You're my commsHERO

It is a truth universally acknowledged that organisations are only ever one social media post away from a crisis. But social media is also an opportunity – to turn those crisis situations around, to learn what your customers think about you and to build relationships with the stakeholders that matter most. In this podcast, James talks about how the social housing world, which is on the cusp of a new era of consumer regulation, is communicating with the residents the sector exists to serve. He then shares his top tips for organisations looking to turn those Facebook frowns upside down.

Join Olivia Hullah and Asif Chodury on this podcast episode as they share Olivia's incredible journey from a marketing apprentice to the Marketing Manager at Trust Electric Heating, all by the age of 22. The episode delves into the challenges and triumphs of marketing radiators ethically in a Net Zero landscape while making it exciting and personal. Get ready for an insightful conversation that explores the unfiltered life of working in a small company, apprenticeships, the sustainable future, and the dynamic world of marketing.

Growing up, Sonia thought that she wanted to be a lawyer. At the age of 18 this all changed. In this episode, Sonia opens up about the some of the challenges and pressures she’s faced growing up in an Indian/Asian community and how she’s worked through these to break into the world of comms. She shares some personal experiences of bias and how she’s worked hard, and how she feels she must continue to prove herself to progress her career as a woman of colour. In this episode be prepared to go on a true, personal journey of having to grow up very quickly and overcoming hurdles of bias.

Our industry is unhealthily obsessed with two words: best practice. You see them regularly on internal comms blogs, you hear it at internal comms conferences, those words come up frequently on LinkedIn. But a best practice approach only works for simple, non-complex work. The work we do as internal communicators is highly unpredictable and and complex, charged with human emotion and full of complexity. Joanna proposes that we instead talk about “good practices” and think about innovation as an antidote to best practice. Joanna Parsons is the Founder and Director of The Curious Route, an internal communication consultancy practice. She helps organisations to create effective systems of internal communication. Joanna is a content creator and thought leader in internal communication with a following of more than 16k on LinkedIn and a new YouTube channel just launched. She has worked in internal comms for more than a decade and was previously Head of Internal Comms with the Irish national police force. She’s a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication and has won multiple communication awards for her work over the years. Joanna is also a Lecturer in Strategic Internal Communication with the Public Relations Institute of Ireland. She’s currently writing a book, “Innovative Internal Communication” which will be published by Kogan Page in the summer of 2024.

In this episode, Matt Geer Head of Communications and Marketing at West Kent Housing Association shares some thoughts and reflections on his career in communications. Matt talks more about how to ensure that you as a comms pro have a seat at the top table to support, influence and guide your organisations approach to strategic communications. Matt also shares some of his lived experience of being in the minority across the industry and how that has influenced and inspired his career direction. Connect with our guest Matt Geer on Linkedin

If you're trying to communicate with young people within your target audience, or are hoping to engage them within your work, this episode will help you understand how to better listen, engage and empower young people within your work. We speak with Rebecca Roberts, founder of Thread & Fable and specialist in youth audiences about her Engaging Youth insight reports and what top tips she has for better connecting with young people through marcomms. If you've read much in the media about youth audiences, you'll have been told they're hard to reach, have short attention spans and are snowflakes (even more so than Millennials were) - Rebecca tackles why stereotypes are not only untrue but are unhelpful in understanding the real context of what it's like growing up in the UK and how comms are well placed to improve the conversation.

Women in PR Northern Ireland was born out of a CIPR panel discussion in Belfast, organised by Sara, which explored the barriers affecting women working in the communications industry. It was clear there was an appetite for that conversation to continue. Michelle was on the panel and approached Sara afterwards. And so, the independent initiative that is now Women in PR was started. Research reveals that while women hold over 60% of all PR jobs, the majority of senior leaders continue to be men. At the core of our vision is inspiration and aspiration - helping to promote the changes needed to support gender balance, nurturing female talent and supporting aspiring leaders. Our membership comes from across the public sector, in-house agencies, consultancies and independent practitioners.

In this captivating podcast episode, we're introducing Sonya Gonzalez Mier, a talented brand strategist and the esteemed author behind the book mar·ket·ing. Together, we'll explore Sonya's path to becoming a TikTok Creator and her unwavering dedication to democratising marketing knowledge for everyone. Join us as we delve into the perceptions of our industry from an outsider's perspective, shedding light on the key challenges that newcomers, clients, and entrepreneurs encounter in the realm of marketing. In this episode, we will discuss the hurdles marketing faces with today's generation and provide actionable solutions to attract and retain exceptional minds, nurturing the future generation of marketing experts.

50 years of comms and better lives at NCHA (Nottingham Community Housing Association) Nottingham Community Housing Association, known as NCHA, has been around since 1973. From small beginnings, they’ve grown organically and now house more than 20,000 people across the East Midlands. They provide over a million hours of care and support services a year, and have an ambitious development programme for new homes. This year, it’s their 50th birthday, marking half a century of delivering better lives for local people. In this podcast, three guests from NCHA will be talking about how the role of the Communications and Engagement team has developed in third sector organisations. They’ll be covering what the priorities need to be to make sure these organisations thrive for another 50 years.

🎙️ Welcome to the Threads vs. Twitter Debate! 📣 In the fast-paced world of social media, communication professionals are constantly seeking new ways to engage with their audiences and deliver impactful messages. Today, we dive deep into a captivating debate that has been brewing in the digital sphere: Threads vs. Twitter. Join us on this thought-provoking podcast as we explore the pros, cons, and endless possibilities of these two powerful communication tools. We'll dissect the unique features, functionalities, and strategic advantages that Threads and Twitter bring to the table, all while catering to the interests and needs of comms, marketing, and PR professionals. Matt Navarra is one of Europe’s most well-known and in-demand social media consultants. With 20+ years of industry experience. Matt has worked with some of the world's most popular brands including Meta, Google and United Nations.

It feels good to give something back, and as Comms practitioners, we have many transferable skills that can help other organisations. Volunteering your time can not only give you a warm feeling inside but also offer you an insight into how different sectors operate, as well as helping you to grow your professional connections. Our guest, Damian Vizard is a Strategic Communications Business Partner at Tai Calon Community Housing in Wales. Damian is a communications and marketing professional with over a decade of experience working in the Housing Sector and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR). He is passionate about change communication and is a visual communications expert. Before moving into the world of Housing, Damian ran his own business for three years, offering multimedia solutions. He is a Husband, a Dad of two, a drummer, a retro gaming nerd and an amateur barber.

Do you think your customer base (either existing or prospective) have an outdated or incorrect viewpoint of your sector? If so, it can be holding back new business and leading to a sense of internal inertia. How does a organisation go about changing this though, especially if they’re a sector that’s regulated. This is where communications and marketing can help. In this conversation John shares his top tips and best practices that you can use, no matter how traditional your sector is, to stand out in a meaningful way and help push things forward not just for your organisation but your peers too and help benefit your bottom line and internal culture.

Being able to love what you do is a luxury and an honour. Working in comms – whether that’s being a jack of all trades, specialising in PR or marketing or digital – is an opportunity to be able to experience different sectors, meet incredible professionals and work on topics you’d never thought possible. No career is perfect, but it’s what you learn along the way that matters, from the first campaign fail or joining an organisation that was the wrong fit. It’s how we share that learning with others and how we must continue to invest in our own learning – comms doesn’t stand still, so why should our understanding of it? Francesca is an award-winning, chartered PR practitioner, who has been working as a senior leader for eight years across public and private sector organisations. She has been working as a comms professional for 16 years.

How we work has changed significantly over the past few years, with most organisations moving from the office to remote working, and now to a hybrid model. These changes have meant we’ve had to work even harder as communicators to keep people connected, informed and engaged. In this podcast Chloë delves into the concept of organisational belonging, why it’s important and the role of internal communicators in building it. She also discusses changes she led on at RHP Group to adapt their communication strategy to meet the needs of a hybrid workforce. The strategy has not only enabled people to stay connected and informed, but it’s also helped to foster a sense of belonging no matter where, when or how someone is working. Listen for some practical tips on how you can adapt your communications strategy for a hybrid world, and in turn help build organisational belonging.

Now in its 4th year with thousands of downloads, scarlettabbott is back with their annual World Changers report. From harnessing rebel voices to bring positive change, to acknowledging that employees are being asked to dig deep (again), to the keys to keeping employees sweet and everything in between, scarlettabbott expertly guides HR and IC pros through the 10 most important trends impacting the world of work this year. Passionate about human behaviour, our guest this episode Lindsay Kohler, bridges the gap between academic theory and consultancy to create insights employers can actually use to increase engagement and drive meaningful change. Connect with Lindsay on LinkedIn here.

Right now, social media represents an unprecedented growth opportunity. But tapping into this new paradigm won’t be easy, especially so for B2B businesses. B2B’s have historically been behind the curve and guilty of seeing social media as just another ‘channel’ to distribute their content. But, if B2B's want to power growth in this new era, this mindset needs to change. The fastest-growing and most-loved businesses on the planet all have realised the transformative potential of social media, and it’s opening up a great divide between those that ‘get it’ and those that are still marketing like it’s 2012. It’s time for B2B’s to cross the chasm to unleash the power of social media, to build trust, and create demand at a scale that’s never before been possible. In this episode we are joined by Andy Lambert, who has over 12 years experience in creating markets, building profitable businesses, and leadership roles in industry-leading SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) organisations. In March 2022, Andy encapsulated his learnings from scaling start-up business in the best-selling book, SOCAIL 3.0. Follow Andy on socials: Linkedin Twitter

Passionate about brand, creativity and putting people first. Lynda is resolute on the need for true equality and diversity. Lynda has led Brand, Communications and Social Impact at family building and engineering company, Sir Robert McAlpine since 2017 as one of ten people on the business’s executive leadership team. She is the Executive sponsor for SRM’s Gender Equality, LGBT+ & Ability Network. In this episode, Lynda and podcast host Asif Choudry discuss why communications work is seen as withcraft, how it feels to be a CommsHero in the construction industry and the strengths of comms professionals. Follow Lynda on social: Twitter Linkedin

Katie Sandey is the communications and marketing manager for Cheltenham Borough Council and now, Cheltenham Borough Homes, as part of a new shared service. In this episode, the tables are turned. Katie is the one asking Asif the questions. Katie has never made a podcast, or done the interviewing, until now. It was a ‘yikes’ moment for her, but also I realised for Asif. He had never been in the hotseat. In this special episode, we find out about Asif’s story, how it all began, some stand out moments for him and what he values the most about the community that he has grown. Follow on socials Katie: Twitter LinkedIn Asif: Twitter LinkedIn

Faizah Idris is a Marketing Executive at Johnsons Workwear, the UK’s number one workwear, protective wear and workplace hygiene services provider. She has eight years of marketing experience, specifically in social media management and content creation, marketing campaign planning, digital marketing, influencer marketing, and internal communications. Faizah has always been a creative person, and knew she wanted a career which lets her use her energy and enthusiasm – she actually wanted to be a kid’s TV presenter when she was younger! Follow Faizah on socials: Twitter LinkedIn

At a keynote at the PRCA conference in 2021, the most senior government communicator in the land called for a new breed of 'superhero communicators able to combine hard data analysis with brilliant story-telling and artistry'. But research suggests that a large portion of professionals don't yet feel comfortable using data in their roles. Alex Waddington started re-skilling himself in data two years ago, leading to a dramatic change of career direction. He talks about the ups and downs of his journey - and why he now wishes he'd paid more attention in maths lessons at school. Follow Alex on social: Twitter LinkedIn