Thursday, May 29, 2014

FIR Interview: Betterific Co-Founder Micha Weinblatt

BetterificBetterific has been described by many as Reddit for customer feedback. On the social site, users complete the statement, “Wouldn’t it be better if…” Otis, the elevator company, might be intrigued by the suggestion, “Wouldn’t it be better if, when you select the wrong floor in the elevator, you could unselect the floor you clicked by mistake?”

Coca-Cola campaign on BetterificAs on Reddit, users can also comment on suggestions and vote them up or down. (The elevator idea had amassed eight upvotes, for example.) Companies can monitor references to their own products and services, but they can also mount campaigns. ConAgra Foods brand Redi-Wip, for example, asked for suggestions on how to improve both the product and marketing. A current campaign, from Coca-Cola, asks users to share ideas on what kind of promotional items the company should give at McDonald’s with the purchase of a Combo Meal.

In this FIR interview, co-host Shel Holtz chats with Micha Weinblatt, the co-founder of Betterific, about the company’s origins, its community, its relationship with brands, and the focused campaigns that have become a recurring feature of the site and how they can serve as a different and better approach to focus groups and customer insight panels.

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About our Conversation Partner

Micha WeinblattMicha Weinblatt is an entrepreneur from Washington DC.  He graduated Magana Cum Laude with a Government and Politics degree from the University of Maryland in 2005, where he launched his first enterprise, Crooked Monkey T-shirts.  The brand has since been carried by over 500 retailers including Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, and Pac Sun, has been worn by celebrities Ryan Seacrest and Miley Cyrus.

In 2011 he was recognized for his efforts by CNN Money, which named him one of the top 10 entrepreneurs to watch.  Along the way he was named one of the Washington Business Journal’s 40 under 40, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and was selected to be a member of the Sandbox Community.

After running Crooked Monkey for 7 years, in June of 2012, he co-founded Betterific, the digital suggestion box that crowdsources innovation, out of the DreamIt Ventures accelerator.  In January of 2013 TheNextWeb named Betterific one of the top 13 east coast startups to watch in 2013. Since launching, they have grown their user base significantly and have partnered with Coca-Cola, ConAgra, the Washington Wizards and others to help them connect with their customers over ideas and innovation.

Connect with Micha on Twitter at @CrookedMonkey

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Check the FIR website for information about other FIR podcasts. To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" 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.

Posted by shel on 05/29 at 09:00 AM
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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

FIR presents AllthingsIC with Rachel Miller episode 7 May 27 2014

Every month, Rachel Miller presents the latest news and views from an internal communication perspective.

AllThingsICWelcome to the seventh episode of All Things IC with Rachel Miller.

In this podcast Rachel highlights the recent Institute of Internal Communication annual conference and interviews attendees and organisers of the #responsiveorg unconference.

You can find full notes to accompany this episode via Rachel’s blog www.allthingsic.com/fir7 so you can grab a cup of tea, sit back and relax and enjoy the show.

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About Your Host

Rachel Miller I’m Rachel Miller, MCIPR, PG (Dip). I’m an internal communication and social media strategist who consults, speaks and blogs on all things internal communication.

In 2014 I was awarded the inaugural Best Individual Contribution to Internal Communication award from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR Inside). I was named one of the UK’s leading social business influencers in 2013, and was a finalist for CIPR Outstanding PR Professional of the Year (People’s Choice).

Since 2009 I’ve written my own blog which led to Econsultancy recognising me in 2012 as one of the Top UK female bloggers. I was named in PR Week’s Top 29 under 29 professional communicators in the UK list (2009).

Every company is different and a one size fits all approach to communication simply doesn’t work. Though my business, All Things IC, I have the pleasure of working alongside companies to help them achieve communication excellence.

Find Rachel on Twitter: @AllthingsIC.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR B2B is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications,serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Rachel Miller on 05/27 at 02:42 PM
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FIR Interview: Scott Monty on Leaving Ford Motor Company

Scott Monty sent shockwaves through the social media marketing community when he announced on his blog that he had resigned as Ford Motor Company’s top corporate social media director. His gracious post credited others rather than focusing on his own accomplishments, but there is no doubt that Scott’s profile rose as he innovated attention-grabbing approaches to employing social media on behalf of one of the biggest and oldest big-iron companies in the world.

Scott Monty speaks at NMX13

The commentary that followed Scott’s announcement painted his decision as a kind of turning point, a symbol of a significant shift in marketing’s adoption of social media—and not necessarily a very positive one. Writing for Forbes, Shel Israel said Scott’s decision was a great loss for Ford, then added, “It also heightens my growing fears about how big brands will handle social media in the coming years.”

Others speculating on the deeper meaning of Scott’s decision included Social Media Today founder Robin Fray Carey, former Dell social media director Richard Binhammer, Coca-Cola social media marketing chief Ashley Brown, and Citibank social media director Frank Eliason. Among publications reporting the move were AdAge, Adweek, and PRWeek.

In this FIR interview, co-hosts Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson talk with Scott about his reaction to the conversation about his resignation (hint: He doesn’t think it’s all that big a deal), his accomplishments at Ford, the future of social media, and his own imminent plans (but without a revelation about his next career move).

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Scott MontyAbout our Conversation Partner

Scott Monty is a communications and marketing executive who focuses on the nexus of creative and strategy within the digital industry. Scott speaks and writes about business, technology, communications, marketing and the vast changes in the industry that impact leadership and can be found at scottmonty.com.

Connect with Scott on Twitter: @ScottMonty.



FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Check the FIR website for information about other FIR podcasts. To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" 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.

Posted by shel on 05/27 at 10:22 AM
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FIR presents Linked Conversations with Chuck Hester, Episode 15: May 27, 2014

Linked ConversationsWelcome to the latest episode of Linked Conversations with Chuck Hester.

This episode I cover the latest tool in your LinkedIn toolkit – the How You Rank feature, where you can see how you stack up against your connectionss for profile views. 

My latest blog post using the LinkedIn Publisher feature talks about the three things you must do on LinkedIn right away. Check it out, along with my other LinkedIn posts here.

My guest this week is Kathy Klotz-Guest, founder of the marketing firm, Keeping it Human. Kathy helps companies and executives turn marketing-speak into compelling human stories that customers act on.

Kathy Klotz-GuestShe is also the host of the popular marketing podcast, Jargonorrhea Live - a Viral Marketing Show, when she’s not eradicating the world of jargon-monoxide poisoning and creating content with a human touch. 

Kathy has an amazing LinkedIn profile, and uses multimedia to tell her story. Be sure to take a look at what Kathy is doing.

A good friend for many years, our conversation was like sitting down with her over a drink and enjoying each other’s company. Hope you enjoy it as well! 

Don’t forget to check out LinkedConversations’ Google+ community and our LinkedIn Group: “The Podcast I Can’t Name Due to the Rules Group!”

So thanks for listening and if you like what you hear, spread the word!

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Check the FIR website for information about other FIR podcasts. To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" RSS feed.

FIR presents LinkedConversations with Chuck Hester is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by shel on 05/27 at 07:04 AM
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Monday, May 26, 2014

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #757: May 26, 2014

FIRIntro: Two FIR interviews coming this week: with Micha Weinblatt, CEO of Betterific; and with Scott Monty, ex-Ford Global Digital and Multimedia Communications Manager;

Quick News: The public is mostly okay with content marketing, L’Oreal targets ads based on hair color in online photos, Simon & Schuster creates book line for YouTube stars; ten things we learned from Deloitte’s latest report into the media habits of UK consumers; Ragan promo;

News That Fits: The evolution of virtual worlds, from Second Life to High Fidelity; Dan York’s Tech Report: A discussion about the various ‘attention lenses’ we use to find news… and the power - and danger - of some of the user-driven sites; the state of social media; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; listener comments from the FIR Podcast Community on Google+; is it time up for the independent PR blogger?; the past week on the FIR Podcast Network; Igloo Software promo; how GE uses social media to support its digital strategy;

Music from Holly Benton; and more.

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir; Igloo Software, providers of an intranet you’ll actually like, delivered securely with our cloud platform: learn more at www.igloosoftware.com/fir.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report for May 26, 2014: A 91-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Wokingham, Berkshire, England.

Links to websites, blog posts and other content we discuss in the show are posted as Delicious bookmarks to facilitate your connection with the discussions and sharing of that content.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

So, until Monday June 2…

Posted by neville on 05/26 at 01:12 AM
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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 23: May 21, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael

Social seller Jill Rowley (@Jill_Rowley) is our guest this week.

In this episode, Mitchell and Michael hang out with an “amazing, fantastic and full of energy” #thoughtleader Jill Rowley. Jill describes herself as a social selling evangelist, a modern marketer, a workshop leader, a public speaker and a change agent. She defines a #thoughtleader as someone who is known for a specific subject matter and points out that #thoughtleadership is about building communities, engagement and conversation around a specific topic. Jill RowleyHence, it doesn’t matter if a #thoughtleader has original content or curates OPC (Other People’s Content). What is important is to leverage the best content out of a specific subject and pushing for engagement around that subject.

Mitchell notes that he collaborated with Jill during the process of designing the Thought Leadership Funnel (http://www.thinkaha.com/thoughtleadershipfunnel). Jill describes the funnel as an amazing model that frames the progression from marketing to sales. Mainly, it teaches the modern sales professional to veer away from the traditional concept of “Always Be Closing” (ABC) and work towards “Always Be Connecting”. The Thought Leadership Funnel also teaches the sales professional to always think that from the very start, we want a customer to become a “Positive Patty” and not a “Negative Nancy.” Reiterating her definition of the modern buyer, Jill notes that the sales professional needs to develop a one-to-one relationship with the buyer to turn her into an advocate, because nowadays, buyers only buy from people they know, like and trust.

Jill has spent over a decade helping transform the way B2B marketers market to the modern buyer. She always says she hates the traditional “ringing of the bell” whenever a new contract comes in. For her, a celebration is called for only when a customer has actually generated measurable value and positive impact working with the company or your trainers, or from having your product. In the interview, she also explains social selling and why companies should appreciate the importance of evolving along with the evolution of the buyer or customer. And in the last part of the interview, Jill shows how, in today’s business world, a person like her can actually show to the world her true self – as a mother and a wife – and that, as Mitchell notes, we are now living in a world when everybody knows and appreciates your existence outside of the workplace.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App:http://AhaAmplifier.com/.

* We are no longer in the age of the seller, we are now in the age of the customer. @jill_rowley
* If you do not become customer-centric or customer-obsessed, you will be replaced, become invisible and you’ll not be able to pay your bills. @jill_rowley
* Social selling is not just about social media, it’s about being social. @happyabout
* The modern sales professional may also think like a marketer, but she needs to sell like a superhero or a superstar. @jill_rowley

Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

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FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 05/21 at 05:30 PM
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Monday, May 19, 2014

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #756: May 19, 2014

FIRIntro: A big shout-out to new business podcaster, Stephen Waddington; Shel moderating a WOMMA webinar on May 20;

Quick News: Welcome to Heathrow’s "Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5", Target’s CMO responds on LinkedIn to employee rant published to Gawker, Wired and Cisco collaborate on crowd sourced tablet magazine, the drawbacks to publicity; Ragan promo;

News That Fits: The persuasive pressure of peer rankings; Michael Netzley’s Asia Report: Coca-Cola uses drones to deliver drinks and appreciation to migrant workers in Singapore; the benefits and risks of hiring people with social influence; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; listener comments from the FIR Podcast Community on Google+; is the marketing funnel dead?; six new shows during the past week on the FIR Podcast Network; Dan York’s Tech Report: the FCC ruling on Net Neutrality, the EU’s "right to be forgotten" ruling against Google, and more; Igloo Software promo; should companies monitor their employees’ social media?;

Music from Mario Tomic; and more.

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir; Igloo Software, providers of an intranet you’ll actually like, delivered securely with our cloud platform: learn more at www.igloosoftware.com/fir.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report for May 19, 2014: An 92-minute podcast recorded live from Wokingham, Berkshire, England, and Concord, California, USA.

Links to websites, blog posts and other content we discuss in the show are posted as Delicious bookmarks to facilitate your connection with the discussions and sharing of that content.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

So, until Monday May 26…

Posted by neville on 05/19 at 11:03 AM
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Thursday, May 15, 2014

FIR presents Linked Conversations with Chuck Hester,  Episode 14:May 15, 2014

Linked ConversationsWelcome to the latest episode of Linked Conversations with Chuck Hester.

This episode I cover a significant LinkedIn milestone as LinkedIn membership goes over the 300 million mark. Plus, I’ll give you some interesting stats about LinkedIn and its mobile app.

As a reminder, I’m now blogging directly on LinkedIn using LinkedIn publisher.

Morris PorterMy guest this week is Morris Porter, VP of Sales & Business Development for Yottaa, one of the hottest web properties around and a service that makes websites faster. Morris is an advanced LinkedIn user and takes advantage of the platform for business development, recruiting and content curation. His insights into how he and his company Yottaa use LinkedIn make for great listening!

You can find out more about Morris Porter through his LinkedIn profile; learn about Yottaa on its LinkedIn Company Page.

Don’t forget to check out LinkedConversations’ Google+ community and our LinkedIn Group: “The Podcast I Can’t Name Due to the Rules Group!”

So thanks for listening and if you like what you hear, spread the word!

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Check the FIR website for information about other FIR podcasts. To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" RSS feed.

FIR presents LinkedConversations with Chuck Hester is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by shel on 05/15 at 02:15 PM
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FIR on Higher Education #10: Jeremy Jurgens on the World Economic Forum’s new Forum Academy

You probably associate the World Economic Forum (WEF) with top business and government leaders congregating in Davos, Switzerland to address some of the pressing issues facing the world. You may also be aware of the WEF’s thought leadership and research. Now, the Forum is expanding into a new area: executive education.

The new Forum Academy is launching its inaugural course on Global Information Technology this June and then several other additional offerings throughout the year. Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director at the WEF and the person leading the Forum Academy project, discusses this initiative and offers analysis about online learning in episode 10 of FIR on Higher Education.

In our reports section, I share additional thoughts about the challenges and opportunities facing traditional executive education providers and online disruptors, while technology correspondent Harry Hawk talks about integrating Vine in the classroom.

About Jeremy Jurgens

Jeremy Jurgens is Managing Director and Chief Information and Interaction Officer at the World Economic Forum. He is leading the Forum Academy initiative. Jeremy graduated with a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and has held various senior level roles at the WEF since 1999.

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About Your Host

Kevin AnselmoKevin Anselmo is the Founder and Principal of Experiential Communications, a consultancy focused on education. He helps brands within academia - whether individual or corporate - communicate with stakeholders. He also teaches communications and public relations workshops to different individuals and groups.

Previously, Kevin was Director of Public Relations for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and prior to that managed the media relations for IMD Business School in Switzerland. In addition, he was an adjunct communications professor at Nyack College in New York.

Currently based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Kevin lived and worked in Switzerland for eight years and in Germany for two years. He has led public relations initiatives in various countries around the world.

Find Kevin on Twitter: @kevinanselmo.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR on Higher Education is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information:

Posted by Kevin Anselmo on 05/15 at 09:11 AM
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Wednesday, May 14, 2014

FIR B2B #9: How Hitachi Data Systems Energizes its Brand Ambassador Network

FIR B2BPaul Gillin and Allan Schoenberg host the FIR B2B podcast. In this episode:

News & Trends

McKinsey Quarterly writes on global flows, pointing out that the flow of data, as well as goods and services, across geographic boundaries, is increasingly being tied to economic performance and business success. One-third of goods now cross borders and digital communications are increasingly essential to staying in business. Digital has also becoming a great leveler in the competition between small and large companies, making small firms into “micromultinationals.”

Is Twitter over? There’s been considerable debate over this topic recently but our hosts just aren’t buying it. Twitter still has great value as a listening tool, Allan says, but all social networks are struggling to find their next big act.

Text100 surveyed technology buyers and found that seven execs are involved in the average technology buying decision. Notably, buyers use the same information sources at every stage of the buying funnel, and vendor websites are among them. This makes a compelling argument for why B2B companies should be using digital channels to drive prospects to their websites.

While B2B publishers may not have made the Text100 list of buying influences, recent data from tech media publisher Folio shows that print remain strong as a revenue source. It appears that B2B media are still performing well in their traditional awareness-raising role, even if consideration and vendor selection have moved online.

Despite weak quarterly earnings, LinkedIn continues to show core strength as a research vehicle and a way to sustain business relationships, according to new research. LinkedIn has become a must-use for sales and recruitment professionals to build relationships and research job prospects. From a B2B sales perspective, LinkedIn is still an essential stop on the journey.

Special Guest: Sharon Crost from Hitachi Data Systems

Sharon Crost joins us for a discussion of what Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) is doing to energize its ambassadors, which include employees, partners and fans. HDS created a Social Media Ambassador Club several years ago to help mentor fans in their use of social tools. It’s now creating a steady stream of shareable content that it delivers to its ambassadors in a format that can be easily shared on their social networks of choice. A content, education and nurturing program ensures that ambassadors are comfortable with the tools and the content they share.

HDS wants 80% of the content that’s shared to be industry-related, rather than specific to the company. Everything is tagged by topic and appropriateness to the audience. One of the biggest obstacles the company confronted was fear - fear of saying the wrong thing, of running afoul of policy or of getting the facts wrong. Executive sponsorship, mentoring and an attitude of forgiveness has helped there.

HDS also created five outcome measurements - including buzz, share of voice and leads generated - to measure success. She discusses what the company does to track each critical metric.

Download a PowerPoint presentation that outlines HDS’ ambassador program here.

Follow @SharonHDS on Twitter


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About Your Hosts

Paul GillinPaul Gillin is a veteran technology journalist and a thought leader in new media. Since 2005, he has advised marketers and business executives on strategies to optimize their use of social media and online channels to reach buyers cost-effectively. He is the author or co-author of five books, including Social Marketing to the Business Customer (2011), the first book devoted entirely to B2B social media marketing. He is also a social media trainer and coach at Profitecture, a training firm for B2B companies and their channel partners.

Allan SchoenbergAllan Schoenberg is based in London and responsible for managing the international media relations, issues management and brand communications for CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse financial marketplace. He was instrumental in launching the company’s social media activity in 2007 and continues to lead its social strategy and online community engagement. He has more than 20 years of experience in B2B communications, including his work for Accenture, Edelman Worldwide and Fleishman Hillard.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR B2B is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications,serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Paul Gillin on 05/14 at 10:27 AM
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FIR Presents Inside PR 372: Mesh Conference with Mark Evans

FIR Presents Inside PRMark Evans is a co-founder of mesh conference, which is in its ninth year, and will be held in Toronto on May 27-28.

Roving reporter, Martin Waxman, recently caught up with him.

He began the conversation by talking about the biggest surprises Mark has seen since the conference started.

And, as a former journalist, Martin wanted to know what’s been the biggest change in media since he was writing, and why pitches from PR professionals are still terrible.

Mark handles the latter question extremely well, while providing some great feedback on the things PR pros should consider, even with the immense amount of pressure we face from clients.

They talk about the media stream at mesh, which is the brain child and passion of Matthew Ingram, about the trend toward the new media companies introducing newswires to capture citizen journalists, and the y talk about the conference.

What’s most interesting (as I listened to the interview) is Mark’s take on Neil Harbisson, Mark Little, and Stewart Butterfield.

You’ll find what he has to say about each of these speakers really interesting. He talks about how Neil’s cyborg activism will help you think differently about how you live your life and how you do your job because it gives you a different perspective. How Mark, with the help of Storyful – the company he founded – is standing in the social “grayness” to help us determine what is actually news and what is not. And how Stewart salvaged a business from complete failure by doing a strategic pivot.

It’s a good episode you don’t want to miss!

Disclosure: Thornley Fallis is helping out on the PR for this year’s Mesh conference.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google PlusShare your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also reach Inside PR’s hosts by email at insideprcomments@gmail.com, or join the InsidePR Google Plus community or Facebook group. InsidePR is on Twitter at @Inside_PR. You can send us an instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR: Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine D’Arbelles and Ashlea LeCompte.

Check the FIR website for information about other FIR podcasts. To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed.

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

Posted by shel on 05/14 at 09:37 AM
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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 22: May 13, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and MichaelIn this episode of Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael (#TLL) we interview Julio Viskovich. Julio talks about sellarketing, social selling and the use of LinkedIn.

Julio Viskovich (@JulioVisko) is a digital strategy, online video and social selling consultant. He helps develop campaigns and strategies to empower human to human customer engagement, improve customer experience, and grow the lifetime value of each of your customers by turning them into lifelong advocates. Julio has worked with a number of Fortune 500 brands to develop, implement, and build local, national, and global social selling programs, and social communications strategies. Author of Sellarketing – a tweetable book about social selling. He blogs on Marketo, HootSuite, Social Media Today, Nimble, and B2B Community.

Julio Viskovich

Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes!

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter: @MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 05/13 at 05:01 PM
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Monday, May 12, 2014

AMP UP Your Social Media #25: Using Social Media for Events with Ramsey Ksar

AMP UP Your Social MediaRamsey Ksar is the CEO & Chief Product Officer for Blyve, a real-time web and mobile audience engagement platform for today’s leading brands and media companies that brings people closer to the things they love. He recently joined AMP UP Your Social Media’s host Glenn Gaudet to discuss how social media can be a powerful tool for events.

Don’t only think about engagement, think about lead generation!

Ramsey shares a couple of ways that you can use social media to help elevate engagement during an event:

  1. During live events, offer your audience the opportunity to join in on debates. Both your social media audience and your live audience can join in to ask questions to debate candidates and your coordinator can filter them for good ones.
  2. Reserve dedicated times for live interactions with event participants, athletes, etc. For example, after a speaker comes off stage, set them down at a computer for 30 minutes for a live Q&A session with your social media audience.

Ramsey would love to hear from you! Chat with him on Twitter.

About Ramsey Ksar

Ramsey Ksar is an entrepreneur at heart with a passion for consumer focused experiences built around intuitive user interfaces. He is currently the CEO & Chief Product Officer for Blyve, a real-time web and mobile audience engagement platform for today’s leading brands and media companies that brings people closer to the things they love.

Prior to Blyve, he held key product management positions at Yahoo! including Director of Social Platforms (just prior to leaving for Blyve) as well as Group PM for Yahoo!‘s critically important broadband relationships with AT&T, BT, and Verizon. At the Walt Disney Internet Group, he held the position of Sr. Director of Product Management for Search and Directory, a cornerstone position responsible for managing a large team that delivered Infoseek’s search engine and the Go Guides open directory, as well as the launch of the Disney backed GO.com.

He started his career at Silicon Graphics (SGI) in 1995 in global business development where he was quickly thrown into a leadership position presenting to and managing many of SGI’s Fortune 500 customers. The success he realized in this position translated into his first product management role where he created hardware/software bundles targeted at the nascent Internet service provider and web content creator markets.

He holds a degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he graduated in 1995. Last but not least, with a little research, you will quickly find out that he is also an avid photographer who loves travel and lifestyle photography.

Get this podcast:

Tweet about the show using #AUYSM or Tweet at us @AMPUpSocial. AMP Up Your Social Media is a proud member of the FIR Podcast Network.

FIR Community on Google PlusShare your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

Join the AMP Up Your Social Media Google Plus community or Facebook group. You can send us an instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Check the FIR website for information about other FIR podcasts. To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed.

AMP UP Your Social Media is sponsored by:

  • GaggleAMP - Empower your employees, partners and resellers to amplify your social media.
  • SafeLinks - Know when your links on social media messages fail before you lose out on the people clicking on them.

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

Posted by Glenn Gaudet on 05/12 at 10:09 AM
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The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #755: May 12, 2014

FIRIntro: FIR Book Review coming: ‘The Mobile Mind Shift’ by Ted Schadler, Josh Bernoff and Julie Ask from Forrester;

Quick News: Marketing executives call PR an underutilized strategy; ready or not, the new Twitter profile will roll out to all on May 28; Twitter adds social recruiting to the mix; easyJet’s aviation first with drones, augmented reality, bespoke apps and more; Ragan promo;

News That Fits: Tips for creating a meaningful social media analytics report; Dan York’s Tech Report: FCC network neutrality vote coming up this week, and more; getting hashtags right; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; listener comments in audio and in the FIR Podcast Community on Google+; the dire state of the print-news business where the digital cavalry is no saviour; the past week on the FIR Podcast Network; Michael Netzley’s Asia Report: the rise of "Chinglish" on social media, and more; Igloo Software promo; why Vine’s new website is a big deal for marketers;

Music from Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit; and more.

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir; Igloo Software, providers of an intranet you’ll actually like, delivered securely with our cloud platform: learn more at www.igloosoftware.com/fir.

For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report for May 12, 2014: An 89-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Wokingham, Berkshire, England.

Links to websites, blog posts and other content we discuss in the show are posted as Delicious bookmarks to facilitate your connection with the discussions and sharing of that content.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

So, until Monday May 19…

Posted by neville on 05/12 at 12:01 AM
Show Notes • Hobson and Holtz • (0) Comments • Permalink

Friday, May 09, 2014

FIR Live: The 2014 class of IABC Fellows

The Google+ Hangout on Air with four of the five IABC Fellows. The new Fellows participating in the conversation include John Deveney, ABC; George McGrath; Mark Schumann, ABC; and Jennifer Wah, ABC. Brad Whitworth, ABC—a longtime Fellow who had the idea for this session—also joined us.

 

Get FIR:

Messages from our sponsors: FIR is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years, www.ragan.com; Save time with the CustomScoop online clipping service: sign up for your free two-week trial, at www.customscoop.com/fir; Igloo Software, providers of an intranet you’ll actually like, delivered securely with our cloud platform: learn more at www.igloosoftware.com/fir.

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (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 podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the "everything" RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

Posted by shel on 05/09 at 12:13 PM
Show Notes • FIR Live • (0) Comments • Permalink
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