Govcomms: The Future Of Government Communication

Martin Schipany is the Head of ‘City Communications’ for the City of Vienna’s Press and Information Services. Martin started working for the City of Vienna as a Press Officer before becoming an Editor in the Press and Information Services, eventually to rise to the Head of the sub-department ‘City Communications.’ Martin has also been the Head Press Officer for a political party in the Vienna State Parliament. Martin recently completed his Executive Masters in International Media Innovation Management. Martin’s thesis was on the necessary criteria, instruments and processes to implement a municipality’s content marketing strategy. In this episode you will learn: 9:01 How do you get the attention of the political media officers to tell them that there is more to life than speaking to the media?10:00 Why all government departments should be completing a citizen journey discovery13:32 Where Europe is in their adoption of content marketing15:53 Recommendations on how the City of Vienna can improve their content m

In this episode, we sit down with Assistant Secretary of Communications at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Trish Johnston. Trish has worked on some of the Government's most complex policy issues including domestic violence, cyber security, indigenous affairs, climate change, resources and energy and preventative health. We discuss the changing role of government communications, how social media has changed the way government communicates with the public, how comms strategies are built in the public sector and how to improve the quality of public sector communications campaigns. 

Sean Larkins is the Director of Consulting & Capability for the Government and Public Sector Practice of the world’s largest communications services group, WPP. Sean was previously the Deputy Director of the UK Government Communications. Sean led the reform of the UK Government’s communications to build a centralised strategy. Sean set up and ran the UK Communications Service. Sean was responsible for almost 4,000 government communicators. In this episode, you'll learn: 5:37 How to discover government communication priorities 6:34 Why government communications should be run more like a business 10:58 How do you change the government's tendency for risk aversion? 19:07 What are the small, simple steps to move from traditional marketing to content marketing? 25:31 What skills do government communicators need to become more effective? 28:55 How do you make communicators the most prestigious civil servants in government?

In this week's episode of InTransition, we interview Mandy Gyles. Mandy has over 25 years’ experience in the communication and media industry. Mandy started her career as a reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Mandy moved into the role of Communications Officer in the agricultural industry. She moved through various roles in PR, media and communication. Mandy worked for the Department of Agriculture and as Public Affairs Officer for the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. Mandy has now ceased working in-house and has become a Media and Communication Consultant for her own company. Her recent clients include Capital Metro, SBS Radio, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. In this episode, you will learn: 4:10 What makes a good reporter? 5:25 What are the hard things about telling stories about organisations? 6:52 How do we improve public sector storytelling? 8:45 What is the way for

In this week's episode of InTransition, we interview Karl Herger, Digital Marketing Specialist for the City of Sydney. Karl is responsible for implementing the City of Sydney’s digital marketing strategy, including its content strategy, social media, website builds, app development, analytics, online advertising and email marketing. Karl has been with the City of Sydney for over four years now. Karl previously worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a Digital Marketing Specialist. He launched and managed the ABC Facebook page, growing it from 2,000 to 40,000+ likes through content strategy and advertising. Karl has over eight year’s digital marketing experience.

In this special episode of InTransition, David Pembroke interviews Kanchan Dutt, the Senior Manager of Media and Communications for the Australian Capital Territory Community Services Directorate. This interview includes discussions on the constraints of department communications, how to improve the skills of staff to become better publishers and the challenges faced when convincing senior level management to use content marketing techniques. The interview featured as part of a live webcast from the Digital Hub at Gungahlin Library in 2014. Kanchan started his career as a reporter in the traditional media before moving into the public sector where he has excelled in government communications for almost a decade. Kanchan has previously managed communications for the ACT Department of the Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water and also spent time as a Senior Media Adviser to the ACT Chief Minister's Office.

Today, David Pembroke sits down with guest Isabelle Oderberg, the National Social Media Lead for the Australian Red Cross. The two discuss the increasing appeal in hiring data analysts to work in social media, how data underpins story telling, how to teach an old work force how to identify and publish compelling social media content and how the approvals process works in a large organisation, among other things.

In this episode, Founder and CEO David Pembroke sits down with Dr Caroline Fisher, Lecturer in journalism at the University of Canberra. They discuss the new role journalism plays in the public sector and how that is changing with new content marketing initiatives. David and Caroline explain how public sector workers should convince media advisors to employ content marketing tactics when pushing out new programs. They also talk about the new Bachelor of Journalism, Content Marketing degree at UC and where it is headed. Dr. Fisher's thesis can be found here.

This week we’re joined by Bobby Graham, Director of Bobby Graham Publishers and Business Development Manager of MasterDocs. In this episode, Bobby takes us through the ins and outs of publishing. We discuss the importance of the user, why print is not dead and how to have successful production meetings, among other things. Bobby is an experienced digital publisher. Her business passion is digital publications, marketing and communication. She holds a Masters in eBusiness and a Bachelor of Arts in English and History. Over the past years, she has worked in the government sector, in mainstream publishers and libraries.

In this episode of InTransition we are joined by Jim MacNamara from the University of Technology, Sydney. We take a look at Jim’s distinguished career and discuss why more public sector organisations need to learn the art of listening.

This week we’re joined by  Kate Moore, UNICEF Australia’s media manager. In this conversation, David and Kate talk about UNICEF Australia's communication department and how they get the message out during an emergency.

This week we’re joined by Clint and Todd Wright, Managing Directors of Threesides Marketing. In this episode we chat with Clint and Todd about their award winning campaign for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Wild About Whales project.  

This week we're joined by Chris Rottler, Head of Digital Analytics of the US Peace Corps. In this episode, Chris explains how the Peace Corps uses data to understand their audience and develop content.

This week we're joined by Matt Crozier, the co-founder and CEO of Community Engagement firm Bang The Table. In this episode Matt explains how organisations can engage with their audiences.

In episode 39 we're joined by Michelle Robertson, the Communications and Marketing Manager of Communites@Work. In this episode we explore the challenges faced by communications departments and how they can stand out in the crowd.

Today, we're joined by one of Australia's most distinguished journalist and the publisher of The Mandarin, Tom Burton. In this episode we discuss how public sector organisations can become publishers.

In episode 37, we are joined by government communication expert and founder of GovCom Group, Alun Probert. If you will recall, back in episode 23 Alun joined us to discuss why government agencies should act as a newsroom. In this conversation, we discuss how the private and public sector can work together.

In this episode, we speak with a leader in digital communication in government in Australia, Matt Murray. We discuss how Redland City Council used social media to inform and engage citizens during the 2014 Stradbroke Fires.

In episode 35 of InTransition, our guest is the Head of Strategy at Parliamentary Digital Services in the United Kingdom, Tracy Green. In this episode, we explore how the UK Parliament trained staff and became a publishing house.

Today, we speak to an award winning Australian government communications advisor, Jo Scard. Jo is the founder of the communication agency, Fifty Acres. In this episode we discuss the relationship between a consultant and government departments and how Jo developed a virtual agency.