In fundamental terms, an effective brand is one which makes an organisation - or person - appealing to its customers and other stakeholders.

The ninth of my Top 10 Consultation Tips is to be as open and transparent as possible. It will help you win trust and support. And, in any case, you don’t have anything to hide.

Another week, another lesson in how not to manage a deepening crisis of failures and mismanagement ...

The beleaguered Southern Health NHS trust has been lurching from tragedy to farce – with the deepening of its on-going crisis appearing largely of its own making. And its account of its actions this week have only caused further damage to its reputation.

The eighth in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series is genuinely to listen to people’s feedback - and see how this can improve your scheme.

The latest post in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series is about being mindful that, unless your proposals are extremely straight forward, you’ll not just be collating people’s views but answering their questions too.

This next post in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series deals with the importance of being clear from the outset about the boundaries of your consultation.

How amusing to see a photographic company - with the strapline 'image is everything' - promoting itself with such a terrible photo!

As the latest in my Top 10 Consultation Tips series, my fifth tip is: be as accessible as possible to your consultees.

The tragic case of the two children killed by a faulty gas boiler on a Thomas Cook holiday is a classic example of a corporate (as well as personal) crisis that's been hugely magnified by being handled abysmally.

With some rowdy friends round for dinner last Saturday night, we put on - as we usually do - some of my old vinyl records. (Too loudly, according to the kids trying to sleep upstairs).

As the next in my Top Ten Tips series, my fourth maxim for running a great consultation is to be clear. An obvious one, right? But it’s where so many consultations fall down.

As the latest post in my series of top 10 tips for running an effective public consultation – many of them learnt the hard way - here’s Tip 3: Be inclusive – within limits.

I’ve just read an article about some interesting studies from the clever people at the Influence At Work research group. They highlight how much more effective it is to get someone else to ‘toot your horn’ than do it yourself.

Continuing my Top 10 Consultation Tip series, here are my thoughts on Tip 2 – distinguishing what you must do from what you should ...

I recently outlined my top 10 tips for running a great public consultation.

There seem to be a good many public consultation exercises under way at the moment. Hopefully it’s a sign that the improving economy is giving organisations more confidence to invest in development schemes and community projects.

I’ve just seen stats that the average human attention span is now just eight seconds. (Source: US National Center for Biotechnology Information)

Here's an entertaining new parody song and video by US satirist Weird Al Yankovic.

Many are rubbish because so little (thought/expertise/money) has been invested in them. But one I saw last weekend wins hands down by trying much too hard.