Yes, I am a bit tired after three full days and an amazing Association of Police Communicators conference. It was a fantastic opportunity to network learn and share with colleagues and a chance to listen to some great speakers from inside and outside policing. The end of the conference was a ‘state of the nation’ discussion that led to a really positive question to end the event.
The question was ‘what are you most proud of?’.
It is a great question that really makes you think about the contribution you make and what matters to you. There are so many things that I could say it was really hard to keep it to a short sentence. The world of police communication has changed a lot in the last 17 years. When I got my first job in the police service I was a press officer and reported to the head of press office who was an inspector. It was a job few wanted to do primarily because it could be career limiting. Now the world is very different and I feel able to operate at a strategic level and that my advice is listened to.
In the past four years police communicators have been through a really difficult time losing staff, facing regular scrutiny and dealing with increasing demands. Despite this and ongoing uncertainty we are more regularly coming together to support each other, share good practice and look at developing joint working. That is something to be proud of and the conference demonstrated how far we have come.
I was delighted to hear external speakers talk about how the UK police service is leading the way on developing conversations through social media. It is easy to focus on the things we need to improve on, but when we get positive comments we should welcome them and look at why we are doing well in that area.
So, after much musing and considering what I would say to sum up what made me proud I said on Twitter “I am #proud to work in an amazing team and to have so much support, we do good stuff daily #apcomm16 ” I like that and after a busy three days will hold on to that thought as I get some rest.
*A huge thank you to all those who took part in the APComm Conference 2016 including speakers, sponsors and the delegates.
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