The Hobson and 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.

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:

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 recentHarbin 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

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 Monday December 5...

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