Dave says:

Another example of boringness is in the way that local issues are reported on. For example, more people read about council issues in their local paper than in the leaflets sent out by the council itself. That’s because the council leaflet is probably more boring than the paper’s coverage. That said, more people moan about their bin collections, or pot holes in their street, in the pub with their mates than read about them in the local paper. Again, chatting in the pub is more fun.

So for government at all levels to get their messages across, and to engage better with people, they need to ensure they aren’t boring the people they want to talk to.

This chimes with some of the stuff I was on about here. But I don’t think it’s beyond the wit of local government to talk in ways that attract rather than bore; in lots of ways I think that Lewisham Life manages to avoid the charge of boringness.

But I think that there is more that our council could do to draw in the interested audience. As Sue, Andrew, and John (amongst others) are proving having information on what our local representatives think and do is seen as valuable.

I’m pleased that John’s making progress (inch by inch) in engaging officers, but why is it that he’s created the i-calender and I’m doing the RSS feed? How is it that Nigel’s blog isn’t a template for all council departments and that Brockley Central is the place to debate what’s going on in that bit of the borough?