Monday, December 05, 2005
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #91: December 5, 2005
Content summary: A special edition: Neville and Shel discuss the future of public relations and the skills communicators will need to succeed in a forever-altered communication environment. The discussion includes listener feedback.
Show notes for December 5, 2005
Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 75-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Download the file here (MP3, 35MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
In this Edition:
- Detailed show notes to come.
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are now posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.
If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
So, until Thursday, December 8…
Thursday, December 01, 2005
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #90: December 1, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments discussion (changing intro music for FIR book review podcasts; working on new H&H Report intro music for show #100; World AIDS Day; Blog Marketing book for review; tapping into FIR; Sony BMG going down the drain; two sides of crisis communication; new media tools not so effective in parts of Asia; blogs and HR communication; experiences with Google ads; not good PR by China); moderating a panel at IABC Europe conference; British Airways catering problems continue; new Daimler Chrysler CEO and culture change; a new RSS tutorial; Firefox 1.5 is out; Blogspotting’s first podcast-focused podcast; iPod synching problems; Corante Network launches; GM Fastlane takes on marketing discussion; IBM’s first external jam; interviews from Eric Schwartzman and David Jones.
Show notes for December 1, 2005
Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 98-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and almost live from Paris, France.
Download the file here (MP3, 35MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
In this Edition:
Intro:
- 00:28 Shel introduces the show; future of PR discussion now on Monday’s show; what’s in today’s show’s; how to comment
Listeners’ Comments Discussion:
- 04:10 Sally Goetsch wonders if she got under Shel’s skin; and suggests a change of intro music for the FIR book reviews podcast
- 07:17 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is working on some ideas for new H&H Report intro music for the 100th show; and offers some personal thoughts on World AIDS Day
- 09:34 Jeremy Wright is glad Shel’s now got Blog Marketing for review
- 10:22 PR grad student Luke Armour’s glad he found FIR and would like to tap into us
- 12:36 Pat Wayne asks if anyone knows how to stop Sony BMG going down the drain over the rootkit nightmare; and worries about the two sides of communication at companies in crisis
- 20:14 Vishnu Mahmud says new communication tools like blogs and podcasts aren’t so effective in parts of Asia where teledensity is low and PC penetration even less; and some thoughts on the controversial Volkswagen suicide bomber ad early this year
- 27:37 Mike McClary asks if we know of any organizations that use blogs in the HR communications mix?
- 30:20 Bryan Person offers congrats on Shel’s and Neville’s participation in the Corante Network; a plug for Eric Schwartzman’s On The Record Online podcast; experiences with Google ads and the difficulty in filtering out adult-oriented material; and compliments to the Aussie cricket team
- 37:55 Marshall Kirkpatrick wanted to make sure we saw a post and discussion of the Chinese government’s terrible PR around the recent
Harbin chemical disaster
News and Features:
- 39:41 Across the Sound‘s Steve Rubel does a ‘Neville impression’ - which doesn’t impress Shel
- 40:51 Neville arrives in Paris ahead of the IABC Europe conference where he’s moderating a panel discussion with Elizabeth Albrycht, Niall Cook and Loic Le Meur
- 42:47 Airline caterer Gate Gourmet’s dispute with British Airways in August is still affecting in-flight catering: BA needs to sort this out!
- 44:09 Daimler-Chrysler’s incoming new CEO has some big plans to change the culture at the German/US car company, and communications will play a key role
- 48:34 A new RSS tutorial offers good insight into this important communication enabler (plus an aside on Robert Scoble’s use of the acronym ‘GYM’ which morphs into ‘goyim’ if you say it quickly)
- 52:28 Firefox 1.5 is out but you might have some issues with it on a Mac
- 53:23 Heather Green does her first Business Week podcast on the business of podcasting, interviewing Leo Laporte of TWIT
- 55:30 Neville has a bit of a rant about iTunes where you can’t sync your iPod on more than one computer (but Shel interjects that you can)
- 57:17 The Corante Network launches with hubs including one on marketing and PR
- 60:20 GM talks about marketing strategy on the FastLane blog - a move away from the stated purpose of the blog or an extension of that purpose?
- 62:51 Neville wraps up and Shel gets Todd Lerner to say a few words about FIR
- 64:29 The Spinfluencer reports from LA - Eric Schwartzman interview Rob Barrett, general manager interactive of LATimes.com, about the LA Times’ abortive wiki experiment and how the paper is integrating new media into their news gathering and distribution business
- 75:12 IBM takes its renowned employee ‘jams’ outside this weekend with the Habitat Jam, the first time IBM has offered one of its legendary jams to the general public
- 80:07 David Jones reports on a Canadian Public Relations Society panel discussion in Toronto on “Wake Up and Smell the Blogs” which featured an interesting group of journalists and thought leaders who also blog and who David interviews: Michael O’Connor Clarke, Marqui Inc; John Oxley, Microsoft Canada; Mark Evans, National Post; Jack Kapica; Geoffrey Rockwell; Rick Segal
Outro:
- 92:49 Shel wraps the show; where to send comments; where to find show notes
- The music - Daybreak by Craymo via the Podsafe Music Network
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are now posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.
If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
So, until Monday December 5…
Monday, November 28, 2005
Going the Distance no longer restricted
In FIR #89, Shel reported on “Going the Distance,” Steve Rubel’s initiative to open up a dialogue with high-level PR executives around kick-starting practical understanding and use of consumer-generated media in their agencies. Since reporting on “Going the Distance” this morning, Steve has removed the restriction that limited participation to high-level agency execs. As Constantin Basturea, owner of The New PR wiki (where the initiative is hosted) explains, “Steve Rubel announced…that the Going the Distance project is no longer invitation-only. If you have already an edit password for the NewPR Wiki, you can contribute. If you don’t have the password, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)or send me an .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).”
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #89: November 28, 2005
Content summary: AOL Journals update, a cheat sheet lets customers circumvent your IVR system, an ex-Googler starts a blog, replacing press releases with blogs, the future of newspapers, Steve Rubel’s high-level discussion on TheNewPR, an open-source marketing example, listener comments, and more.
Show notes for November 28, 2005
Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 61-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA.
Download the file here (MP3, 24.7MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice (formerly known as iPodder), DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
In this Edition:
Intro:
- 00:29 Shel introduces the show
- 02:15 What the show is about
- 02:37 Where to send comments
- 03:20 Shel received his copy of “Blog Marketing” from Jeremy Wright.
- 03:56 We now have 66 listeners on our Frappr map
- 06:03 Our 100th show is coming up; send us a new opener!
- 07:00 The future of PR and required skills for PR professionals will be the focus of Thursday’s show
Listeners’ comments discussion:
- 08:26 This week’s comments
- 08:30 Josh Hallett on the Metro Orlando blog and its dismal fate
- 10:45 Howard Harawitz on discovering military blogs
- 12:40 Uri Levanon on Ping-O-Matic
- 13:19 Robert Scoble on the FIR book review of “Naked Conversations”
- 18:33 David Jones comments on NewsClip, an RSS newsreader for Blackberry devices
News:
- 20:47 An update to the AOL Journals story
- 27:16 A few items that fall under the notion that transparency is critical in today’s environment
- 27:40 First, Paul English has created an IVR Cheat Sheet
- 30:42 Second, a former Google executive has created a blog for former Google employers called Xooglers
- 33:18 Shel revisits the press release vs. blogs discussion with a note on General Motors
- 35:26 Jim Sinkinson gives us a shoutout
- 35:31 Shel idents the show
Features:
- 35:43 The future of newspapers
- 45:55 Going the Distance, a new initiative from Steve Rubel
- 52:25 Shel plays a commercial that’s an example of open-source marketing
Outro:
- 56:50 Shel outros the show: Where to send comments, where to find show notes
- 58:23 Music from The Podsafe Music Network, “Fire Escapes” by Supercreep
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are now posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.
If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
So, until Thursday, December 1…
Thursday, November 24, 2005
The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #88: November 24, 2005
Content summary: The Washington Post offers content mashups, IBM lets employees podcast internally, recording with Waxmail, our review of Naked Conversations, Richard Edelman’s post on PR’s readiness for discontinuous change, it’s time for annual predictions, pro- and anti-IKEA websites, Amazon’s new product wikis, character blogs, a report froom Dan York, why CEOs don’t blog, listener comments, and more.
Show notes for November 24, 2005
Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 74-minute conversation recorded live from West Hills, California, USA.
Download the file here (MP3, 29.8MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice (formerly known as iPodder), DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
In this Edition:
Intro:
- 00:30 Shel introduces the show
- 00:58 Shel gets personal about his Thanksgiving trip to LA
- 02:22 Neville traveling for today’s and next Monday’s shows
- 02:51 We’ll dedicate much of next Thursday’s show to PR skills required for working in the Web 2.0 world
- 03:59 Where to send comments to FIR
- 04:46 What the show’s about
- 05:14 What we have in mind for our 100th show on January 9, 2006
- 06:25 Fifty-two listeners have added themselves to our Frappr map
Listeners’ comments discussion:
- 07:34 This week’s comments
- 07:36 Several comments from AOL Journals owners in response to Monday’s commentary on AOL adding advertising to blogs
- 08:53 AOL Journals comment from Kelly talks about efforts to reach AOL on the issue
- 10:36 Another AOL Journals comment from Peachy
- 11:56 A final AOL Journals comment from Judity Olivia Heartson
- 12:07 Shel on AOL’s history of bad PR
- 12:57 An audio comment from Clarence Jones kicks off with a discussion of Google Base in response to Neville’s remarks on Monday’s show
- 16:44 Clarence addresses the AOL Journals discussion
- 19:00 Clarence works in retail, not PR, but enjoys the show
- 19:36 David Jones offers to provide some Canadian content
- 21:43 Steven Davies comments on Neville’s review of the University of Sunderland new media conference and invites Shel to the next one
- 22:21 Peter Chen offers a link to Drupal.org and to
- 22:21 Peter Chen offers a link to Drupal.org and to
The Show:
- 23:29 The Washington Post is encouraging and spotlighting mashups of its content
- 27:53 IBM is encouraging employees to podcast internally
- 32:35 Neville weighs in, beginning with an explanation of how he’s recording his comments
- 33:34 Our review of the book “Naked Conversations”; Shel Israel has posted to the “Naked Conversations” blog about it
- 35:32 Neville has received a copy of “Blog Marketing” by Jeremy Wright
- 36:00 Richard Edelman writes eloquently about the PR profession’s readiness for discontinuous change
- 39:19 Predictions for 2006 are undoubtedly on the way
- 40:24 Positive and negative sites about Swedish furniture retailer IKEA
- 43:15 Amazon.com is launching product wikis
- 45:30 Blog Business Summit blog has a piece about how Gourmet Station has dealt with negative reactions to his character blog
- 47:18 Shel comments on the audio quality of Neville’s contribution
- 47:58 Mark Ragan, CEO of Lawrence Ragan Communications, gives us a shoutout
- 48:10 Shel idents the show
- 48:20 Dan York‘s report
- 48:35 Dan finds that the PR firm that he thought “got it” really doesn’t
- 50:31 A
- 52:13 Dan thanks Neville for the Frappr map
- 52:25 Dan comments on Heidi Miller‘s audio comment Monday about her recording experiences
- 53:50 Why aren’t more CEO’s blogging?
Outro:
- 61:04 Shel outros the show: Where to send comments, where to find show notes
- 63:04 Don’t forget to contribute links at TheNewPR wiki
- 64:32 This week’s music from the is “Kenny’s Last Dance” by the Marriott Jazz Quintet
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are now posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.
If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
So, until Monday, November 28…
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
FIR Book Review: “Naked Conversations”
In this edition of For Immediate Release book reviews, Neville and Shel discuss “Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers,” the new book on blogging and businesses by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, to be published in January 2006.
The Book:
“With a foreword by Tom Peters, author of such business bibles as ‘In Search of Excellence,’ this book uses more than fifty case histories to explain why blogging is an efficient and infinitely more credible method of business communication. Blogs are easily linked, allowing information to spread rapidly, and blog readers are active, not passive, participants in the communication. Business and marketing decision-makers will find themselves excited about the possibilities after just a few pages.” (Promotional text.)
The Authors:
Robert Scoble is a technical evangelist at Microsoft and maintains the popular blog Scobleizer. Besides blogging, Scoble is part of Microsoft’s Channel 9 videos team producing educational and evangelist mini-films targeted towards students and professional developers. He is Microsoft’s best-known blogger whose blog is read by millions of people annually and is the top-ranking business blog among Technorati’s Top 100 blogs.
Shel Israel writes and speaks about blogging, communications and innovation. He also consults with startups as a senior strategy and communications advisor. He is editor-in-chief of Conferenza Premium Reports, the leading newsletter covering technology industry executive conferences. A self-proclaimed recovering publicist, Israel spent more than 20 years as a PR executive specializing in technology startups. He played a key strategic role in introducing some of technology’s most successful products, including PowerPoint, FileMaker and Sun Microsystems workstations.
The Review:
Download the 32-minute conversation here (MP3, 12MB), or sign up for the book reviews RSS feed to get it and future reviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon. To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, sign up for the full RSS feed.
- 00:22 Shel and Neville introduce the review
- 00:45: The story behind the book’s development and the role of the book blog
- 03:47 About Robert Scoble and about Shel Israel
- 05:06 What the book is about and the nature of its content
- 11:52 A concise run-down of the table of contents
- 13:14 Neville describes what he likes about the book
- 16:00 Shel and Neville discuss the international focus
- 16:39 More likes
- 17:28 Blogging with passion
- 18:02 The ‘doing it wrong and doing it right’ contrast
- 19:11 How the authors recognized others who contributed to the book’s development
- 20:17 The book’s not perfect, says Shel
- 21:18 No issues to criticize, says Neville
- 21:58 Here are some examples, says Shel
- 25:46 The acid test for what book buyers will think
- 27:16 When the book’s coming out and where to buy it online
- 29:21 Our overall conclusion
- 29:48 About this podcast and where to find For Immediate Release.
Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers
Publisher: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Hardcover, 272 pages.
ISBN: 0-471-74719-X
Publish date: January 3, 2006 (UK), January 17, 2006 (USA).
Podsafe intro and outro music - On A Podcast Intrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Monday, November 21, 2005
The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #87: November 21, 2005
Content summary: Show 100 wish; The Sunderland experience; listeners’ comments; new free RSS and wiki tools; angry AOL bloggers push boycotts; blocking bots from stealing content; Google’s new head of communications in Europe and other developments; Eric Schwartzman’s Spinfluencer report; join the FIR community; upcoming interviews and book reviews; and more.
Show notes for November 21, 2005
Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 83-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA.
Download the file here (MP3, 34MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice (formerly known as iPodder), DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).
In this Edition:
Intro:
- 00:29 Neville introduces the show; what the show’s about; where to send comments; show notes
- 02:08 We’re just 13 episodes shy of our 100th show; here’s what we’d like
- 04:30 Neville discusses the conference at which he spoke at the University of Sunderland
- 11:44 Blogging progresses in the UK
- 12:30 Sunderland conference participants didn’t claim their bosses were actively opposing new media channels
Listeners’ comments discussion:
- 16:52 We have comments from every one of our comment channels.
- 17:19 Sallie Goetsch hassles Shel some more about how he characterized his vacation
- 20:59 Dan York calls the comment line from the US/Canada border crossing to discuss K7.net, Frapr, and Feedburner.
- 23:07 Howard Harawitz sends an email to talk about his growing understanding of PR (thanks to listening to FIR)
- 25:07 FeedDigest and Schtuff
- 36:00 AOL bloggers upset about ads on their paid blogs
- 40:07 A tool called Botsense to keep bots from sucking your blog’s bandwidth and stealing your content
- 45:21 Google hires a European PR chief and opens new offices in the UK
- 48:37 Google’s book rental proposal
- 51:38 Update on Google Analytics
- 51:55 Brief discussion of Google Base
- 55:25 Andy Lark gives us a shoutout and Shel idents the show
- 55:58 A report from The Spinfluencer, Eric Scwhartzman from the Portable Media Expo and Podcasting Conference in Ontario, California, USA
- 60:04 Eric interviews Portable Media Expo and Podcasting Conference co-founder Tim Bourquin
- 60:40 Eric interviews “Podcasting Solutions” authors and podcasters Dan Klass and Michael Geoghegan
- 61:25 Eric interviews Paul Figgiani
- 62:52 Eric discusses the California Copyright Commission dinner he attended where music rights and podcasting were the subject of discussion
- 64:51 Shel and Neville riff on Eric’s report, beginning with a discussion of advertising in podcasts
- 65:48 TiVo to allow subscribers to copy recorded shows to the iPod video and the Sony PSP
- 66:36 More discussion of music copyright issues
- 67:12 A bit of talk about podcasting demographics
- 70:51 Ragan Communications selling recorded teleseminars on an iPod
Outro:
- 71:49 Neville will be in Strasbourg on Thursday; Shel will record from his Mom’s house (he’s there for Thanksgiving); programming notes
- 72:59 Update on Frappr contributions
- 75:47 You can download a copy of the FIR logo and promote FIR on your site!
- 76:19 Where FIR stands in the Podcast Alley rankings
- 78:09 Where to send comments
- 79:06 Today’s music: Walk Away by Love Spirals via the Podsafe Music Network
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are now posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.
If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
So, until Thursday November 24.
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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.