25th July 2016
London, UK
DTU one month in. On my first day as Product Manager in the Digital Transformation Unit (DTU) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) it rained, hard. Having carefully selected a suit to wear, eager to give a good, professional first impression, I arrived looking like the proverbial drowned rat. Soaked through, I may have […]
Read more on My first month at the DTU – Digital Transformation in a historic setting | Reply
9th June 2016
London, UK
As the Foreign Office’s Social Media Manager I spend much of my time distilling the intentionally nuanced and traditionally multilayered world of diplomacy into something engaging and consumable. Case in point: The Foreign Office’s (FCO) annual flagship Human Rights and Democracy Report comprises around 50 pages of expert analysis of the issues the world and […]
Read more on Promoting Human Rights | Reply
26th February 2016
London, England
It is pretty rare these days for a British Ambassador or equivalent not to engage in social media – something that sets us apart from the vast majority of other countries’ emissaries (with notable exceptions). But at a time when diplomacy has progressively less to do with government to government (G2G) interaction and more to […]
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18th December 2015
London, UK
At the start of 2015 the Digital Transformation Unit set itself an ambitious to do list. After the euphoria of celebrating our first anniversary, the year has been defined by hard graft as we’ve worked with colleagues across the FCO to begin work on how to deliver digital services to British people across the world […]
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15th December 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The voice is clear and strong with a hint of pain. “Love,” she sings, “is a losing game”. I’m not at a concert or watching a movie. I’m at Sentez College, a school in the Turkish city of Sakarya, to present certificates to students who have passed their Trinity College London and Cambridge English exams. […]
Read more on #MastersofSocialMedia | Reply
2nd December 2015
London, UK
In October I blogged about our first exploration of Snapchat as a tool to communicate and engage with people on the work of the Foreign Office. I signed off with a challenge to myself to understand how best to measure and evaluate our success on an app with very limited analytical capability and no website for […]
Read more on Snapchat: reaching the right people | Reply (2)
23rd October 2015
London, UK
Approximately 50% of users 18 or under. Real-time images and videos that disappear once viewed. Messages that only allow 37 characters of text. At first glance Snapchats vital statistics do not appear the ideal fit as tool to communicate the nuances of diplomacy but its relentless growth encouraged some further examination. Like the channel itself […]
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17th September 2015
London, UK
I was not an early adopter of twitter. I wondered what I would have to say of interest, and was suspicious of the time it would take. Apprehensively, I sent my first tweet the night I presented my credentials as High Commisioner in Nairobi. Three and a half years later, I am a convert. If […]
Read more on Twitter: To Engage or Not to Engage | Reply
9th September 2015
London, UK
This month we’re looking to recruit digital communications experts who are up for the challenge of ensuring the FCO makes the most of digital to support UK foreign policy goals. The FCO has a great reputation for digital diplomacy but the challenge is huge and we constantly need to innovate. You will be joining the […]
Read more on #wedodigitalcomms | Reply
25th August 2015
London, UK
The latest smartphones make everybody a potential video director. But there’s more to creating effective videos than an iPhone and a sprinkling of enthusiasm. The FCO’s Digital Transformation Unit is rolling out a new wave of training to staff in British Embassies and High Commissions to help them make better use of these powerful digital […]
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