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About Amanda Dennett

About Amanda Dennett 

Head, Digital Experience, Australian War Memorial

In a sentence, why are you passionate about social media and digital communications for government?

It promotes transparency, collaboration and robust conversations between governments and the public they serve. It takes the public town hall meeting online and into spaces where people naturally congregate, providing the public with an opportunity to engage in communication and ideas-sharing with public servants and politicians in a direct and powerful way.

Tell us a bit about your background - how did you get to where you are today?

I started out in government communications working in media relations, when the key tactics for reaching an audience were media releases and talkback radio interviews. When social media was an emerging channel I was given the opportunity to establish the agency’s presence and strategy, which had more of an impact on my career than I could have imagined. Since then, I’ve been in a number of digital leadership roles and have also pursued postgraduate study and research on public sector use of social media.

What’s been your biggest learning to date?

A recurring learning for me is that social media and digital communication workers across all levels of government are passionate and do great work but at times feel disconnected from the wider practice. They follow other government campaigns and examples online but often don’t engage directly with colleagues to share knowledge and experience, generally because they feel they don’t have time to do so. It’s a missed opportunity that networks like GDLN help to address.

Who - agency or individual - do you most admire for their work online?

I admire the work of teams at Services Australia, the Australian Taxation Office and Australian Electoral Commission for the way they engage with the public online quickly and at scale on issues of national importance. During emergencies, at tax time and election time they successfully scale up to deliver critical information and correct misinformation in a way that benefits individuals and whole communities.

What’s your favourite social channel and why?

I’m building a house so I’ve recently become obsessed with Pinterest. But LinkedIn is my favourite, does that make me daggy? I use it daily and learn something new every time I visit. I enjoy the diversity of experiences that my connections have and the respectful exchange of ideas that takes place there.

What’s the most amazing/unusual/valuable thing you’ve personally achieved via social media?

The most valuable thing is the relationships I’ve built and knowledge I’ve had access to that would not have been possible without social media. In the past couple of years I launched the @ausgovsocmed and @PSCommunicator Twitter accounts to share examples of great government social media and communication and through that I’ve connected with people from all over the world.

Let’s get warm and fuzzy for a moment - why did you join the GDLN and how do you hope to help create a better public sector?

To steal ideas from super smart and thoughtful people! We can’t know everything, so being part of a group that is invested in excellence in social media and digital strategy has expanded my knowledge beyond what I could ever gain in my day-to-day role. I also find it motivating to be able to collaborate and share ideas with others that share a passion for public sector communication.

What would you say are your areas of expertise on social, if people need advice?

I specialise in integrated digital communication strategy, advising executive leaders on digital communication, social media customer service, social media team operations and skills, and social media research practices.

What’s the best way for people to contact you?

About the Author

Amanda Dennett, SCMP is a communication professional and former public servant. She is Co-Founder of the Government Digital Leaders Network and a past President of the Canberra chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Amand...