COMMUNITIES Minister Hazel Blears is to set up a crack Social Enterprise Unit to push for change in local authorities and across Whitehall. She made the announcement during the successful Voice 08 Conference in Liverpool, organised by the Social Enterprise Coalition. Ms Blears, MP for Salford, told the conference that she wanted the Unit to [...]

A NEW online network for social entrepreneurs has just been launched – and was attracting considerable attention at the Voice 08 conference in Liverpool this week. UnLtdWorld aims to provide a network to bring together social entrepreneurs from all over the globe. They can share on-line conversations, interests and values – and make connections around specific projects [...]

HUNDREDS of social enterprises arrive in Liverpool this week for their annual conference. Voice 08 is organised by the Social Enterprise Coalition and features a series of debates as well as exhibitions – and a little bit of culture. Communities and Local Government Secretary of State, Hazel Blears will be taking part on Wednesday along [...]

MEET the Sound Communication team: Matthew Finnegan – former Director of Communications for Liverpool between 1999-2006, Matt was part of the team which helped win the Capital of Culture title for the city. A respected journalist in the North West for 20 years – 15 at the Guardian & Manchester Evening News – he is [...]

THE modern media is obsessed with celebrity, sensation, cutting costs and increasing advertising revenue. Getting your story in the papers, on radio and TV is more difficult than ever before. But media coverage can make a huge difference to morale, teamwork, profit and loss. It can affect how you are viewed by potential funders, customers, [...]

RELATIONSHIPS matter. But too often, we don’t pay enough attention to them. How you relate to potential funders, local authorities and quangos, MPs, Euro MPs, NGOs and Government ministers can be vital to the success of your campaign or your business. That’s where Sound Communication can help. After decades of working with funders, public servants and [...]

A LOT of nonsense is talked about ’spin’ and so-called ’spin doctors’. But now, thanks to the beloved Guardian, you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about. Step Inside the Spin Room at the New Hampshire primary in America, earlier this year. It was the development of these ’spin rooms’ in US [...]

SOMETIMES your own staff can be the last to know what is going on. So is it any wonder if sometimes they don’t want to put the business first? Failing to communicate properly within your own organisation is no way to build a committed, enthusiastic workforce ready to go the extra mile. But keeping your [...]

CORPORATE Social Responsibility is an ugly term for a noble aim. It’s the buzz phrase increasingly used by global PR companies, the big corporations and the pundits. Google it and you find more than three and a half million entries. Many of these articles come from the United States, where CSR often seems to define [...]

GIVING the media an interview is just like a job interview. It requires preparation, concentration and your best possible performance. Get it wrong and you could ruin your reputation – and your job prospects. Get it right and you could win huge support for your organisation and your cause. And that can really pay-off in [...]