Interviews
FIR Interviews
Friday, February 05, 2010
FIR Interview: Andreas Wilkens and Michele Macpherson of MediaFunnel
MediaFunnel is a web-based platform for managing team contributions to an organization’s social media output. Initially developed for teams contributing content to branded Twitter accounts, it is expanding into Facebook and other social media channels.
In this FIR Interview, co-host Shel Holtz speaks with one of the platform’s co-founders and its business development adviser about the potential uses of the platform and how it works.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (10.3Mb, 25:42)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
About our Conversation Partners
Andreas Wilkens is the founder and Managing Partner of Companity Group. Companity Group specializes in SaaS software development, IT outsourcing and consulting as well as VPN solutions
Michele Dundas Macpherson is Managing Partner of Macpherson & Associates, a firm that provides strategic positioning, fundraising and general management for clients in retail, entertainment, self-serve kiosks, technology and social media. With over 12 years of general management consulting and venture capital experience, she has been instrumental in defining and implementing strategy for dozens of clients. Previous, she was Vice President of Entertainment for NCR Corporation, where she served as the general manager of the retail consumer business operating more than 2,000 DVD/media rental kiosks across North America.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Monday, January 25, 2010
FIR Interview: Seth Godin on Linchpin
Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations, says author, entrepreneur and marketing expert Seth Godin. Like the small piece of hardware that keeps a wheel from falling off its axle, they may not be famous but they’re indispensable. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom.
Linchpin is the title of Godin’s latest book, published today.
As Godin writes, "Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. It’s time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must."
In this FIR Interview, FIR co-host Neville Hobson talks with Seth Godin about linchpins, reality, the culture of connection, Cluetrain, and more.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (6.3Mb, 13:39)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
About our Conversation Partner
Seth Godin writes the most popular marketing blog in the world, is the author of the bestselling marketing books of the last decade, speaks to large groups on marketing, new media and what’s next, and is the founder of Squidoo.com, a fast-growing recommendation website.
His books have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his ebooks are among the most popular ever published. He is responsible for many words in the marketer’s vocabulary, including permission marketing, ideaviruses, purple cows, the dip and sneezers. His irrepressible speaking style and no-holds-barred blog have helped him create a large following around the world.
Linchpin by Seth Godin
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Hardcover: 256 pages
Published (in USA): January 26, 2010
ISBN-10: 1591843162
ISBN-13: 978-1591843160
Purchase online at Amazon US, Barnes & Noble and other outlets. Available in the UK, in paperback, on February 4, 2010 (pre order at Amazon UK).
Links to words of mouth at The Linchpin Posts.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Friday, January 22, 2010
For Immediate Release Interview: Steve Widmann and Aaron Hughling, Scott & White
Scott & White, a hospital network in the Central Texas city of Temple, had only recently launched its social media strategy when it became one of the main hospitals to which victims of the Fort Hood shooting were taken for treatment. Those social media channels—implemented in large part to create greater connections between the hospital network and the local community—became the central means by which the hospital communicated its role in treating the shooting victims.
In this FIR Interview, co-host Shel Holtz talks with Web Services Director Steve Widmann and Web Publisher Aaron Hughling about the challenges they faced in their efforts to use social media and how these channels came into play as events unfolded during that tragic day.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (9.32Mb, 23:08)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
About our Conversation Partners
Steve Widmann is the Director of Web Services at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, Texas. Since joining Scott & White in March 2008, Steve has overseen the strategy and development of all Scott & White websites for 11 hospitals and 50 clinics across Central Texas. Prior to Scott & White, he was an international eHealth Consultant, assisting hospitals with their patient portal and website/marketing development. Steve has also worked as a Web Development Manager for a large hospital system in New England.
Steve started his Internet experience while working at Intel Corporation. He received his Master’s Degree in Educational Media & Computers from Arizona State University in 1997.
Prior to his involvement with the Internet and healthcare, Steve worked in Television News and Production for nearly 20 years. He also taught at Arizona State University for 10 years. He is the recipient of many awards, including multiple Emmy awards and nominations for his work. Steve lives in Temple, Texas with his wife and three sons.
Aaron Hughling is a Web and Creative Editor in the Web Services Department, part of Scott & White’s Marketing group. He focuses his work primarily in web editing, content development and the healthcare system’s social media efforts.
Aaron holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and lives in Temple, Texas.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
For Immediate Release Interview: Scott Monty and Paul Thomas, Ford Motor Company
One of the US ‘Big Three’ automakers, the Ford Motor Company is recognized in the broad marketing community as a pioneer in using social media effectively as part of its strategic and product-supporting communication activities that directly support the company’s business objectives.
In the United States in particular, Ford has embraced social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs as well as outreach to influencers. But what about elsewhere in the world, outside North America? How has Ford embraced social media in its marketing? What has been their experiences? And what is coming next?
In this FIR Interview, co-host Neville Hobson talks with Scott Monty, Ford’s Head of Social Media, and Paul Thomas, Vice President Marketing for Ford of Europe, on the picture in Europe.
The conversation includes a contrast in what Ford is doing in North America in social outreach and engagement with what’s going on in Europe; the state of the auto industry in Europe and what engagement with customers and others might look like in the future; how technology is rapidly changing the motoring experience, (putting Twitter in cars, for instance), and more.
Get this podcast:
[Related: FIR Interview: Scott Monty, Head of Social Media, Ford Motor Company – December 11, 2008]
About our Conversation Partners
Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, Scott Monty heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.
In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, on a variety of podcasts, and on national television. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.
Scott received his Master’s in Medical Science from Boston University’s School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU’s Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.
Paul Thomas is Vice President Marketing, Ford of Europe. He has responsibility for all of Ford’s pan-European consumer advertising and product marketing communications, vehicle pricing and production programming. He is based at Ford’s technical development center in Dunton, Essex, England.
Paul was previously Managing Director of Ford of Britain. During his career, he held a number of sales and marketing posts covering a wide range of responsibilities within Ford of Britain, Ford Credit and Ford of Europe. He joined Ford as a graduate trainee in 1974 with a BSc in mechanical engineering from City University, London.
Paul is married with two children, and lives near London.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Friday, January 08, 2010
FIR Interview: Maggie Fox, president, Social Media Group, on a social media RFP template
The Social Media Group has released a template for Requests for Proposals (RFP) that companies can use to help ensure they get the work they need in a marketplace overflowing with gurus, experts and consultants unprepared to provide professional services. In this 25-minute interview with FIR co-host Shel Holtz, Social Media Group CEO Maggie Fox explains the document’s origins and why her company is making it available with no strings attached.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (10.2Mb, 25:20)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
About our Conversation Partner
Maggie Fox is the founder of Social Media Group, one of the world’s largest independent agencies helping business navigate the new socially engaged Web. Pioneers in their field, Social Media Group has developed social media strategies for some of the best-known brands in Europe and North America, including; Ford Motor Company, SAP Global Marketing, Yamaha Motor, Corbis and Harlequin Publishing. Maggie has been interviewed about social media by The Washington Post, CBC Radio, The Globe and Mail, CTV News,The Toronto Star and Marketing Magazine, among others. She was recently included in Women Who Risk, a listing of influential women who head up Internet-based firms, and is a member of both The Social Media Collective, an invite-only group of “the web’s best thinkers on media, marketing and web 2.0? and the Enterprise Irregulars and she was also named one of the Top 100 Marketers in the 100th anniversary edition of Marketing Magazine. Maggie is frequently asked to speak to the media and business groups across North America about Web 2.0, and sits on the Advisory Board for SMToday Media, operators of the Social Media Collective and MyVenturePad sites. She also has a seat on the advisory board of Humber College’s Public Relations program.
Photo by J.D. Lasica.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
FIR Interview: Andrea Weckerle, Founder and President, CiviliNation
Andrea Weckerle has fulfilled a longtime ambition by establishing CiviliNation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “foster an online culture where every person can freely participate in a democratic, open, rational and truth-based exchange of ideas and information, without fear or threat of being the target of unwarranted abuse, harassment, or lies.” In this FIR Interview, co-host Shel Holtz discusses with Weckerle the organization’s origins, its goals and how Weckerle hopes CiviliNation can make a difference.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (11.4Mb, 28:30)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
Links Mentioned in the Interview
- Wall Street Journal Online article, “Keeping a Civil Cybertongue
- David Solove’s book, The Future of Reputation (via Amazon U.S.)
About our Conversation Partner
Andrea Weckerle 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. Prior to 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.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
FIR Interview: Tac Anderson, Social Media Director, Waggener Edstrom
Tac Anderson, in his role of Director of Social Media for the PR agency Waggener Edstrom, led an effort to adopt the lifestreaming tool, Posterous, as a communication channel for the launch of Microsoft’s retail stores. In this FIR Interview, co-host Shel Holtz explores with Tac the uses to which Microsoft is putting Posterous and how the results are being assessed. Tac also talks about Twendz Pro, the new real-time monitoring service launched recently by Waggener Edstrom.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file 9.89Mb, 24:34)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
About our Conversation Partner
Tac Anderson is the Director of Social Media at Waggener Edstrom’s Studio D group. Prior to that he worked at Hewlett-Packard where he managed both internal and external social media initiatives. Some of his work was a featured case study in the Harvard Business Review book Groundswell.
Tac has been actively engaged in social media marketing for the last 5 years. He’s a regular public speaker and blogs at www.newcommbiz.com.
Tac has a BA in Communications and an MBA from Boise State University. He currently lives in the Seattle area with his wife and 3 children.
Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America), +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.
To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.
This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.
Podsafe music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.
Navigation
Home | About Us | Archives | FIR Book Club | Press | Subscribe | Contact Shel | Contact Neville
Search This Site
We want your feedback
Email comments with or without audio attachments (5 MB/3 minute limit) to fircomments at gmail dot com.
North America Comment Line:
+1.415.895.2971
Europe Comment Line:
+44.20.3239.9082
Skype: fircomments
FIR Shows
Podroll: Other PR Podcasts
- Jaffe Juice(Joseph Jaffe)
- Voices of Public Relations (from PRSA)
- Online PR Podcast
- PR and Other Deadly Sins
- Cafe2Go from IABC
- Steve Lubetkin's Podcasts
- Jay Baer's Social Pros Podcast
- Donna Papacosta's Trafcom News Podcast
- 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
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Email Policy
Our email policy is simple. We send no email, so you'll never receive any from us. Not spam, not a personal note, nothing. We receive listener comments at this domain, but we both use our personal email accounts when we reply. The only thing to subscribe to here is the RSS feed. Visit our site without worry. We're email free.
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.