Interviews

FIR Interviews

Friday, May 16, 2008

FIR Interview: Craig Silverman, RegretTheError.com - May 16, 2008

“Regret the error” is a phrase that appears daily in newspapers around the world - the standard admission that something has gone terribly wrong in the reporting, editing or printing of an article. This brief notice is generally accompanied by an equally terse correction.

But Craig Silverman, founder and editor of RegretTheError.com, goes beyond the boilerplate to ask key questions that concern everyone who follows the news, both print, broadcast and online.

In this FIR Interview, Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz joined in conversation with Craig Silverman to discuss some key questions - including: what can be done to minimize mistakes? does a culture of error degrade our media-driven society? - address a key theme of Regret The Error, Craig’s new book, as well as focus on the key question of specific relevance to those of us in journalism and PR: What can we do about it?

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About our Conversation Partner

Craig Silverrman Craig Silverman is a Montreal journalist and author. In addition to founding and editing RegretTheError.com, he is a columnist and blogger for The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper in Canada, and a columnist for Hour, a Montreal Weekly.

His writing has also appeared in publications including The New York Times, Editor & Publisher online, the Montreal Gazette, and Report on Business magazine, among others.

In November 2007, Regret The Error was published by Union Square Press.

If you have comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, email us at fircomments@gmail.com; or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America) or +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe); or Skype: fircomments; or 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.

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Posted by neville on 05/16 at 10:06 AM
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Monday, May 05, 2008

FIR Interview: Jon Iwata, IBM - May 5, 2008

A recent white paper published by the Arthur W Page Society examines the evolving role of the senior communications executive in 21st century business.

The Authentic Enterprise: Relationships, Values and The Evolution of Corporate Communications (PDF) considers the rapidly-changing context for global business and society and the ability of organizations to manage successfully their relationships with customers, investors, partners, employees and other key audiences and stakeholders.

The report also includes the results of a survey the society conducted among the CEOs of 31 U.S. and international companies that have more than $2 billion in revenues, on those CEOs’ perceptions of how their own jobs are being reshaped.

In this FIR Interview, Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz joined in conversation with Jon Iwata, Senior Vice President Communications, IBM Corporation, and Chair of the Authentic Enterprise task force for Page, about the key findings in the white paper including the range of strategic business options for CEOs and communicators; the role of Page Turner, the society’s new blog designed to enable ongoing conversation and dialogue relating to the white paper; and changes in IBM Corporation that led to Jon’s new responsibility as head of an integrated global marketing and communications organization, announced to IBM employees on May 5.

About our Conversation Partner

Jon Iwata, IBM Jon Iwata is responsible for worldwide communications for IBM. In May 2008 IBM announced the integration of its global marketing and communications organizations. Jon will become senior vice president, marketing and communications, effective July 1, 2008.

IBM communications manages the company’s relationships with the media, industry analysts and employees. It is responsible for corporate brand strategy and design, and the company’s global intranet, which serves 380,000 employees. The function coordinates IBM’s corporate affairs initiatives and plays a leading role in instilling IBM Values into the company’s practices and culture.

Jon is a member of the IBM Strategy Team, the IBM Performance Team, and the company’s Intellectual Property Policy and Open Standards Advisory Council. He reports to IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano.

He joined the communications function of IBM in 1984 at the company’s Almaden Research Center in Silicon Valley. In 1989, he came to IBM corporate headquarters in Armonk, New York, and held a variety of communications positions, including providing support for the president of the company. He was appointed vice president of corporate communications in 1995 and assumed his current responsibilities as senior vice president, communications, on January 1, 2002. He was named chairman of the IBM Global Marketing Board in April 2008.

Jon is a co-inventor of a U.S. patent for advanced semiconductor lithography technology.

From 2006-2007, he served as chairman of The Seminar, a professional group consisting of chief communications officers of major corporations and institutions. He is a trustee of the Arthur W. Page Society.

Jon holds a B.A. from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, San Jose State University.

Download the 44:16 conversation here (MP3, 17.7MB), or subscribe to the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio or iTunes, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon.

To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, subscribe to the full RSS feed.

Listen to this podcast now:

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.

Posted by neville on 05/05 at 10:26 PM
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

FIR Video Interview: Rick Murray, Edelman - March 15, 2008

The EuroBlog 2008 conference took place in Brussels, Belgium, last week. Described as an event focused on “Social media and the future of PR: New ideas, new research, new business,” the two-day event brought together over 100 people from the academic and practitioner worlds from across Europe and the USA.

In this first FIR Video Interview, Neville Hobson talked briefly with Rick Murray, President of Edelman Digital, about the key messages for PR practitioners resulting from topics and themes discussed at EuroBlog 2008.

About our Conversation Partner

Rickmurray Rick Murray, President, Edelman Digital, helps the firm’s day-to-day account teams create and execute their PR-centric campaigns - providing clients with integrated programmes.

He oversees the development of the firm’s interactive design, media and events and its street marketing group called ‘Edelman on the Go.’

Based in Chicago, Rick Murray is the founder of Edelman’s me2revolution which merged into Edelman Digital in March 2008.

Download the video conversation here (MP4, 20MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio or iTunes, 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.

Watch this podcast now:

This FIR Video Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

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Posted by neville on 03/18 at 03:39 AM
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Friday, March 14, 2008

FIR Interview: CNW Group’s Melanie Kurzuk - 03/14/08

CNW Group—formerly Canada News Wire—has launched Access CNW, a web-based service that puts press release distribution into the hands of clients. The service includes a number of features in common with the social media release, including multimedia, RSS, and tags (employing NewsML and NewsReleaseML). In this FIR Interview, Shel Holtz talked with CNW Group’s Melanie Kurzuk, Senior Vice President of the firm’s News and Information Technology Division. .

About our Conversation Partner

Melanie Kurzuk is a seasoned professional with 20 years experience in the news media, corporate communications, corporate development and operations. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree, Kurzuk began her career as a broadcast journalist at the CHUM Radio Network. She held frontline roles as producer, talk show host, reporter and news anchor within the Network.

Following eight years in broadcast, Kurzuk accepted a position in the Media Relations department at the Ontario Lottery Corporation (OLC). She was responsible for issue management and corporate communications. In 1997, Kurzuk joined CNW Group (formerly Canada NewsWire) as Corporate Communications Manager. Since that time, she has taken on progressive positions within CNW’s Broadcast Services department, Multi-Media Services division and New Business Development. Today, Kurzuk is Senior Vice President, News and Information Technology Division, responsible for developing and implementing strategies to leverage current technological capabilities to grow the organization’s market share, profitability and profile.

She is a member of CNW’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

Download the 36-minute conversation here (MP3, 15.5MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio or iTunes, 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.

Listen to this podcast now:

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 03/14 at 07:04 AM
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Sunday, March 02, 2008

FIR Interview: Rusty Williams and Aaron Strout of Mzinga - March 3, 2008

Mzinga and Prospero—both companies that have grown through acquisition—have merged to become a significant provider of community and social media services for internal and external purposes.

In this FIR Interview, Shel Holtz talked with Mzinga’s Rusty Williams, Sr. VP of Social Media Product Planning and Aaron Strout, VP of New Media about the growing demand for community and social media solutions, and the ongoing consolidation in the industry.

About our Conversation Partners

Rusty Williams, most recently VP, Marketing and Business Development at Prospero, first joined Delphi Internet, Prospero’s predecessor company, in 1986 and served as Vice President and General Manager through 1995 when Delphi was acquired by News Corporation.

Recently, Rusty served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Inforonics, Inc., a diversified holding company specializing in technology consulting, content management and application maintenance. He also served as Vice President of New Internet Ventures for Individual, Inc., a publicly traded provider of personalized business news (now NewsEdge Corporation). A recognized authority on interactive media, Rusty has been a featured speaker at Internet World, The Breakfast Network, Interactive Services Association, Digital Convergence and investment conferences.

He graduated with a BA degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Aaron Strout focuses on blogging, podcasting, webinars, blogger relations, and evangelizing the benefits of community. In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and new media landscape, Aaron has more than 15 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing.

In his previous role, Aaron was Vice President of New Media at Shared Insights, one of Mzinga’s predecessor companies. Prior to this, Aaron worked at Fidelity Investments in its retail division, with a focus on online and acquisition marketing. Aaron’s work at Fidelity focused on Web strategy & implementation, as well as the development of marketing (online and offline) campaigns, including direct mail, e-mail, banner & print ads, and event marketing.

Aaron is an active contributor to the world of new media outside of his professional life. Alongside his personal blog, focused on the exploits of his beloved Boston sports teams (http://bigpapelbon.blogspot.com/), Aaron maintains a marketing-related blog at http://wearesmarter.org/aaron and is a founding member and former president of the Boston Interactive Media Association (BIMA). He is also a member and former board member of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX).

Aaron graduated with a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is an alumnus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Download the 25-minute conversation here (MP3, 11.5MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio or iTunes, 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.

Listen to this podcast now:

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 03/02 at 11:00 PM
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Saturday, February 23, 2008

FIR Interview: Catching up with GMnext - February 23, 2008

It has been six weeks since the launch of GMnext, General Motors’ ambitious communication effort aimed at tighter integration into the social media space and earnest, comprehensive engagement in conversation with customers and other constituents.

In this FIR Interview, Shel Holtz talked with GM’s Scot Keller and Christopher Barger about the initiative’s first month-and-a-half, lessons learned, surprises, things that have gone as expected and reaction from mainstream media and the blogosphere. They also provide insights into events that followed the activist takeover of the comments section of four user-uploaded photos.

About our Conversation Partners

Scot Keller Born and raised in Southern California, Scot M. Keller is a third generation car executive whose career spans 25 years. He has broad based experience in automotive marketing, communications, motor sports, heritage, and brand management with brands including Alfa Romeo, Audi, Chrysler and Jeep.

In 1999, Scot joined General Motors Corporation where he currently holds the position of Director Communications GMnext. In this capacity, Scot directs the corporation’s day to day activities around the global centennial celebration and GMnext digital experience. He also has responsibility for GM’s Heritage Communications directing the corporation’s involvement in key events including The Amelia Island and Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegances.

Scot currently resides in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan with his wife and two children.

Christopher Barger is Director, Global Communications Technology at General Motors, and leads the company’s social media communications efforts.

Christopher is responsible for setting General Motors’ communications strategy in the emerging social media that make up “Web 2.0” (blogs, wikis, podcasting, user-generated content, social network engagement, and others). His team coordinates and counsels authors for GM’s corporate blogs (FastLane and FYI), builds and manages GM’s relationships with influential voices from across the social media landscape, and develops new social media resources for GM content and information.

Prior to joining General Motors in mid 2007, Christopher held a similar position at IBM where he was involved in such ground-breaking work as the investor relations department’s ”IBM and the Future Of…” series of podcasts.

Download the 35-minute conversation here (MP3, 31.2MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio or iTunes, 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.

Listen to this podcast now:

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 02/23 at 02:22 PM
Interviews • (1) Comments • Permalink

Sunday, February 17, 2008

FIR Interview: Connie Reece, Frozen Pea Fund - Feb 17, 2008

Frozen Pea Fund What did it take to capture the imagination of people and inspire them to take action that, collectively, tranformed into a movement of support, including financial, that gathered spontaneous and rapid momentum primarily via the micro-blogging online community that is Twitter?

This is the story of Susan Reynolds, an artist, new media consultant and mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2007 and underwent a mastectomy later that month. From the outset, she blogged her experiences including about what she was using to ease her pain - bags of frozen peas.

It was Susan’s post and photo about a bag of frozen peas that started it all (explained here). Members of Susan’s Twitter community soon began adding peas to their avatar images; this supportive action quickly spread throughout a broader Twitter community and beyond.

It’s also the story of Connie Reece. A suggestion via Twitter for donating the equivalent of the cost of two bags of frozen peas to cancer research led to Connie Reece stepping into the peas picture with the formation of the Frozen Pea Fund, a fundraising effort for breast cancer research and programs through the American Cancer Society.

In a follow-up to a discussion about the Frozen Pea Fund in FIR #304 on December 24, 2007, FIR hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz talked with Connie about the fund and awareness-raising in a discussion that also considered how organizations could learn from spontaneous and authentic communication and the role of channels such as Twitter.

If you wish to support the Frozen Pea Fund, you can donate here.

About our Conversation Partner

Connie Reece is a communications professional with more than three decades of writing and speaking experience, a conversational marketing specialist involved in the research and implementation of emerging media. Connie’s expertise as a conversational writer and her facility for quickly mastering new tools and technologies keep her in demand as a social media consultant.

Through her company, Every Dot Connects, Connie helps businesses learn to speak with an authentic voice and to participate in a dialogue with customers and constituents.

Based in Austin, Texas, USA, Connie is Executive Director of Social Media Club international and a member of the Association of Women in Communication.

Download the 33:28 conversation here (MP3, 15.3MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio or iTunes, 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.

Listen to this podcast now:

This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Other reports and commentaries:

Frozen Peas: A Case Study - Young Blood PR (Michael Allison), Jan 16, 2008
How Frozen Peas Started A Movement - Loudon Extra, Washington Post (Craig Colgan), Jan 10, 2008
More on Twitter in the Enterprise: Susan Reynolds and PEAple - Confused of Calcutta (JP Rangaswami), Dec 23, 2007
Can You Spare The Odd Pea For A Good Cause? - TechCrunch (Duncan Riley), Dec 21, 2007

Posted by neville on 02/17 at 12:25 AM
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