Community groups and individuals have delivered the most useful support networks in a physically distanced world. So now is the time for social landlords to revisit our purpose and reflect on the non value-adding activities that our organisations are involved i
2015: The year we put the social back into housing
You can have super star status online without any official status offline; you can be a powerful chief executive offline with very little impact online – Victoria Betton Just over two years ago I pronounced rather grandly that 2012 was the year we went social. The year the UK housing sector embraced new technologies embarking … Continue reading 2015: The year we put the social back into housing
It’s our job to give customers a story to tell, not tell it for them…
“Guinness is lovely but it will always be the same, a (delicious) black and white drink – simple and unchanging. Subway do nice sandwiches. Lego make little bricks. The work of housing associations, councils, the NHS and other government departments is about our lives: it’s dramatic, it makes a difference to the way we live … Continue reading It’s our job to give customers a story to tell, not tell it for them…
What Uber, Comms Hero and HouseParty tell us about the future of the conference…
(A version of this post originally appeared on 24Dash – go visit them as they’re great!) 2pm 11th June: London grinds to a halt. Cab drivers have downed tools for an hour. Uber, a smartphone app that offers an easy and cheap taxi booking service, has rolled into the UK. Our taxi drivers, required to … Continue reading What Uber, Comms Hero and HouseParty tell us about the future of the conference…
The #PowerPlayers14 Awards at #HseParty14
POST UPDATED 25TH JUNE Winners of people choice awards at House Party: Social Media Campaign: Winner: Adrian Capon for #HousingDay. Runners up: Council Home Chat , Real Life Reform Best Blogger: Winner: Colin Wiles. Runners up: Thom Bartley, Jules Birch Rising Star: Winner: Michala Rudman. Runners up: Cheryl Tracy, Thom Bartley Social Superstar England: Winner: Nick Atkin. Runners up: … Continue reading The #PowerPlayers14 Awards at #HseParty14
The Top 50 Digital #PowerPlayers14 in #ukhousing
You want to get to the list don’t you? Hold on. It’s coming. Before you look at the Top 50 influencers please read this guest post from Shirley Ayres who kindly agreed to collaborate with me on #powerplayers14. For me…it sums up perfectly what it’s all about…. When the first Power Players 50 list was … Continue reading The Top 50 Digital #PowerPlayers14 in #ukhousing
Top 50 Power Players In #UKHousing 2014 – Your Vote Counts….
A year ago I published The Top 50 Power Players In Housing [Klout Edition] – featuring people working in and around the sector. The idea came to me as I was sipping rum at a beach bar in Jamaica, checking my Klout score and wondering why I hadn’t made the main list in 24 Housing … Continue reading Top 50 Power Players In #UKHousing 2014 – Your Vote Counts….
The Battle Against Digital Disruption
A friend of mine – a Housing Association resident – has just received her shiny new smartphone. It’s got a High Definition display more advanced than a TV that just four years would have cost over £1000. It can be controlled without actually touching it. It tracks her eye and wrist movement and stops playing … Continue reading The Battle Against Digital Disruption
Adapt or Die: 3 Challenges To Going Digital
Yesterday was a significant day. The sector in which I work put on a huge show of newly found digital awareness. My Twitter timeline nearly melted. As Shirley Ayres correctly observed: This , just one year after the 2012 Northern Housing Consortium Social Media event – which was the first mainstream housing conference to promote … Continue reading Adapt or Die: 3 Challenges To Going Digital
Why Living In Paradise Is Bad For Business
Here is a story about what can happen when you don’t anticipate change. When you get used to things being easy for everyone. It’s a story you will have heard before but, like all the best tales , is as relevant today as when it was first told: There was once a lucky little bird … Continue reading Why Living In Paradise Is Bad For Business
Does Social Housing Need To Find A Richard Branson?
It’s May 2008 , and Helena Moore and I have just left the stage at the European Customer Management World Conference. We had just presented to an audience that included John Lewis , Microsoft and some young startup outfit called Facebook. People who we would now recognise as experts in marketing their product and selling their … Continue reading Does Social Housing Need To Find A Richard Branson?
10 Myths From The Year We Went Social
2012 – The Year We Went Social from Paul Taylor 2012 was the year in which the Housing Association sector went social. It’s very positive that so many of us have recognised the clear customer service and business benefits that social and digital engagement can bring. This was year we went social. And these are … Continue reading 10 Myths From The Year We Went Social
Digital Myths
How confident are you using the internet? On a scale of 1 to 10. And how confident would you say the average user of social housing is? Last week , I posted about the myth of social housing residents and digital inclusion. How 99% of our new customers said they had the ability to access the … Continue reading Digital Myths
Is expecting a contribution to community such a bad thing?
Yesterday ,on the Guardian Housing Network , I asked whether it’s right that a Housing Association should expect a resident to make some sort of contribution to the community they move into. That we expect , as the default position , that everyone makes 5% extra effort to help their new community be the best it … Continue reading Is expecting a contribution to community such a bad thing?
Listen to customers. But don’t feel you have to do what they say…..
“Do your customers agree with what you are proposing?” was one of the questions our Board asked me this week. My response went something like this: “I don’t know. We’ve listened to what they have told us. We’ve observed how they find things difficult to use. And then we’ve tried to create something they will … Continue reading Listen to customers. But don’t feel you have to do what they say…..
What do you do again?
I work for a Housing Association. We build homes and we house people. And I dread people asking me what I do for a living. If you work in the same profession, or any other that doesn’t instantly ignite animated conversation , you will know The Tumbleweed Moment. That moment , those uncomfortable seconds of … Continue reading What do you do again?
