. 
“Knowing our neighbours creates safe, inclusive and sustainable communities. Not only does that help to break down the barriers of loneliness and isolation but it provides reassurance there is someone to call upon during a local emergency or disaster,” Andrew said. 

Founded in Melbourne in 2003 following the eventual discovery of the lonely death of an elderly woman two years earlier, Australians in urban and regional areas have embraced the day with no incentive other than a shared belief in safe, resilient and sustainable communities.

Read more: Australians prepare to celebrate their community on 10th annual Neighbour Day