The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #50: July 14, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #50: July 14, 2005

Content summary: 50th anniversary greetings; listeners’ comments (podcasting won’t disappear, iTunes problems; an interview suggestion; the power and passion of podcasting; providing insight on podcasting); weblog design confuses visitors; CBS News editorial blog and the BBC’s open source developments; dissatisfied Dell and Land Rover customers who have blogs.

Show notes for July 14, 2005

download mp3 podcast

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 72-minute conversation recorded live from Washington, DC, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 32MB), 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 iPodder, DopplerRadio or iTunes 4.9, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

In this edition:

Intro:

  • 00:32 Shel introduces the 50th anniversary show; how to give your feedback; show notes
  • 01:49 Shel and Neville reflect on the past 49 shows, discussing some favourite highlights - including some bloopers
  • 08:08 50th anniversary greeting from Eric Rice; figuring out Skype and how we all learn from each other

Listeners’ comments discussion:

  • 09:37 Lee Hopkins agrees with us that podcasting won’t disappear
  • 10:24 Britt, Mary-Ann Horley and Susan Getgood tell us about problems they’ve encountered in getting the correct shows from iTunes
  • 13:01 Angela Booth likes the length of the show, also thinks iTunes has a bug, and says ‘keep up the good work!’
  • 14:12 Lee Hopkins suggests someone we might want to interview; Shel’s not impressed with their website, though
  • 15:56 Graham Wallace likes the discussions about listeners’ comments, talks about the power and passion of podcasting, and Skype recording
  • 17:49 Dan York suggests we include a discussion topic on producing professional-quality business podcasts
  • 19:32 50th anniversary greeting from Michael Wiley; how blogs and podcasts help build a real community

News and Features:

  • 22:03 Weblog design - A new study highlights the way most blog designs, layouts and terminologies confuse visitors; addressing usability and intuitiveness to make visitor engagement easier
  • 30:40 CBS News’ web strategy includes a new editorial blog, intended to engage directly with viewers - Will it create ‘unprecedented transparency in communication’ by mainstream media? Also, what the BBC is doing in engaging with the open source software developer community; the differences between British English and American English
  • 41:04 50th anniversary greeting from Amy Gahran; Beyond Spin for discussion
  • 42:49 Customer dissatisfaction and the power of blogs, from Jeff Jarvis and Dell to Adrian Melrose and Land Rover - How should companies deal with such situations? What are the opportunities and risks through engaging with customers in this way? And for not doing so?
  • 61:12 50th anniversary greeting from Steve Rubel and from Sam Whitmore; a middle-aged anniversary and using video
  • 64:00 50th anniversary greeting from Steve Lubetkin; and thanks to everyone for their comments

Outro:

  • 65:34 Neville outros the show; topics coming up for next Monday’s show; how to give your feedback; show notes; the music from Shel

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show:

Intro - Skype, Paul Woodhouse, East Bay IT Group, Eric Rice, Jay Byrne, Robert Scoble, Fergus Burns, Jeremy Wright, Steve Rubel, Michael Wiley, Loic Le Meur, Mike Wing, Angela Sinickas and Tudor Williams, show archives listing, Audioblog.com.

Listeners’ comments discussion - Lee Hopkins, Britt, iTunes, Apple, Adam Curry, Mary-Ann Horley, Susan Getgood, Angela Booth, Donna Papacosta, International Nanocasting Alliance, Graham Wallace, Dave Taylor, Dan York, Michael Wiley, GM FastLane Blog.

News and Features - Catalyst Group Design, Expression Engine, TypePad, Blogger, WordPress, Business Week Well Spent, Business Week Blogspotting, TypePad new features, Technorati, del.icio.us, Furl, CBS News, Vaughn Ververs, New York Times, CNN, ABC News, NBC News, BBC News, BBC, BBC Open Source, BBC Backstage, Creative Commons, Forrester Research, Amy Gahran, Beyond Spin, Dell, Jeff Jarvis, Adrian Melrose, Land Rover, Discovery, The Truth About the Land Rover Discovery 3, Christopher Carfi, General Motors, Treonauts, Treo, Harrison-Cowley, Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear, Steve Rubel, Sam Whitmore, Steve Lubetkin.

Outro - Christian Dozzler, Louisiana (MP3), For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at comments@forimmediaterelease.biz, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. 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 July 18…

Posted by neville on 07/14 at 07:11 AM

  1. Hi guys

    Belated congrats on reaching 50!

    I thought I’d just post a quick follow-up to your interesting analysis of the CBS web strategy announcement.  Have you seen this story re Channel 4 in the UK?

    http://www.netimperative.com/2005/07/08/C4_TV_online

    Best wishes

    Alex

    Posted by AlexBellinger  on  07/14  at  03:15 PM

  2. Shel and Neville,

    Congratulations on show #50!  You’re pioneers in the communications world, and you can be proud of that.  And I’m proud to say I listened to (and still have) your very first show.

    A request:  if you feel it’s worth mentioning on your next show, I’d love to get feedback from the PR profession on the next PRWeek cause-related marketing survey, which our firm, Barkley Evergreen and Partners, is co-sponsoring with PRWeek.  I blogged about it today (http://risleyranch.blogs.com/risleyranch/2005/07/cause_survey_qu.html), and I’m trying to use that post as a place to collect ideas on what the PR profession would like to learn from not-for-profits and corporate marketers about their cause-related initiatives.

    Check out my post, and if you feel it’s worthy, I’d appreciate you seeding the conversation.

    Jeff

    Posted by Jeff Risley  on  07/14  at  05:34 PM

  3. Shel & Neville,

    First off, congrats on #50. Here’s to 50 more. I know you’re not discussing it anymore, but I love the show length. I actually sometimes wish it were an hour longer.

    Secondly, about the Dell/Land Rover issue: Why are companies having such a hard time with monitoring and tracking blog commentary? No one questions the importance of tracking print media or their online brethren but everyone gets so flustered when it comes to blogs.

    When Jeff Jarvis or anyone else, even the smallest blog wirter, starts trashing a company, the company in question needs to jump on that immediately. Reach out to these people in, as you say, the same way they reach out to disgruntled customers who write in. They seem to still be stuck in the mindset that, like letters or calls to a client services department, that communication is swallowed by the company.  They don’t grasp that anyone but the mainstream media, which is dependent on advertising from major companies, has the nerve to comment on the company. 

    Those who ignore the blogosphere (a term I’m increasingly loathsome of) do so at their own peril.  Word of mouth has spread to the internet via blogs and can have as much – if not more – impact as it did before making that leap.  Editorial writers for print publications might still be opinion leaders but blog writers represent those actual opinions.  It’s startling to me that companies can so flippantly dismiss blogs as sources for feedback and not place any importance on monitoring them.

    Dell should talk to one of Hollywood’s movie studios about the power blogs can have in decision making.  It seems to me the movie making is the only industry that seems to understand people out there have opinions and that they need to pay attention to them.  The delay in the release of the upcoming Steve Martin led remake of The Pink Panther is largely seen as a response to negative comments from blogs and other online outfits.

    Knowing who is saying what is a necessary part of being a client or consumer-dependent company.  That means monitoring blogs in addition to mainstream outlets.  It’s part of a well-rounded monitoring package.

    Sorry for the long post.

    —Chris

    Posted by Chris Thilk  on  07/15  at  05:31 AM

  4. I love your show!

    Posted by Robert Scoble  on  07/15  at  12:26 PM

  5. Alex, Jeff, Chris, Robert - thank you! We really appreciate your support. And glad to know you’re part of the growing FIR community.

    As a comment-driven show, know that we’ll be talking about you in show #51 ;)

    Posted by Neville Hobson  on  07/15  at  01:14 PM

  6. Hi Shel & Neville,

    Also from me congratulations on show #50! Your show has been my first encounter with podcasting and I am still very glad to have “discovered” it.

    By the way, just as an idea, would it be possible for you to do podcasts dedicated to some subject, e.g. like the use of wiki’s or discussion forums in a corporate environment. Perhaps you can have some experts “skype” in as well?

    Best regards,

    Marcel de Ruiter

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/16  at  11:06 AM

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