I spent ten years as a journalist deciding what deserved people's attention.

Then I moved into government communications and discovered a different challenge.

Public organisations do extraordinary work every day.

But they don’t get anywhere near the recognition they deserve.

Working out how we change that has shaped almost everything I've done since.

What shaped my thinking

I've worked inside government communications, led newsrooms, advised councils and government agencies, and spent years studying how public organisations communicate online.

Along the way I've learnt a few things.

• Good, important work doesn't automatically earn attention.

• Most organisations underestimate the value they provide every day.

• The biggest communication challenges are usually strategic not tactical.

• We often worry about the wrong kinds of trust.

Those ideas now shape every strategy, workshop, review and presentation I deliver.

What I've been studying

For the past few years I've become obsessed with how public organisations show up online.

I've analysed thousands of social media accounts, built New Zealand's largest public-sector social media database, interviewed dozens of communicators, run training, and worked alongside organisations of every size.

Clear patterns have emerged.

The organisations that consistently earn positive attention think differently about communication. They understand that attention, value and trust are closely connected challenges.

That observation became the foundation of my work.

Working together

I don't arrive with a template, because every organisation has different audiences, priorities, constraints, and pressures.

But the questions are usually similar:

• How do we earn attention without chasing it?

• How do we better show the value we create every day?

• What kind of trust can communications actually influence?

• How do we become consistently worth noticing?

The goal is always the same: helping public organisations compete in the modern information environment.