News
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Take the FIR Listener Survey
If you’re a regular listener of The Hobson and Holtz Report podcast - the weekly anchor show in the FIR Podcast Network - we want to know what you think of the show.
To this end, we’ve just published the FIR Listener Survey 2013 and invite you to share your thoughts and opinions about the show: topics, discussions, reports, sponsors, overall content, and more.
The survey is open now and will close at 8am on Wednesday October 23, 2013, in just over a week’s time.
There are 40 questions, the majority of which are buttons and checkboxes to click, although there are plenty of opportunities for you to say what you think as well. It should take you 20 minutes or less.
If you want to take the survey on your mobile phone or tablet, the website presents the survey in a friendly format for smaller screens.
Scan the QR code you see here to go there right now.
The last time we published the results of a listener survey was in 2009. I bet much has changed in four years, in terms of what listeners’ like and what they don’t, and what you want from FIR in the future.
Not only that, we’re evolving FIR and the family of podcasts that collectively now make up the FIR Podcast Network, an embryonic network that we have big plans for.
Hence a new survey to find out thinking from the people who matter to us - our listeners.
We will announce an initial results overview on FIR after the October 23 closing deadline; and we’ll publish detailed information about the results on the FIR website as well as a deck on Slideshare as we did last time.
Thanks for participating. We look forward to hearing what you think.
Related posts:
- Expanding the FIR Podcast Network
- The influence of the global FIR community - results from the 2009 FIR listener survey
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Introducing “FIR On Strategy with Andrea Vascellari”
By Andrea Vascellari, Host of "FIR On Strategy with Andrea Vascellari."
Every week, the For Immediate Release podcast brings us news, commentary and case studies about organizations and new emerging communication technologies - who’s doing it well and who isn’t.
This is actually why we all listen to the show, to learn more about "when" and "how" to use these technologies in our communication plans.
I’m here to introduce you to "FIR On Strategy with Andrea Vascellari", a new podcast in the For Immediate Release podcast network, that offers you guidelines and tips to help you plan, execute and manage your strategic communication plans.
I’ll be hosting the new podcast. The first episode will be published here on Thursday September 26, 2013.
Having worked in communications for a while now, I spent a lot of time studying, piloting and learning from many different communication plans. I understood what works, what doesn’t, where digital fits into the current mix and I understood which are the elements of a plan that are, almost constantly, overlooked by organizations.
Eventually over the years I developed, and kept improving, an adaptive strategy framework that helped me planning, executing and managing online communication plans more effectively and efficiently. With "FIR On Strategy" we will explore this framework.
Each episode of "FIR On Strategy" is dedicated to understand how the framework is structured and how it functions. You will learn how to avoid getting caught up in the digital hype that every day hits you, and your organization, with new solutions and focus on what can actually help you achieve your objectives.
With each episode I also release a post on my blog that includes an accurate description of what I’m sharing with you in the podcast.
So if you feel a bit lost, if you are new to this, or if the topics seem to be too complicated, don’t worry. You can take your time and listen to the show while you follow the post that I have already prepared for you. This will also save you time because you don’t need to take notes or write down everything I say in each episode: I already did it for you.
On "FIR On Strategy" I share my point of view but I want to hear also what you think, what you agree or disagree with, what’s missing or what can be changed. This is a good opportunity to learn from each other and to grow together.
I hope you will enjoy the show! Look out for episode 1 on Thursday September 26.
Andrea.
Hear Andrea introduce "FIR On Strategy":
Andrea Vascellari is an award-winning digital marketing consultant and keynote speaker in the online communications industry.
With over 10 years of professional experience and a deep understanding of marketing and communications, including public and media relations, Andrea helps his clients integrate new technologies and social media communication into their organizations by building dynamic relationships with shareholders and other key audiences.
He has worked with independent professionals, Fortune 100 companies, mid-sized companies, as well as with non-profit organizations across a broad spectrum of industries including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, government, education, technology, and consumer electronics.
Recognized as one of the leading early adopters, thought leaders and influencers in social media communication, Andrea has directed executive education programs, lectured at academic institutions and delivered keynote speeches internationally.
Connect with Andrea on Twitter: @vascellari.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Share your questions for Donna Papacosta’s interview with Neville and Shel on FIR 700
We have something special in store as part of the milestone 700th episode of For Immediate Release, the first and longest-running communications-focused podcast. Donna Papacosta—a regular contributor to FIR and a skilled podcaster in her own right—will interview co-hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz on their own backgrounds. Here’s Donna explaining the whole idea:
As Donna notes, you can participate by letting her know what questions you’d like her to ask. Post your questions to the FIR community on Google+. You can also post questions to the this blog post or send them by email to fircomments@gmail.com. However you send them, Donna will add them to the mix. Please have your questions to us by April 19, since Donna will conduct the interview on the morning of the 20th.
Thanks to longtime listener Max Christian Hansen for the idea. According to Max, he was inspired by the conversation correspondents Michael Netzley and Dan York had in episode 697. “We heard some history of his professional and personal interests,” Max writes. “It’s occurred to some of us that we’d like gain similar insight into our hosts.”
Episode 700 on April 22 will also include our usual collection of timely news items and discussions of trending themes in communications, business and technology.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Andrea Weckerle will answer your questions at FIR’s April 5 Book Club session
Andrea Weckerle, author of Civility in the Digital Age, is set to take your questions during FIR’s next Book Club, which Book Review Editor Bob LeDrew will host:
12 p.m. EDT, 9 a.m. PDT, 11 a.m. CDT, 5 p.m. GMT
Andrea is also the founder and president of CiviliNation, a non-profit organization established to take a stand against against online hostility, character assassination and adult cyberbullying. LeDrew’s review of Civility in the Digital Age was posted to FIR last week. Andrea also appeared in an FIR interview in January 2010 to discuss CiviliNation.
Andrea is an attorney licensed to practice law in Washington D.C. and New Jersey. She earned her Juris Doctor at T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond, where she also served on the Senior Staff of the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology, the first exclusively online, student-edited law journal in the U.S. In addition to her law degree, she underwent extensive mediation training, earning certificates in Commercial Mediation, Conflict Resolution Processes, and Healthcare Mediation. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in Communications/Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.
After law school, Andrea worked within the Legal Management Services division of an international professional services firm, where she helped design, develop and implement comprehensive alternative dispute resolution systems for Fortune 500 companies. During her tenure at the firm, she also served on the international team of a high-profile, politically sensitive investigatory review of World War II-era banking records for two international financial institutions and a U.S. state regulatory agency. Before founding CiviliNation, she ran her own boutique communications consultancy and worked with nationally-recognized agencies, where her experience included legal and corporate communications, as well as online communications and social media.
Andrea lived in Pakistan, Madagascar, Germany and the United States while growing up and now resides in the United States. She is bilingual in English and German.
Join Andrea for a lively chat with FIR Book Review Editor Bob LeDrew and participate in the conversation! Details are on the TalkShoe Book Club site.
Thursday, January 03, 2013
FIR podcast: Eight years and counting
Eight years ago today - on January 3, 2005 - two communication professionals embarked on a voyage that was all about discovery and experimenting with a new medium: podcasting.
Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz started For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report as part of their keen interest in new communication technologies and platforms, and what impact they may have on organizations and people.
With Shel on the US west coast and Neville in Europe, it offered both of us a great opportunity to get together via Skype to talk about topics of mutual interest at the intersection of business, communication and technology; record our conversations under our self-description of “a pair of communication professionals who think they have something to say”; and publish those conversations on the world wide web for anyone who may be interested to listen.
The first episode of FIR eight years ago demonstrated the possibilities of an embryonic medium where the barriers to entry were so low, anyone could do it. Now, anyone who wants to is doing it, not only audio but also video.
As we mark this milestone in our labor of love, we’d like to say thank you to you, our listeners old and new, who ‘tune in’ once a week to hear not only Shel and Neville but also reports from our correspondents and the voices of our sponsors and listeners who contribute their thinking on the issues and topics that matter to them.
Today, the vibrant FIR community also extends across the social web, on Facebook, Friendfeed, Google+ and Twitter.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to our sponsors:
Ragan’s Jenny Fukumoto in Chicago brings news and highlights of Ragan events across the United States and beyond. Each week, FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com.
The voice of Jen Zingsheim - and occasionally, CustomScoop founder Chip Griffin - with the Media Monitoring Minute segment in each show. Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir.
And thank you to David Bator and Pollstream who sponsored FIR until the end of 2012. Pollstream helps you transform your communications goals into exciting strategies that will enable you to engage, educate and inform your customers and employees online, pollstream.com/fir/.
An equal thank you to our two regular correspondents:
- Dan York - based in Keene, New Hampshire, Dan is Senior Content Strategist at the Internet Society, reporting on communication issues from the technologist’s point of view.
- Michael Netzley - Academic Director at Singapore Management University, Michael reports on the communication scene across a region extending from the Middle East to Southeast Asia to China, Japan and the Koreas.
A huge thank you to Donna Papacosta - an accomplished podcaster herself - whose voice graces each episode with the details of how to contribute your comments and get in touch with us.
And a special thank you to contributors over the years:
- David Phillips - occasional reports from the shadows of Stonehenge in England.
- Eric Schwartzman - occasional reporting from Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world.
- Sallie Goetsch - doses of now-and-again reality from The Podcast Asylum in California.
- Mark Story - insights from behind the scenes at the federal government in Washington, DC.
- Bob LeDrew - hailing from Toronto, Canada, Bob reviews books as FIR’s Book Reviews editor.
- Lee Hopkins - ‘our man in the Adelaide Hills,’ Lee was our first correspondent, reporting from Australia from 2005 until early 2008.
Thank you, one and all!
If you haven’t listened to FIR before,why not give us a try next week when we start our ninth year with episode 685 on Monday January 7? If you can’t wait, check out this week’s 684, right here.
- Pictured at top of page: Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson recording episode 116 live at the New Communications Forum conference in Palo Alto, California in March 2006. Today they don’t even look a day older. [Photo by Philip Young.]
Finally, if you’re interested in a big picture, FIR today is a podcast series:
- FIR: The Hobson & Holtz Report – a weekly show recorded on Mondays with commentary and opinion at the intersection of online communication, business and technology.
- FIR Live – an occasional live call-in show recorded as a Google+ Hangout On Air where a topical issue is up for discussion by the two co-hosts and a a panel plus anyone who cares to add an opinion in the chat room.
- FIR Cuts – occasional clips from the virtual cutting room floor of The Hobson & Holtz Report.
- FIR Interviews with newsmakers and influencers from the online technology and organizational communication worlds.
- FIR Book Reviews aligned with our theme of PR/communications and the online world.
- FIR Speakers and Speeches – occasional podcasts of speeches, keynote addresses, breakout sessions, and other recordings from meetings and conferences of interest to PR and communication professionals.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Gini Dietrich is guest for the next FIR Book Club
The next meeting of the FIR Book Club is on the calendar:
2 p.m. EST, 7 p.m. UK, 11 a.m. PDT
Gini Dietrich is co-author (with Geoff Livingston) of Marketing in the Round. Order the book (hardcover or Kindle edition) so you can read it before the call!
Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communication firm. She also is the founder of the professional development site for PR and marketing pros, Spin Sucks Pro. Gini is the author of the PR and marketing blog, Spin Sucks, which is a 2012 Cision Top 100 Blog, the 2010 and 2011 Readers Choice Blog of the Year, a Top 42 Content Marketing Blog from Junta42, a top 10 social media blog from Social Media Examiner, and an AdAge Power 150 blog. She delivers numerous keynotes, panel discussions, coaching sessions, and workshops across North America and Europe on the subject of using online technology in communication, marketing, sales, and HR. One of the top rated communication professionals on the social networks, Gini was recently named the number one PR person, according to Klout and TechCrunch, on the channels, and number one on Twitter, according to TweetLevel. She also can be found writing at Crain’s Chicago Business and in various PR and marketing blogs and publications.
Join Gini for a lively chat with FIR Book Review Editor Bob LeDrew and participate in the conversation! Details are on the TalkShoe Book Club site.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
FIR Live is back with all-star panel on influencer marketing
Has it really been 10 months since the last FIR Live?
It may have been a while, but when we decided to bring the real-time single-topic panel discussion back, we did it in a big way. We’ll be talking about influencer marketing—what’s hype, what’s legit, what works, what doesn’t—with an all-star panel that includes…
- David Armano—EVP, Global Innovation & Integration at Edelman
- Gini Dietrich—CEO at PR firm Arment Dietrich, Inc.and Spin Sucks blogger
- Andrew Grill—CEO at influencer platform Kred
- Zena Weist—VP of Strategy at social software company Expion
Additional panelists will be announced once we’ve locked them in.
FIR Live will take place on Saturday, June 16 at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern and 6 p.m. London. We’re still working out which platform we’ll use, but we’re leaning toward a Google Hangout On Air. We’ll be back with details when we have them, but as with all FIR Live episodes, you’ll be able to weigh in with a call or comment in the chat room. For now, be sure to mark you calendars so you won’t miss this provocative and informative discussion about a fast-growing social marketing tactic. If you’re not able to participate live, don’t worry—the segment will be made available as a regular FIR episode for listening when it’s convenient for you.
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- On the Record Online (Eric Schwartzman)
- Six Pixels of Separation with Mitch Joel
- Inside PR with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley and Martin Waxman
- PRWeek Podcasts
- Marketing Edge from Provident Partners
- Marketing Over Coffee with John Wall and Christopher S. Penn
- Media Bullseye Roundtable
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Special Thanks
The FIR logo image shown at the top of this page was specially designed for us in October 2005 by Effective Edge Communications, Inc., Elmira, Ontario, Canada. Check out their podcast.