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.)

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.)

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.

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #110: February 9, 2006

Content summary: Nvidia and its PR agency are accused of unethical viral marketing; follow-up to Google’s removal of BMW from its search; Gallup assesses the importance of blogs to web users; your value decreases the longer you’re unemployed; NPR opens the podcast floodgates; new services from Odeo; a report from Dan York; listeners' comments discussion (time for effective communication in the EU; opening a window on culture; a report on the separation of PR and marketing); the music.

Show notes for February 9, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 73-minute podcast recorded live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 29.5MB), 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

News and Commentary:

• 02:26 The dark side of viral marketing - are graphics card maker nVidia and PR firm AEG engaging in underhand practices in gamers' forums and employing some peculiar PR tactics to respond to such accusations? We discuss wide-ranging commentary from Christopher Carfi, Thomas Hawk and the Digg crowd, adding our own perspectives as we ask: What should nVidia do to address this issue, and is such activity symptomatic of business un-ethics today? We also discuss a Wall Street Journal story today regarding FON and positive commentaries by bloggers who don't fully disclose their interests.
• 28:58 BMW's return to grace after trying to game Google; an alternative view that presents an 'end justifies the means' case for why brands should spam search engines
• 37:06 Was Google's lack of engagement over the China search engine furore the right communication approach? Brad Bellaver thinks so
• 40:16 A Gallup report provides some answers to the question on how many people are reading blogs - is that even the right question? How this fits in with ideas from PR bloggers like Steve Rubel on developing new metrics about blogs and communication measurement
• 44:06 The longer you're unemployed, the more your value decreases, according to a report from the Royal Economic Society
• 49:15 The podcast floodgates open at National Public Radio in the US with a directory featuring 250 titles from 79 public radio stations as podcast downloads reach 13 million
• 51:29 Odeo introduces a way you can record comments to podcasts, send audio messages and call in comments via a phone number
• 55:04 Steve Lubetkin shouts out!
• 55:33 Dan York reports - it's snowing in Vermont, beta testing Windows Live Messenger, Gmail for mobile devices, moderating a panel discussion at IABC Yankee Chapter, can't make it to the New Communications Forum next month but hopes to get to Vancouver in June for the IABC 2006 conference

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 61:21 Philip Borremans says, yes, it's about time for effective communciation by the EU
• 62:53 David Phillips opens a window on culture (and we say we're looking forward to meeting David at the New Communications Forum)
• 66:28 Luke Armour's research into the separation of PR and marketing (we have copies and we will be talking about it soon)

Outro:

• 67:43 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
• 69:49 Outro podsafe music via KillRockStars.com - The Unhappy Song by John Doe

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 13...

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

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #109: February 6, 2006

Content summary: The latest state of the blogosphere according to Technorati; new media in the travel business; practicing safe surfing and the global blogathon; the Google internet; BMW gets kicked off Google; Lee Hopkins report; tracking conversations with the Conversational Index and coComments; the Superbowl and the Six Nations Championship; revitalizing the press release; Eric Schwartzman interviews Walt Mossberg; listeners' comments discussion (Stanford on iTunes; PR gets a bad name; FIR goes viral; those cartoons); the music.

Show notes for February 6, 2006

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

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:

• 00:29 Neville introduces the show; Shel's not here live today; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes; what's in today's show

News and Commentary:

• 03:11 Technorati's state of the blogosphere - it keeps doubling every five months, now 60 times bigger than it was three years ago; tagging is the big growth area
• 07:17 Shel takes a break during the Superbowl and explains why he's in Philly all week
• 08:46 What's going on in new media as it relates to the travel business - quite a lot, says Shel
• 11:26 Tomorrow is the EU's Safer Internet Day and the start of the global blogathon
• 16:02 Is Google planning a separate internet and is EPIC looking less like fiction? And if you try and game Google, you'll get kicked off the search engine as BMW found to its cost
• 22:29 Cruisebox shouts out!
• 22:48 From Our Correspondent Down Under: Lee Hopkins - Heidi Miller's great podcasting microphone podcast, RocketPost blogging tool, Telstra's PDF on emerging technologies, and on reading your email out loud; Neville adds some commentary on RocketPost, and on QumanaXP beta
• 31:32 Tracking conversations with the Conversational Index and coComment (plus a "yes, but..." note by Jeremy Pepper)
• 38:36 Shel's finished watching the Superbowl...
• 39:55 Revitalizing the press release - PR Newswire adds del.icio.us tags to press releases, says Steve Rubel, to create more discoverability for online content; Gary Goldhammer's rating system for today's modern press release;
• 49:07 Neville's response to Shel's Superbowl comments - what about the Six Nations Championship rugby!
• 50:26 From The Spinfluencer in LA - Eric Schwartzman has an interview with Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, on the importance of online communications

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 61:30 Howard Harawitz points us to Stanford on iTunes, the university's offerings of university-related podcasts via iTunes
• 63:12 Clarence Jones says no wonder PR gets a bad name with this example of the threats of legal action against Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing
• 65:05 FIR goes viral thanks to David Phillips
• 66:21 Dan Hill on the cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed; Neville adds some comment about freedom and responsibilities of the press

Outro:

• 70:44 Neville wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; the FIR community on Frappr continues to grow; where to find the show notes
• 73:23 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - El Puente Closing Theme by Larry Sayer

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 9...

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

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #108: February 2, 2006

Content summary: New Flash player in show notes; Google continued: China and earnings; Microsoft blog censorship in China; the press release padding trap; Edelman's new podcast; new podcast magazine launches; what the EU needs is effective communication; is citizen journalism dead?; a job ad from the future; listeners' comments discussion (moving to the Bay area, differing roles of PR and marketing, Montreal not Toronto); the music.

Show notes for February 2, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 78-minute podcast 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).

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
• 02:11 Thanks for your support for voting for FIR on Podcast Alley - now at #3 in the Business category
• 03:11 New Dew Flash player in the show notes - you can just click and listen to each show

News and Commentary:

• 06:02 The heated debates about Google's search-censorship in China continue; Rubber Room Radio's comment to the Daily Source Code #326; hanging Google out to dry over their 'Do No Evil' motto
• 12:51 Google gets a pasting over their earnings announcement; little communication from Google; a BBC reporter's take on what Google's like; is Google just arrogant?
• 20:01 Microsoft's blog-censorship in China also attracts criticism: unlike Google, Microsoft responds with some positive action
• 23:34 Skype to offer audio-conferencing services, and signs a deal with Warner Music to offer music from A-list artists as ring tones
• 28:35 The press release padding trap: don't just copy-and-paste press releases into your blog post, says Performancing's Chris Garrett - add value!
• 33:11 David Murray shouts out
• 33:23 We listen to the first episode of earSHOT, the new podcast from Edelman PR presented by Phil Gomes. So what did we think?
• 39:40 Shel talks about another new PR podcast out of the US, PR/PA Ideas To Use from Novita Issue Communications; Neville wonders when we'll see the first one out of the UK
• 41:29 Podcast User, the first online magazine about podcasting and podcasters, launches
• 43:46 Communications in the European Union are key to every citizen's understanding of the EU, says Philip Borremans, highlighting a new white paper on communications for the EU which is a step in the right direction this time
• 51:43 Is citizen journalism dead? A look at Dan Gillmor's Bayosphere experiment and why he's abandoning it; how the citizen journalism concept can work within organizations
• 57:08 "Candidates must have a Google Page Rank of at least 5. And/or an Alexa Rank of at least 750,000 or better. Candidates with at least 1,000 Google hits on their name are also eligible." Is this what a job ad in the future might look like? Tom Foremski thinks so

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 64:58 Jeremy Pepper comments on his being hired by Weber Shandwick - yes, he's moving
• 65:44 David Phillips say the differing roles of PR and marketing is not just a semantic discussion
• 70:50 Julien corrects us about the Cirque du Soleil debut in Canada where bloggers were invited - it was in Montréal, not Toronto

Outro:

• 71:38 Neville wraps the show; the FIR community on Frappr grows; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
• 74:03 Shel's in Philadelphia next week
• 74:21 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - 143 by Stingray

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 6...

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

The 2006 Forum: A milestone event for communicators

I've just finalized setting up my trip to California at the end of this month to participate in the New Communications Forum which takes place in Palo Alto from 1-3 March.

My podcasting partner Shel Holtz and I are running a workshop at the Forum, the Podcasting 101 pre-conference 'boot camp.' This is a half-day interactive session that will help you learn about podcasting, from the elements of a successful podcast, to strategizing content to support your communication objectives, to recording a podcast that sounds good.

We intend Podcasting 101 to be really interactive - we'll be producing a special edition of For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report podcast during the session. Can't get more interactive than that!

I'll also be moderating the session on "New Media Case Studies - Blending New Communications & MSM," which will discuss the blending of mainstream media with citizen-generated media.

This year's Forum is the second such event and follows the success of the 2005 Forum, at which I also presented (check my posts here). A great deal has happened in the development of new-media communication channels during the past twelve months, and this is reflected in the structure of the 2006 event and in the subject matter that will be covered.

And what a phenomenal line-up of talent at this year's Forum! I am very excited to be at an event in the company of people like Dan Gillmor, Rebecca Blood, JD Lasica, Robert Scoble, Eric Rice, Katie Delahaye Paine, Tom Foremski, Pete Blackshaw, Debbie Weil, Mike Manuel, Elisa Camahort... the list of influential champions of social media  is almost endless. See the full list of speakers (over 60) for details.

Forum organizers Jen McClure and Elizabeth Albrycht have constructed an outstanding event, one that I am certain will be regarded as a milestone in professional development for any communicator with a serious interest in getting to grips with the strategic "how?" of social media (last year the focus was largely "what?", but that conversation has moved on).

So if you want to be part of an event that is all about frameworks and participation, this is the one. Full details at the New Communications Forum website.

Hope to see you there.

Powered by Qumana

Conferences are about frameworks and participation

Jeff Jarvis' rant the other day about conferences strikes a chord for me as I'm involved in speaking at quite a few during the next few months (see the links in the left-hand column).

I'm hoping they do not have some of the characteristics of what I saw at one or two events I participated in during 2005, my experiences of which I can sum up by paraphrasing Jeff:

Too many conferences suck. They're too expensive. They are filled with boring panels. They are all about speeches and not about conversation and argument and learning and meeting. They don't capture the expertise of the crowd. They enrich the organizers at the cost of both the "talent" and the "audience" [...] often, the problem is that the interests of those who make conferences work - the people who fill it - are not aligned with the interests of the money behind conferences - the organizers and sponsors.

That really does sum up far too many conference, the typical corporate-type event where I often wonder why people have bothered to gather together after forking out a fortune in attendance fees and travel costs when it seems to me that no one really is engaged, or even cares.

Yet the real dilemma as I see it is not only about conference organizers, vested interests and the other criticisms (valid ones, to be sure) that Jeff squarely levels. It's also about the willingness of those involved - speakers/presenters and delegates - to actually engage.

I agree with nearly everything Jeff says about what the format or structure of a conference should ideally be - what Jeff calls the 'unconference' - where a prime responsibility of the event organizer is to create the most effective framework that facilitates or enables all the people there to make the most of the environment that's been created for them. And this includes things like blogs, RSS and wifi as well.

If that's the organizer's responsibility, then the speaker's/presenter's responsibility is to use that environment as his or her own framework to provide the means to stimulate engagement with the people who have showed up at the event. So that means things like no boring PowerPoints, no panels full of talking heads just having a nice little chat with each other, etc. You know the kind of thing I mean.

Instead, it means speakers and presenters who really do participate with their audience, making that audience an integral part of the session. In effect, everyone there is the panel or presentation where the (so-called) presenter or speaker is a conversation leader and focus former. Now there's a convoluted label!.

Those attending have a responsibility, too - actively participate, not just sit there like glazed-eyed mute dummies where you can see the bodies are physically in the room but the minds are absent.

All of these things need to happen if any conference could be judged as even halfway successful. But I'm actually quite optimistic, at least about most of those events I'm involved in over the next few months as I can see many of the framework elements already being built by those who are doing the organizing.

And I'm pretty clear on my own responsibility.

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #107: January 30, 2006

Content summary: Windows Live; Google in China; Weber Shandwick hires Jeremy Pepper; BluePulse apologizes and wins; US bloggers get an Amsterdam junket; Cirque du Soleil invites bloggers to Canadian debut; listeners’ comments discussion (paying attention to Technorati); the music.

Show notes for January 30, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 73-minute podcast 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).

Listen to this podcast now:

In This Edition:

Intro:

• 00:30 Neville intros the show; what the show's about; how to give your feedback; show notes
• 02:01 Thanks for your support for voting for FIR on Podcast Alley - now at #5 in the Business category

News and Commentary:

• 03:28 Neville's impressions from the Windows Live preview event in London last week; we talk about mobile-enabled content; Ajax and why communicators should pay attention to this new technology
• 18:44 Is Google compromising its values? Google's actions in China in censoring search results continue to attract much passionate opinion and commentary; we discuss some of the latest buzz including by Dave Taylor, Steve Crescenzo and Jason Calacanis, and hear critical comment from Tom Raftery
• 38:01 PR blogger Jeremy Pepper gets hired by Weber Shandwick
• 41:56 Brother Love shouts out!
• 42:17 Changing web content will backfire on you when there's a search engine cache - a cautionary tale about BluePulse which has a positive outcome
• 48:54 Twenty-five US bloggers get an Amsterdam junket in exchange for promoting Amsterdam including ads on their blogs; one blogger, Outside The Beltway, answers criticism about ethics
• 56:48 Howard Harawitz tells us about a Digg item on Cirque du Soleil inviting two bloggers to be at the debut of their Canadian tour, so we discuss blogger outreach

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 62:51 Paul Baker has a tale that highlights why you should pay attention to what's being said about you on Technorati

Outro:

• 66:17 A get-well message to Lee Hopkins
• 66:40 Shel wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
• 67:27 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Nobody Else But You by the Mike Andersen Band

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 2...

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

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #106: January 26, 2006

Content summary: Search firms' PR woes, a fake Wikipedia entry, dull Davos, the never-ending press release meme, reports from Eric Schartzman and Dan York, a conversation with Jen McClure, listener comments, the music.

Show notes for January 26, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 101-minute podcast recorded live in Concord, CA and nearly live from Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 40.5MB), 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:

• 00:32 Shel intros the show; how to give your feedback; show notes
• 01:51 We're asking for your vote on Podcast Alley

News and Commentary:

• 06:03 Neville introduces his first segment
• 06:42 Neville will talk about news from the world of search engines
• 07:07 First up, Google agrees to censor search results in China
• 13:07 Next, Yahoo's CFO seems to concede search to Google; other Yahoo employees disagree
• 19:38 Shel comments on the Yahoo story with an assist from a post by Dave Taylor
• 24:20 Eric Schwartzman shares audio clips from the PRSA/Los Angeles chapter's "State of the State" panel
• 28:28 Dan York's report -- he's in San Francisco for O'Reilly's Emerging Telephony conference, which has its own blog
• 29.37 Dan introduces Mobilcast, which lets you subscribe to and retrieve podcasts over some cell phones
• 30:30 Dan introduces Podsage, a new podcast/videocast player
• 31:12 Dan is having trouble with the battery life on his Marantz PMD-660 digital recorder
• 32:07 Dan agrees with Lee Hopkins about the decline in the use of rich language
• 34:18 Shel comments on Dan's Marantz issue
• 34:40 Shel points Dan to the Podictionary "word of the day" podcast
• 35:00 Shel's hurt that Dan came to San Francisco but didn't call -- but he'll live
• 35:12 IABC has opened a new online media center
• 36:19 The Media Orchard blog points us to an ad agency that created a fake Wikipedia entry (which is now gone)
• 40:24 Neville comments on the World Economic Forum in Davos, its blog and podcast (managed by Loic Le Meur) and an interview Loic conducted for the podcast with Richard Edelman
• 48:28 Sallie Goetsch gives us a shout-out!
• 49:08 A post by Jeremy Pepper reopens the "press release is dead" meme
• 56:10 Eric Schwartzman is back with an interview with Doc Searls
• 60:40 Shel chats with Jen McClure about the upcoming New Communications Forum

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 71:46 Alice Marshall adds to Monday's discussion about the Washington Post's blog comment controversy
• 78:03 Kevin Dugan offers an audio comment on The Bad Pitch Blog
• 79:58 Dan Karleen talks about "rewindability," "dialing," and Skype problems
• 82:12 Clarence Jones talks about how spam may be prompting a new copywriting renaissance
• 84:50 Luke Armour thanks Neville for advice he used to relaunch his blog; he also talks about whether CEOs should blog
• 87:21 David Phillips on the future of public relations
• 90:47 Keith Childs listens to FIR in his car
• 92:32 Lee Hopkins comments on RSS delivering scents
• 95:18 Michael Soulier lets us know that Google has finally released Google News from beta

Outro:

• 95:50 Shel wraps the show with information on where to send comments and find show notes; he also talks about other content you can find on the FIR website
• 97:48 Outro podsafe music via Podsafe Music Network - Sweet Blossom by Robin Stine

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. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Monday January 30...

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

Weblogs for PR - plenty of opportunity awaiting

The initial findings of the EuroBlog 2006 survey on weblogs and communication management were published today, offering some interesting analysis on the state of awareness and acceptance of blogs by the PR community across Europe.

The survey was carried out online last November and December, and nearly 600 PR pros from over 33 European countries participated (I was one of those), according to the organizers.

Some commentary has already begun appearing in PR blogs - especially an excellent overview analysis by Philip Young, one of the driving forces behind EuroBlog 2006 - which largely focuses on the divide between those in the PR community who 'get it' and those who don't. Well, no surprises there.

The survey has some useful stats on why PR practitioners haven't gone for blogs in a bigger way (top reason: 31.3% of respondents saying the benefits from blogs are unclear to them) or the factors limiting the take-up of blogs (top reason: 44.4% of respondents citing their inability to control the communication content - definitely no surprise there).

This reflects what I hear all the time when I'm speaking to PR agencies - a group of people who, in my experience and broadly speaking, have the same needs for information and knowledge about new media channels as any other group of people or organization.

What I found most interesting in this survey was the stats about how the respondents see the opportunities for and from blogs.

Look at this slide:

The top reason given is surprising to me in that it doesn't reflect what I hear PR people saying in conversation - what I hear are words similar to "receiving feedback from the audience" which came in last on the slide above, or "reaching new audiences", coming in halfway up.

Perhaps that disparity is a lot to so with the corporate-speak I hear too frequently and the real thinking individual people are willing to share when taking a survey like this.

So now we know - PR agencies want to be seen as being cool ;)

I'd like to see the detailed results before further commentary. A PDF of the initial results is available now for download.

Detailed findings about the survey will be presented to a symposium "Public Relations and Social Software: Meeting the Challenges of Weblogs, Podcasts, Wikis and RSS," to be organized by Euprera (the European Public Relations Research and Education Association) and MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart, Germany, from 16-18 March, where academics from across Europe will discuss ways of taking the research forward.

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #105: January 23, 2006

Content summary: The Bad Pitch Blog; blogging Gonzo the Whale; Washington Post comments brouhaha; science blogs as a vehicle for selling ads; thoughts, commentary and a question from The Copenhagen Bloggers; Lee Hopkins' report; Shel's and Neville's podcast interviews; listeners' comments discussion (stop talking about rewinding; adopting intelligent evaluation for PR; IABC, corporate blogs, CPRS); growing FIR Frappr community; links on The New PR Wiki; Windows Live; the music.

Show notes for January 23, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, an 86-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 34MB), 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 intros the show; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes

News Briefs:

• 01:32 Outing bad PR pitches - Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer launch The Bad Pitch Blog
• 06:43 Lewis PR blogs Gonzo the whale with the Whale Watch Blog, highlights animal charities
• 13:41 The Washington Post turns off blog commenting, provoking a bit of a brouhaha
• 24:03 A science blogs network launches as a vehicle for selling advertising

Features:

• 30:31 Where is PR going in the next five years? Thoughts, commentary and that question from The Copenhagen Bloggers; we offer some thoughts in response including some ideas about 'stinkcasting'
• 54:11 Shel Israel shouts out!
• 54:22 Lee Hopkins reports - an interview with two 'shady underworld figures'; the Transparent Generation; the printing and photocopying blues in Dubai
• 58:20 Neville and Shel on recent podcast interviews by Lee Hopkins, Tom Raftery and Jacob Boetter

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 60:10 Sallie Goetsch says maybe it's time for us to stop talking about 'rewinding'
• 62:52 David Phillips on the need to adopt intelligent evaluation in PR to get any sense of where the good stuff is and where the croc lurks in the swamp
• 73:32 Brian Kilgore on matters IABC, corporate blogs, the CPRS and more

Outro:

• 77:13 Neville wraps the show; the growing FIR community on Frappr - add yourself!
• 79:36 How and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
• 80:12 Shel's reminder that links to people and places we talk about in FIR are on The New PR Wiki - you can add links
• 81:27 Shel will be solo on Thursday's show as Neville will be at the UK public preview of Microsoft's Windows Live
• 81:58 Outro podsafe music via PodcastNYC - Kissed Awake by Cordalene

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. 5Mb attachment, please!). We'll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday January 26...

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

The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #104: January 19, 2006

Content summary: An upgrade for Skylook, IABC opens a members-only place for “buzz,” IABC Belgium President Gerry Murray starts a podcast, Shel and Neville talk about corporate blogging (should the CEO blog?, ghostwriting, time-wasting, risks from employee blogging, using a blog in place of PR), listeners’ comments discussion (spam, online editors, PR as relationship management, job hunting, Flash and more, liking long FIRs, trackbacks), upcoming meeting with Danish bloggers, the music.

Show notes for January 19, 2006

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

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:

• 00:30 Neville intros the show; hotel network and Skype; special podcast edition coming up from Palo Alto in March; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes
• 03:40 Taking advantage of breaking news - our interview with Pete Blackshaw of Intelliseek on January 17

News Briefs:

• 08:30 An upgrade for Skylook, the Outlook plugin that lets you control Skype
• 11:55 IABC's new buzz forum and IABC Belgium Chapter President Gerry Murray's new podcast

Feature - Corporate Blogging:

• 17:46 The broad topic of corporate blogging - topics for today's discussion
• 20:04 Should your CEO blog? (should the question be "Why should your CEO blog?")
• 23:34 What if the CEO's not very articulate? Should he or she still blog?
• 24:53 Ghostwriting a blog for a CEO - What is it? Is it wrong (and if so, why?) Is it 'good communication'? A wide-ranging discussion on internal and external executive blogging
• 34:51 "The CEO shouldn't be wasting his/her time on blogging" So what is the CEO's job? And a bit more discussion on ghostwriting and human voice
• 40:29 The CEO's not the only employee in the company who can blog
• 41:40 The risks (and responsibilities) of employees articulating strong personal opinions on their blog - the example of Robert Scoble's commentary about MSN Spaces in China
• 46:38 Do you need PR if you have a blog? A discussion on Shel Israel's post about startups that says you don't, at least to start with

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 53:24 Tom Raftery's thoughts on blog comment spam, Captcha, .htaccess and how to prevent spam getting to your blog
• 60:30 Peter Chen on online editors and blog integration
• 64:28 David Phillips on aves and thuds and exploring public relations as relationship management
• 68:49 Sebastian Keil on CVs, podcasts and RSS, and rates FIR
• 72:14 Michael Soulier sends us his first audio comment (his first to any podcast, he says) about Flash, Word, web pages and functionality
• 80:00 Mike Strock doesn't mind 80-90 minutes of this show, and tells us why he bought an MP3 player
• 81:15 Dan Karleen enjoys the unpredictability of a podcast in the age of rewindability that may run 55 minutes, or 70 minutes, or perhaps even 60 minutes on the nose (and we wonder what Sallie Goetsch will make of "rewindability")
• 85:13 Shel reads Eric Eggertson's post about a PR agency's guarantee of accountability in the PR profession, a trackback on Shel's and my blog to show #103
• 87:20 And talking of trackbacks, Constantin Basturea's post trackbacked to the Pete Blackshaw interview

Outro:

• 87:41 Neville's meeting up with the leading lights of the Danish blogosphere on Saturday
• 89:17 Shel wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
• 90:20 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Betty by the Lascivious Biddies

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 January 23...

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

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #103: January 16, 2006

Content summary: Podcast print magazine to launch; Dutch publisher to publish newspaper with blog content; Power PR makes accountability "guarantee"; gaining first impressions about websites in the blink of an eye; Wikipedia reveals plagiarism by journalist; Lee Hopkins' report; the pros and cons of offline blog editors; listeners' comments discussion (the rescue of advertising; meeting up at the IABC conference); Eric Schwartzman's views from CES and his Spinfluencer interview with Joe Hayashi of Yahoo! Podcasts; the music.

Show notes for January 16, 2006

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

Download the file here (MP3, 25MB), 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:

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

News Briefs:

• 01:43 ID3 Podcast Magazine to launch in May
• 07:00 A Dutch publisher plans to publish a newspaper of blog content (Neville doesn't think much of this idea)
• 08:56 Power PR brings "accountability to the PR profession" (leading Shel and Neville to question the agency's claim to guarantee this)
• 13:38 New survey in Nature magazine shows you make up your mind about a website before you know it, in the blink of an eye
• 19:38 Wikipedia plagiarism costs journalist his career

From Our Correspondent Down Under:

• 23:17 Lee Hopkins reports - on leaving the serene Adelaide Hills for the harsh dangers of Arabian deserts and 5-star hotels; do you ecto?; and dost thou understand me, thou young rapscallion?

Feature:

• 28:35 Leading from Lee's question about ecto, some views about ecto, BlogJet, Qumana and other offline blog editors; opinion on the pros and cons of offline blog editors, and the gap in the market that's waiting to be filled

Listeners' Comments Discussion:

• 38:20 First marketing, now advertising - David Phillips has a controversial rescue plan
• 44:31 Dave Traynor thinks meeting up at the IABC conference in Vancouver is a great idea, and says congrats on 100 shows

The Spinfluencer:

• 46:05 Eric Schwarzman in Los Angeles - congratulations on 100 episodes of FIR; views from the Consumer Electronics Show that the convergence of telecoms, the internet and the PC is here now; an extract from an interview with Joe Hayashi of Yahoo! Podcasts

Outro:

• 55:45 Neville wraps the show; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes; Shel will be solo on this Thursday's show with recorded contribution from Neville
• 57:56 Outro podsafe music via the Podsafe Music Network - Rock 'n Roll Queen by The Subways

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 19...

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

The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #102: January 12, 2006

Content summary: Annoying anonymous comments now illegal in the US; political podcasts in the UK by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Conservative leader David Cameron; US army hires Haas MS&L to pitch editorial content to bloggers; Dan York's report; listeners' comments discussion; the music.

Show notes for January 12, 2006

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

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 Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

In this Edition:

• Detailed show notes to come.

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 January 16...

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