NevOn

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #72: September 29, 2005

Content summary: Listeners' comments, an update on the iPod nano, Wikimedia's open-source textbook project, more on soundvertising, Neville's cheese sandwich, a great quote for making the employee blogging case, Whirlpool starts a podcast, a business podcasting white paper, Neville's new mixer.

Show notes for September 29, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 74-minute conversation recorded live from New York and almost live from London.

Download the file here (MP3, 33MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free iPodder, DopplerRadio or iTunes, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Detailed show notes are coming soon.

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 +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Monday, October 3...

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog)

Free access to PR Week online

Hot on the heels of PR Week's making available RSS feeds of much of the content of their US and UK editions, the publisher of the weekly PR industry journal is now offering free access to the complete content of PR Week US and PR Week UK online editions until the end of October.

A notice on the US site yesterday said:

Coinciding with PRWeek.com's relaunch, everyone will be able to access this site without needing a user name or password until October 31, 2005. On November 1, 2005, subscribers will be asked to create a password in order to gain access to articles or features on the site.

Previously, to access online content, you had to be a paid subscriber of the print edition, or register to receive free limited access. It looks like it will revert to that from November if you don't sign up and become a paid subscriber.

An interesting move and, as the magazine says, clearly linked to the relaunch of the title. While PR Week doesn't have serious competition from other publishers as the journal of record for the PR industry, owner Haymarket must be feeling a circulation and advertising pinch as are many other print publications, possibly more so with a title like PR Week where the vast majority of its copies are free distribution, ie, not paid for.

So perhaps this is a move to bolster paid subscriptions to the print editions by letting potential subscribers 'taste the content' online for free for a while. Or, set the scene for a big move in further developing the online editions.

Either way, it might work as long as the content is worth tasting.

An alternative to email catchup

Light posting ahead until the weekend as I'll be travelling, meetings, etc.

Then, a massive email and post-comments catchup.

Do I really mean "catchup"? Comments to blog posts, definitely, but email? My email inbox looks truly horrendous. Boy, do I identify with this:

[...] My email inbox is totally out of control, with more than 8K messages to wade through (that's *after* the spam filter--I might need to just set fire to it and start again!) [...] the usual demands of our accelerating red-shift modern lifestyle means that my email inbox has become obese and should probably be put out of its misery. Does anyone have a match?

Tom Foremski has a way with words!

Related NevOn post:

• Handling the email guilt trip

Spreading the word in Europe

As we head into the last quarter of 2005, it's great to see so many worthwhile professional development events taking place during the next few months which either are wholly about social media from the business perspective or prominently include this broad topic as a constituent part of a conference or seminar.

I invest quite a bit of time in helping spread the word about the value of new media communication channels in organizational communication by getting involved with a range of conferences, seminars and other speaking engagements. So I'm very pleased to be actively involved in presenting and speaking at the following events during the coming months:

• Emerce E-day, Amsterdam, 12 October - panel discussion on "PR and the Blogosphere"
• The Conference Board Europe, Weinheim, Germany, 14 October - leading an interactive session on "The Growing Influence of Blogs on Brand and Corporate Reputation" for the European Council on Corporate Communications
• British Association of Communicators in Business and IABC UK Chapter, London, 3 November - panel discussion "Join the Virtual Revolution" (link to PDF)
• IABC EuroComm, Paris, 1-2 December - moderating opening plenary session panel discussion on "The Giant Global Focus Group: Opportunities and Challenges for Communicators"
• Les Blogs 2.0, Paris, 5-6 December - leading an interactive session on business podcasting

There are a handful of other events at which I'll be speaking which are in the planning-finalization stages. I'll be posting about those - and more details about the events mentioned in this post - soon.

if you're in the communication business and want to find out how new media tools like blogs, podcasts, RSS and wikis can help you achieve your business communication goals, participating in European events such as these will be worth your while.

Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 27-Sept-05

• 24-megabit broadband launched at £24 a month
• Are You on Top of Your Enterprise IM
• Blogging @ McDonald’s
• Blogs that link to Global PR Blog Week 2.0
• Book: Blog! How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business and Culture -- by David Kline & Dan Burstein
• Feed Etiquette
• IABC Financial Communications Conference - Notes
• PR folks see blogs as powerful and dangerous
• The value of the Web 2.0
• What makes an idea viral?
• Whirlpool is podcasting
• Why suing Kate Moss is a really bad idea

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #71: September 26, 2005

Content summary: Listeners’ comments discussion (building engagement; figuring out b5media; the problem with Google Print; good and bad batteries; ID3 tags; finding the needle in the haystack); soundvertising with Senseo; sound quality challenges with podcast interviewing by phone; podcasting: tech challenges and communication opportunities; new business podcasts; tagging; Lee Hopkins report; end of the road for Land Rover customer; Apple's problems with scratchy iPod nano; PR Week RSS feeds.

Show notes for September 26, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 82-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and almost live from Concord, California, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 33MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free iPodder, DopplerRadio or iTunes, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Show notes OPML: Get the show notes on your own PC, Mac, PDA or other device. To use this file, we suggest trying Dave Winer's OPML Editor (for Windows).

In this Edition:

Intro:

• 00:29 Neville introduces the show; Shel's on the road today; what the show’s about; what’s in this edition; how to give your feedback; show notes

Listeners' comments discussion:

• 04:03 Andrew Marritt builds engagement and asks if we missed something from show #70's show notes
• 06:07 Jeremy Wright is figuring b5media out on the go
• 06:41 Sallie Goetsch says the problem with Google Print isn't the project itself but the opt-out approach not opt-in
• 10:17 Dan York with more on batteries - alkalines good, NiMH not good
• 12:29 Sebastian Keil guesses iTunes is messing up FIR's ID3 tags, has some suggestions about batteries, and says Vodafone Germany has the technology for VoIP blocking
• 14:42 Craig Jolley tries to find a needle in the FIR haystack and wonders about Podcast Anxiety and Podcast Unavailability Trauma

News and Features:

• 17:58 Soundvertising - is Adam Curry's suggestion for Senseo a neat advertising idea (stop, look around, note your surroundings and think about Senseo), or is it just more personal bandwidth overload?
• 25:29 Hurricane Katrina public service announcement from 1st Music 1st for Cutting Edge Sound
• 27:19 About the FIR interview with Charles Pizzo, communicator and Katrina evacuee, and Steve Lubetkin's interview with John Deveney, communicator and Katrina evacuee
• 31:07 Podcasting - technical issues and challenges: networks, echos and other gremlins
• 35:40 Podcasting - communication opportunities for business as more organizations dive in with this new medium
• 44:45 How blog tagging can support organizations working together in a crisis such as Hurricane Katrina, as well as for other more traditional purposes
• 51:14 From Our Correspondent Down Under: Lee Hopkins - blogging again beats the MSM; a call to Adelaide business communicators to meet up; amusing bumper sign; Donna Papacosta now smoking the podcasting dope; inaugural IABC conference in Australia doesn't include social media
• 58:00 Concluding the Land Rover Discovery saga - not a happy ending for customer Adrian Melrose; quality issues for Land Rover take this beyond communications
• 62:43 Apple has a quality problem with the new iPod nano - are scratches on the screen developing into a crisis of brand confidence?
• 74:22 PR Week launches RSS feeds

Outro:

• 75:36 Neville outros the show; how to give your feedback; show notes; the music
• 77:13 Shel solo on Thursday with recorded contribution from Neville

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

Listeners' comments discussion - Andrew Marritt, Jeremy Wright, b5media, Gawker, WeblogsInc, Sallie Goetsch, Google Print, The Writing Show, Barbara Quint, Authors Guild, Dan York, Marantz PMD660, iRiver, Sebastian Keil, Mike Strock, Vodafone Germany, Craig Jolley, OPML, Dave Winer's OPML editor.

News and Features - Senseo, Adam Curry, Daily Source Code, Joseph Jaffe, Steve Rubel, Across the Sound, Philips, Douwe Egberts, Minority Report, Guinness, American Express, Hurricane Katrina, 1st Music 1st for Cutting Edge Sound, Podshow.com Relief, Charles Pizzo, FIR interview with Charles Pizzo, IABC, Steve Lubetkin, LOBP #10 interview with John Deveney, Skype, Hot Recorder, Adobe Audition for Windows, ConferenceCall.com, SkypeOut, GM FastLane podcasts, Bob Lutz podcast, BMW podcasts, Shel Israel, Naked Conversations, St John Ambulance podcasts, Global PR Blog Week 2.0, Neville's article on podcasting, Shel's article on podcasting, Edelman Employee Engagement, Christopher Hannegan, Reaching Employees Through Podcasting (PDF), Forrester Research's Podcasting for Marketers, Alexandra Samuel, What is RSS?, You're It! A blog on tagging, Technorati tags, Lee Hopkins, Bookseller of the Year post, Donna Papacosta, Heidi Miller, IABC Victoria conference, Trevor Cook, Warren Bickford, The Truth About the Land Rover Discovery, Adrian Melrose, Land Rover, Adrian's comment on what's next for Land Rover, Apple, iPod nano, Apple Discussions forum, FlawedMusicPlayer.com, Google News media reports, The Register article, Steve Rubel, PR Week.

Outro - Garageband.com, Beat & Path, Poor You, For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday September 29...

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)

End of the road for Land Rover customer

The happy ending to the Land Rover Discovery saga that Adrian Melrose had been hoping for just hasn't happened.

The latest news from Land Rover's most patient, loyal and suffering customer is that he has finally reached the end of the road:

[...] So I throw up my hands in the air and tell Land Rover that they have a problem - failure of 4 different Vehicles - yet they tell me this fault is somehow connected to me personally. Trying to blame my blackberry device claiming interference!

So they took the car back and refunded my money in full and I am no longer a Land Rover ower - but I continue to get a few hundred hits a day on this site and I am going to make sure that prospective owners are fully aware of the terrible QA problems this car suffers from.

Adrian's now riding in a brand new Audi A6 Avant while he waits for delivery of his new Audi Q7 SUV next year.

I've been following Adrian's story with keen interest since I first heard about it in July. It certainly looks to me that Land Rover has blown it enormously, from the flaky foundation (poor manufacturing quality) through to customer service and into public relations.

What's next? From another post by Adrian yesterday:

[...] Land Rover - you've just enjoyed the calm before the storm - please don't think you've seen the back of me - there is too much meat on this bone and consumers deserve to hear it straight!

The ball's in your court, Land Rover (and owner Ford). I wonder how they'll play it. To adapt an old saying: "Hell hath no fury like a customer scorned."

Blog a movie and influence the world

Spotted in a post by Hugh MacLeod - an innovative (and, today, hardly surprising) approach to building buzz about a movie by getting bloggers to talk about it. In return, they get free tickets to the US preview.

The details are in an Instapundit post:

[...] The PR folks for the forthcoming Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, etc.) science fiction movie Serenity are inviting bloggers to advance screenings. [...] It's free, and all they ask is that you blog something, good or bad, about it. [...] They're full now (Friday p.m.) so if you haven't emailed 'em you've missed your chance. Apparently the blog-response was phenomenal.

It's that last sentence that's the interesting bit. Already quite a bit of blog buzz on Technorati, some of which is as a result of the blogger promo (this one, for instance).

Stimulating blogs to build word-of-mouth spread of opinion about a movie really is a smart idea. Low cost but very high return potential. Some risks, of course - negative commentary could be what people will write. That's likely if the movie is crap, in which case better get that fact out there early!

But if the people who blog think it's a terrific movie, then that's what they will write about. Others will see those posts and write about it as well (just as I'm doing). Pretty big opinion-spread potential in return for some preview tickets.

It's also interesting to see this as a shift in "authority reporting". Take a look at a resource like the Internet Movie Database. Go to any movie listing - Serenity, for instance. In the left-column menu, Serenity like most movies has a link to external reviews - what movie reviewers say, usually in mainstream media.

Logical next development - external reviews that include what bloggers say (and think of the potential for spoken opinions in podcasts, too). This looks like it's already beginning to happen as the Serenity review list includes a blog - The Movie Blog. But I'd also like to see reviews by 'normal folk,' movie buffs who also happen to blog (or podcast).

I know which type of review I'd more likely read (and listen to) today and be influenced by.

The prize for Skype

Writing in the Financial Times last week, Stuart Henshall has an interesting analysis of Skype's call forwarding functionality and what that could mean for eBay and Skype users following eBay's acquisition of Skype a few weeks ago:

[...] With call transfer, by contrast, the call can be answered and redirected to either another Skype account (free) or to a landline (at the transferer's cost). On transfers, inbound callers will receive identity information on the person they are talking to. Call transfer enables interactive voice-response applications, effectively offering call centre functionality.

And because Skype call transfer functionality can bypass traditional private branch exchange networks, small companies can acquire enterprise-style communications systems for a pittance.

And imagine the ease with which the seller can direct details and similarly automate information content, such as allowing potential buyers to watch a video of the product free of charge via Skype.

Similarly, calls coming into an auction will have caller ID of potential buyers, feedback of buyers, and can concurrently provide additional information back, such as details of other auctions.

Paid sub required to read the complete FT article. Luckily, Stuart has it posted on Skype Journal.

Related NevOn post:

• Communicating the power of 3

Survey: How bloggers and PR intersect

Technorati and Edelman have teamed up to conduct a survey into bloggers' opinions about their interactions with PR agencies and companies:

[...] Is receiving a press release from a PR agency just more spam? What about product discounts or free goods? Are there better ways for traditional marketers and bloggers to interact? What is the implicit contract created when marketers and bloggers communicate? What are the ethical questions? What are companies not listening to that they should be listening to?

The survey has 18 questions and will take you about 10 minutes to complete. It's anonymous although if you give your name and email address at the end, you'll get a copy of the survey results white paper when it's published next month.

It's worth getting your opinions heard and taken into account.

Now, without wishing to give away a spoiler, I do have some comments on a couple of the survey questions. There's no option in the survey to provide additional comments so I'm posting them here.

Question 9 asks: If you know a message is sent to you from a PR firm, how much are you likely to trust it on a scale between 1 and 10, where “1” is "not at all" and “10” is "complete trust"? Related question 10 asks: If you receive a message directly from a company how much do you trust it on a scale between 1 and 10, where “1” is "not at all" and “10” is "complete trust"?

Your answers to these question have to be pretty black-and-white due to how the survey is structured - you click a radio button and you can't do multiple choices. In both cases, I answered "7," which might have been a bit generous now that I think about it.

What I would have liked to have seen is a choice saying "It depends" and then a text box where you can explain why it depends.

When I get a pitch from a PR agency or directly from a company, how I react to that pitch and what I think of the agency or company and/or the product or service being pitched really does depend on quite a few things.

For instance, a pseudo-personal email press release that a) has nothing to do with what I write in this blog and b) contains my pet hate phrase "click here to unsubscribe" - I never subscribed! - would earn a 1 (or a minus 10 if I had that option in the survey). On the other hand, an email that contains information that's releavnt to what I write about here, piques my curiosity and thus leads me to want to find out more might earn an 8 or a 9. A score of 10 would be reserved for an agency or company with whom I've started building a relationship and all other things being equal. Best way to start that is a phone call (my Skype ID is listed here), not just an email.

While it's easy to think about the clueless people in our profession - and there are far too many examples - I'm happy to say that there are some bright lights out there in my experience. And that's not really much to do with bloggers or blogging - I'm not a journalist, but good media relations practice works whoever the target is.

FIR Interview: Charles Pizzo, Katrina evacuee - September 25, 2005

In this edition of For Immediate Release podcast interviews, Shel and Neville spoke with Charles Pizzo, a 20-year veteran of communications, a top-ranked speaker and writer and a former Chairman of the Board of IABC and its Research Foundation. A native of New Orleans, Charles evacuated from that city following Hurricane Katrina and the total loss of his home and business premises. He is temporarily located in Arlington, Texas.

Our 28-minute conversation focused on Charles' experiences from the evacuation and the challenges of communication when infrastructures including telecommunications fail - reflected in the less than optimal sound quality of our phone conversation carried out not via Skype but via a ConferenceCall.com session.

About our conversation partner:

A former chairman of the board of both IABC and its Research Foundation, Charles Pizzo is a top-rated speaker and Ragan contributor. He also serves as counsel to v-Fluence Interactive Public Relations. Pizzo has been speaking about media relations online, reputation management, and leadership, plus has written on a host of technology communication issues. He has led teleseminars for both IABC and Ragan on such topics as corporate social responsibility and cybersmearing: attacks on reputation that start online. (Bio and photo courtesy of Dallas IABC, where Charles will be a speaker at the Chapter's Professional Development Day, Bronze Quill Awards & 35th Reunion on October 7.)

Download the conversation here (MP3, 14MB), or subscribe to the interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. You can also subscribe to the full feed to get all FIR podcasts. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free iPodder, DopplerRadio or iTunes, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Interview Segment Time Points:

• 00:21 Shel introduces the interview
• 02:41 Charles talks about his immediate experiences following evacuation from New Orleans and locating in Arlington, Texas, and what he's left behind
• 05:51 What's happened to Charles' property and that of his mother
• 07:55 Writing for the Ragan Postcard blog
• 08:44 Telecommunications have collapsed, isolated from the world, records and documents lost
• 11:53 Immediately following the hurricane, text messaging was all that worked
• 12:36 No inbound cellphone service for six days
• 12:56 Surge of 'chain email letters' on who's missing and who's been found
• 13:37 Groups taking photos of damaged homes in New Orleans
• 14:14 City and government websites down because the servers are under water
• 14:38 The difficulties for Red Cross staff and volunteers
• 15:40 Four weeks on and communication channels still not coordinated
• 16:08 All overwhelming
• 16:26 Email has been effective as a communication channel
• 16:55 Continues working thanks to great help from colleagues and friends
• 19:06 Advice for planning on managing communications and related infrastructures in such a crisis; what some companies have been doing
• 23:00 Thoughts on going back to New Orleans, or not
• 24:02 The charm of New Orleans was threatened by chaos and anarchy - will people feel safe in returning? More on infrastructures
• 26:46 Didn't expect to lose everything so left with little in the evacuation, unprepared
• 29:40 The only thing we can do is press on and rebuild - the future is what's ahead
• 31:06 Shel with concluding comments about the interview; how you can help Charles in his search for work
• 32:04 About this podcast and where to find For Immediate Release.

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

Charles Pizzo, IABC, New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, Kaye Vivian, Hurricane Rita, Ragan Postcard, Gerard Braud, American Red Cross, Ragan Communications, Dallas IABC, Shell Oil.

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

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)

Care charity offers self-help podcasts

This looks like a first - the St John Ambulance first aid, transport and care charity in the UK has produced iFIRSTAID, a series of first aid audio files that offer tips and advice on the steps you should take if you come across an accident scene and need to provide first aid to anyone.

In an announcement on their website, the charity says:

[...] ‘Following the terrorist attacks on London, we experienced a 25% increase in enquiries about First Aid courses. We heard from many people who had wanted to help the injured but were not confident to administer First Aid,’ said Andrew New, senior training officer at St. John Ambulance. ‘Now that MP3 players are so popular our iFIRSTAID downloads will make First Aid guidance available for people when they need it, where they need it, in the format they need it.’

As well as subscribing to the RSS feed and getting them via iTunes (in Apple's AAC file format), you can also download the MP3 files directly. The site currently lists 17 podcasts. Each audio programme is also offered as a stream in the Real Audio format.

A tremendous example of the use of this medium. That makes number 21 for Kevin Dugan's list of 20 creative ideas for podcasting.

(Hat tip: The Angel Blog)

Telling the EU what we want

What do online Europeans want from an e-enabled government? asks William Heath:

Public sector computerisation will cost Europe €88bn in 2005. But did we ever say what we wanted? Are e-government projects designed for citizens? Do we use them? Will they make life easier and meet our needs? Should we trust them? Unless we ask, how can they give us what we want? Thinking and saying what we want is more fun than griping, and more constructive too.

Let's blog this online, here. I've got a chance to collate and present the results to Ministers and senior officials at the EU e-government summit in November.

Let's tell them what we want!

Heath is chairman of Kable, a UK-based provider of public sector research, publishing and event services, and the firm sponsoring the Ideal Government Europe blog. The initiative was announced by Kable on 14 September.

If you want Heath to tell Europe's ministers and top e-government officials what you actually want, this is the place to do it. You can sign up to be an author on the blog or just leave comments. Either way, you can contribute.

(Hat tip: Loic Le Meur)

BMW podcasts from Frankfurt Motor Show

On Wednesday, I wrote about BMW inviting some bloggers to the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Today news that BMW is podcasting from the show in English and German.

The introductory podcast says BMW will be presenting a series of podcasts during the show which runs until 25 September. So far, I've received nearly a dozen separate English-language podcasts in the RSS feed I subscribed to. Each one is between five and ten minutes in length, and include interviews with key executives and new car launches such as the BMW Z4 coupe.

BMW certainly have leaped into the podcasting arena in a big way with this podcast series. From listening to a couple of the podcasts it's clear that BMW have carefully thought through and planned their approach to communication with this medium. Professionally done but not slick - key to credibility. Plus the podcast pages on the website give clear explanations about podcasting with links to download various podcatchers.

Although I could find no announcement on any BMW website, BMW's use of podcasting must be complementary to their overall motor show marketing communication and PR, illustrating how perfectly the medium can fit into such traditional plans. I did notice links to the podcasts at various places in the BMW Germany site.

Also, the motor show blog I mentioned in my post on Wednesday (IAA Blog) has a small sidebar note saying that the IAA podcast will start in a few days.

Are there still any doubting Thomases out there who continue to say that business podcasting is just a fad and a passing one at that? Wakey wakey!

GM's Bob Lutz: The disruptive communicator

He was the first General Motors executive blogger when the GM Fastlane Blog launched last January. Now he's the first GM executive podcaster on FastLane Radio, GM's podcast series launched in February.

GM vice chairman Bob Lutz stars in a Q&A discussion with Bill O'Neill, GM's executive director of communications. During much of the 20-minute podcast released yesterday, Lutz and O'Neill talk about cars, the North American market, the competition, fuel economy and performance, and other car-related themes.

I found it especially interesting when, about 15 minutes in, Lutz starting talking (passionately) about why he got into blogging and commented at some length on how he sees the medium and its value both for GM and its audiences, contrasting blogs with traditional and formal corporate communication. He remains consistent with his advocacy that a blog gives the company direct and unfiltered feedback from customers and car enthusiasts.

Amongst others things, Lutz said one of his biggest frustrations has always been that "the media has the voice and you don't" unless you buy advertising. But such advertising, he said, is distrusted so a medium like a blog is extremely effective when you want to state your point of view or correct something. Plus it makes you feel a lot better when you're able to do that, Lutz said.

He also commented on who he believes are the key audiences for the GM FastLane Blog - fellow bloggers ("a large group of people listened to by friends who don't blog"), and the media who, he says, gain "therapeutic value" through seeing that GM reacts openly and honestly and which may cause those media to see that "this isn't a one-way street." He added that, as the company now has direct access to customers, in the long term that could pose a threat to conventional print media.

Such directness and disarming informality is a hallmark of Lutz as the GM new media champion, with a disruptive approach to traditional communication that I find exhilarating in a leader of one of the world's most traditional companies. Would there were more like Bob Lutz!

If I have any criticism of the podcast, it would be that O'Neill's questions seemed somewhat leading. A little too much of "I know that GM has..."  and "I know that you are..." etc has a bit of a rehearsed air about it. Maybe it's because I'm a communicator myself as I believe that the senior communicator conducting an executive interview like this for a podcast means it will likely appear to many as less than wholly credible when it sounds less than wholly natural and a bit too polished. I wonder what it would be like if Lutz were engaged in conversation with, say, a customer or a dealer.

Much might depend on the communication objectives of the podcast. Which leads me to another thought. Ostensibly, the podcast is aimed at the same people who use the blog which is about GM's cars and not GM's business. It's only available via the blog. Yet in listening to the conversation, I'd say it would be of interest to others like investors and the financial community as it would give those audiences another dimension in understanding GM's business and its leadership.

In any event, it's a great job and an interesting development in GM's evolutionary use of new media channels.

• Related - Bob Lutz interview for Naked Conversations, the new book on corporate blogging due out at year's end, in April 2005.

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #70: September 22, 2005

Content summary: Listeners' comments discussion (more on five-assed monkeys; training employees on blogging; teaser samples for podcast subscriptions; bad e-book websites; podcasting in education; software that blocks Skype; a communication challenge update); Dan York's report; Global PR Blog Week 2.0 update; b5media blog network; is the CEO's finger really on the pulse at Microsoft?; copyright lawsuit against Google Print; blogging guidance from Reporters Without Borders; categorized RSS feeds from PR Newswire; appeal for PR help for Katrina relief; report from The Spinfluencer.

Show notes for September 22, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 83-minute conversation recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Concord, California, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 33MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free iPodder, DopplerRadio or iTunes, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Show notes OPML: Get the show notes on your own PC, Mac, PDA or other device. To use this file, we suggest trying Dave Winer's OPML Editor (for Windows).

In this Edition:

Intro:

• 00:30 Neville introduces the show; what the show's about; what's in this edition; how to give your feedback; show notes

Listeners' comments discussion:

• 02:36 Phil Gomes is in charge of blogs and clarifies the five-assed monkey metaphor
• 04:15 Andrew Marritt on training employees in blog use, and on a new white paper on podcasting in education
• 08:39 Lee Hopkins suggests a podcaster can offer podcast samples as a teaser for subscription-based podcasts, and on categorizing bloggers in a PR podcaster blogroll
• 11:38 Josh Hallett asks why are all e-book websites so bad?
• 12:00 Donna Papacosta with another good example of podcasting in higher education
• 12:56 Mike Strock tells us about a software tool for blocking Skype calls: arrgh! he says
• 15:25 Sebastian Keil says nice things about FIR, gives us an update on his communication challenge that we discussed in show #47 and asks about the show number in the MP3 file ID3 tag

News and Features:

• 17:08 Dan York's report - listening to trucks all night, the JetBlue landing gear drama, the VON tradeshow, Skype's product roadmap, using a new Marantz and battery problems, joining with IABC Yankee Chapter's meeting
• 31:44 Global PR blog Week 2.0 is well underway with some outstanding contributions from communicators around the world
• 36:54 The b5media blog network - the launch and prospects
• 40:32 Organization change, key employees leaving and not reading employee blogs - does Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer really have his finger on the employee pulse?
• 50:50 Google is being sued by the Authors Guild for copyright infringement - genuine concerns for protecting intellectual property rights or a Luddite reaction to the march of technology?
• 60:58 The handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents from Reporters Without Borders
• 63:33 PR Newswire offers hundreds of categorised RSS news feeds; follows other news organizations embracing new media tools, eg, Reuters news headlines podcasts and CNET daily tech podcasts
• 66:24: Hurricane Katrina public service announcement from R5 Central
• 67:52 An appeal for a PR professional to help with a Hurricane Katrina relief project
• 70:05 The Spinfluencer: Eric Schwartzman - podcast sparring at a podcast panel, using audio comments to get yourself out there

Outro:

• 75:54 Shel outros the show; how to give your feedback; show notes
• 76:45 Upcoming interview September 24 - Charles Pizzo on how communication has worked during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation from New Orleans
• 77:37 The next two shows will be solos - Neville on Monday, Shel on Thursday with audio contributions from each absent other
• 78:13 The music

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

Listeners' comments discussion - Phil Gomes, Edelman, Andrew Marritt, Lee Hopkins, Endurance Radio, Josh Hallett, Donna Papacosta, McMaster University's School of Engineering, Mike Strock, Skype, Vonage, AT, Sebastian Keil.

News and Features - Dan York, Road Weary, JetBlue, VON, Stuart Henshall, Skype Journal, VOIP Watch, Marantz PMD660, Duracell, IABC Yankee Chapter, CNN, MSNBC, Niklas Zennström , Global PR Blog Week 2.0, Constantin Basturea, b5media, Jeremy Wright, Darren Rowse, Duncan Riley, Gawker, WeblogsInc, FIR August 30 interview with Jeremy Wright, Flightnest, Microsoft, Business Week cover story on Microsoft, Mini-Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, Business Week Q&A interview with Steve Ballmer, Scobleizer, Bill Gates, Authors Guild, Google Print, IABC, Communication World, BBC News, The Guardian Unlimited, Official Google Blog, Susan Wojcicki, CNET, Eric Schmidt, Reporters Without Borders, Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents, Dan Gillmor, Allan Jenkins, PR Newswire, Reuters news podcasts, CNET News Report, Talkr, Hurricane Katrina, Podshow Cares, R5 Central, American Red Cross, Pete Quiley, CJ Hayden, VolunteersForCareers.com, Hurricane Rita, Eric Schwartzman, Michael Butler, Chris McIntyre, Eric Rice, Adam Curry, Sirius Satellite Radio, ParticipatoryPR.com, PodcastCon UK.

Outro - Charles Pizzo, Podsafe Music Network, Anne Davis, Temple of Contradictions, For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Monday September 26...

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)

Celebrity self destruction

BBC News: Fashion store H&M has done a U-turn and says it will drop Kate Moss as the face of a campaign after drug allegations. Tabloid newspaper claims that Moss had snorted cocaine initially led H&M to condemn the British model but vow it would continue using her. Many of H&M's customers are teenage girls and the chain said in a statement that Moss was "inconsistent with H&M's clear dissociation of drugs".

A dilemma for any company with a high-profile A-list celebrity who makes the new headlines for all the wrong reasons, even more so for a publicly-listed company like H&M with a strong sense of corporate social responsibility.

It gets worse, though, as a BBC News report today says:

Supermodel Kate Moss is to be investigated over claims she has taken cocaine, Scotland Yard has said. Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur ordered an inquiry after newspapers alleged the model used illegal drugs. It has not been confirmed whether police will interview Moss, who has refused to comment on the claims.

Kate Moss also has contracts with Coty, Chanel, Burberry and Dior - companies with strong brands and market images.

If all these companies as well as Moss' publicists and the Storm model agency have crisis PR plans, now's the time to be ready.

iTunes 5.0.1 released but woes continue

Apple released iTunes 5.0 earlier this month, which generated quite a number of complaints from users such as this one by Michael Hyatt.

I installed version 5 for Windows and have not experienced any problems with it nor with syncing music and podcasts to my iPod Mini.

Nevertheless, clearly there were issues with version 5, so Apple has now released iTunes version 5.0.1. Note that the version change is not mentioned anywhere on the download page.

As I haven't experienced issues, I'm sticking with 5 for the time being, as from the many posts in the Installation & Upgrades Forum at Apple Discussions, it looks like 5.0.1 either doesn't entirely fix the issues people experienced or introduces new ones.

(Hat tip: The Apple Blog)

Blogging the Frankfurt Motor Show

The Frankfurt Motor Show takes place this week, and a group of bloggers is there courtesy of German car maker BMW.

PR blogger Björn Ognibeni writes:

I am traveling to Frankfurt [on 16 September] visiting the 61st International Motor Show (IAA). BMW was so kind to invite a bunch of bloggers, including me, to the show. We will probably see their products and talk about blogs as a communications channel for companies. Nice move !

A few days ago, a special blog covering the event - the IAA-Blog - was launched. The whole project was "enabled" by BMW. But the car maker is only mentioned briefly somewhere in the imprint. No "powered by" or "we are proud to be sponsored by". Interesting approach. But why is BMW doing it this way ? One of the questions I am looking forward to get answered today...

So far, the IAA Blog doesn't have an answer to Björn's question as far as I can tell (it's all in German). But what a great initiative by both the show organizers and BMW to facilitate a forum for discussion with show and car enthusiasts about what's going on at the show. Lots of photos of the new cars on display as well.

Even though my German language skills are a bit rusty, I can see a marked difference with the informality and concise conversational style of the blog compared to the ad-supported slickness of traditional online reporting from mainstream media sites such as Auto Bild and portals such as Yahoo! Deutschland Autos.

Not to criticize at all, just to note that difference and this one - the blog is a two-way medium as you can directly comment so giving the show organizers and BMW a useful channel for gathering informal feedback and an opportunity to engage with those people who comment. Not so with the online magazine.

That's what blogs can do!

A wealth of knowledge to share

If you're in the communication business and haven't visited Global PR Blog Week 2.0 yet, I urge you to rush over there right now and dive in to an outstanding professional development event.

We're half-way through the week-long online conference and already there are some tremendous articles and papers for you to read and comment on if you wish, with more to come.

So if you want to grab the latest thinking on how new communication technologies such as weblogs, podcasting, RSS and wikis are changing public relations and business communication, this is the place to be.

All the material there really is very good indeed so picking out just five initial recommendations for your reading is tricky. Nevertheless, here goes with these five that I think are very much worth your time:

• Adding Your Voice to the Conversation: Why CEOs Should Blog by Jeneane Sessum
• Surprising Partners: Adding Blogs to an Existing Non-Profit Community by Nancy White and Lee Lefever
• Putting Wikis to Work for Your PR Program by Mike Manuel
• Best Practices in Online Media Relations: Utilizing Internet Newsrooms and RSS to deliver on Strategic Communications Objectives by Dee Rambeau and Chris Bechtel
• Beyond the press release: Building thought leadership through original programming podcasts by Eric Schwartzman - podcast interviews (MP3, 50Mb, 72 minutes) with David Joseph (Audible Inc), Ethan McCarty (IBM Strategic Communications) and Aaron Burcell (PodShow Inc)

I've contributed an article, too - The Influence of Voice: Podcasting Within the Organization

During this five-day event, more than 50 participants from Argentina, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States will publish 70 case studies, articles and podcast interviews on new communications technologies.

See the full programme and list of authors for more information.

Technorati: prblogweek

Reuters is podcasting the news

First it was RSS feeds, now it's podcasting - Reuters joins the mainstream media podcasting fray:

Get the latest on world news, politics, business, entertainment and more. Click Listen to hear the stories now or select Podcast to transfer them to your MP3 player. Each podcast contains the ten most recent news stories in that news channel. Podcasts are updated every hour.

Some interesting technology at play here. The news items are spoken in a computerized female voice which is actually quite good. The only niggle I have with the site is that, if you click on the 'listen' link, the audio starts streaming - but I couldn't find a way to turn it off if you want to stop!

It's also not clear how to get the podcasts if you want them on your PC (and, thus, your iPod). The 'podcast' links are to each individual news channel's RSS feed not, as I thought, to an individual MP3 file.

Minor points, though, and I'm sure Reuters will improve the user experience as they get feedback. One suggestion - add a link to subscribe to all the news channels at once rather than having to do each one individually.

A great initiative, one that follows what CNET News is doing with their CNET News Report, a 10-minute daily tech news podcast. One difference - CNET's are with real people and really are a pleasure to listen to, which I do every day.

Biz-Tech-News: Headlines 20-Sept-05

• A new blog about PowerPoint
• AOL offers new VOIP service
• b5 is waking up
• Black day for IBM traditionalists
• Dell Unveils Music Player
• Economist falls for Skype-hype: wrongly predicts end to mobile voice calls
• Google Prepares to Launch WiFi Service
• Identity Theft
• inFlightHQ Launches
• Internet industry unease at EU rules revision
• Novell PR Team Opens Blog
• Opera 8.50: Now completely free of charge
• Podcast #O2 - Conversation: Octavio Rojas, first spanish PR Blogger
• Shell buys out Dutch shareholders
• Skype's "Aha!" Experience
• Small company that makes tunes and profits
• Two European airlines to launch mobile phone service
• What is Google’s Real Exposure to AOL? (GOOG, TWX, MSFT)

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #69: September 19, 2005

Content summary: Listeners' comments discussion (sound improvements; Dmoz.org; podcasting in higher education, and in business schools with RSS and Blackberries; lighting the blogging flame; podcasts at different bit rates); Global PR Blog Week 2.0; review of PodcastCon UK; Sun warns employee bloggers about confidentiality; Phil Gomes starts a podcast; Business Week's podcasting efforts; viral marketing to support a charity auction; Chrysler misses the boat with media blog; from Our Correspondent Down Under.

Show notes for September 19, 2005

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

Download the file here (MP3, 30MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free iPodder, DopplerRadio or iTunes, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Show notes OPML: Get the show notes on your own PC, Mac, PDA or other device. To use this file, we suggest trying Dave Winer's OPML Editor (for Windows).

In this Edition:

Intro:

• 00:31 Shel introduces the show; what the show's about; how to give your feedback; show notes

Listeners' comments discussion:

• 02:16 Dan York on sound improvements and Dmoz.org
• 04:37 Bryan Person will send an MP3 next time and says universities should take advantage of podcasting
• 05:14 Dan Karleen tells us of a great resource on podcasting in higher education, agrees with the distinction between 'podcast' and 'downloadable audio,' and gives an example of what a business school is doing with podcasting, Blackberries and RSS
• 08:30 Marcel de Ruiter asks if he missed anything because of the poor sound quality of last Thursday's show and says FIR has a lit a blogging flame for him (we comment on the sound quality and the show notes)
• 12:06 Howard Harawitz illustrates some differences in producing audio files at various bit rates and says this could help those downloading podcasts over dial-up connections

15:47 Hurricane Katrina public service announcement from the Rock and Roll Geek Show

News and Features:

• 17:15 Global PR Blog Week 2.0 has now begun - a community-driven effort to discuss public relations and business communications in the age of blogs
• 24:37 PodcastCon UK, Europe's first conference about podcasting, took place in London on 17 September - Neville was there presenting and talks about the event
• 37:07 A public warning to employees about confidentiality of information - Sun Microsystems COO Jonathan Schwartz' open call to Sun employee bloggers; contrasting with Apple's approach to employee leaks, not to mention Microsoft's employee issues as reported in this week's Business Week
• 41:44 A new podcast from a PR blogger - Phil Gomes starts 'Podservations.'
• 45:40 Business Week's podcasting efforts - an example of mainstream media's use of the medium to enhance print content
• 48:34 Susan Getgood's viral campaign to support HP's charity auction
• 53:57 Chrysler's media-only blog - why create an exclusive blog when there won't be any conversations there? three ways in which Chrysler has missed the boat
• 59:31 From our Correspondent Down Under: Lee Hopkins - the death of Australian cricket; Charles Pizzo and Gerard Braud's blog posts about life post-Katrina; the resurgence of paper planners and why my wife wants to throw my notebook over the balcony of Schloss Hopkins; the death of digital intellectualism is not nigh; welcome to Dan York; CSS issues between Firefox and IE; research into podcasts and vblogs

Outro:

• 69:43 Neville outros the show; how to give your feedback; show notes; the music

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

Intro - Stowe Boyd, Amy Gahran.

Listeners' comments discussion - Dan York, Dmoz.org, Yahoo, Google, Bryan Person, Dan Karleen, Thomson Peterson's, Kogod School of Business, Wall Street Journal, Marcel de Ruiter, Skype, Howard Harawitz, Thomas Goetz.

News and Features - Global PR Blog Week 2.0, Constantin Basturea, full list of authors in Global PR Blog Week 2.0 and complete programme, FIR 10 August interview with Constantin Basturea, PodcastCon UK, Paul Nicholls, Adrian Pegg, Alex Bellinger, Neil Dixon, Neville's concise review of PodcastCon UK, General Motors, Warner Bros, IBM, Virgin Atlantic, NASA, US Air Force, Kevin Dugan's 20 creative ideas for podcasts, Richard Vobes Radio Show, iPod, iPod nano, PodcastConUK tags: podcastconuk (Technorati) and podcastconuk (Flickr), Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz, Sun blogs, Apple, Microsoft, Business Week feature on Microsoft, Phil Gomes, Edelman, South Park, Business Week July podcast, Ira Sager, Stephen Baker, Heather Green, PhillyFeed, Susan Getgood, Hewlett-Packard, eBay, Toronto Film Festival, American Red Cross, DATA, charity auction page on eBay, Chrysler Firehouse blog, Toby Bloomberg, Lee Hopkins, Charles Pizzo, Geraud Braud, Ragan Postcard, DIY Planner, Microsoft One Note, Chris Pratley, Microsoft Office 12, Tom Simpson, Allan Jenkins, Elizabeth Albrycht, Paul Graham, Peter Chen, The Ashes, Top Style, Nick Bradbury, Robert Scoble, Microsoft PDC, Jensen Harris' Office User Interface Blog.

Outro - Podsafe Music Network, Garageband.com, PodcastNYC, Luis Claudio, Guerreros de la Noche, For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday September 22...

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)