By Vicky Croughan, LGcomms Executive Committee
On Wednesday 28 October, around 50 communications professionals from across the South West gathered at Follaton House, Totnes, for a day dedicated to exploring new strategies, sharing best practice, and strengthening our regional network.
Held on behalf of LGcomms and hosted by South Hams District Council, the event brought together colleagues from local authorities, public sector partners, and industry experts for a packed agenda of learning and collaboration.
The day began with a lively networking session, setting the tone for the day. Drew Powell, Director of Strategy & Governance at South Hams, welcomed delegates and spoke of the importance of good communications. He outlined the event’s objectives of fostering innovation in local government communications and building lasting professional relationships.
Throughout the day, delegates asked questions and shared perspectives ensuring that our sessions were not just presentations, but genuine conversations—reflecting the collaborative ethos of LGcomms.
Lunch provided a welcome opportunity for informal networking, with many taking advantage of our optional beautiful autumnal walk through Follaton’s Arboretum to continue discussions in a more relaxed setting.
The agenda was varied and featured keynote speakers and practical sessions that resonated with the challenges and opportunities facing our sector:
Louise Raymond from Devon Air Ambulance Trust shared her journey from public sector to charity communications, highlighting the importance of adaptability and community engagement. Showcasing DAAT’s new campaign, she told the group of their move away from a ‘make a donation’ campaign to a more emotive approach to help residents and visitors connect emotionally with their staff and their mission by telling stories from the organisation.
Claire Horrocks of Screen Devon showcased a brilliant Filming in England video of the best of the films and television filmed around the country, including the south west, this year. She shared filming opportunities and best practice, underlining the region’s growing profile as a creative hub and the opportunity for all organisations to play their part by registering filming locations from scenic land to stately homes, to police stations to libraries, all helping to provide visitors and economic growth to the region.
Matt Nichols from the Local Government Association provided a timely update on the evolving landscape for local government comms, including really interesting insights from the latest heads of comms survey. Not surprisingly Devolution and LGR topped the priorities over the next year, with transformational change, finances, internal communications and reputation all coming in top too.
Mandy Pearse of Seashell Communications led a benchmarking session, sparking valuable discussion on measuring impact and demonstrating value. Including an interesting breakout session for groups which sparked lively discussion, ‘What drives the reputation of our organisations and how do we know?’.
Peter Elliot from Somerset Council addressed the complexities of local government reorganisation, offering lessons learned and strategies for effective stakeholder engagement. As you would expect Peter fielded many questions expertly from local councils deep within the LGR process.
Dan Hare of e-Shot explored the power of external communications and showcased how to improve engagement through some simple but very effective measures by really using your bulletin subject lines effectively by ‘teasing’ the audience with what’s inside. An obvious answer which so many of us aren’t using effectively. The session also focused on ‘giving the people what they want’, such as, what’s on, travel, local issues, enforcement and let’s not forget… the bins!
Dominic Ridley-Moy from the Behaviour Change Network delved into the psychology of behaviour change in public campaigns. How many decisions we make, about what and what drives this behaviour. As always, Dominic’s session was astute and informative, giving lots of pointers about how to shift behaviour, starting with one behaviour at a time.
Jack Fox of Orlo wrapped up the speaker sessions with a thought-provoking talk on building trust in our digital engagement. He took us through ‘The Trust Steps’ on how to get people listening and how to connect with your data by having a holistic approach to community engagement.
As we look ahead, the appetite for more regional events is clear. If you’re interested in speaking at a future session or have ideas for topics, please get in touch with me. I’m also creating a regional network WhatsApp Community so if you want to be part of it, drop me a line with your details.
Last but not least, a heartfelt thank you to all speakers, organisers, and attendees for making the South West Regional LGcomms Network event such a success. The strength of our network lies in its willingness to share, support, and innovate together.
Let’s keep the conversation going and we’ll see you at the next one!
Vicky Croughan
LGcomms Executive Committee
Senior Communications Officer at South Hams District and West Devon Borough Councils.
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