Interviews
FIR Interviews
Monday, March 14, 2011
Interview: Robin Block & David Ferrabee the future of social media within internal communications
Addressing what Robin Block and David Ferrabee believe is a disconnect between how immersed and digitally-connected employees are outside of the workplace, and how their internal communications are being delivered, is at the heart of an innovative film being created by Red Sky Vision in association with IVCA.
The film is being shot in a cinematic style interspersed with imaginative motion graphics to illustrate key points in the piece, as the ‘mood board’ example video illustrates.
In this FIR Interview, co-host Neville Hobson - one of the contributors to the film as an interviewee - talks to Robin and David about the film; as producer and interviewer respectively, each describes its purpose, its scope and why they believe it offers a very different approach to corporate film-making, designed to engage viewers at all levels of the organization, and contribute to learning and to the debate.
"The future of social media within internal communications" is planned to be released in April 2011. More information about the film at Red Sky Vision / Insight.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (11.3Mb, 24:49)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
- Get the FIR app for your iPhone
About our Conversation Partners
Robin Block is Director of Red Sky Vision Ltd, an agency which specialises in internal communications. The company creates compelling video and motion graphics to inform, educate and motivate the workforce. Robin is proud to work with some of the UK’s biggest and most prestigious brand names including Coca-Cola Enterprises and Unilever.
Connect with Robin on Twitter at @robinblock.
David Ferrabee is Managing Director of change management consultancy Able and How, working with 60-80% of the FT 100 companies in the UK in one way or another. He has been involved with many major European, Canadian and American multi-nationals. By bringing together experience, ideas and innovative thinking he helps businesses move quickly to successfully address important business issues. Before his current role, he was Managing Director, Change and Internal Communications, at Hill & Knowlton.
Connect with David on Twitter at @ferrabee.
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. 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 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.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
FIR Interview: Jackie Mitchell on Every 80 Seconds from American Red Cross of Greater Chicago
The press release begins, “The American Red Cross is ‘burning’ people’s most precious memories to raise awareness about fire prevention during Red Cross Month. Home fires occur every eighty seconds in the United States, and the Red Cross responds to a fire every eight minutes nationwide. In less than 80 seconds, people can save lives by participating in an awareness campaign to help.” The “Every 80 Seconds” campaign, launched by the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, is a multichannel effort that virtually burns personal images from the Facebook pages of those who connect to the campaign. The desired result: a more personal understanding of the devastating loss that comes from a home fire.
In this FIR interview, co-host Shel Holtz speaks with Jackie Mitchell, director of marketing and communications for the Red Cross’ Chicago region, about the origins and execution of a campaign that exists almost entirely away from the Red Cross’ website, leveraging Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social channels. Partners are also an important part of the campaign. For example, visitors to the Chicago Tribune website will see the page burn up before their eyes, leading them to an invitation to visit the Every 80 Seconds campaign and witness their personal photos consumed by fire:
(Note: The audio quality on Shel’s track is less than exceptional; we were unable to filter out hotel room noise picked up the microphone. Sorry about that.)
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (8.01Mb, 19:56)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
- Get the FIR app for your iPhone
About our Conversation Partner
Jackie Mitchell leads marketing and communications efforts for American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and serves as a Red Cross national media spokesperson throughout the U.S. by virtue of Red Cross deployment. With experience in the non-profit and Fortune 500 sectors, Jackie combines the best of international for-profit operations with non-profit purpose.
Jackie speaks in Chicago and nationally on how social media has introduced a unique opportunity to engage and mobilize a new kind of employee and volunteer - the ambassador. Most recently, she spoke at Ragan Communications Social Media Conference, PR/MKTG Bootcamp, Northwestern University’s FORUM, and the Social Media Club of Chicago. She is published writer and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her contributions to the writing, communications, and public service fields including the Illinois Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Award and the American Red Cross Advance Public Affairs Team “Rookie of the Year.”
Connect with Jackie on Twitter at @your_mssunshine.
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. 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 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, February 28, 2011
FIR Interview: Steve Pinches on the FT, tablets and mobile
An industry undergoing wholesale change is one way of characterizing the mainstream media as news organizations confront a digital future by planning and experimenting with different business models to help ensure their survival in a marketplace that bears little resemblance to the conditions of yore when it was all about print.
One media property at the heart of evolution and change is the Financial Times, owned by media conglomerate Pearson which today announced robust financial results for the past year. According to CEO Marjorie Scardino, a key element of its success in 2010 is that paid-for digital subscriptions rose 50 percent to 207,000, with digital services accounting for 40 percent of FT Group revenue, and more than 900,000 downloads of FT apps on tablets and mobile phones.
In this FIR Interview, co-host Neville Hobson talks to Steve Pinches, lead product manager for FT.com mobile products, who discusses the FT’s efforts with apps for the iPhone, iPad and, most recently, Android platforms; and offers insight into the FT’s mobile strategy and its subscription models for print and digital; and projects what’s on the FT’s horizon for further developments in the mobile space.
(Disclosure: prior to this interview, Neville Hobson received a Samsung Galaxy Tab on loan from the FT to explore their Android app.)
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (9.5Mb, 20:37)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
- Get the FIR app for your iPhone
About our Conversation Partner
Stephen Pinches was appointed lead product manager for FT.com mobile products in June 2008. He is responsible for all mobile, audio and video products across FT.com including the FT’s iPad and iPhone apps and mobile websites.
Pinches joined the Financial Times in 2002 on the FT graduate scheme, and has since then held a series of roles in e-commerce and business development for FT.com. He holds a first class Bachelors and Masters degree in European Literature from the University of Warwick.
Connect with Steve on Twitter at @ftsteve.
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. 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 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, February 19, 2011
FIR Interview: Laura Thomas at Dell on Trade Secrets
To support the introduction of its new business laptop computer, the Vostro V130, computer maker Dell launched "Trade Secrets," a marketing campaign centered on the Dell SMB Facebook page and the Twitter hashtag #tradesecrets.
The campaign includes a significant element of influencer outreach where bloggers and others form part of the conversation through using the computer and talking online about their experiences with the Vostro V130 via tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts, video and other channels.
In this FIR Interview, Neville Hobson talks with Laura Thomas at Dell about the campaign, its objectives, outcomes so far, expectations and more.
(Disclosure: Neville Hobson is a participant in the Trade Secrets campaign and typed these show notes on the Vostro V130 he’s using.)
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (6.83Mb, 14:50)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
- Get the FIR app for your iPhone and for your Android device (visit the Android Market from your device)
About our Conversation Partner
Laura Pevehouse Thomas was profiled as one of five “social media mavens” in the March 2009 issue of Austin Woman Magazine and named an AdWeek’s TweetFreak Five to Follow. She has worked in and around the Dell family for 10 years, primarily in the areas of corporate communications, employee communications, public relations, community affairs, branding and online communication.
Laura is currently responsible for global strategy in social media and community management, as well as marcom landing pages, as a member of Dell’s Small and Medium Business Marketing, Brand and Creative Impact team. Previously, she was with Dell’s Global Online group where she provided internal consulting that integrated online and social media opportunities with a focus on Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. She assisted with the creation of Direct2Dell, and brought web feeds and podcasts to Dell.com. In her spare time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island in Second Life.
Laura has earned the designation of Accredited Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University. Before joining Dell Financial Services in 2000, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission and PepsiCo Food Systems Worldwide.
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. 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 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.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
FIR Interview: Joseph Jaffe, Chief Interrupter, Powered
FIR co-host Shel Holtz catches up with Joseph Jaffe about his role at Dachis Group and his latest book, “Flip the Funnel.”
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (20.2Mb, 50:24)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
- Get the FIR app for your iPhone and for your Android phone (visit the Android Market from your phone)
About our Conversation Partner
Joseph Jaffe is Chief Interrupter at Powered, a Dachis Group company. He is author of three books, including most recently, “Flip the Funnel: How to use existing customers to gain new ones.” Follow him on Twitter: @jaffejuice, subscribe to his blog and audio podcast, Jaffe Juice or his video show, Jaffe Juice TV.
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 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.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
FIR Interview: David Ketchum, President, Asia Pacific, Bite Communications
FIR Asia-Pacific correspondent Michael Netzley interviews David Ketchum, Asia Pacific president of Bite Communications, a global communications consultancy. Ketchum discusses the increasing role of digital in the company’s communication work as well as the challenges marketers are facing when implementing digital marketing based on round tables with which he has been involved through his work with the Asia Digital Marketing Association, which he helped found.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (7.52Mb, 7:52)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
- Get the FIR app for your iPhone
About our Conversation Partner
David Ketchum specializes in off- and online corporate and marketing communications for companies expanding their business in Asia Pacific.
He is President, Asia Pacific, of Bite Communications, chairman of the Asia Digital Marketing Association, and deputy chairman of the Council of Public Relations Firms in Hong Kong. David is the author of BIG M, little m Marketing: New Strategies for a New Asia.
David was founder and CEO of Upstream Asia, which joined Bite Communications in 2009. He was previously senior vice president, marketing and communications for Calvin Klein, Inc., and also worked with Burson-Marsteller and Hill and Knowlton internationally..
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 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, December 02, 2010
FIR Interview: Crowdsourcing Content for the VFW Foundation’s “Return the Favor” V-Wall
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Foundation Acting Director John G. Lowe and Fleishman-Hillard digital strategist Justin Goldsborough join FIR co-host Shel Holtz to discuss the V-Wall campaign, described by Fleishman President and CEO Dave Senay as “an interactive page of videos, pictures, texts and tweets—all focused on expressing gratitude to our troops and veterans. What makes this solution unique is that the information on the site (was) crowdsourced.” The campaign was part of the “Return the Favor” campaign.
Get this podcast:
- Download the MP3 file (11.6Mb, 28:58)
- Get the show on iTunes
- Subscribe to the FIR Interviews RSS feed
About our Conversation Partners
John G. Lowe Lowe was appointed Acting Director of VFW Foundation on September 2010 previously serving as the Deputy Director from October 2008. Prior to joining the staff at National Headquarters he served as the State Adjutant/Quartermaster for the Department of California since 2000.
John served in the US Army with the 82nd Airborne Division from 1982 to 1985. Following his discharge, he began a career as an accountant. He has more than 20 years experience in accounting, budgeting, financial reporting and administrating computer network and database systems. From 1990-1996 he served as the staff accountant for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and from 1997-2000 he served as the staff accountant and network administrator for the San Diego Symphony.
In 1989, he joined the VFW and has served in Post, District, State and National positions. He is a graduate of the University of San Francisco where he earned a bachelor of Public Administration degree in 2005.
Justin Goldsborough joined Fleishman-Hillard Kansas City, where he specializes in digital strategy and education, in 2009. Before that, he was at Sprint for two years where he managed the company’s employee social network, Sprint Space, and led efforts to improve customer outreach via social media, specifically Twitter. He is in his fifth year on the Kansas City IABC board and is serving as president for the 2010 board year. Justin is a huge Bon Jovi fan and once won third place in a karaoke contest at Chicago’s John Barleycorn’s with a rousing rendition of Livin’ on a Prayer. He’s also a diehard Kansas City Royals fan, so go easy when talking baseball.
After the interview, Justin sent along some additional information:
Hallmark is another client of ours that has had a lot of success recently with their recordable storybook product. One of the more common stories we’ve heard about the product is that military families will buy it and send it over to their loved ones overseas so he/she can record the story and then a child or a family member can still hear that loved one read to him/her while they are away. Once Hallmark identified this military affinity to the product, they made a significant donation of Recordable Storybooks to the VFW Foundation to give to military families.
At FH, we also worked with Hallmark to take several of these Recordable Storybook to the Hallmark Celebritree event in Los Angeles at Brooke Burke’s house (Dancing With the Stars host). Several of the celebrities who attended the event signed the books and they are now up for auction on the Modern Mom community, with all proceeds going to the VFW Foundation. The auction goes through Dec. 3 and can be found here.
You can follow Justin on Twitter at @jgoldsborough and read his blog, Justin Case You Were Wondering.
Share your comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for future shows, 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. 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.