Update from the World PR Forum

The 2012 World Public Relations Forum was held last month in Melbourne - bringing together world leaders in PR and Communications from across the globe to engage, challenge and provide insights into the changing PR landscape in a borderless community. This was the theme for the conference, Communication Without Borders.

The conference was attended by practioners and researchers from UQ.

Some of the key learnings from the conference included:

• We need to move towards sustainability communications
• Engage your audience in genuine dialogue to conduct authentic communication
• We have to move towards a cultural values model of PR
• Move measurement and evaluation from a justification tool to a key business tool
• Pinterest and Instagram will become key social media platforms
• Listen to what competitors are saying about us
• Public Relations should empower the organisations and give professionals the power to act

UQ Images in focus

Many of you will now be familiar with the new UQ Images system, which has been rolled out across the University.

Admin users have now been trained in all faculties and institutes (except for ISSR and QBI), plus seven other UQ units.

Here are some of the latest updates:

• Over 250 images have been uploaded to the database by non-OMC admin users
• Nearly 4000 new images have been added centrally by OMC to the database since May this year 
• About 700 images used in UQ News in the 1990s have been scanned and uploaded
• The system is reporting approximately 3500 downloads overall

If you have not yet been trained in using UQ Images, you can register for training sessions being held in January and February 2013 by emailing uqimages@uq.edu.au. This also includes anyone wanting a “refresher” course.

For more information, please visit http://www.uq.edu.au/omc/uq-images or email uqimages@uq.edu.au

Managing your website

For most marketing and communications staff, managing and updating websites is just another job on a long list. Depending on resources within your area, this task may be managed by multiple people or it could just be you.

Regardless of your situation, there are some key activities that should be considered on a regular or semi-regular basis.

OMC’s Web Services team has provided some tips. For the full list, please visit the website. 

• Define the website purpose, objectives and success measures

• Discuss internal processes including website governance and responsibilities, approved publishing processes and compliance with UQ guidelines and policies.

• Scheduling and allocating time and responsibility for maintaining the site

• Implement quality measures for the site

Web Services is currently working on a tool to assist University areas with managing their websites.

In the meantime, should you require assistance or have any questions regarding how to better manage your site please send Web Services an email, webservices@uq.edu.au.

Merry Christmas from OMC!

The Office of Marketing and Communications would like to wish all our Network colleagues a very safe and happy Christmas.

Thank you for your contributions throughout the year, not only towards The Network but in relation to wider OMC activities as well.

We look forward to working with you all in 2013. Those who attended the recent Network conference would remember that we launched the draft OMC Work Plan for 2013. This Work Plan can be accessed here.

The Work Plan, “Bringing the UQ Advantage to Life”, provides an overview of the key activities, deliverables and timings of work being undertaken by OMC next year. As so much of our work is delivered in partnership with members of the Network, the plan is a must-read to ensure good planning and coordination of our activities and resources next year.

We’d like your feedback on the Plan – please send us an email, give us a call or drop by Level 7 of JD Story to share your ideas and suggestions.

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