Comments on: ABC Learning Centres to launch Childcare Chat in bid to move agenda on

By: Could this be the best use of social media in Australia? » Zakazukha Zoo Social Media Marketing Blog

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:39:25 +0000

[...] and he’s written up his take on it at his blog. Mumbrella also did a pre-launch piece on it here. The Sydney Morning Herald ran a piece on it yesterday, which blogger Matt Crozier was quick to [...]

By: Matt Granfield

Matt Granfield — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:43:43 +0000

AJ, I think you may have missed the point a little bit and I think you’ve made some incorrect assumptions about the forum. At the moment the only posts in the site are from parents – there certainly hasn’t been any “corporate influence in there telling people that they are using the wrong forum”.

We recommended an open forum/social network strategy for ABC because research identified that one of the biggest influences on childcare decision making was word of mouth. Sure, there will be some disgruntled former workers and parents out there who will air their grievances with how things were in the past, but the majority of parents are happy with the care their kids get and have wonderful stories to tell. By allowing both sides of the story to be aired in public, parents can make their own judgement based on honest opionions.

By: AJ

AJ — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:52:00 +0000

The can of worms that it opens by providing this forum for disguntled parents / staff is opening up the company to the negative that has previously been supressed. Previously all you have heard about parent / staff experiences from ABC is their lovely glossy (moderated in a sense) ads in magazines.

The forum is supposed to ‘unmoderated’ yet there is already the corporate influence in there telling people that they are using the wrong forum etc – I just think that a forum is probably the wrong method for communication, as the negative comments are already showing by the time the moderator says it is not the right complaint method – parents who are happy or do not have a problem will all of a sudden see the negatives and begin to wonder.

I think it is a great step that ABC are trying to take – unfortunately I think they are trying too much to be the ‘open and transparent’ ABC everyone wishes they were a long time ago – and are opening themselves up to a lot of negative feedback – in a public forum. Perhaps video blogs / twitter streams from key members of staff, from the bottom to the top of ABC, showing the daily life of the company – would be a better method of letting people into the world that has previously been so media blocked.

There definitely needs to be a feedback forum for the parents, perhaps at this stage of the companies restructure when there are still centres being closed and staff issues – it should be a localised process rather than airing it all for everyone to see?

By: Tim - Mumbrella

Tim - Mumbrella — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:28:07 +0000

I think that may miss the point a bit, AJ. Being on Mumbrella, this part of the conversation is focused on the communications strategy rather than ABC staffing etc. What would your communications advice be? Surely better to do this than not do this? Or am I oversimplifying?

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

By: AJ

AJ — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:09:55 +0000

Do they really think that by putting a chat forum up it is going to make the parents worry any less? Their centres are understaffed, the government is doing nothing about it, DOCS is turning a blind eye – the parents are just going to find out more and more from each other about the state of the company, and its not just them experiencing the bad issues that plauge nearly each and every one of those centres.

Its going to be a sharp learning curve for the non-childcare minded PR people, and (hopefully) a wake up call to DOCS and ABC Management,