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2021 #DiplomacyUnited4Pride

To celebrate LGBTQ+ pride, the #DiplomacyUnited group has again shared a joint campaign across Twitter.

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It’s been a while + survey

2020 presented a challenging year for everyone. As an organization dedicated to events, networking and in-person training, we opted to step aside and cancel our planned activities. Instead, we took the opportunity to aid members of our community to develop their own virtual programming and support their needs as a resource. In doing so, the Digital Diplomacy Coalition board decided to take a moment to reflect on our work over the past seven years, and rethink our path forward for the remainder of 2021 and into the future. However, no conversation on our future would be complete without gathering your views.

As someone who reads this blog, has attended a past event, joined our mailing list, partnered with us on events, or reached out to be a part of our community, we want to hear your thoughts. The Coalition is keen to refocus elements of our offer and programming, but we want to make sure we are meeting the needs of our community. We are inviting you to participate in a brief survey to better inform our future planning.

Survey-Button-Update

Please share your views. This survey should take no more than 5-10 minutes. You may choose to provide your contact details or answer the form completely anonymously.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to assist us as we endeavour to support our community and build a stronger digital diplomacy network. If you require additional information or have questions, please contact us at team@digidiplomats.com.

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Embassies Are Still Showing People the World

With travel on hold, museums and cultural institutions closed, and traditional events canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many embassies in Washington, DC have taken to creative methods to engage the public and replace their annual public diplomacy festivities. 

Speaking to Molly McCluskey at Smithsonian Magazine, DDC board member Moira Whelan shared how her family has been using digital tools to stay connected to the world, and why it’s important embassies are a part of those virtual conversations.

“One of the things that has gotten us through the year is we’ve gone on ‘trips’. I picked Egypt, my daughter picked Paris, and my husband and son also picked places. We watched videos, we read books, we ate the food. It’s helpful to add the embassies into that conversation, because they specialize in making their countries and their culture accessible to Americans. There is a way to be able to explore the world just by going to their website and following them on social media, and learning and plotting where you want to go in the world.”

Read the full article here.

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#DiplomacyUnited4Pride and Equal Rights For All

To celebrate LGBTQ+ pride, the #DiplomacyUnited group has shared a joint campaign across Twitter and Instagram. 

Once again, members of the diplomatic community across Washington, DC have come together behind a common cause. Building on past campaigns to mark International Human Rights Day and International Women’s Day, embassies and global organizations in D.C., together with the Digital Diplomacy Coalition, used their social media presences to show support for LGBTQ+ communities and spread a message promoting equal rights for all.

Check out the Twitter Collection below and watch the Instagram Story here.


#DiplomacyUnited is an informal community originating from the first international digital diplomacy conference held in Stockholm in 2014. The group has continued to collaborate over the years, and has also grown to include additional embassies and organizations.

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DDC’s Moira Whelan op-ed on democracy, technology, and COVID-19

Digital Diplomacy Coalition Board Member Moira Whelan published an opinion piece on the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab Medium looking at the affects COVID-19 has taken and will take on the safety and security of democracy in the technology space.

Selected excerpts:

The innovative tools governments have been loathe to use are now quite literally keeping parliaments and cabinets together. The political leaders slow to adopt digital tools now engage in regular dialogue with constituents because it’s their only choice. Now that these tools have become the norm, there’s no going back. Governments will need to consider how they sustain this online dialogue. The expectation of virtual access to our leaders will and should remain long after COVID-19.


The very tools keeping us together when our freedom is limited could — in the end — be used to help limit our freedom as authoritarian governments embolden themselves. The small freedoms and choices we still enjoy are being sucked into a cloud to be shared, analyzed, and used to manipulate us. Is it over? Is this it for us? Unlikely. We still see good in the world. Technology in the free world during coronavirus has connected us, helped us raise millions and spurred innovation, and saved lives. Many democracies like South Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, and New Zealand are knocking coronavirus for a loop with doses of strong leadership, transparency, and tough decisions. Institutions built by democracies — most notably the World Health Organization — are leading the world.

Read the full piece here

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#DiplomacyUnited for International Women’s Day 2020

For International Women’s Day 2020, a group of digital diplomats came together to share a single message through a joint Twitter thread

Building on past campaigns to mark International Human Rights Day 2019 and International Women’s Day 2019, 13 embassies in Washington, DC — @ItalyinUS, @SpainInTheUSA, @SwedeninUSA, @SwissEmbassyUSA, @ARGinUSA, @FinlandInUSA, @IsraelinUSA, @NLintheUSA, @franceintheus, @GermanyinUSA, @EmbamexEUA, @DenmarkinUSA, and @CanEmbUSA / @AmbCanEUA — together with the Digital Diplomacy Coalition (@digidiplomats), used their social media presence to bring attention to International Women’s Day 2020.

Working as a united diplomatic front, the group shared a single message divided among their accounts to highlight the importance of advancing a gender-equal and inclusive world, where all people are #EachForEqual and members of #GenerationEquality seeking to make a positive difference.

Like all digital conversations, we hope to see others share and join the thread, and take real world steps toward positive change.


 

#DiplomacyUnited is an informal community originating from the first international digital diplomacy conference held in Stockholm in 2014. The group has continued to collaborate over the years, and has also grown to include additional embassies and organizations.

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Takeaways: Digital Strategies for Crisis Communications

Last week, the Digital Diplomacy Coalition, in partnership with Digital Collective and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, came together for a discussion on crisis communications and planning for the unexpected in the digital age.

The discussion, moderated by Rajesh Mirchandani, UN Foundation Chief Communications Officer and former BBC journalist, featured experts Jessamyn Sarmiento, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at World Food Program USA; Maria Belovas, Head of Press & Public Diplomacy at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States; and Ron Hutcheson, Managing Director at Hill+Knowlton Strategies.

Here is what we learned. 

Be prepared. The key to good crisis communication is having a plan before the problem hits. Map out who is in charge in a crisis situation (including who sounds the alarm when a crisis hits) and who will be in the “war room.” Plan approval processes, roles, and have a bank of statements prepared so that everything can be executed quickly and effectively.

Directly address stakeholders. Don’t let gaps feed the rumor mill. Be quick and forthright in your communications to key stakeholders, including staff, partners, and champions. When they are equipped with directions and talking points they can be some of your best ambassadors. 

Sometimes no response is the best response. Otherwise known as “don’t feed the trolls,” this advice is often easier given than heeded. However, in the social media era, not every piece of negative feedback needs to be a “crisis.” Discuss with your team to develop guidelines for responses and evaluate whether your engagement will make the problem better or worse.

Overall, we learned that there is no clear one-size-fits-all approach for digital strategies in crisis communications. However, investing in planning, monitoring, and evaluation structures can go a long way when you need to design a response in a difficult situation.

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#DiplomacyUnited for Human Rights Day 2019

For Human Rights Day 2019, a group of digital diplomats and partners came together to share a Twitter thread, a coordinated campaign and a common objective.

IMG_20191210_091758On December 10th, 2019 nine embassies in Washington, DC (@SwissEmbassyUSA, @FranceInTheUS, @CanEmbUSA, @FinnEmbassyDC, @ItalyinUS, @NLintheUSA, @SwedeninUSA, @DenmarkinUSA, @SpainInTheUSA) together with the U.S. Department of State (@StateDRL) and the Digital Diplomacy Coalition (@digidiplomats), used their collective social media presence to send a message.

Building on efforts from International Women’s Day in 2019, the informal group — a legacy of the first international digital diplomacy conference held in Stockholm in 2014, collaborations by individual embassies and the Digital Diplomacy Coalition network — took to Twitter to bring attention to the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their collective goal of supporting human rights globally. Through bespoke tweets and a coordinated series of videos, each participating embassy or organization shared a unique message and highlighted one of the Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Like all digital threads, we hope to see this conversation grow, others to join in the cause and for new ideas to emerge from the effort.

 

 

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DDC Board Members Join Forces To Launch Digital Diplomacy Bootcamp

bootcampDeveloped for public sector and embassy personnel, the Digital Diplomacy Bootcamp from BlueDot Strategies is designed to provide hands-on training for creating and implementing digital strategies for foreign ministries, embassies and international institutions. Conducted by leading experts in the field, DDC Board Members Scott Nolan Smith and Moira Whelan, the Digital Diplomacy Bootcamp is a unique experience that will build the skills of communications and public diplomacy leaders, social media managers and policy officers, and sharpen the capabilities of project managers, and senior diplomats.

Over 2 days, participants will gain

  • Insights and tools necessary to create an original digital strategy
  • Effective techniques for communicating on behalf of their governments and institutions on social media platforms
  • Tool kits for developing digital projects and campaigns
  • Knowledge of digital best practices employed by embassies and institutions
  • Project management and resource allocation for digital campaigns
  • Crisis communications planning and management on digital platforms
  • Skills for managing official personal and institutional social media content


Training components will include

  • What is a digital diplomat?
  • Defining your role. Advancing diplomacy through digital tools
  • Identifying your audience
  • Developing a digital strategy
  • Planning your campaign
  • Multimedia 101
  • How to be awesome at Twitter (and other popular platforms)
  • Crisis on digital tools
  • Beyond Social Media: Blending with Other Tools of Diplomacy

 

Click here to learn more, including costs, dates and location details.

 



This is not an official DDC event. For more information contact inquiries@bluedotstrategies.com

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BlueDot Founder & DDC Board Member sits on Digital Diplomacy panel at French Embassy

By Maureen Couch 

Moira Whelan, BlueDot Founding Partner, was featured on a panel for the 2019 French Series hosted by the Embassy of France on Tuesday, May 21st. This year’s panel series, an annual event at the embassy, addressed the matter of failing diplomatic exclusivity of international communications.

The French Embassy promoted the panel series indicating that social media has become a major player in funneling information to – and from – the public, “allowing non-state actors to become involved in the communication between states.” Rather than avoiding the inevitable, the panel spoke on how foreign policy can welcome and, in turn, help shape the future of diplomacy as it evolves.

“One of the mistakes we are making is taking the antiquated rules and applying it to the current diplomacy. That people to people opportunity is huge and in the end will help salvage the relationship,” said Whelan on the panel series.

Including Whelan, the panel co-featured Priya Doshi, a professorial lecturer of Public Relations at American University School of Communication, and James Barbour, the Former Head of the Press and Public Diplomacy Section of the Delegation of the European Union. The panel was moderated by John Hudson, National Security Reporter at The Washington Post.

To learn more about the French Series, visit the French Embassy site or take a look at tweets by the Digital Diplomacy Coalition and the French Embassy.


 

This post originally appeared on the BlueDot website

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