Executive Director of GCS kicks off Strategic Communication Leaders Seminar Series
A top government official, two CEOs, and a senior manager for LEGO are among the illustrious guest speakers lined up for students as part of this year’s Strategic Communication Leaders Seminar Series.
Delivered as part of the MSc programme in Strategic Communication, the series aims to give students a behind-the-scenes insight into careers in communications, with each talk followed by a Q&A session.
Alex Aiken, UK Executive Director of Government Communications, kicked off the latest series on 25th November with a fascinating talk entitled "Three Challenges of Government communication: Covid-19, the UK Transition and Reshaping GCS".
As well as an overview of his own career trajectory – from Press Officer for a political party to the most senior communications professional in the Civil Service – Mr Aiken offered an exclusive insight into how the Government Communication Service (GCS) has tackled some of the most demanding communication challenges in recent decades, as well as a major restructure which saw its workforce cut in half in 2010.
Mr Aiken revealed how reshaping the GCS – which consists of 7,000 colleagues across various channels – has necessitated a more effective and efficient approach to communications, achieved in part by using data to inform strategy and decision-making.
On the subject of covid-19 campaign, Mr Aiken also discussed some of the unique complexities that come with such a widespread communications initiative, including targeting multiple, diverse audiences, and tackling disinformation.
Up next in the series is Mark K. Smith, CEO and founder of ContactEngine. In a talk entitled “’The diary of an imposter’: How holding a decent argument delivered an eclectic career”, Mr Smith will talk about the importance of crafting arguments to be successful professionally and have a creative career.
The technological entrepreneur will also reflect on his experiences of founding ContactEngine, an omni-channel customer communication service which delivers proactive conversational AI technology to provide customer engagement, and is deployed by top UK, European, and North American brands in telecommunications, utilities, financial services, auto, and retail.
Following Mr Smith on 4th December will be Ben Page of Ipsos MORI, who will deliver a seminar on “Politics, Opinion polls, data – Using research to improve communications". Mr Page, CEO of the global market research company, will explore his experiences of leading an organisation driven to use research to improve communications, with a particular focus on politics, opinion polls and data challenges.
A frequent writer and speaker on trends, leadership and performance management, Mr Page has directed thousands of surveys examining consumer trends and citizen behaviour. Since 1992, he has worked closely with both Conservative and Labour ministers and senior policy makers across government, leading on work for Downing Street, the Cabinet Office, the Home Office and the Department of Health, as well as a wide range of local authorities and NHS Trusts.
Concluding the series for 2020, Laurie Stewart, Senior Business Transformation Manager for LEGO, will give a talk on “The Power of Storytelling in Business: a Key Tool to Strengthen Your Mindset” on 17th December. Ms Stewart will discuss storytelling and its power to transform ourselves and the world around us, as well as reflecting on her career and sharing business examples of storytelling from Lego.
As the founder of Mindless, a brand committed to elevating consciousness through the art of storytelling, Ms Stewart will also discuss the Mindless Academy, which – in collaboration with universities worldwide – offers a Digital Micro-Internship programme to provide emerging talent with the mindset, skills and experience they need for a digital future. She will touch upon her collaboration with the School of the Arts at the University of Liverpool.
All Communication and Media students and staff are welcome to attend the seminars – details on how to join will be emailed. For further information about the series or any of the talks, please contact Dr Wallis Motta, series convener.