ASCC Conference 2007 Glasgow

Glasgow Conference... and not a Campbell tartan in sight!

Scotland Revisited

A beautiful sunny start to October saw the annual gathering of communication professionals from all parts of the UK... a special mention to those from Devon and West Sussex who braved the nationwide trip to be with us in Glasgow.

• Download conference report (17kb PDF file)
• Download the list of workshops and plenary sessions (31kb PDF file)
• Download the speakers and workshop leaders biographies (17kb PDF file)
• Download the list of delegates (36 kb PDF file).

Plenary session presentations

Robin Banerji, Head of Communications, Commission for Social Care Inspection

The session looked at how the public might react to the way local councils, central government and its agencies communicate social care issues. How can we give them a better experience in order to empower them to make informed choices about their care, in a way that also takes into account the pressure on local councils of tight budgets and increasing demand. He also gave delegates details and an analysis of fresh research commissioned by CSCI on this issue.

• Download Robin’s presentation here (99kb PDF file).

Communicating in a changing environment - Andrea Pope-Smith, Interim Executive Director of Adult and Community Services, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

• Merging social care comms into wider corporate teams;
• Closer working with the NHS and other partners; and
• The split in focus from social care for all to a distinct social care for children and social care for adults.

• Download Andrea’s presentation here (49kb PDF file).

Workshop presentations

Get your voluntary organisations online - Shirley Wilson and Julie Rose

This was a case study of how Telford helped the Carers Contact Centre develop their website using the council’s ICT systems. It explored how this is considered to be good practice, which types of organisations that can be hosted by a council system and the planning process involved. And, how it was done as well as the problems and issues along the way.

• Download Shirley and Julie’s presentation here (57kb PDF file).

Making Information Accessible - Steve Harvey

A description of the work of the Scottish Accessible Information Forum, including basic steps for organisations to make their information accessible. Plus an interactive opportunity to discuss what delegate’s organisations currently do, how they could improve and time to make up action plans.

• Download Steve’s presentation here (46kb PDF file).

The Seven Deadly Sins of Social Care Writing - Graham Hopkins

This workshop, using real social care examples, explored how to write more effectively for a social care audience. We covered being clear, being concise, using everyday words, shortening sentences, avoiding jargon and being human. If phrases such as “multi-agency solution-focused initiatives” make your heart leap as if you were a Colorado beetle that has just woken up in a sack of potatoes, then this workshop probably wasn’t for you. Or maybe it was.

Communicating with Carers - Margaret Moncrieff

• Flexible approaches to working with carers
• Reaching the quieter voices and young carers
• Local structure for involvement and options for involvement
• Working with the NHS and other partners
• Change in care provision and how this is communicated effectively to carers.

• Download Margaret’s presentation here (105kb PDF file).

Change. Deal with it - Alistair Barber

Implementing and supporting change. Just when you need colleagues and teams to learn most quickly and be most receptive, circumstance tend to make groups unresponsive and individuals least able to understand what you are asking them to do.
This interactive session explored:

• The context for change in modern organisations
• The human herd: why people change and why they don’t
• Two models for communications that will support change (and others that will stop it dead)
• Applying this theory and practice to support better team working within organisations and between partners

Local authority websites - learning from the best - Martin Greenwood

The Socitm Insight publication Better connected is a unique and comprehensive assessment of the state of all local authority websites published on 1 March each year. As its editor, Martin drew out the lessons of what works, and what does not, with particular examples taken from social care.

• Download Martin’s presentation here (512kb PDF file).

ASCC business

• Download the AGM minutes (62kb PDF file)

ASCC Communications Awards 2007

A summary of the entries can be found in the Awards section.

Future of the ASCC

At the ASCC conference 2007 in Glasgow, there was a discussion about the future of ASCC - where we saw the organisation heading. There were two parts to the discussion, an anonymised survey using 'opinion meter'
followed by discussion groups.

The opinion meter

The opinion meter was used for all those present to register information on how they worked, with what sectors and with which care groups. We then collated information on where members thought the ASCC should be heading in the future and what we should do to plan the way ahead.

Click here to see the results of the opinion meter survey (112kb PDF file).

Question and answer session

The second session saw members split off into groups and discuss various questions as to how they saw the organisation moving forward.

Click here to see a summary of the discussions (18kb PDF file).