In this episode of GovComms' 'From the Vault,' we revisit our insightful conversation with Ian Andersen, who dedicated 35 years to improving communication for Europeans at the European Commission. As a passionate Participatory Innovation Adviser, Ian strived to foster genuine engagement and co-creation with stakeholders, even in the midst of the challenges posed by online discussions during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the interview, we delve into Ian's remarkable journey as an Interpreter. He shares valuable insights, highlighting the crucial factors that contribute to an interpreter's success. Ian also emphasises the crucial role of active listening in achieving sustainable outcomes, and the importance of involving everyone in policy-making discussions.“Generating solutions start with the conversation. By focusing on actually listening, we can get to results that are sustainable, that people will actually happily engage in rather than try to flee from it.”Furthermore, Ian states that adopting a participatory policy-making framework reduces the influence of lobbyists and is the most productive way of involving stakeholders. As the interview concludes, effective strategies for harvesting and hosting productive conversations are explored, providing valuable insights for successful communication endeavors.Discussed in this episode:Why communication is leadership made fleshHow to develop your listening skillsHosting and harvesting conversations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on GovComms ‘From the Vault’, we dip into the archives to a conversation between contentgroup CEO David Pembroke, and Head of ‘City Communications’ for the City of Vienna’s Press and Information Services, Martin Schipany.They reflect upon how the City of Vienna has developed their communications approach across Martin’s career. The city is now working across multiple media projects and using content communications to create a strong relationship with their citizens."We created the so-called 'citizen journey'. Citizen journey is comparable to the customer journey as we know it from marketing, or also content marketing, so you know in which situation your customer needs which kind of information." - Martin SchipanyDiscussed in this episode:How do you get the attention of the political media officersWhy all government departments need to discover their citizen’s journeyWhere Europe is in their adoption of content marketingWhy communications team should be close to the leadershipHow do you convince government to adopt digital? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the first episode of a new season of the Govcomms podcast, "From the Vault." In these episodes, we travel back in time to the best conversations we had on the podcast with leaders, experts, and innovators in communications from around the world.This time, we will be revisiting our conversation from 2015 with Alex Aiken, the Executive Director of Communications for the United Kingdom (UK) Government.In this interview, Alex explains to host David Pembroke his approach to modernising government communications in the UK, the changing expectations of citizens, and the need to move from analogue to digital communication. They also delve into how digital communication has improved the delivery of government services, the challenges of government communicators and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose podcast series, we chat with Prof Ingo Karpen who is a Professor of Business and Design at the University of Adelaide and Karlstad University in Sweden. Ingo is also a Chief Investigator on the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose project, with a strong interest in improving lives and systems, and a desire to work with researchers and entrepreneurs to effect positive social change in various contexts.In conversation with our host David Pembroke, Ingo explores the role of human connections and relationships in collective engagement, with a particular focus on the importance of compassion.When it comes to social change, there is far less talk of compassion. Often, we look at charts, figures. We're interested in performance indicators. We try to assess the way we have performed in various ways, but often we don't put enough primacy on the on the human beings involved. It's a really fundamental phenomenon in society that can make a difference on a on a daily basis. – Prof Ingo KarpenAlso joining us in this episode is Dr. Taylor Wilmott, a member of the University of Adelaide's research team for the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose research project. She provides further insights into building compassionate communities.I think in terms of creating compassionate communities, there's two sides. There's the bottom up side to creating a compassionate community where it's really community members that are driving the collective and the change. The other side is the top-down model where policy changes in government or health systems are what further change and potentially what enable community members to feel empowered. – Dr Taylor WillmottDiscussed in this episode:The importance of human connections and relationships in collective engagementMechanisms for transitioning from individual engagement to collective engagement to achieve changeUnderstanding and practicing compassion in engaging othersPromoting positivity, purpose, and avoiding blame and judgment in collective engagement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Govcomms, we are joined by the Deputy Secretary of Revenue NSW, Scott Johnston. Scott is an internationally recognised statistician specialising in economic analysis, with a history of working as a senior leader across the Australian and United Kingdom public sectors.With our host David Pembroke, Scott discusses why Revenue NSW started to focus on a more customer-centred approach.“The tension of an organization that's primary purpose through history has been about collecting revenue - 40% of NSW budget comes from us - to stepping back and thinking, ‘Well, if we can provide an exceptional service to three and a half million people, the revenue will take care of itself’. But actually the relationship we have with people, which is an ongoing one, can thrive. That's made us fundamentally look at things differently.” – Scott JohnstonFurther, Scott discusses his views on integrating automation technology and artificial intelligence to improve customer experience.Tune in to the episode to learn how Scott’s leadership in digital transformation and focus on providing high quality customer service is creating impact at Revenue NSW.Discussed in this episode:Leading digital transformation and customer-centric designMitigating risks when integrating automation and AI technologyBeing a humble leader and driving effective collaboration Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"This story of Orange Sky really started a few years, before Orange Sky got kicked off in high school, my best mate, Nic and I went to school together and our school actually ran a food service for people doing it tough. So we had this opportunity when we were 15, to head out, cook breakfast for people, a kilometre from where we went to school who were sleeping in the park or sleeping, crisis accommodation centres around that centre." - Lucas Patchett In the latest episode of the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose podcast series, we chat with Lucas Patchett whos is the co-founder of Orange Sky alongside his best mate Nic Marchesi. Orange Sky is a platform that provides " for every day Australians to connect through a regular laundry and shower service. The focus is on creating a safe, positive and supportive environment for people who are too often ignored or who feel disconnected from the community. Our volunteers are not social workers or experts on homelessness - they are empathetic listeners and great conversationalists."Dr. Taylor Wilmott, a member of the University of Adelaide's research team for the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose research project, also joins us in this episode."So we spoke about a different food van, we spoke about showers in the first instance to, but then we said, "Well, actually let's just do one thing, do it well, give it a go and then we can build on it from there." And that I think has been a really key foundation to what we do now. It's really simple. It's doing a couple of things really well and then plugging in and collaborating with other service providers to make the biggest impact possible." - Lucas PatchettDiscussed in this episode: The importance of prioritising one thing at a time. How to overcome challenges and flip roadblocks into positive outcomes. Why you should have a clear and simple vision.To check out everything Orange sky does head to: https://orangesky.org.au/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this latest episode of GovComms we revisit a conversation from the 2022 Digital Government Festival hosted by the University of Melbourne. Robert Christie, Founder and Managing Director of Propel, Stephanie Speck, Chief Communications Officer at the Victoria Department of Education and Training, and David Pembroke, CEO of contentgroup, discuss the potentiality of active participation within the digital landscape for the public sector. "If you're not active in managing what you look like, what you say, your reputation and voice online, then someone else will be using that as an opportunity." - Stephanie Speck.As Pembroke points out, the current challenge lies in maturing relationships between government agencies and departments, as well as political officers, to find a space in which the guardrails are respectful and understood so that the public is better informed about what the government is doing.Tune in for tips galore and to find out how you can improve your digital reputation. Discussed in this episode:Managing your online presenceGovernment and its digital reputation The importance of continuous, focused, content and communication  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Arm yourself with the evidence you need to make a case... We shouldn't sit there in our own little bubbles and focus on our communication skills only... At the end of the day, we are business people just like everybody else, and we need to act like business people." - Sia Papageorgiou.Host David Pembroke engages in a discussion with multi-award-winning strategic communications leader and Managing Partner at the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence, Sia Papageorgiou."Our job is to build relationships with people. That is the key component of our role." I mean obviously strategic planning is important and you can't be an effective communication professional if you don't plan strategically. " Tune in to discover how to make a "real impact from often simple ideas." - David Pembroke.Discussed in this episode: How to demonstrate impact and create value through communications.Making a "real impact from often simple ideas." - David Pembroke.Building relationships with your audience Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Doing that allows us to be more personalised with our communications. And that's definitely the future for us in government communications, you know? Making it more personalised. To be honest, the less we communicate the better. Because people are so busy these days, they don't want to hear from you with emails every day, or how many emails do you get every day in your inbox? It's so frustrating and we understand that. We get that feedback from customers.." - Angela Kamper A new GovComms season begins with Angela Kamper. Angela is the Executive Director for Brand Digital and Communications at the New South Wales Department of Customer Service. Host, David Pembroke, chats with Angela about how her previous career in journalism has helped her in her role at the Department of Customer Service."Sometimes people are a bit skeptical of journalism, so when you first start in government, people have been burnt perhaps, in the past or story hasn't been told the way they want it wanted it to be told. So when you come in as a journalist, you need to kind of sell yourself a little bit in the beginning, and start really focusing on building those internal relationships and showing how your storytelling can help them to get the right message across in a better way, so people can listen and engage with content." - Angela KamperThe pair discuss how the view of Government communications has changed throughout the years."In the past, people would often go to comms in a crisis. But now they've realised that, well, we actually have to engage the community before we make a decision. So we are playing a different role now, and we are really demonstrating that when you engage the community, you get a much better policy outcome, or programme outcome" - Angela Kamper Finally, David and Angela share some of the key aspects of the Department of Customer Service that make it a global leader in citizen-centric communications. Discussed in this episode:Personalising Government Communications The benefits of a Journalist background The inner workings of the Department of Customer Service Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we give you a 2022 reality mega mix.We revisit some of the key conversations from 2022 with the likes of Melinda Maddock, Richard Morecroft, Tim Price, Evan Ekin-Smyth, Melanie Gibbons, Deborah Rice and Stephanie Speck.Join in one the conversation as we talk all about the fundamentals of communications. "I think we need to move away from BAU plus COVID. BAU is COVID now. There is no going back to normal. We are in the next normal and systemic complex risk that we have to deal with." - Stephanie Speck"I really feel like modern digital communication, it's still got the elements of storytelling which have existed for thousands of years. Humans want to connect with other humans and we connect through stories. ". - Tim PriceDiscussed In this episode: The art of storytellingSolutions to some of the key issues the communications field facesHow you can use social media and digital content to your advantageSome key skills for any and all communicators Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.