The Foreign Office launched itself into blogging last September, with a couple of ministers and a couple of high-profile ambassadors joining in the fun. Indeed, I note they've been scoring some PR points with it: Jolyon Welsh, FCO's head of 'Public Diplomacy' presented a case study on it at a conference last week. But what happens when a (relatively) senior FCO staff member blogs off his own bat?
James Barbour is the (relatively) new Head of Press at the British Embassy in Moscow - one of the more interesting posts to be in at the moment, I guess. He has some experience in blogging, having blogged for a while in his last job, a consultant with the public affairs practice at PR agency Hill & Knowlton, with a focus on technology.
He's quick to point out that 'this blog is unofficial, personal, and does not (necessarily) represent the views of Her Majesty’s Government'. But it'll be interesting to see what he feels able to say, from such a potentially sensitive position.
Thanks for the name-check, Simon. I hope the blog doesn't disappoint. My plan for it, though, has little to do with my current job (which, I agree, has to be one of the more interesting posts at the moment ...). It's more about thoughts and dialogue on a wider range of issues, mostly communications and tech-related. We'll see how it evolves.
Cheers
James
[...] Dickson at Puffbox picked up on this blog last week and, in the process, introduced me to his excellent blog where, in his own words, he ‘rants [...]