Local government authorities are in the perfect position to reclaim their spot as the #1 forum for the local conversation. They can do that via a virtual village square. Here's how.

1. THE
VIRTUAL
VILLAGE
SQUARE
How your council can become
the local information hub
Local Government Communication Professionals
Network conference
STUART HOWIE
May 2018

2. COMPETING IN THE ATTENTION ECONOMY
Communication breakdown
Organisations and their leaders are 1. overwhelmed; 2. dissatisfied about the ROI on
their comms efforts; and 3. therefore not getting the recognition they deserve.

3. LOCAL GOVERNMENT: YOUR CHALLENGES
7 signs of civic unrest
Local government has particular challenges. Do any of these apply to you?
Lack of strategic
vision1
General cynicism
about authority6
Lack of resources,
time to positively
engage
2
Media
fragmentation5 Driving “safe”
social media7
Council bashing is
a national sport3 Internal politics,
bureaucracy, lack
of buy-in
4

4. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
Your time
to shine
Local government is in a unique
position to become the local
voice, to reclaim its historic
place as the town square for
community conversation.
This is a win for everyone. But it
requires a strategic approach.

5. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
The DIY
Newsroom
Councils can build their own digital-
facing newsrooms.
This is not about a snazzy office layout.
Rather, it draws on the principles and
practices of the modern newsroom.
A newsroom approach puts method to
the madness of competing in today’s
Attention Economy.

6. STRATEGY AUTHENTICITYMEDIA RESULTS TEAM
THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
5 SMART™ steps

7. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
SMART
Strategy
This is the blueprint that
sets you up. You cannot
possibly operate without a
clear, articulated direction.
What does your comms
strategy look like?

8. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
SMART
Media
If you only did one thing to
systemise your comms, it
would be to produce a one-
page chart of your media
eco-system.
Tip: it’s not all about social.

9. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
Authentically
SMART
How do you turn around perceptions of
your organisation?
Answer: create compelling content that
makes a heartfelt connection with
residents (and others) and that builds
communities of interest.

10. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
SMART
Results
Do you get questioned about
the ROI on your comms?
Have you aligned comms goals
with those of the organisation?
Have you established the
metrics that matter?

11. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
SMART
Team
The most important and
usually most overlooked
aspect of driving change is
the X-factor - YOU!
To be really SMART, you
need to reorganise.

12. STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes
1
Hold a workshop to
reappraise your
media ecosystem
2
Produce a fortnightly
email newsletter
3
Split your email
newsletter into
editions for
communities of
interest
4
Produce a monthly
newspaper
Update your communications
strategy based on DIY Newsroom™
principles and practices
5

13. 6
Brainstorm to
identify your key
audiences
7
Identify 10 points of
difference in your
community
8Adopt a
communications
charter, based on
authentic
conversation
10
Record a monthly
vlog with each
councillor. Share
across channels
Experiment. Pick a
marginal/marginalised audience and
build a content plan around them
9
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

14. 11
Establish a YouTube
channel
12
Host a slot on
community radio
and livestream to
Facebook
13
Post a weekly
heritage feature to
your FB page
14
Use a social media
management tool to
schedule content
Partner with a university, a local start-up or
other organisations that can complement your
media operations
15
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

15. 16
Ask each
department to
submit three ideas
for a short video ...
17
... on how-to-do
something of benefit
to a resident
18
... showcasing the
latest thinking from
their area
19
... profiling an
employee
Tech up. Get a mojo kit – it’s cheap and plays a central
role in successful DIY Newsrooms. All you need is a
smart phone, lapel mic, tripod, some video editing gear
– and get-up-and-go
20
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

16. 21
Produce one daily
video vox pop (post
to Instagram) ...
22
... such on “my
favourite book” or
”my favourite spot”
...
23
... or “if I could
change one thing
about the city” ...
24
... or “why I
volunteer”
Edit those vox pops for a monthly
video (post to your Facebook page) 25
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

17. 26
Establish your
council’s thought
leadership ...
27
Run a weekly
webinar with a
council leader
28
Create vlogs with
managers for
LinkedIn and other
channels
29
Host a forum on
diversity and
inclusion
Survey your residents. Publish the insights
across your media ecosystem and
disseminate to policy makers
30
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

18. 31
Encourage
community activism.
Provide training and
a soapbox
32
Publish your
community
satisfaction survey
across channels
33
Publicise what you
don’t do well and
ask for suggestions
34
Invite and publish
user generated
content
Design an infographic on where our rates go.
Slice and dice that information for social
media bites
35
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

19. 36
Jump in on
controversial issues
and present both
sides
37 38
Build transparency
by adopting a
comms code of
ethics
39
Include subject of
transparency in
annual council
surveys
Identify the unrecognised social enterprises
and initiatives in your organisation. Create a
content strategy for them
40
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes
Develop a crisis
comms playbook

20. 41
Run an Instagram
competition and
boost your followers
42
Produce a monthly
report for the
council on your
comms activities ...
43
Distribute that
report publicly
44
Set social media
engagement targets
and regularly review
Establish a dashboard of metrics aligned to
the council’s stated objectives. Improving
community satisfaction would be one
45
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

21. 46
Jump in on
controversial issues
and present both
sides
47
Be data driven by
asking residents
what they are
interested in ...
48
... and do that
considering the
associated UX, CX
49
Celebrate a weekly
win with your team
Workshop your workflow. Do it with pizza, a
big wall and lots of sticky notes 50
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

22. 51
Send someone on
your team to a video
editing course. Have
them train others
52
Teach best-practice
comms to
community groups,
other councils
53
Hold a daily stand-
up meeting
54
Brainstorm more
ideas
Restructure your team around functions
(e.g. video, social, community engagement,
media liaison)
55
STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
55 ideas in 15 minutes

23. STRATEGY MEDIA AUTHENTICITY RESULTS TEAM
Your ideas: add here
minutes56 57 58 59
60
?
?
???

24. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
7 signs of success
When firing, a DIY Newsroom lets you control your message.
Better community
engagement1
Recognition for
what you do6
More informed
decision making2
Repositioned as a
thought leader5 Simple, strategic,
sustainable comms7
Information
destination3 Reputation
inoculation4

25. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
Why you
won’t

26. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
Why you will

27. THE VIRTUAL VILLAGE SQUARE
Be the disruptor

28. THE DIY NEWSROOM
Finally ...
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2. Follow us on social media
3. Email me at
stuart@flametreemedia.com.au
4. The DIY Newsroom: published 2018
This material comprises or contains commercial-in-confidence information and is subject to
the provisions of Australian and other laws relating to the use and disclosure of such
information. The SMART™ methodology (Strategy, Media, Authenticity, Results, Team) and
DIY Newsroom™ are the intellectual property of Flame Tree Media. © May 2018.