How+to+prioritise+these+insights+and+initiatives+for+ILRI+comms

=Partnership and Communication annual meeting 2012 = On 24-26 January, ILRI's P&C department held a meeting in Addis Ababa to review the highlights of 2011 and align plans and ideas around strategic priorities for 2012 and beyond. (go back to ParCom12 home page)

This session was a Samoan circle that led to prioritise some of the work that was higlighted in the previous session. On top of the original list of strategic recommendations...
 * Partnerships with outreach specialists (the media) with a different language;
 * Develop expertise and capacity in French, Portuguese etc.;
 * Focus on the global agenda (e.g. climate change etc.) and develop a product 'to sell';
 * Include our partners in Asia;
 * Good communication internally to explain what we are working on;
 * Use our tools better (also internally);
 * Match our tools with the people we use them with/for;
 * Bring comms to grassroots level (value chain approach);
 * Make our comms simple and clear;
 * Tap into the knowledge of our colleagues;
 * Relate outputs and outcomes throughout the chain (relate stories on content);
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Be a credible source on topical debates;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Build capacities at and for all levels;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Good content is driving! If we have good content we will make it travel better and achieve better outreach.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">...new recommendations were made:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Organise smart repackaging of information;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Make strong use of images;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Invest in partnerships** (give credit to partners, not just token recognition);
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Engage in purposeful communication: e.g. identify 8 important areas and define where our bull's eye is;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Develop a comms strategy for ILRI** (vision, audiences, structuring) - though there is a risk of disconnect from the overall strategy and we need to align to CRPs we are involved in;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Internal communication** has to improve and links have to be developed across departments;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Communication in CRP work** (3.7, 1.1, 1.2, 4, 5, 7) even though we are not the only ones to decide about it;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The **branding of ILRI** (website, messages etc.) even though this is not a new topic but we have to come up with concrete recommendations (at regional level too);
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">We have to strike a balance on our web expertise across all ILRI offices;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">For the CRPs: what set of platforms to use?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">We have to avoid information overlaps and duplication;
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">What are our capacities to handle all this work?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">How to structure ourselves?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Matching our tools with our audiences;
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Resource mobilisation; **
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Connecting with the wider ILRI livestock community and agenda. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The topics in bold were the ones we selected to work on in groups. The choice of tools/approaches and assessing our capacities (and needs in this area) were considered cross-cutting issues that each working group would have to work on.