NevOn

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #113: February 20, 2006

Content summary: Luke Armour's PR paper download; New Communications Forum 2006; announcing IABC conference podcasts; what we've been up to this past week; the Techcrunch party; IABC Communication Commons launches; influential authorities on business blogging - survey; WELS goes to the next level; the Guinness UK marketing blog; Donald Rumsfeld's call for better US government PR; Robert Scoble shoutout; Lee Hopkins report; listeners' comments discussion; FIR community on Frappr; the music; and much more.

Show notes for February 20, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 86-minute podcast 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).

Listen to this podcast now:

In This Edition:

Intro:

• 00:28 Shel introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes; what’s in today’s show
• 02:03 Luke Armour's PR report available for download (PDF)
• 02:40 Shel and Neville will be running a workshop on podcasting at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto from March 1-3
• 07:00 Announcing IABC conference podcasts - we'll be producing a series leading up to and during the IABC 2006 International Conference in Vancouver, Canada, from June 4-7
• 08:51 Our first time back together live for a while: we recap on what we've been up to - Shel: travel, client work, Techcrunch party, lunch with Robert Scoble; Neville: travel, client work, Manchester conference, knocked for six, preparing new blog
• Neville's writing a review of Naked Conversations for IABC's Communication World magazine

News and Commentary:

• 17:22 IABC Communication Commons launches
• 22:51 Onalytica survey: influential authorities on business blogging - what's the difference between influence and popularity?
• 36:31 WELS goes to the next level with RSS
• 42:43 Guinness UK launches a marketing blog - and it's good
• 51:35 US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calls for better US government PR
• 56:23 Robert Scoble shouts out! (out-take version first)
• 58:53 From Our Correspondent Down Under: Lee Hopkins - weather RSS feeds and TV news broadcasters; FeedDemon2 beta; serendipitous reads and why blogrolls shouldn't disappear any day soon; Newbie Nifty Nev and the Podcast Institute.

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 71:04 Steve Rubel responds to our commentary last Thursday on his move to Edelman
• 73:36 Howard Harawitz with a tip on the role of a blog in teaching journalism

Outro:

• 76:44 Neville wraps the show; let us know your views about today’s discussions; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
• 78:37 The growing FIR community on Frappr
• 80:09 Only Shel live for next Thursday's show with recorded contributions from Neville
• 81:00 Outro podsafe music via the Podasfe Music Network - The Engine Driver by The Decemberists

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday February 23...

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

Imagine if Chevron had used a blog instead

Listening this morning to a BBC World Service radio interview with Peter Robertson, vice-chairman of the Chevron oil company, I was struck in particular by his commentary about a website where the public can join Chevron in an online discussion about the future of energy.

Overall, I found it a fascinating interview, with its discussion of wide-ranging topics including the future of energy, the evolving role of the energy industry (the oil companies) and corporate social responsibility. From a PR point of view, I think Robertson did a pretty good job for his company.

Concerning the online discussion, Robertson was talking about willyoujoinus.com, a website sponsored by Chevron, that's facilitating some discussion about the future of energy and what people think about it.

From a broad look around the site, and judging from the detailed information in Chevron's Community Guidelines page, this is actually a substantial undertaking (and clearly part of a broad public affairs effort):

The willyoujoinus.com discussion forum was created as a place for individuals and groups to exchange ideas on important energy issues. It is also a place for users to read, consider, respond, and perhaps be inspired to take individual or collective action in an environment of mutual respect.

To contribute your opinions, you have to register. And your comments are moderated:

Experienced outside moderators have been assigned to ensure that postings are relevant and appropriate, and otherwise meet the site’s community guidelines as described below.

All postings will be reviewed by moderators and published on the site within 24 hours if determined to be within these guidelines.

That's fine - comment moderation is hardly unheard of and, as long as the policy is clearly stated, unlikely to confuse participants nor set any wrong expectations.

The concept of this effort by Chevron - provide a place online where people can participate in broadly open discussion on a topical issue - is very good, precisely the kind of thing where a blog could work well as that place for open, even if moderated, discussion.

But willyoujoinus.com is not a blog. Instead it's a beautifully-designed and clearly well thought through corporate website with some blog-like naming (the words 'post' and 'comment' are used, for instance).

It's gatekeeper heaven, too, with its completely un-blog-like methodology of contributing your opinions via a web form that goes off to some unknown person or group of moderators  - what Chevron describes as "experienced outside moderators" (without giving a sense of who these people are: could be the PR agency for all I know) and, elsewhere in the site, as "contracted specialists in community moderation" (sounds scary!).

Imagine if Chevron had used a blog instead. With RSS feeds. With trackback capability. It could certainly still require registration and login in order for anyone to participate, and have comment moderation.

Most important, though, a blog could give this place personality and authenticity - two of the attributes which it currently and starkly lacks. And identify who the moderators are. Build some trust.

You're about 80 percent there with this, Chevron. Why not go the full 100? Put your pedal to the metal!

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #112: February 16, 2006

Content summary: Steve Rubel and Micro Persuasion move to Edelman; approaching communication issues using new media; delivering the new PR in Manchester; has PR figured out podcasting yet?; Technorati and the Magic Middle; Dan York's report; listeners' comments discussion; the music; and more.

Show notes for February 16, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 77-minute podcast recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and almost live from Des Moines, Iowa, USA.

Download the file here (MP3, 36MB), 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).

Listen to this podcast now:

In This Edition:

• Detailed show notes to come

Content start points guide -
- Intro 00:28
- News and Commentary 03:10
- Listeners' Comments Discussion 51:50
- Outro 70:23

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Monday February 20...

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

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #111: February 13, 2006

Content summary: Low ethics pay-for-placement PR; Luke Armour's PR paper; RSS software converts content into spam blogs; Eric Schwartzman interviews The New Yorker Magazine's Ken Auletta; Coca-Cola sends bloggers to Torino; NBC's The Office character blog; Lee Hopkins report; are there libel concerns with using coComment?; listeners' comments discussion; preview: potential new FIR intro music; the pros and cons of IABC and PRSA; the music and much more.

Show notes for February 13, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 91-minute podcast recorded live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and almost live from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Download the file here (MP3, 42MB), 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).

Listen to this podcast now:

In This Edition:

• Detailed show notes to come

Content start points guide -
- Intro 00:28
- News and Commentary 04:08
- Listeners' Comments Discussion 59:52
- Outro 83:36

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute - see the home page for info.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday February 16...

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

Daily Telegraph's new media expansion

Another indicator of how some mainstream media see podcasting as a big opportunity - The Daily Telegraph is advertising for two Podcast Reporters/Producers:

[...] We are looking for two individuals who are capable of creating high quality and engaging Podcasts that feature comment and opinion from both internal and external sources. The successful candidates will be expected to write, voice, edit and upload audio content. A proven track record in journalism is essential. Full training will be provided on the technical aspects of the role.

The Telegraph launched its daily podcasts last November, and hired a podcast editor in December - apparently the first role of its kind in the mainstream media in the UK.

(Via Hugh Fraser)

Interesting things going on with other new media at the Telegraph - they now have ten journalists with individual blogs and a group blog.

Related Nevon post:

• Blair and Cameron podcast firsts

The New PR in Manchester

Just finalizing preparations for my participation in a terrific conference taking place in Manchester, England, this week, which sees the Angels of The North team reunited again - Philip Young, Chris Rushton, Tom Murphy, Elizabeth Albrycht, Stuart Bruce and me, Neville Hobson.

Delivering The New PR – How Blogs, Podcasts and RSS Can Work For You (PDF) will take place on Wednesday 15 February at the Lancashire County Cricket Club at Old Trafford near Manchester.

Participation costs £125 +VAT for CIPR members; £145 +VAT for everyone else. Over 90 communicators have already signed up for the event. There's still space and time for more - you can sign up online.

Orchant insights continue at ZDNet

If you've been a follower of Marc Orchant's insightful commentaries over at The Office Weblog about all things to do with office productivity, cool tools, gadgets and Microsoft Office, note that he's moved house.

From the beginning of February, Marc's now blogging at ZDNet with the new Office Evolution blog. Sign up for the RSS feed here.

(I had an email from Marc ahead of his move and I meant to post about this last week. Better late than never...)

The richness of blogs

One of the best articles about the value of blogs that I've read in a long time was posted by Robin Good yesterday.

Information Overload: Blogs As Content Navigators, Information Filters, Trusted Niche Guides provides a good perspective on one of the curses of modern life, which isn't how to find information - it's how to find, interpret and trust the information that matters to you.

The bottom line:

[...] Blogs stand to benefit in the present media landscape for a number of reasons:

• Because of the overload of information it is impossible for people to keep up with all of it. Information needs to be sifted through and made sense of.
• Bloggers also add richness to the already established reach of mass media.
• Blogs can cater to niche audiences that mass media cannot because mass media must focus on the most important or biggest issues at hand.
• Because of the Internet a blogger can have a niche audience of 5,000 readers a day from around the world.
• A major factor is that blogs have little to no overhead to set up and run. All that is needed is a computer and an Internet connection and a blogger can be up and running, so the distribution costs are cheap.

[Technorati: blogs, information overload]

Factoring blogs into crisis communication planning

A feature on blogs in the current issue of The Economist hardly adds any value with a subject focus that's been flogged to death by some sections of the mainstream media, notably Forbes magazine last October.

Bloggers can be vicious but they can also help companies avert disaster, says the sub-title as The Economist devotes 10 paragraphs of its 14-paragraph article discussing the negative aspect of blogs and the potential reputation and other damage that a company can suffer at the hands of bloggers.

One reality point, I suppose, is that the article positions blogs among other long-standing social media like online discussion groups (aka forums or chat rooms) and email lists that have been around for years, so a reader of this article would hopefully not form an impression that blogs are just some form of unique evil manifestation of the worst in people.

And there's the rub for me. Yet another article in a mainstream medium where the overall feeling you have after reading it is that blogs and other online communication media are something mostly to be feared and concerned about, so you'd better get your crisis communication plan ready (as the article concludes) for a disaster.

Yes, get your crisis plan ready but not just because, suddenly, there seem to be blogs out there written by bloggers determined only to do you damage!

Let's say you have your crisis communication plan ready to roll so that you are prepared for any eventuality. And that eventuality doesn't necessarily mean a negative thing - the ability to respond quickly and decisively isn't always to do with the negative use of the word 'crisis.'

What's different today  - and this is the real point - is that blogs and other new social media (eg, podcasts) should also be factors you will consider and take into account in your crisis communication planning. Not only from the point of view of what such media are saying about your company, your brand, etc, but also how you can make use of such media.

If you want to see some really thoughtful commentary on how blogs fit into overall communication planning, crisis and otherwise, take a look at the posts in the Challenges of Corporate Blogging section in Global PR Blog Week 2.0.

Four things tag

Ok, Phil, I saw your tag, so here goes...

Four Jobs I've Had

• Barman (yeah, everyone's done this one)
• TV ad voice-over provider (that was fun!)
• Yellow Pages ad salesman in the Middle East (which earned me enough to buy a TransAm)
• A typical corporate PR suit (note: definitely a previous life)

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

• Star Wars III
• Star Wars IV
• Star Wars V
• Star Wars VI

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch

• 24
• CSI Miami
• Judge John Deed
• Charmed

Four Places I've Been to on Holiday

• Costa Rica
• South Beach, Florida
• Padstow, Cornwall
• Spain

Four Favorite Dishes

• Roast beef and Yorkshire tortillas
• Pasta and just about anything
• Gallo pinto
• Steaks and atmosphere as served in De Zagerij, Amsterdam

Four Websites I Visit Daily

I don't visit any websites daily but I read RSS feeds. Top 4 daily essential feeds:

• Financial Times
• Headlines from PR Weblogs
• Tech Memeorandum
• BBC

Four Places I'd Rather Be

• Barcelona (for the culture mix and terrific restaurants)
• New Zealand (because I've never been)
• Costa Rica (it's just a fabulous country and it's warm)
• California (and I'll be there next month)

Four Bloggers I am Tagging

• Mark Shanahan
• Armin Grewe
• Stephen Davies
• Jesper Bindslev

[Technorati: four things]