<![CDATA[Short Communications - The Debrief]]>Wed, 30 May 2012 07:49:49 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[What is Green Buildings Alive?]]>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:50:56 -0800http://www.shortcommunications.com.au/1/post/2010/11/what-is-green-buildings-alive.htmlThis new site tells us what big buildings might say if they could talk. It has been conceived for use by property owners, building managers and more, however lurking inside this blog is a powerful engine that provides a way to look a complex data that hasn’t been done before.
>Have a look!

Currently, most big commercial landlords report on a simple measurement like “CO2 emissions per square metre” once per year. With Green Buildings Alive, users can look at emissions per square metre, per month, for each of 50 buildings for nearly 10 years.

The client wants to ‘start a discussion’, ‘engage peers’, and ‘encourage greater transparency.’ The ultimate aim is to help all landlords and building managers run their buildings better, use less energy, waste less water and

During 2010, the client launched a trial version of the site. I helped them behind the scenes to clarify their communications plan, and put an editorial process and strategy in place. In the public domain we are currently using a mix of techniques to build a following for the blog. Primarily twitter, feed-burner email subscriptions, regular new content, plus a bit of old-fashioned PR to drive new traffic. In its first week the site drew attention from US and UK energy specialists and green architects, was covered in Australian property industry bulleting The Fifth Estate and will be featured in the Green Building Council annual publication for Green Cities 2011.

In 2011 we have some new developments to launch and to draw attention to the initiative and to show how innovation can drive improvements.
]]><![CDATA[Getting on the Earth Hour Wagon]]>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0800http://www.shortcommunications.com.au/1/post/2010/04/first-post.htmlEarth Hour, started in Sydney in 2007 has now become a bit of a global juggernaut. During summer 2010, I became fully immersed in the rapidly evolving and changing social media landscape, as it was my role to look after all the on-line communications for Earth Hour in Australia. In effect, this meant website content, email blasts that were relevant and useful to over 100,000 willing particpants, plus keeping the discussion flowing on newer mediums like facebook and twitter !


I had to keep in close contact with those managing the traditional media liaison, plus sponsorship and also tie into the overarching online strategy of WWF-Australia, the organisation that fosters the Earth Hour brand. In the digital space, Australians were very much connected to literally millions around the world - to share views, activities and committment to address climate change.

This project is a great example of how online does not work in a vacuum. The day we got the most site traffic was the day there was a wrap-around feature in Sydney Morning Herald plus a media clipping wall that was three layers thick! Web traffic and human experience are one and the same thing, they should all be connected in communication planning.
]]><![CDATA[Consulting the whole world on climate change ]]>Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800http://www.shortcommunications.com.au/1/post/2010/01/consulting-the-whole-world-on-climate-change.htmlIn September 2009 I was lucky enough to be part of the team on a project called Worldwide View on Global Warming (or WWViews for short). 
It was initiated by the Danish Government to give citizens a voice in the crucial climate talks in Copenhagen, December 2009. Working on a model of 'deliberative democracy', 100 randomly-selected people ogether to hear the facts then talk amongst themselves, then vote on pre-set questions. On the day, the same thing happened around the world in 35 other countries.
On this project I created all the local website content, briefed local and regional media, hosted an TV crew on the day, commissioned a web-video and made a foray into social media. It was a busy couple of months.

There were great stories generated from the participants individual journey, not to mention the policital implications of what they were discussing

Here's the results:
WWViews Australia Website.
WWViews Australia News Clippings.
WWViews Summary Video.

What did we learn? Well, the participants got one of the biggest thrills of their experience during a live cross to the meetings in UK and Denmark and many of them loved the global facebook page to feel part of the wider community.

As for media, at the time Australia was focussing on the political wrangling around the Copenhagen Climate Summit (COP16) and we were somewhat swamped by competing national politics. The best stories were the ones in participants home town papers, where they were able to explain what  a citizen's consultation meant for someone from Sunshine coast for examples. My favourite was one participant who said he 'used to be on the fence' but he just can't be now.  Overall, this project demonstrated how crucial it is to brief journalists in advance of a story, and keep plugging away at that explanation. We continued to get coverage in the weeks following the event, when we released compiled results, for example.
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