Editorial Guidelines
The values and standards to be adopted when creating content for the Commonwealth Association of Architects
Date last updated: 19 October 2024
Editorial Guidelines
GENERAL APPROACH/PRINCIPLES
This document is intended to provide guidance to those creating content for the Commonwealth Association of Architects. Its purpose is to help ensure that content is presented in a consistent and coherent manner which reflects the values and aspirations of the Association.
Tone of voice
CAA’s tone and appearance is professional at all times while avoiding stiff formality in favour of an inclusive, approachable, informative voice. The tone is activity focussed and forward- looking, using the present and future tense where possible, to project the immediacy, urgency, care, and energy which is reflective of the character of the CAA. The intention is to impart information, news, data, and concepts in an easily digestible and interesting way that informs and engages the audience while helping to advance the CAA’s priority areas of advocacy, capacity building and climate action, and reflecting its values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and sustainability.
International perspective
The CAA is an international organisation comprising peoples from many different countries and cultures, who have architecture and the Commonwealth values in common. All external communications must reflect this and be inclusive and alert to cultural sensitivities. As a rule, articles and press releases will be published in English but English is not the first language of many members, so the English language used needs to be clear and straightforward making it easy for all to understand. At the same time, the use of English should be literate and of a high standard as befits a professional organisation. Where location is given the country as well as the town is named, and also nationalities.
Attention to detail
True professionalism is reflected in careful attention to detail. This means ensuring that there are no spelling mistakes, all names and places are spelled correctly and included where necessary; contributors, participants (and photographers) are correctly credited; external sources are credited; dates and places are checked and accurate; quotes are always checked by contributor and then ascribed. Personal names are first written in full including any title, after which judgement is required as to whether to use first name or title and surname, depending on the subject matter and tone of the article. As far as possible, photographs are high quality and follow the photography guidelines below.
External approvals
Where external material such as images or quotations are being included these must be checked with the source and approval obtained. Press releases, quotes, texts etc must be
approved by all contributors and the date of issue agreed. If a CAA is using a paparazzi style photograph of a single person taken by CAA at an event, then, within reason, permission to use should be sought. Group shots taken with consent are excluded, as are crowd scenes. The watchword here is caution. Approval should always be sought when there is any doubt.
Written Content
The principles outlined in this document apply to all content generation. It must be professional, clear, accurate and approved. ‘ Written Content’ means any written information published by the CAA including via website, news updates, newsletters, and press releases. It might include articles about events, projects, competitions, and initiatives, plus interviews and articles written by CAA members, collaborators, and others.
News bulletins, newsletters, and press releases
These must be released in a timely fashion and in the template available in the CAA folder on Dropbox (address etc). As above, the content must be appropriately written, illustrated, and approved by all stakeholders.
Visual Content
As a general rule, content should feature one or all of buildings, people and/or environment. When selecting imagery, the author should endeavour to ensure that these reflect the CAA’s values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and sustainability, addressing issues including social, economic and environmental well- being.
Photography
Architecture is ultimately about people. The CAA is about people and the built environment. Photographs should include people where they can, and where relevant, without compromising the high quality of imagery expected of a professional, international organisation. The images should be as high resolution as possible. Photographs are selected for their visual appeal as well as the information they convey. While photographing events, CAA photographers should be aware of composition, including the framing of the whole person or other subject matter and avoiding background clutter where possible. Only the best photographs should be published.
Infographics
Images such as diagrams and graphs should be professionally composed and presented whether they are CAA generated or owned by another organization (in which case permission must be sought unless they are stated to be copyright-free). If CAA generated, they should use the CAA colour palettes as defined in the CAA Identity Guidelines.
Communications Programme Planner
Consider the development of an annual calendar to be used as a social media framework so that coverage of main events can be scheduled and planned accordingly. In addition, there will be ad hoc posts about noteworthy CAA and associated activities across the year that cannot be planned for in advance (and which should be added to the calendar as a record of activity) The following example is for illustration only.
Month External Event Main Channels
July CAA launches Knowledge Sharing Partnership
CAA participated in USA Annual Symposium
August IFC Edge partnership launches Quarterly Newsletter
September CAA CPD Event
Launch new brand identity
October Launch CAA Awards
November COP28, Dubai, UAE
[Regular review of Website & Social Media channels]
Website, LinkedIn
Website news and Newsletter
Website, LinkedIn, Newsletter, and social media
All channels
All channels
Communications Committee
Figure 1, Example of Communications Programme Planner
Which content goes where
PLATFORM
Reports
TYPE OF CONTENT
Factual content, such as surveys, policy papers etc
Website* Core information about the CAA and its activities
Newsletter A periodic roundup of CAA activity
Twitter Bite sized social and news items
FREQUENCY OF POSTING/ UPDATING
As required
Quarterly, except CAA news, or otherwise by exception
LEAD AUTHOR
Any
Communications Committee
Quarterly Communications Committee
As required
LinkedIn Short news items reposts and/or thought pieces. As required
Instagram Visual storytelling and compelling images & videos
Facebook News about people, events, initiatives. Videos favoured
As required
As required
* The website includes a link to the Twitter social media feed.
Figure 2, Which content goes where
Exec Director
Exec Director
Exec Director
Exec Director
Do’s and Don’ts
• Do make sure that content is rich, relevant, and informative.
• Do cite sources and provide evidence where appropriate
• Do be sure to use the right medium for the right content.
• Don’t post images of social events on anything other than social media.
• Don’t post screen shots of meetings. They’re not interesting.
• Don’t repost personal opinion pieces which do not relate to the CAA’s core mission.
• Don’t repost material from other organisations except on social media and/or where the CAA is mentioned or involved.
The website is a place to host CAA news and formal content. It is the CAA’s front door to the world. It will be used by visitors to find a wide range of information about CAA. It is crucial that the website reflects the very best of the CAA as many potential partners and collaborators will form their initial judgements by visiting the CAA website.
Timing and frequency of content
The website is a window into the CAA world. The CAA is fast moving, action focussed, productive and responsive. News should be posted within hours, and certainly no more than a week after the activity or event. When it is posted will partly depend on related promotion, e.g., if an emailer or social media post has been issued to drive its audience to the website to view the news in more detail.
Keeping the website up to date
The website should never be out- of- date, and it is the responsibility of the administrator and all Council members to check, and if necessary correct, the content that they are responsible for. Items to be checked include changes to personnel, the organisation, and important biographical additions. World events might make some content insensitive, or initiatives and knowledge developing in such a way that they need to be brought up to date. Old press releases should not linger at the top of the page. Associated PDF’s or downloads should be updated, archived, or removed when their content has been refreshed or become outdated.
The website should be thoroughly reviewed at least every six months by the communications committee
Images and photographs
Imagery is crucial to the appeal of the website. An ideal image is informative, relevant, stimulating to look at and clearly relates to the context . All images should be saved in Photoshop as JPEG, and image captions should be max 10 words + image credit where necessary. Please see Identity Guidelines for full image specification.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The CAA can reach different audiences around the Commonwealth through social media The CAA has a full programme of advocacy, education, initiatives, awards and events across the year which can be promoted through social media. Not only does social media broadcast our news and encourage our audiences to engage with us, but every post also gives an indication of our values and professionalism. Therefore, although social posts are usually short and not always enduring, it is very important first to take time to consider the proposed post and its intended audience, then read (and as appropriate respond to) comments, listen to feedback, know who the CAA followers are, and track performance.
Audiences
• Existing Member Organisations
• Prospective Member Organisations
• Policy makers and city leaders
• Fellow built environment professionals.
• Heads of Schools and teaching faculty
• Students and young people
• Existing and potential partners, collaborators, and supporters
• Potential donors and funders
The CAA has a number of established partners and should follow their feeds and repost their news where it is relevant.
Performance figures and analysis will be required as part of the Communications Report to be delivered annually.
Channel
Website NEW
Visitors/Followers
386 visits from first release
Twitter 1,004 followers
LinkedIn 762 followers
Instagram (Account not yet created)
Facebook 5,600 followers
Date last checked
28 July 2023
28 July 2023
28 July 2023
28 July 2023
28 July 2023
Figure 3, Website and Social Media performance monitor
Twitter and Threads
https://x.com/Comarchitect https://www.threads.net/@commonwealtharchitects
All posts must be factually and grammatically accurate, and any opinion shared must reflect the agreed viewpoint and tone of voice of the CAA. The CAA should never become involved in an on-line argument and any significantly negative responses to a post should be brought quickly to the attention of Council Members.
Posts should be short and concise to engage followers, focussing on clear, informative, and relevant news that encourages sharing and conversation. Content might comprise news updates and industry insights. Twitter is the place to post about CAA participating in events, or guests participating at CAA events, including good photographs of participants or the venue. Timely posts are strongly encouraged, and care must be taken
not to post ‘old’ news. Ideally news should be posted on the day or in the week that it happens. Posting ‘old’ news makes the CAA look sluggish and out of date.
Use hashtags, and engage with other users by commenting, liking, sharing and following, to increase reach and build a community around the CAA brand and message. Images: refer to photography and images guidelines.
https://www.instagram.com/commonwealtharchitects/
This platform is designed to showcase visually striking images or videos that are aesthetically pleasing. Only positive images should be selected that the audience will enjoy looking at e.g., transformational projects, people using new spaces, exemplar buildings, colourful people and buildings, improved environment. It is not the place to shock or frighten people.
Use only high- quality images and videos that are well-lit and well-composed. Captions should be short, catchy, and relevant to the post. The tone can be informal, but the text should be polite, accurate and professional.
Use Instagram stories to share behind- the-scenes content, promote CAA initiatives and to showcase CAA in a more interactive way.
Engage with the audience by responding to comments and messages and by liking their posts. Use hashtags to increase visibility and reach a wider audience. Collaborate with other organisations or influencers to reach a wider audience and grow CAA following.
Use Instagram Insights to track performance, better understand audience, in order to optimize your content strategy. Refer to Identity guidelines for briefing on visual presentation.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonwealtharchitects/
The algorithm underpinning LinkedIn favours content which is generated by individuals rather than by companies and organisations. To achieve maximum visibility, therefore, the CAA should repost news and articles generated by Council members. Content originated by the CAA and shared from the CAA LinkedIn site, will not receive as much visibility as member posts.
Sometimes it will be necessary for the CAA to originate content. Council Members should share these posts. When posts are shared a comment about the shared post should be added to a second post. The algorithms used by LinkedIn prefers this. For the same reason, believe it or not, the CAA should also like its own posts!
Unlike Twitter and Instagram, longer content performs well as the platform wants to engage, inform, and educate LinkedIn is a great place to write about CAA reports, CPD and initiatives such as the MOU’s, not only sharing the news via a link to the website but giving context by sharing some information about the background, or how the initiative has been received. Valuable tips and advice to the audience are also welcome.
Good visuals such as images, infographics and videos can also help increase engagement. The language and tone are professional. Sensitive or controversial topics should be avoided.
https://www.facebook.com/commonwealtharchitects
Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. It is widely used for business purposes in some countries, much less so in others, but it will build CAA brand awareness across the world. It is a good platform from which to drive traffic to the website by posting links. Therefore, it is vital that the profile page is accurate, professional, and appropriately colourful, in line with branding and identity guidelines
Facebook encourages engagement so it is important to respond to enquiries in a timely way. The tone of voice is professional, inclusive, and friendly.
In most circumstances, Facebook posts should be brief, and always eye- catching, using high quality, interesting and colourful imagery, and CAA branding. Facebook likes users asking questions so it can be a good place to ask for curated responses to a shared fact or picture, or to issue a call to action. Popular content includes short videos, tutorials and ‘how to’ advice. Content that appeals to a wide audience is welcome. For instance, Facebook would be a good place to publish examples from the CAA’s Good Practice Library and for Council members to publish short video pieces about relevant issues.
It is important to share news from partners and collaborators posting on Facebook, but this should not dominate. Most posts should be CAA focussed and CAA generated.
END