Hi, I’m Adrian Pritchard, chief executive of Colchester Borough Council, and back in February I decided to launch my own blog called Pritchard’s Point of View.

Making this move into the digital world was a big step for me and this kind of technology is something that we are looking to utilise as much as possible at Colchester Council through our digital strategy, so I thought I’d share my experience so far!

First things first, why on earth did I do it!? I think a lot of people see it as a risk when senior figures, especially in local government, decide to join the digital and social media trend because of the negative reception you will be open to from the public (and these things called trolls apparently!). Then of course there is the concern that what I say will be interpreted as political.   

To an extent I agree, but creating a blog meant that I could bridge that gap between what residents think the council does, and what the council actually does – something that often needs clarifying.