The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #114: February 23, 2006

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #114: February 23, 2006

Content summary: New Communications Forum next week; GlaxoSmithKline’s grassroots PR initiative; GM seeks customer input in solving image problem; a report from Dan York; the evolution of the press release; Google launches the Google Page Creator; Neville’s new site launches; listeners’ comments discussion (WELS press release, the origin of ‘synod’, congrats to Neville and Shel, the circular nature of the podcasting world, the ‘rhymes with…’ meme, influence and authority); the music.

Show notes for February 23, 2006

download For Immediate Release podcast

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 80-minute podcast recorded live from Memphis, Tennessee, USA, and almost live from 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 Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Listen to this podcast now:

In This Edition:

Intro:

  • 00:32 Shel introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes; what Shel’s doing in Memphis
  • 04:17 The New Communications Forum takes place in Palo Alto, California, next week - come and join us!

News and Commentary:

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

  • 60:17 Sallie Draper tells us about the discussion at WELS following show #113, including a press release
  • 62:14 Steve Bauer explains the origin of the word ‘synod’
  • 64:19 Dan York (again) with congrats to Neville on his ranking in the Onalytica business blogging survey, congrats to Shel for IABC Communication Commons, and lets us know he also listens to podcasts on curling
  • 65:47 Ben Jennings highlights the circular nature of the podcasting world, and has a tech question re differing volume levels in FIR
  • 68:03 Sallie Goetsch on the ‘rhymes with…’ meme, suggests Guinness should track IP addresses if they want to restrict access to their new blog to UK residents only, and comments on the New Communications Forum
  • 69:37 Peter Chen on influence and authority, and on how some Australian politicans look at measuring performance

Outro:

  • 72:37 Shel wraps the show; let us know your views about today’s discussions; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
  • 74:38 Outro podsafe music via the Podasfe Music Network - Nobody Else But You by The Mike Andersen Band

FIR Show Notes links
Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. 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.

So, until Monday February 27…

Posted by neville on 02/23 at 07:34 AM

  1. At first I thought it was a mistake, or some bad joke. But no it appears that the good folks at Guinness aren’t interested in courting customers outside of their little corners of the world.

    First time attempted to view the Guinness Blog I encountered a screening page. Fair enough, this is something I’ve encountered on other brewery/distillery sites and is a good idea to try and keep some controls on information given to those under the legal drinking age.  Imagine my surprise, however, when I received this after submitting my country and birthdate:

    >>SORRY

    Thanks for your interest in our blog and we are really sorry that we are unable to allow you access. We HAVE to have this sort of gateway page for legal reasons. Firstly, lots of countries have different policies and laws regarding the legal age at which people can view materials to do with alcoholic products and how alcohol brands can and cannot market their goods. For this reason we are legally bound to ask people where they are from (in case it’s a country that doesn’t allow alcohol marketing) and how old they are (to ensure they are of legal drinking age). This is the right thing for us to do and that’s the reason for having a gateway page in the first place. In terms of which countries can access, there are two answers to this. Obviously Guinness is one great brand that’s widely loved in about 150 countries. But the drinkers in those countries are all different so what the various marketing teams get up to differs also. What’s on this blog is specifically about our GB plans - hence the focus on those drinkers. Secondly there are legal issues with us making content the GB team have written available to other countries. We are looking at what can be changed but this may take a while so bear with us.<<

    What legal issues prevent the sharing of content with those in other countries? Excuse me, but on any given weekend I can usually spot a Guinness TV spot or two. What is on this blog that so potentially damaging to flag and country that it has to be kept under lock and key?

    UPDATE - Now here’s security for you…went back to the site, resubmitted my personal information, only this time magically transported myself to Scotland <G> and voila!, was allowed right in.

    Guess this is really a customer segmentation screen….Guinness doesn’t want anyone drinking their product that is too obtuse to figure out how to defeat the security measure. 

    I feel better about myself now. Think I’ll go celebrate with a Black and Tan or two. <G>

    Posted by Craig Jolley  on  02/24  at  11:29 AM

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