| Common Craft

British Councils Ban Jargon

This BBC article explains that Local Government Associations (LGAs) have banned the used of cliches and jargon in a effort to communicate more clearly with the public. Complete list of banned jargon.

A few quotes from LGA chairman Margaret Eaton:

"The public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases. ... Why do we have to have 'coterminous, stakeholder engagement' when we could just 'talk to people' instead?"

"If a council fails to explain what it does in plain English then
local people will fail to understand its relevance to them or why they
should bother to turn out and vote.

We, of course, love to see this kind of change in communication, especially at the governmental level.

Clue Unit Podcasts 3 and 4

Episode #3: Online Communities and Fear

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Episode 3, about 30 minutes.

Today's Topic - Fear:

For this episode, we focused on a single topic: "Business fear of connecting with communities online." What is it that prevents businesses (especially, it seems, larger ones) from connecting with customers on line. Is it cultural? Legal? Educational? Our thoughts in here, would love to hear yours...

Episode #4: Recap of the CommunityNext Conference at Stanford

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Episode 4, about 30 minutes.

Today's Topic - CommunityNext:

Jake McKee and Lee LeFever were at the CommunityNext conference over the weekend, a conference focusing on"The Present and Future of Online Communities." Here's what they saw and heard. Chris acts as MC.