The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #201: December 28, 2006

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #201: December 28, 2006

Content summary: Two new interviews and a book review posted; ethics Skypecast is on Jan 13; Lee Hopkins eulogizes on FIR; Mitch Joel’s international 6POS podcast; the ways PR agents piss off journalists, and a few companies that do it right; what is the value of professional PR bodies?: PRSA elects new president; Robert Scoble on the US presidential election campaign trail; Text 100 presents a Second Life view of the new publics; Microsoft PR issues: the Vista laptop give-away (Bribery? No, says Neville; the jury’s still out, says Shel), relying on employee bloggers to address reputation issues surounding the RSS patent filing; listeners’ comments discussion; next FIR episode: the hangover cure on New Year’s Day; the music; and more.

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Show notes for December 28, 2006

download For Immediate Release podcast

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 74-minute podcast recorded live from Wokingham, Berkshire, England, and Concord, California, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 34MB), 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 Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

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In This Edition:

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 (North America) or +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe); or Skype: fircomments. 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 January 1, 2007…

Posted by neville on 12/28 at 11:48 AM

  1. Following up my voice message.  I reference the recent FTC annoucement about word of mouth marketing.  Here’s my post about the annoucement.
    http://pr.typepad.com/pr_communications/2006/12/wheres_the_fire.html

    Posted by John Cass  on  12/28  at  01:53 PM

  2. Great debate on the Vista Laptop kerfuffle, gentlemen! (and hello John)

    Posted by Doug Haslam  on  12/29  at  04:27 AM

  3. Good to hear a spirited debate about Microsoft’s Vista “blogger bribery” initiative. In theory, the value of a product sent for review shouldn’t affect the policy of the reviewing body, and in practice a $2000 laptop for Micro$oft is probably the same as a music CD for ordinary people, but I think it would have been in Microsoft’s own interest to send the laptops on a “use it for a month and then donate it to the nearest school” basis. It’s hard to imagine that a tech-loving reviewer wouldn’t be influenced by getting a new Acer Ferrari, though of course there’s still the possibility that the result would be “Great laptop, pity about the operating system.”

    I’d always sort of assumed that the PC Magazines of the world got to keep the equipment they were sent for testing—but I would also expect it to be the property of the company, not of the individual reviewer. (On the other hand, as a freelance software reviewer, I get to keep the software. And there is software out there that costs more than a new laptop, though it’s not designed for the likes of me.)

    If I’d been the recipient of one of these machines, I’d've kept it, disclosed where and why I got it, and written honestly about my experience with it, same as when Seagate sent me a Maxtor Shared Storage II drive.

    If a product is crap, it doesn’t matter how expensive it is, because it won’t have any value for me. The only real way to guarantee a good review is to have a good product and give it to people who can actually use it.

    Posted by Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch")  on  12/29  at  02:41 PM

  4. Cost should not matter. If I get a free cd (it happens very rarely, but it does happen), I listen to it & ,If There’s A Track or More I Like, I may add it to my station’s playlist. If not, I won’t. Period.
    Perhaps some bloggers think that gifts of small value are not important, but to most people (even most people online) a freebie is a freebie is a good thing. Otherwise, why does every Costco & Sams Club (large US wholesale-style stores) have a half-dozen or more employees handing out free samples of food? They are meant to influence us aren’t they? If I post about some brand of sausage that I likely wouldn’t have tried without somebody offering a free sample, am I an unreliable bum? Should I be wracked with pangs of concience over not disclosing this fact? Oi…
    I agree that anyone who recieves a $2K item, whether they are told they can keep it or must return it or have to give it to the Poor Geeks Society, should disclose that fact. Beyond that, there’s a line depending on a blogger’s normal blog. Do they do tech reviews? Do they do music reviews & recieve free cds? Do they never write about a type of product or service, & then suddenly post about one? It’s a matter of paying attention, of trust, & of honesty on the part of bloggers & readers.
    Btw, if anyone has one of these laptops & wishes to purge themselves of guilt & pain, look me up…I’ll disclose it…
    Love & Peace, Clarence

    Posted by Clarence Jones  on  12/30  at  08:19 PM

  5. Suggested topic for next show:
    Dan Keeney of DPK Public Relations and NOKA chocolate. This is where a PR practitioner has gone and defended a local company in his spare time and is then hired by the company the next day. In his difficult situation he is facing some challenges about disclosure.
    My post on the subject.

    Ordinarily I wouldn’t have to worry that you’d cover this topic as in terms of crisis communication, transparency and social media it is quite a landmark. However, with New Year and all, the only coverage from FIR listening PR sources I’ve seen is from Scott Baradell.

    Side note; Happy New Year folks.

    Posted by Dan Hill  on  12/31  at  12:31 PM

  6. The Columbia Business School hosted the 2006 Innovative Marketing Conference last week. I didn’t attend and it turns out I didn’t have to. The entire conference was blogged about on FC NOW and several of the speakers were interviewed by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson of For Immediate Release. Other bloggers, such as Lois Kelly of Foghound, filled in thoughts of their own. The list of speakers was impressive and included names like David Weinberger of Cluetrain Manifesto fame, Larry Weber of Weber Shandwick, Joseph Jaffe and Burger King CMO Russ Klein.

    Posted by Online Pharmacy  on  06/18  at  07:20 AM

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