News

Monday, April 27, 2009

Win a free ticket to Somesso London 09

FIR listener ContestWe’re thrilled to announce a new FIR Listener Contest where one listener to the premier PR podcast can win a free ticket to go to Somesso London 09 in London on Friday May 15, 2009.

Rather than act as a ‘101 guide’ for using various social media platforms, Somesso aims to answer the questions posed by the evolution of today’s communication channels, bridging the gap between corporate culture and the ‘web 2.0 society’, showcasing strategies to bring the corporate community closer to the conversations within their markets in ways that directly benefit your business.

Among the speakers are many names that FIR listeners will recognize, including Stowe Boyd, Jason Falls, Lee Bryant, Andy Piper, Nick Burcher, and more.

This FIR Listener Contest is made possible thanks to Somesso CEO Arjen Strijker.

What is the Contest?

It’s simple: imagine you’re in a meeting with your CEO or other senior executive, and she asks you three questions about your organization and social media:

  1. How can you help make this organization “social media savvy”?
  2. Where would you start?
  3. What kind of tools and strategy would you implement?

Listen to Arjen describe Somesso London 09 and the contest in more detail: download the MP3 file (3Mb, 6:29) or listen right now with the Flash player.

If you need some additional inspiration, check out everything on the Somesso website.

Contest Rules and How To Enter

  1. There is no entry cost to the contest. In other words, it’s free to enter.
  2. You don’t have to blog about it or mention it anywhere (but we’d be thrilled if you do).
  3. The contest is open to entries until Friday May 8, 2009, at 5:00pm GMT.
  4. The method you use to answer the three questions is up to you: text, video or audio.
  5. Whatever method you do use, publish your entry online and email the link to us at fircomments [at] gmail [dot] com with ‘Somesso London entry’ as the subject line. Do not send us your entry, just a link to where it is online.
  6. In your email with a link to your published entry, please provide your name, your email address and your location (country and city). You can also submit any other information you’d like to tell us, eg, your Twitter ID, but it’s not required to enter.
  7. The winner will be announced in the FIR episode on Monday May 11, 2009.
  8. We will not use any personal information in your email for any purpose other than related to this contest. And no one other than the judges (Neville Hobson, Shel Holtz and Arjen Strijker) will see it.
  9. There is no cash or other alternative to the prizes and the contest winner is responsible for his or her own costs of travel, accommodation, etc, as well as any necessary permissions, eg, visas.
  10. By entering this contest, you acknowledge that you own or have permission to make use of the intellectual property upon whihc you base your entry. You also give us the right to make use of your entry in any way we decide in connection with the FIR podcast series, and include the winning entry in the Somesso website as determined by Arjen Strijker. We are more than happy to exercise any right under a Creative Commons license.
  11. This contest is void where prohibited by law. Contest entrants are responsible for determining their eligibility to enter.
  12. The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into about any entry.

Good luck!

But that’s not all – if you don’t wish to enter this FIR Listener Contest, you can instead purchase a ticket at a 20 percent discount by using this special link to the booking form that contains an FIR discount code.

Posted by neville on 04/27 at 02:09 AM
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

FIR Live #13 set for April 25: Is social media monitoring critical or creepy?

FIR Live #13
Saturday, April 25
10 a.m. PDT / 1 p.m. EDT / 6 p.m. Wokingham
Listen in

Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb explored both sides of the increasingly popular business activity of monitoring social media. He wrote:

It’s kind of a modern day horror story, isn’t it? Web 2.0’s potential benefit for humanity tragically sold short by social media because it fell under a fog of marketing software. Would-be short-form conversationalists jumping in with CRM-tinted glasses secured to their faces. One of my co-workers says that within minutes of his wife Tweeting about her art studio last night, she was friended by scads of art companies and salespeople. Who wants to have a conversation in that context?

Or maybe it’s just a matter of changing our expectations. Maybe this is all good; the new customer service - a lot like the old customer service, but in your blog comments and replies tab.

In our April FIR Live episode, we’ll talk with CustomScoop CEO Chip Griffin and a senior representative of the new social media monitoring service Spiral 16 for their takes on the issue. And we’ll take your calls. The show is set for Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m. PDT, 1 p.m. EDT, and 6 p.m. in the UK. You can participate by calling in to +1-347-324-3723. You can listen in live by dialing into the same number or visiting http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fir. The recording will be made available as part of the Hobson & Holtz Report.

Posted by shel on 04/14 at 06:16 AM
FIR Live • News • (0) Comments • Permalink

Monday, April 13, 2009

Survey: What Do You Think of FIR?

2009 FIR Listener Survey Three years ago, in April 2006, we conducted our first listener survey in order to help us understand more about our listeners and the kinds of things they like (and dislike) about our podcast.

That survey gave us a great deal of useful information at the time that helped us develop the podcast, taking into account everything everyone said.

A lot has changed in three years, though.

We have two sponsors now: Ragan Communications and CustomScoop. For Immediate Release has grown well beyond the core Hobson and Holtz Report to embrace a total of six podcasts today including the monthly FIR Live on BlogTalk Radio.

We’re also fortunate to have a team of correspondents, established and valuable elements of The Hobson and Holtz Report podcast.

And one other major change in the three years since our last (and first) listener survey is how the FIR community has developed and become an even more important element of the overall ‘FIR experience’ via the FIR Room on Friendfeed and also via Twitter.

We think it’s the right time to find out if FIR and, specifically, The Hobson and Holtz Report, really is in tune with our community. Is it a podcast that contains the content we think that people want? What about specific content elements in each show? What do listeners like best? Least? Where do people listen? How do they get hold of the MP3 files? And so on.

So if you’re a listener to The Hobson and Holtz Report, we’d like to ask you to invest 20 minutes of your time and take the 2009 FIR Listener Survey. The survey on SurveyGizmo is open now and closes at midday GMT on Friday May 1, 2009. We’ll announce the results during May.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/123833/fir-listener-survey-2009

Thanks for your help and your support.

Posted by neville on 04/13 at 06:23 AM
Hobson and Holtz • News • (1) Comments • Permalink

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Describe the Share Economy and Win Free Entry to Next09

FIR Contest We’re excited to announce another FIR Listener Contest where one listener to the premier PR podcast can win a free ticket to participate in Next09 in Hamburg, Germany, on May 5-6, 2009.

Next09 is one of the most important networking and trend conferences within the European web industry. The organizers are expecting a hundred international speakers and more than 1500 participants, including marketing decision makers in the media, technology and advertising sector, agencies, service providers and start-ups.

The theme of Next09 is the Share Economy. This term is shaped by the economic theorist Martin Weitzman, whose basic idea is this:

The more we share our success with others, the more we profit ourselves. This applies to humans as well as brands.

Among the many speakers are names that FIR listeners will recognize, including Stowe Boyd, David Brain, Lee Bryant, Chris Heuer, Jeff Jarvis, Steve Rubel and Brian Solis.

This FIR Listener Contest is made possible thanks to Nicole Simon. It was first announced in FIR #435 on March 30: listen to or download that announcement segment.

What is the Contest?

  1. It’s simple: describe your concept of the Share Economy – how companies and brands can share freely but still make money – in an imaginative way. For some good ideas, see the Call for Participation on the Nexto09 website.
  2. The tool you use to describe your concept is up to you: text, video or audio.
  3. Whatever tool you use, publish your concept online and email the link to us at fircomments [at] gmail [dot] com. Do not send us your entry, just a link to where it is online.

Send in your entries by 3.30pm GMT on Friday April 24, 2009.

Contest Rules and How To Enter

  1. There is no entry cost to the contest. In other words, it’s free to enter.
  2. The contest is open to entries until Friday April 24, 2009, at 3.30pm GMT.
  3. In your email with a link to your published entry, please provide your name, your email address and your location (country and city). You can also submit any other information you’d like to tell us, eg, your Twitter ID, but it’s not required to enter.
  4. Email your entry link to fircomments [at] gmail [dot] com with ‘Next09 entry’ as the subject line.
  5. The winner will be announced in the FIR episode on Monday April 27, 2009.
  6. We will not use any personal information in your email for any purpose other than related to this contest. And no one other than the judges (Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz) will see it.
  7. There is no cash or other alternative to the prizes and the contest winner is responsible for his or her own costs of travel, accommodation, etc, as well as any necessary permissions, eg, visas.
  8. By entering this contest, you give us the right to make use of your entry in any way we decide in connection with the FIR podcast series and include the winning entry in the Next09 website as determined by Nicole Simon. We are more than happy to exercise any right under a Creative Commons license.
  9. This contest is void where prohibited by law. Contest entrants are responsible for determining their eligibility to enter.
  10. The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into about any entry.

Good luck!

Posted by neville on 04/05 at 10:51 PM
Hobson and Holtz • News • (0) Comments • Permalink

Monday, March 09, 2009

One-Man Bands: The Next Topic for FIR Live, March 18

FIR Live #12
Wednesday, March 18
10 a.m. PDT, 1 PM EDT, 5 PM Wokingham
Listen in

For every company with a full complement of communicators on the payroll, there are dozens of communicators toiling to manage all of their companies’ communication efforts all by themselves. Marketing, advertising, sometimes even financial and shareholder communication, all done by one person. If he’s lucky, he has an admin, but not even that is a given. On this episode, in response to a comment from FIR listener Adam Daniels, we’re taking your calls with tips on how to manage some PR activity along with all the other communications you’re responsible for. Neither of us have ever been a one-man operation, so we’re counting on your calls, lest we wind up with nothing to talk about!

Posted by shel on 03/09 at 08:06 PM
FIR Live • News • (1) Comments • Permalink

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Next FIR Live on Feb 7: Discussion about Trust

FIR LiveFIR Live on BlogTalk Radio, the monthly live call-in show hosted by FIR co-hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz, takes place on February 7 and will discuss the role of trust in communications.

We’ll look at the Edelman 2009 Trust Barometer and recent research from IABC and Mercer Consulting, among other things.

We hope to have guest conversationalists on the show: news nearer the show date. [

Update Feb 5

] We’re very pleased to say that Richard Edelman, President and CEO of the Edelman PR agency group, will join us on the show. As head of the firm behind the Trust Barometer, Richard is in a good position to add some timely perspective on the topic of trust from a communications point of view.

The live show will take place over the course of an hour on Saturday February 7 beginning at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm UK time. You can listen online by visiting FIR Live on BlogTalk Radio or by calling +1 347 324 3723, which is also the number to call if you want to participate.

A recording of the show will be published subsequently as an FIR podcast (subscribe).

If you have an opinion and would like to be heard, here’s your chance to participate. We hope you’ll join us.

Posted by neville on 02/03 at 09:16 AM
FIR Live • News • (0) Comments • Permalink

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Starting the Fifth Year of the FIR Podcasts

FIR Four years ago today – on January 3, 2005 – we published the first episode of a new podcast called “For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report.”

Describing ourselves as “Neville Hobson, ABC, and Shel Holtz, ABC, a pair of communication professionals who think they have something to say,” we set out to introduce something new into organizational communication by using a then-emerging tool such as podcasting to demonstrate how such a tool could work for communicators.

During these four years, we’ve grown FIR into a series of podcasts embracing interviews with interesting people, book reviews and more, and expanded the main Hobson and Holtz Report podcast into a twice-weekly show of about an hour per episode.

On January 1, we produced the 410th episode of the Hobson and Holtz Report.

Doing FIR also led us to get to know Yvonne De Vita and a deal with McGraw-Hill to write and produce How To Do Everything With Podcasting, a book that walks you, step by step, through the process of creating, broadcasting and promoting your own podcast, in the summer of 2007.

Most important, though, is the fact that doing FIR has given us a unique opportunity to create and help build a community of people around the world who take an interest in our brand of talk about that intersection of online communication, business and technology and what it might mean to communicators and their organizations.

So as we begin our fifth year of FIR, we’d like to say thank you to an awful lot of people – our listeners, fellow communicators, clients, journalists, other podcasters, other influencers… the list really is long – who have knowingly (and unknowingly) influenced and informed us and have been or have become members of this community.

We’d especially like to mention our correspondents, present and past, who form integral parts of FIR:

  • Dan York – reporting from New Hampshire on Thursdays on communication from the technologist’s point of view.
  • Michael Netzley – reporting from Singapore on Mondays on the communication scene across Asia.
  • Lee Hopkins – ‘our man in the Adelaide Hills,’ Lee was our first correspondent, reporting from Australia from 2005 until early 2008.
  • 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 reality from The Podcast Asylum.

And our two sponsors:

To each and every one of you: Thank you.

We plan to continue providing you with great content. And if you have ideas or suggestions for any of the FIR podcasts, just let us know.

If you’re new to FIR, why not give us a try? You can subscribe right here via the RSS feed or in iTunes, or choose which FIR podcast you’d like to get.

And finally, if you’re feeling nostalgic, here is episode #1 from four years ago. Enjoy!

Posted by neville on 01/03 at 02:07 AM
News • (2) Comments • Permalink

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