Comms Academy 24, reporting back as a newbie attendee

By Louise Gibson, Social Media, Design, Advertising and Sponsorship Team Manager, Sheffield City Council

We all know that public sector communications is a challenging place to be right now. Budgets are reduced, time is limited, resources are stretched. For some of us taking time out of the office and investing time and money into attendance at events can be difficult to justify.

It sounds obvious but because communications is a strategic and creative function time out to learn, to develop, to collaborate and to have creative breathing space isn’t a nice to have, it’s absolutely essential, more so now than ever.

So, on the 10 and 11 October I took a precious two days out of the office to attend my first ever Comms Academy. Full disclosure here, I joined the LGcomms Exec Committee in 2023 and I’m involved in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group but I have never attended a Comms Academy before and whilst I’d heard good things I wasn’t sure how it would compare to other comms events. Despite presenting as quite confident and extrovert it’s fair to say I’m also a bit nervous meeting new folk; in-person events are something I approach a little cautiously too (there are a lot of us slightly socially awkward introverts in communications, have you noticed).

I need not have worried though, TL:DR (too long, don’t read); the event was amazing, the people were friendly, I met a cabinet minister, there was a Back to the Future DeLorean and Wigan can throw a great party (who knew!)

Here’s the slightly longer version and 11 things I learned as a newbie Comms Academy attendee:

1. Comms Academy is organised by the best of the best in public sector communications and the programme reflected that in terms of quality of attendees, speakers and sponsors.
2. Sessions were varied but all relevant. Speakers included experts in artificial intelligence, equality diversity and inclusion, place marketing, public affairs, evolving media, immigration and community, income generation, career advancement, the new Government and it’s potential impact in our work and so much more. I’ve been to a lot of communication events, the standard here was stratospheric, I was blown away!
3. All sessions were tailored to provide ideas, evidence and practical takeaways. No time was wasted, it was all, usable and directly applicable to public sector communications.
4. LGcomms describe themselves as a family and that was exactly how the event felt, like coming home to people who understood the pressures and challenges and had your back! It was warm, friendly, interesting and fun!
5. Comms people are hardcore, we had a group who took in the sights of Wigan while runching, a regular feature of Comms Academy (run + lunch = runch).
6. Comms Academy brings the fun. After a packed day of learning and discussion sponsor Westco provided a great, Wigan-friendly pie and peas night complete with northern soul music and dancing! Wigan was a great host town.
7. A cabinet minister dropped in! We had a Back to the Future DeLorean (courtesy of sponsor E-Shot) and Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport popped in to chat to LGcomms Future Leaders and other attendees (she loved the DeLorean!)
8. Even if, like me, you are a little nervous at meeting new people or introverted, you don’t need to worry, people will draw you in, chat and be enthusiastic about collaboration and sharing experiences. You’ll more than likely leave with new connections from fabulous comms people.
9. Comms Academy bring in new formats and ideas to keep things fresh each year. In 2024 this was an unconference session (people pitch ideas for discussion, rooms are provided and you can walk between rooms as you like). So popular a group picked their discussion back up at lunch.
10. The whole event flew by too fast! A week on and I’m still buzzing with ideas I got from the two days.
11. This was one of the best communication events I have been to, and I’ve been to a lot. Taking nothing away from other events, this one just works for public sector communicators, it’s entirely tailored for us.

If your time and budgets only stretch to one or to events like these in the year I highly recommend Comms Academy. The next one is in Bristol in July 2025, I’m aiming to go, hope to see some of you there too. Or hopefully sooner at one of the webinars or other events LGcomms run through the year.