The FIR Podcast Network

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Interview - Gerald R. Baron, author, “Now is Too Late” - January 11, 2006

In this edition of For Immediate Release podcast interviews, Shel enjoyed a 55-minute conversation with Gerald Baron, author of the crisis communications book, “Now is Too Late: Survival in the Era of Instant News.”

Download the conversation here (MP3, 21MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and our future interviews 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. To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, sign up for the full RSS feed.

About our Conversation Partner:

Gerald Baron is the founder and vice president of Audience Central with involvement in thought leadership around public information management and crisis communications. Mr. Baron founded AudienceCentral shortly after his role as spokesperson during the Olympic Pipeline rupture and explosion in 1999. He is also a contracted PIO for the Shell Puget Sound Refinery and other clients. He has been involved in producing crisis communications plans, as well as conducting numerous drills and exercises for various crisis scenarios.

Mr. Baron has been in marketing and public relations for over 24 years, serving as president of Baron & Company. He was a regional magazine publisher, co-founder of a successful vertical market software company and a university professor. He holds an MA in Communications from Wheaton College and Doctorate of Humanities (Honoris Causa) from Trinity Western University. He has written three books including “Now is Too Late: Survival in an Era of Instant News,” published by Financial Times/Prentice Hall in 2003. He is a frequent speaker at national public relations and industry conferences.

Interview Segment Time Points:

00:21 Shel introduces the interview
00:56 Gerald runs down his background
03:55 Gerald’s business focus, including crisis communications
05:15 Gerald defines “crisis”
06:13 Can you plan for a crisis?
08:41 Gerald pinpoints the changes to crisis management since the introduction of the 24-hour news cycle
09:31 The key implication is the difference in the speed with which information travels
12:23 Gerald talks about when he wrote his book and the update he’s currently working on
12:56 Blogs are now in the picture as a big part of the post-media world
13:45 Gerald addresses the significance of blogs on crisis management
14:50 Some crises—like the “60 Minutes II” crisis at CBS—are generated by blogs
16:15 Organizations are now the broadcaster; we don’t have to rely on the media to get our information out
17:00 CBS should have engaged bloggers
18:59 Gerald discusses the mishandling of the West Virginia coal mining tragedy communications
22:38 The balance between accuracy and speed: Accuracy shouldn’t always come first
23:46 Overcoming the time lags caused by review and approval processes
26:07 Public react to crises emotionally
27:52 News is now infotainment; fear is an important element of how news is conveyed
29:25 Should a company take advantage of its own blog in a crisis?
32:32 Should companies with blogs allow comments during a crisis?
35:53 Shel asks about companies that complain about the time and resources required to monitor citizen journalism and other consumer-generated media
37:42 The age-old principles of crisis communication still apply
40:50 It’s important to conduct crisis drills with the leadership team
44:51 Online crises should be addressed the same as you would address a media crisis
48:08 Gerald uses the Apple iPod Nano crisis as an example
48:53 The importance of dark or crisis-ready sites; Gerald’s PIER product accommodates this
52:10 PIER is a virtual communications center for crises and emergencies
53:26 Gerald says the second edition of his book will be out in two months
53:32 About this podcast and where to find For Immediate Release
54:43 Where to send comments

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Intrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 01/11 at 11:40 AM
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Monday, January 09, 2006

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #101: January 9, 2006

Content summary: Wal-Mart and a blog crisis; relaunching The Observer and the role of the companion blog; banned words for 2006; is Google Pack for the enterprise?; ZenCast’s new definition of podcast; Lee Hopkins report; listeners’ comments discussions (competitive PR advantage, congrats on 100 and 101 shows, RSS and podcasts in job hunting, call to action to communicators); much more than ‘miscommunication’ in last week’s US mining tragedy; upcoming interview; the music.

Show notes for January 9, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 78-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, 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 Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:28 Shel intro the show; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes

News Briefs:

01:30 Wal-mart’s website database error attracts unsavoury blog commentaries
08:16 The Observer relaunches and journalists chronicle relaunch day in the newspaper’s blog
12:23 Banned words for 2006
17:22 Is Google Pack for the enterprise? Perhaps not the applications themselves, which have attracted some poor reviews, more the Google Updater feature according to Charlene Li of Forrester Research
29:51 Creative Labs launches ZenCasts - and redefines the term ‘podcast’

From Our Correspondent Down Under:

31:12 Lee Hopkins reports - are corporate newsletters leaving us for a better life elsewhere? interview with Donna Tocci; sex, wonderbras and the corporate communicator

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

38:19 A shoutout from David Jones
38:54 David Phillips on competitive advantage, the glacial pace of PR’s evolution, and bringing marketing and advertising under the PR wing (edited audio comment: full version here)
43:31 Robert French‘s congrats on 100 shows
44:18 Clarence Jones’ salute on reaching show #101 with some suggestions on reaching out to a youthful audience
48:36 Robin Capper says the show notes help him get to the content he wants to listen to, and has some further thoughts about using RSS and podcasts in job hunting
50:24 David Jones (again) with congrats on 100 shows, on the commitment needed for blogging and podcasting, and a call to action to communicators to participate in discussions on The New PR Wiki (Shel and Neville have some views on this, too)

Feature:

56:41 Much more than ‘miscommunication’ in last week’s US mining tragedy - fast-moving events mean communication control is difficult at best, the conflicting obligations of the media when reporting fast-moving events, and what the International Coal Group could or should have done in this major crisis

Outro:

71:46 Neville wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
72:57 Upcoming interview with Gerald Baron, CEO of Audience Central - Wednesday January 11
74:10 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Rollin by Maria Daines

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are now 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. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday January 12…

Posted by neville on 01/09 at 10:20 AM
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Thursday, January 05, 2006

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #100: January 5, 2006

Content summary: Top 10 sources; your CV as an RSS feed and podcast; World Economic Forum podcasting and blogging at upcoming event; CEOs’ biggest fears; Dan York’s report; listeners’ comments discussion; upcoming interview; the music.

Show notes for January 5, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 71-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 29MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:28 Neville introduces the show, milestone #100, what the show’s about, where to send your comments

News Briefs:

02:57 Top 10 Sources - how does it compare to resources like Digg or Memeorandum?
11:10 Job hunting with your CV as an RSS feed and podcast
16:23 World Economic Forum podcasting and blogging at the next meeting
18:45 New survey on CEOs’ biggest fears highlights a few potentially alarming findings regarding executive blogs

From Our US North-East Correspondent:

28:26 Dan York reports - congrats on 100 shows; using Swicki on a TypePad blog; trying out Podzinger; Google Maps is a good way to explain AJAX; send shoutouts to your favourite podcasts; IABC Yankee Chapter workshop; learning from FIR

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

36:37 Warm words from FIR listeners to celebrate show #100 - Howard Harawitz, Donna Papacosta, Rob Cottingham, Lee Hopkins, Alex Bellinger, Marcel de Ruiter, Rob Safuto, Mike McClary, Marc Wright, Jeff Clavier
50:18 Sallie Goetsch with an ‘Intel Inside’ joke and happy anniversary to FIR
53:41 Tom Keefe wonders if he misunderstood Shel’s point in show #95 about the purpose of the IABC Cafe

Outro:

60:15 Shel wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
61:20 Upcoming interview with Gerald Baron, CEO of Audience Central - Wednesday January 11
62:25 Shel and Neville with thanks to some key people who were instrumental in our reaching 100 shows - Lee Hopkins, Dan York, Eric Schwartzman, Podcast Alley Forums, PW Fenton, Craig Patchett, Eric Rice; thanks to all our commenters and all our listeners; to our wives, Michelle Holtz and Laura Hobson; and special thanks to Adam Curry and Dave Winer
66:16 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Shine by Kevin Reeves

So, until Monday January 9…

Posted by neville on 01/05 at 11:04 AM
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Monday, January 02, 2006

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #99: January 2, 2006

Content summary: Unveiling Intel’s new identity; Lincoln Group’s new pay for PR play in Iraq; trying out the Podlifter transcription service; MakeBot; intranet trends to watch in 2006; Lee Hopkins report; listeners’ comments discussion; the music.

Show notes for January 2, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 76-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 31MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:29 Shel introduces the show, what the show’s about, where to send your comments

News Briefs:

01:40 Unveiling Intel’s new identity - far deeper than just a new logo
10:46 Lincoln Group’s new pay for PR play in Iraq
15:46 We’ve tried the Podlifter transcription service for FIR - our initial verdict
23:08 MAKE magazine’s MakeBot mashup for instant messaging - the potential for organizational communication
27:28 Intranet trends to watch in 2006

From Our Correspondent Down Under:

37:20 Lee Hopkins reports on being less self-obsessed and more a part of a village

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

48:02 David Phillips on PR measurement and CEO tagging
54:45 Clarence Jones says podcasters need to pay more attention to ID3 tags
58:53 Rob Cottingham on Canadian political gaffes online, and the TypePad outage
63:54 Sam Vigil points us to some links on the Alaska Airlines blogging issue

Outro:

67:43 Neville wraps the show; Thursday is show #100; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
71:06 What might happen in show #100 on Thursday January 5
71:51 Outro podsafe music via PodcastNYC - Shop Vac by Jonathan Coulton

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.

So, until Thursday January 5…

Posted by neville on 01/02 at 09:12 AM
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Thursday, December 29, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #98: December 29, 2005

Content summary: Say goodbye to ‘Intel inside’; Swicki search; businessman wins spam email lawsuit; PR Value Ratio measurement concept; Podzinger out of beta; listeners’ comments discussion; pithy online communications; CEO tagging; PR issues for Alaska Airlines; the music.

Show notes for December 29, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 60-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 24MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:27 Neville introduces the show, what the show’s about, where to send your comments
01:28 Relaxing during the Christmas/Hannuka holiday: blogging, movies and Broadway

News Briefs:

04:01 Say goodbye to ‘Intel Inside’ as Intel prepares for a new corporate identity
10:09 Shel’s experimenting with Swicki search
15:13 Businessman wins first-of-its-kind spam email lawsuit
17:20 Katie Paine’s PR Value Ratio communication measurement concept - an effective measure? Shel’s keen but Neville’s cynical (and John Wagner says PR shouldn’t waste its time on measurement)
25:34 Search podcasts with Podzinger, now out of beta
27:39 A shoutout from Katie Paine (coincidentally)

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

27:52 Tom Raftery enjoys listening to FIR in his car but has one complaint

Features:

31:10 Do communications online need to be more pithy?
34:33 Tagging into the mind of the CEO - Neville’s keen but Shel’s cynical
41:44 Blogging Alaska Airlines’ flight emergency - looks like big PR issues for the airline

Outro:

52:44 Shel wraps the show; a week from today is show #100; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
55:07 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Sparkle Star by Bubble

So, until Monday January 2…

Posted by neville on 12/29 at 09:23 AM
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Monday, December 26, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #97: December 26, 2005

Content summary: A tag-based search engine, hijacked blogs, censorshop at MySpace, Typepad and Salesforce.com apologize for outages, the New York transit strike, the French parliament encourages Web piracy, a cell phone movie contest, listener comments, and more.

Show notes for December 26, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 62-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and almost live from Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Download the file here (MP3, 25.1MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:30 Shel introduces the show. Neville’s not with us today. Where to send comments.

News Briefs:

02:02 Wink is a new search engine based on tags
05:26 Blog posts are being stolen and put on blogs that make money through Google Ad Words
09:24 MySpace censored references and links to YouTube
15:28 SixApart apologizes for its outage, provides compensation, and promises improvements to communication channels
18:45 Salesforce.com apologizes for its outage, offers no compensation, and points the finger elsewhere
21:25 Neville checks in from the UK
22:41 The New York Transit strike results in increased visits to Internet poker sites
26:37 France welcomes download piracy
29:35 Neville checks RSS feeds using FreeNews on his Nokia N70
31:05 A contest for high school and college students seeks short films shot with cell phone cameras

Listener Comments Discussion

37:10 A shoutout from Heidi Miller
37:32 Sallie Goetsch on ghost-written blogs
38:16 Shel broadens the topic to include links in blogs based on Shel Israel’s slam on Richard Edelman’s blog
39:24 Shel discusses the idea of rules governing what’s right and wrong in blogging
43:06 Sallie Goetsch on women, gadgets and age
49:15 Les Posen’s audio comment on Microsoft’s product placement efforts on “The Apprentice”
58:39 Shel responds with thoughts on integrating product placement with open source marketing
51:29 John Umbaugh comments on what he gets out of the show
52:52 John offers some constructive criticism for the show; Shel responds

Outro:

57:28 Shel closes the show with reminders to send comments and notes that the show notes at on the show blog and cross-posted to Shel’s and Neville’s blogs
59:14 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Artist: Amplifico; Track: “All Your Sins”

Posted by shel on 12/26 at 10:13 AM
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Thursday, December 22, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #96: December 22, 2005

Content summary: GM uses video iPod in media relations campaign; a Christmas shopping tale; we’re all tech junkies now; Eric Schwartzman’s interview with Doug Kaye; listeners’ comments discussion; measuring communication old and new; Dan York’s report; the music.

Show notes for December 22, 2005

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

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:30 Neville introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to contribute your comments; Wednesday’s interview with Andy Abramson; thoughts about what to do on our 100th show

News Briefs:

05:11 Weber Shandwick delivers a video iPod with pictures and video as part of a media kit for the Saturn Sky
08:23 Online shops experience a last-minute holiday shopping rush
10:09 The growth in online shopping
11:19 Women get more into high-tech gadgets
15:03 Ipsos study on addiction to high-tech gadets

Eric Schwartzman’s Interview:

18:27 Eric interviews Doug Kaye
19:34 Formats: News podcasts vs. feature podcasts
20:15 Privitization of the Net
22:29 Licensed music on podcasts
24:04 How to get the entire interview
24:43 Neville talks about podcasts as conversations

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

26:46 Shel Israel gives us a shoutout
27:22 MIchael SOulier comments on Google’s ability to index sites (in reference to the European Publishers’ lawsuit seeking to stop the practice)
30:17 Michael hates the word “webinar”
32.21 Michael comments on IT staff who want to control content
32:59 Michael points us to a Firefox extension that lets you customize Google
33:23 Michael Kirpatrick on the Peppercom survey and the lack of RSS feeds at the Daily Dog
Clarence Jones discusses outages at Typepad and del.icio.us
42:32 Heather Hamilton on whether podcasters will fill the drive-time void left by Howard Stern
45:29 Craig Jolley discusses the “horizontal knowledge” article by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
47:52 Vishnu Mahmoud asks about PR performance measurement in new media

Features:

48:50Neville and Shel discuss measurement vs. monitoring in public relations

A Report from Dan York:

56:07 Dan introduces his segment
Dan liked our Show #91, the discussion of the future of public relations
56:49 Dan also liked our interview with Rick Klau and has some positive thoughts about FeedBurner’s MyBrand
58:02 Dan’s thoughts about Live Journal‘s excellent record vs. Typepad’s outages
59:21 Dan discusses the idea of the ultimate “subscribe” button for RSS feeds
60:26 Dan introduces Local Frappr
61:18 Dan likes the as well as Paul Figgiani’s podcast, The Point
62:05 Dan has a good reason for Neville and SHel to keep the H&H Report under 75 minutes
64:12 Dan’s background music was “If Every Day Were Christmas” by Podsafe for Peace
64:36 Neville comments on the not-yet-ubiquitous use of the Firefox RSS symbol

Outro:

65:66 Shel closes the show with reminders to send comments and notes that the show notes at on the show blog and cross-posted to Shel’s and Neville’s blogs
67:18 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - If Every Day Were Christmas by Podsafe for Peace (note, $1 purchase at Podsafe for Peace benefits UNICEF

So, until Monday December 26…

Posted by neville on 12/22 at 10:33 AM
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Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Interview - Andy Abramson, CEO, Comunicano - December 21, 2005

In this edition of For Immediate Release podcast interviews, Shel and Neville enjoyed a 58-minute conversation with Andy Abramson, CEO of Comunicano, the PR agency behind the blog relations campaign for the Nokia N90 smartphone.

Download the conversation here (MP3, 23MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and our future interviews 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. To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, sign up for the full RSS feed.

About our Conversation Partner:

Andy Abramson is the founder of Comunicano, Inc, a boutique marketing consultancy geared to providing clients with a full service agency, senior advising and marketer-in-residence services to start-ups, companies in transition and established brands with regard to marketing, advertising, public relations, promotion, events and reputation management. He is also co-founder, President and Senior Strategy Officer of The Next Box, Inc, a virtual marketing service agency.

A veteran of the marketing and public relations industry, Andy has over 31 years of experience in all facets of marketing and corporate communications. In addition to his daily marketing and public relations activities Andy also co-hosts “The World Technology Round Up,” a daily technology webcast that is heard via KenRadio.com and its syndication partners, by more than 200,000 daily listeners around the globe. He has also served as the BBC’s Consumer Electronics Market analyst in the USA at CES, and was seen in 46 countries and 45 PBS stations, by more than 11 million people. Along with Rutkowski, Abramson co-hosts the annual San Diego Telecom Council’s GadgetFest, each fall, a preview event of the newest and coolest consumer technology products around.

Often quoted both in the consumer and industry press, Andy authors VoIPWatch, a daily weblog.

Interview Segment Time Points:

Detailed show notes to come.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by neville on 12/21 at 10:07 AM
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Monday, December 19, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #95: December 19, 2005

Content summary: Latest survey on corporate blogging; the declining trust in corporations; Google buys AOL stake; Pheedo study on ads in RSS; Gmail on cell phones; Topix.net accepts user content; Steve Rubel quits Across the Sound; Lee Hopkins’ report; listeners’ comments discussion (why blogs and wikis are so good; a Christmas list for communicators); does blogging equal transparency?; the TypePad communication crisis for Six Apart; upcoming interview; the music.

Show notes for December 19, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 95-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 38MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:28 Shel introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to contribute your comments; upcoming interview on Wednesday December 21 with Andy Abramson on Nokia’s blog relations campaign; update on the FIR Frappr community

News Briefs:

02:37 Latest corporate blogging survey highlights commercialization and ghost-writing as major concerns by PRs and marketers
07:37 World Economic Forum survey on the declining trust in government, corporations and global institutions - the results aren’t good
11:56 Google buys stake in AOL; changes afoot with how advertising may be incorporated in search results and elsewhere
16:22 Pheedo study shows stand-alone ads in RSS feeds are highly influential on click-through rates
19:11 Gmail now available on your mobile phone
22:58 Topix.net acccepts user news contributions - a further sign of convergence between mainstream media and citizen journalists
24:57 Steve Rubel steps down from Across the Sound - what impact will the loss of one of the two co-hosts have on the podcast?

From Our Correspondent Down Under:

28:58 Lee Hopkins reports - a proud father with a hoarse voice; a wrong font and bad syntax; aligning all the pieces of the puzzle for ‘nuanced communication’

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

38:28 David Phillips with the reasons why blogs and wikis are so good and such a threat to the control freaks
42:29 David again, with an audio Christmas list for communication professionals

Features:

47:39 Does blogging equal transparency? An issues discussion on the IABC Chair blog
58:31 The consequences for Six Apart following the TypePad service outage on December 16 - what happened, customer relationship issues, Six Apart’s communication efforts (including a podcast interview), blogger conversations; comments from Sebastian Keil and Dennis Howlett; what now for for Six Apart: business issues and the role of communication. Tell us your views on this issue.

Outro:

90:45 Neville wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; reminder of interview on Wednesday December 21 with Any Abramson; where to find the show notes
91:54 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Did You Think by Adrina Thorpe

So, until Thursday December 22…

Posted by neville on 12/19 at 10:26 AM
Show Notes • (2) Comments • Permalink

Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #94: December 15, 2005

Content summary: Personal video uploads at YouTube.com: the new ‘Flickr for video’; self-destruct SMS messaging; the Structured Blogging Initiative; are Nielsen TV ratings headed for extinction?; Wikipdia gets high ratings for accuracy of science entries; listeners’ comments discussion (PR and propaganda; show format and length; Nokia N90 blog relations campaign; emotional links; working with IT departments; blog fear of visibility); a meeting of communicators and discovering new media; Syndicate conference; Eric Schwartzman’s interview extract with Marcus Chan, San Francisco Chronicle; the music.

Show notes for December 15, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 68-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 27MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:25 Neville introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to contribute your comments

News Briefs:

02:40 Upload your videos to YouTube.com - the new ‘Flickr for video’
05:33 Self-destruct SMS messaging on your mobile phone
08:50 The buzz about the Structured Blogging Initiative
12:26 Are Nielsen TV ratings headed for extinction?
16:03 Wikipedia rated highly by Nature magazine for accuracy of science entries

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

19:31 Howard Harawitz with more on PR and propaganda and asks what professional associations should be saying on ths issue
22:13 Gershon Schwartz offers some politically-flavoured thoughts on PR and propaganda, and adds that he enjoys FIR
25:44 Henry Abbott likes the show and supports our plan to keep it to an hour (!); some advice on radio presenting techniques; Urchin reports on inbound links
27:05 Jeff Clavier on the show’s format change: “About time :)”
28:13 Brad Bellaver listened to the FIR interview with Sedgwick CMS, thinks an internal podcast was great for them, and asks: What has to happen to allow podcasting to be something communicators can really use as an internal and external communication tool?
33:12 Andy Abramson on the Nokia N90 blog relations campaign (FIR interview with Andy coming up on Wednesday December 21.)
36:16 David Phillips on the emotional links between iPods, cell phones and people
38:29 Sallie Goetsch recounts her good experiences in working with IT departments
42:01 Heather Hamilton on the fear of making oneself 100% visible when starting blogging
44:21 A shoutout from Mike Manuel

Features:

44:42 Neville talks about ‘light bulb moments’ at a client meeting today
48:48 Shel visited the Syndicate conference and met up with lots of interesting people, including Eric Schwartzman
50:14 The Spinfluencer - Eric Schwartzman interviews Marcus Chan, podcast editor at the San Francisco Chronicle

Outro:

62:11 Shel wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes; good info on RSS in last Tuesday’s interview with Rick Klau of FeedBurner
63:24 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - From This Day by Rocket City Riot

So, until Monday December 19…

Posted by neville on 12/15 at 10:50 AM
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Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Interview - Rick Klau, VP Business Development, FeedBurner - December 13, 2005

In this edition of For Immediate Release podcast interviews, Shel and Neville enjoyed a 53-minute conversation with Rick Klau, Vice President of Business Development for FeedBurner, the RSS service.

About our Conversation Partner:

Rick Klau is Vice President of Business Development at FeedBurner, the market-leading feed management provider. He is responsible for cultivating and managing relationships with large media companies, entertainment networks, newspapers and a variety of other commercial publishers. Prior to FeedBurner, Rick held the same role at Socialtext, the first enterprise social software company. Previously, Rick was Vice President of Vertical Markets at Interface Software, now part of the Lexis-Nexis family where he held the position of company spokesperson. Rick has also held senior marketing positions at iManage through an IPO.

An accomplished public speaker, moderator, panelist and author of a popular blog, Rick has received extensive coverage in a variety of major media publications throughout his career including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CIO, InfoWorld, Inc. Magazine, Internet World, The Washington Post and more. He has published a number of books and columns covering the topics of technology, law, ecommerce and online security. Rick earned AB Degrees in International Affairs and French from Lafayette College, a JD from the University of Richmond School of Law and a Baccalaureate Degree from l’Université de Bourgogne.

Interview Segment Time Points:

00:29 Neville introduces the conversation
01:29 Rick talks about his background and what he’s doing at FeedBurner
04:02 About FeedBurner
05:40 FeedBurner’s tie-up with Reuters, announced today: expanding delivery of text news via RSS and to enable advertising
07:03 Advertising in RSS feeds: where this is heading and FeedBurner’s role
11:00 Measuring RSS feed readership and manipulating statistical data
12:41 Shel: Todd Cochrane’s criticisms of FeedBurner’s Total Stats Pro service
13:23 Feed hosting and stats; Total Stats Pro primarily designed for text feeds not yet podcasts
15:52 Portability of FeedBurner RSS feeds
18:12 What happens to your feeds if FeedBurner changes its business or you don’t want to continue using FeedBurner?
20:40 Neville: what is FeedFlare, announced today?
21:15 How FeedFlare tags and makes feeds more dynamic and interactive
24:49 Shel: most PR pros still don’t understand what RSS is
25:26 The challenges for easier adoption of RSS
27:03 RSS adoption: signficant industry advances in the coming year to aid easier takeup
28:54 Neville: ‘subscribe’, not ‘RSS’ or ‘XML’
29:38 Talking about technology in terms that benefit the user
31:03 Reader-friendly RSS feeds when you click on that RSS icon
31:58 Complexities of multiple RSS feed aggregation
34:32 Neville: FeedBurner CEO Dick Costolo’s report in November on adding ‘threads’ to ‘items’: what does this mean and how will it work?
35:36 Focusing on the feed item not the RSS feed itself: how FeedFlare is the first step forward
38:07 So many people doing intriguing and compelling things with RSS
39:26 Shel: the confusions of offering multiple RSS subscription options
39:56 Resolving the problems of ‘syndication bingo’
46:00 Where RSS is headed
48:48 Rick: send us your questions and comments
49:21 Finding more information about FeedBurner’s services
50:36 Concluding comments about the conversation
51:20 About this podcast and where to find For Immediate Release.

Links for the individuals and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the conversation:

Rick Klau, FeedBurner, SocialText, Ross Mayfield, Reuters, Total Stats Pro, Todd Cochrane, Geek News Central, Eric Rice, Audioblog, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, TextPattern, FeedFlare, Wannabe Venture Capitalist, Technorati, del.icio.us, WordPress, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Vista, Bloglines, My Yahoo!, NewsGator Online, Dick Costolo, Microsoft’s Simple Sharing Extensions (SSE), Apple, Pluck, Rojo, Burning Questions, Jack Klugman, Bruce Springsteen, Publisher Buzz.

Podsafe intro music - On A Podcast Intrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

Posted by shel on 12/13 at 10:00 AM
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Monday, December 12, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #93: December 12, 2005

Content summary: Yahoo! acquires del.icio.us and teams up with Six Apart to offer Movable Type; IABC adds new media categories to Gold Quill Awards; Irish government uses RSS to deliver budget information; the Wikipedia class action lawsuit website; Nokia’s blog relations campaign for the N90 smartphone; listeners’ audio and email comments (from Geneva to Zurich; PR on wealth creation; PR and propaganda; a salute to the music; best HR blog example); when IT controls communication; reaching out to truck drivers: is podcasting the way?; Lee Hopkins’ report; the music.

Show notes for December 12, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 76-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In this Edition:

Intro

00:25 Shel introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to contribute your comments
02:01 Interview coming up on Tuesday December 13 - Rick Klau, FeedBurner
02:52 We’re experimenting with a new format for the show - let us know what you think

News Briefs

06:07 Yahoo! acquires del.icio.us and teams up with Six Apart to offer Movable Type blogs for small businesses (plus a rumor that Yahoo! will also be offering WordPress blogs)
12:05 IABC adds blogs, wikis and podcasts categories to Gold Quill Awards
13:47 Irish government offers multiple ways of getting budget info including via RSS
15:43 A class action lawsuit against Wikipedia is under development
18:59 Nokia’s blog relations campaign for the N90 smartphone

Listeners’ Comments Discussion

25:49 Andrew Marritt says moving from Geneva to Zurich means it’s harder to get to the ski slopes, among other things
30:20 David Phillips with more on the role of PR in wealth creation, and on PR and propaganda
35:54 An anonymous listener salutes our choice of music for show #85
36:43 John Cass says one of the best examples of an HR blog is Microsoft’s Heather Hamilton
40:39 Brother Love shouts out!

Features

41:23 A sorry tale of how IT controls communication in one organization. Is this still prevalent today?
53:51 Reaching out to truck drivers - is podcasting the way?
62:19 From Our Correspondent Down Under: Lee Hopkins’ Report

Outro

69:44 Neville wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
71:09 Upcoming interview on Tuesday December 13 with Rick Klau, VP Business Development, FeedBurner
71:25 The FIR community progresses on Frappr
72:16 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Ragtop Cadillac by George Fletcher-Bourbon Renewal

So, until Thursday December 15…

Posted by neville on 12/12 at 10:23 AM
Show Notes • (2) Comments • Permalink

Thursday, December 08, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #92: December 8, 2005

Content summary: Listeners’ audio and email comments (a proto-vlog in Australia; the future of newspapers; IBM’s podcasting guidelines; what’s the best tool for starting an electronic conversation?; PR and propaganda; offending employees with guidelines for personal presentation; how HR can use blogs; more on the future of PR to add to show #91) Wikipedia dust-ups; reflections on Les Blogs 2.0 conference and the notion of blogger civility; European publishers attack Google; upcoming FIR interview; the music.

Show notes for December 8, 2005 Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 92-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and almost live from Washington, DC, USA. Download the file here (MP3, 37MB), 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). In this Edition: Intro:

00:28 Neville introduces the show; Shel‘s travellling and Neville’s back at base
01:40 What the show’s about; how to contribute your comments

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

03:57 Peter Chen with an example of a proto-vlog in Australia
05:28 Sallie Goetsch finds it hard keeping up with FIR’s ‘phenomenal output’; on names and spelling; working on the present state of PR, never mind what the future looks like; the future of newspapers
09:01 Ron Shewchuk follows up with additional comment to the future of PR discussion in show #91
11:35 Mike Strock asks if we’re aware of IBM’s podcasting guidelines
13:02 Luke Armour enjoys FIR and asks what’s best for starting an ‘electronic discussion’ - a blog, wiki or something else?
18:51 Howard Harawitz asks what’s the difference between PR and propaganda with a story on US government use of PR to support the war in Iraq
23:22 Les Posen recounts the story the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s guidelines for personal presentation which offended many employees
28:09 Andrew Marritt suggests a good approach for how HR can use internal blogs
31:36 Rob Safuto adds some thoughts to the discussion in show #91 on the future of PR re skills communicators will need
35:49 Mike Soulier thinks podcasting is great; he’s interested in PR even though he’s not in PR; and some opinions on Lookout! and Internet Exploder ;)
41:02 David Jones says show #91 was fantastic, summarizes one of that show’s sentiments - let’s not fall in love witb the tools - and comments on how he sees the future of PR and skills develoment in PR
45:35 Trackbacks to show #91’s post, from Eric Eggertson and Kami Watson Huyse

News and Features:

47:44 Shel’s in Washington, and it’s cold (but not as cold as in Chicago)
48:32 The swirling controversy for Wikipedia over John Siegenthaler’s false biography (entry) and Adam Curry’s editing of the history of podcasting (entry), and the implications for communicators
64:43 Neville’s reflections on the Les Blogs 2.0 conference in Paris earlier this week, with some comment on Mena Trott’s keynote address calling for more civility in blogging and commenting, and the infamous backchannel episode
75:00 European publishers’ association goes after Google to try and stop the search engine from “making money from copyrighted content”

Outro:

82:44 Neville wraps the show; upcoming interview on Tuesday December 13 with Rick Klau, VP Business Development, FeedBurner
83:44 Both of us live on next Monday’s show; how and where to send your comments; only two weeks until Christmas; where to find the show notes
86:17 Outro podsafe music via PodcastNYC - Forward Motion by Jamie Leonhart

So, until Monday December 12…

Posted by neville on 12/08 at 02:09 PM
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Monday, December 05, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #91: December 5, 2005

Content summary: A special edition: Neville and Shel discuss the future of public relations and the skills communicators will need to succeed in a forever-altered communication environment. The discussion includes listener feedback.

Show notes for December 5, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 75-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 35MB), 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).

In this Edition:

Detailed show notes to come.

So, until Thursday, December 8…

Posted by shel on 12/05 at 05:33 AM
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Thursday, December 01, 2005

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #90: December 1, 2005

Content summary: Listeners’ comments discussion (changing intro music for FIR book review podcasts; working on new H&H Report intro music for show #100; World AIDS Day; Blog Marketing book for review; tapping into FIR; Sony BMG going down the drain; two sides of crisis communication; new media tools not so effective in parts of Asia; blogs and HR communication; experiences with Google ads; not good PR by China); moderating a panel at IABC Europe conference; British Airways catering problems continue; new Daimler Chrysler CEO and culture change; a new RSS tutorial; Firefox 1.5 is out; Blogspotting’s first podcast-focused podcast; iPod synching problems; Corante Network launches; GM Fastlane takes on marketing discussion; IBM’s first external jam; interviews from Eric Schwartzman and David Jones.

Show notes for December 1, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 98-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and almost live from Paris, France.

In this Edition:

Intro:

00:28 Shel introduces the show; future of PR discussion now on Monday’s show; what’s in today’s show’s; how to comment

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

04:10 Sally Goetsch wonders if she got under Shel’s skin; and suggests a change of intro music for the FIR book reviews podcast
07:17 Lloyd Grosse is working on some ideas for new H&H Report intro music for the 100th show; and offers some personal thoughts on World AIDS Day
09:34 Jeremy Wright is glad Shel’s now got Blog Marketing for review
10:22 PR grad student Luke Armour’s glad he found FIR and would like to tap into us
12:36 Pat Wayne asks if anyone knows how to stop Sony BMG going down the drain over the rootkit nightmare; and worries about the two sides of communication at companies in crisis
20:14 Vishnu Mahmud says new communication tools like blogs and podcasts aren’t so effective in parts of Asia where teledensity is low and PC penetration even less; and some thoughts on the controversial Volkswagen suicide bomber ad early this year
27:37 Mike McClary asks if we know of any organizations that use blogs in the HR communications mix?
30:20 Bryan Person offers congrats on Shel’s and Neville’s participation in the Corante Network; a plug for Eric Schwartzman’s On The Record Online podcast; experiences with Google ads and the difficulty in filtering out adult-oriented material; and compliments to the Aussie cricket team
37:55 Marshall Kirkpatrick wanted to make sure we saw a post and discussion of the Chinese government’s terrible PR around the recent
Harbin chemical disaster

News and Features:

39:41 Across the Sound‘s Steve Rubel does a ‘Neville impression’ - which doesn’t impress Shel
40:51 Neville arrives in Paris ahead of the IABC Europe conference where he’s moderating a panel discussion with Elizabeth Albrycht, Niall Cook and Loic Le Meur
42:47 Airline caterer Gate Gourmet’s dispute with British Airways in August is still affecting in-flight catering: BA needs to sort this out!
44:09 Daimler-Chrysler’s incoming new CEO has some big plans to change the culture at the German/US car company, and communications will play a key role
48:34 A new RSS tutorial offers good insight into this important communication enabler (plus an aside on Robert Scoble’s use of the acronym ‘GYM’ which morphs into ‘goyim’ if you say it quickly)
52:28 Firefox 1.5 is out but you might have some issues with it on a Mac
53:23 Heather Green does her first Business Week podcast on the business of podcasting, interviewing Leo Laporte of TWIT
55:30 Neville has a bit of a rant about iTunes where you can’t sync your iPod on more than one computer (but Shel interjects that you can)
57:17 The Corante Network launches with hubs including one on marketing and PR
60:20 GM talks about marketing strategy on the FastLane blog - a move away from the stated purpose of the blog or an extension of that purpose?
62:51 Neville wraps up and Shel gets Todd Lerner to say a few words about FIR
64:29 The Spinfluencer reports from LA - Eric Schwartzman interview Rob Barrett, general manager interactive of LATimes.com, about the LA Times’ abortive wiki experiment and how the paper is integrating new media into their news gathering and distribution business
75:12 IBM takes its renowned employee ‘jams’ outside this weekend with the Habitat Jam, the first time IBM has offered one of its legendary jams to the general public
80:07 David Jones reports on a Canadian Public Relations Society panel discussion in Toronto on “Wake Up and Smell the Blogs” which featured an interesting group of journalists and thought leaders who also blog and who David interviews: Michael O’Connor Clarke, Marqui Inc; John Oxley, Microsoft Canada; Mark Evans, National Post; Jack Kapica; Geoffrey Rockwell; Rick Segal

Outro:

92:49 Shel wraps the show; where to send comments; where to find show notes
The music - Daybreak by Craymo via the Podsafe Music Network

So, until Monday December 5…

Posted by shel on 12/01 at 08:32 AM
Show Notes • (3) Comments • Permalink

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