How powerful ACORN šæļø data helped save B&M-bound Barnetonians Ā£50k on bills
Join my LinkedIn Live, 12pm next Thursday | Plus... data diving to understand what comms changes May 7 elections might bring | Al from Alive on using AI for creativity
Heating or eating: how good data helped save residents over Ā£50k on bills
Free LinkedIn Live webinar, next Thursday (30th April), 12 noon.
Iām pleased to be delving into another great campaign shortlisted for Best Use of Data (supported by Whetstone Communications) in the UnAwards 2025.
Iāll be joined by Sunita Trehan, Senior Campaigns Manager for Planet at Barnet Council. Sheāll reveal all about how great data boosted referrals to the Green Doctor service in the borough by 800% and helped residents tens of thousands of pounds.
Sunita will also cover
how a powerful brand partnership with B&M came about
the crucial service data that set her up for success
using paid social efficiently
evidencing impact in hard Ā£Ā£Ā£
If youāre not a LinkedIn user and want a recording, do let me know)
Thursday 30 April, 12 noon - (sign up link here)
New data project: How might local gov comms change after May 7?
Iām currently drawing on public data to explore what we might learn about how communications might change under Reform-run and Green councils.
Iāve been exploring sentiment in news outputs, comparing pre-May 2025 content from a Conservative-led Derbyshire County Council with that published after the change in control to Reform.
TLDR: there doesnāt appear to have been any meaningful change in sentiment. I ran the same analysis on attributed quotes featured in news stories, with broadly the same conclusion.
Thereās a slight reduction in āangerā and marginal increases in āanticipationā and ājoyā post May-2025, but nothing substantive. The latter two youād probably expect to increase under any new administration bouyant after āvictoryā, eager to enact electoral promises and policies.
My other analysis has used academic-grade Structured Topic Modelling to look at which topics have become more and less prevelant since Reform took over from the Conservatives.
Communications leaders could apply the topic modelling approach to their own content; to benchmark, see trends, report and evaluate - and to identify whether their day-to-day outputs are actually reflecting priorities and key themes set in their strategies.
Iām running a free webinar with former local government communications director Georgia Turner, on Thursday 30 April at 1pm, to delve further into some of this work and how to prepare for change. Sign up here.
How to use AI well in creativity? Ask Alan at Alive!
I had a brilliant day on Tuesday at the UnAwards Masterclass in Birmingham, organised by Darren Caveney of comms2point0.
Well done to everyone who presented on their award-winning work, but not least Alan Oram of Alive with Ideas, who scooped the inaugral Best Human x AI Collaboration in 2025. Whetstone Communications was proud to support this category.
Alan and colleagues used AI strategically and safely to rapidly crunch a huge and messy - but very valuable - dataset of information and inclusive research; a group of skilled humans took these insights to develop a very succesful rebrand for West Berkshire Council.
One line from Alanās funny and entertaining presentation stuck with me; āUse AI as a thinking partner, not a task toolā.
I currently have availability for projects and support from May 2026 onwards, whether that is deep dive digital audits, AI and data literacy training for comms, or helping you tell stories with data - drop me a line to arrange a friendly chat.
Data Communications Chronicles is written by Alex Waddington (alex@whetstonecomms.com), award-winning founder of Whetstone Communications, which helps public sector and not for profit comms teams do more - and deliver better outcomes - using data and AI.