While the CESSDA Service Providers’ Forum gathered at Kulturhuset on day two of the CESSDA 50-year anniversary conference, communications officers from several member organisations gathered in Sikt’s offices for a day full of interactive workshops, knowledge sharing, and a trip up Bergen’s most famous mountain.

“For a communications group to be able to rely on each other, they need to properly know each other,” said CESSDA ERIC Communications Officer Einar Tobias Grude at the start of the workshop.

The meeting, held in the offices of the Norwegian Service Provider Sikt in Bergen, was a rare opportunity for CESSDA’s communications group to come together and meet in person. Although the group meets online on a regular basis and works together on multiple projects, this was the first time in years that they had had the chance to meet face to face, and the first time since CESSDA hired a communications officer.

From left to right: Marianne Mathiesen (Sikt), Fransizka Krauss (AUSSDA), Ilona Trítková (CSDA), Julia Geistberger (AUSSDA), Ineta Simonaité (LiDA), Stefán Hilmarsson (SND), Monika Vettovaglia (FORS), Tuomas J. Alaterä (FSD), Sergeja Masten (ADP), and Rodney Appleyard (UKDS). 

Common issues and solutions

After a short welcome speech and icebreaker session, AUSSDA communications officer Franziska Krauss led the first session on potential pitfalls and clever solutions when redesigning or relaunching a website. This is something several Service Providers have been working on recently, or are looking to start work on in the near future.

Franziska Krauss showed examples of how AUSSDA had been working towards creating a new website, and the communications group provided insights and suggestions on how to proceed. 

Following Franziska’s session, Sikt’s Marianne Matthiesen held a workshop on LinkedIn. For CESSDA ERIC and many of its Service Providers, LinkedIn has become the main channel for reaching their audiences. It is therefore important for communications officers to be aware of both best practices and changes to the algorithms that influence which content gets the most exposure.

Marianne Mathiesen showed how Sikt works proactively to maximize the effect of their social media presence. 

Last before lunch, Tuomas J. Alaterä from FSD ran a workshop on AI and its implications for communications within CESSDA. While AI can be a useful tool for speeding up processes and ensuring quality, it is a rapidly developing field, and getting an overview of the tools available can be challenging. Tuomas showed how different AI tools can be used for different results, depending on what is needed.

With the many AIs now available, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. Tuomas showed how you could get the best results from AI when used for communications work, and what options are available. 

After the break, Einar led a session on public speaking and shared tips for creating and giving better presentations, before Rodney Appleyard from the UK Data Service talked about how their organisation works with stakeholder engagement on social media.

One of the tricks the UKDS communications team has up their sleeve is the way they use AI to ensure that their content is tailored for the desired audiences. 

Finally, SND’s Stefan Hilmarsson, who has a background in graphic design, led a workshop on why a strong graphic profile is important for large organisations, and what to keep in mind when designing visual elements.

Stefan showed how a simple understanding of the three visual design concepts Hierarchy, Readability, and Consistency can elevate an organisations visual communication.  

Goat safari

Once the workshops were done, the group travelled up Mount Fløyen, both to see Bergen from above and to visit the goats that live there.

Stefan, Tuomas, Franziska, Veronika, Julia, and Sergeja on top of Mount Fløyen, on their way to see the goats. 

Sergeja gently petting "Pippi". 

Sergeja and Franziska snapping a photo of Pippi. 

The combination of practical workshops and informal team building helped strengthen the group’s shared understanding of communications work across CESSDA.

The meeting also underlined the value of bringing communications colleagues together in person to exchange ideas, learn from one another, and build stronger working relationships.