Agenda item

Kirsty Cheetham, Senior Communications Officer and Caroline Killeavy, Chief Executive of YMCA:

a)    provided the Board with a brief Communications Update within which the following points were noted: -

• Partners had worked well within the team and discussions had taken place regarding the possibility of an annual AGM.
• Social media was an effective method of communication across the City and the common trend was higher engagement with posts that utilised videos and construction work images.
• Twitter follower numbers reached 346 in December 2022.
• Relative hashtags and organisations were used in shared media posts and retweets.
• Post engagement and follower numbers had been helped by content and updates which derived from partnership working.
• There had been successful creation of four social media accounts for the Be Lincoln brand.
• Press releases included coverage of the Lincoln Community Grocery.
• Future work would include the creation of Drone footage for Greyfriars and consideration of open days for users that did not access information through the internet.

b)    welcomed comments and questions from Members of the Board

Comment: The spike in activity and follower numbers since September 2022 was fantastic.

Comment: It would be useful to receive a monthly update to enable Members to share with non-executives.

Comment: Boston had a successful AGM. It should be recognised that the Lincoln Town Deal had worked on delivery whilst a number of other cities had worked on summary documents.

Comment: It would be advantageous to include additional reference and signage to advise viewers that the Lincoln Town Deal was a Government funded programme.

Response: It may be useful to create a ‘crib sheet’. Communications in the modern era was adaptable and agile. Consideration of dynamic coverage was important. Some of the most valuable PR moments were not planned.

Comment: Instant attention was best placed through Twitter as the turn around for comment requests could be between 2-3 weeks. Identification of key opportunities and milestones would enable sufficient planning.

Response: The guideline for ministerial quotes was two weeks. Discussions had taken place internally to identify how quotes could be sourced for projects however change could happen frequently and therefore, it was not possible to guarantee quotes.

Question: Were there any peer groups or to support at a national level around Communications? Any best practise?

Response: Discussion was ongoing. A considerable number of Towns Fund projects were in the summary document phase although due to complete close to February 2023. Lincoln was further ahead so consideration to peer groups could be taken forward in the future.

Comment: The University of Lincoln was prominent on Instagram. Which platform was expected to become the most popular?

Response: Instagram had significant potential as many of the projects were visual. Work would reman ongoing to grow presence on additional social medica platforms.

Question: Had the use of Tiktok been considered?

Response: Consideration would be given to the use of Tiktok in the future.

Comment: The Lincoln Town Deal Programme was ahead when compared to other Cities. Professional and corporate engagement to date had begun however it did not reach everyone. It would be useful to link with other members to reach a wider audience. Work with young people could provide an opportunity to learn and work with the University of Lincoln was a possibility.

Response: There were often students that looked to create films.

Comment: It would be positive to understand external media relations.

The Chair and Members expressed their pride and sincere thanks for ongoing Communications work.