February 2012
Facebook Seeks More Paid Ads →
Reuters Releases Social Pulse, A Social Media Hub →
Social business success: CEMEX →
January 2012
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #632:... →
Content summary: We start our 7th year of FIR on January 3; FIR Book Review by Bob LeDrew of ‘ROI of Social Media’ posted, more coming; the FIR Book Club launching this month on BlogTalk…
Curating company news: Time for company content... →
There’s plenty of evidence that business is adopting content curation, but the practice hasn’t been around long enough for organizations to innovate more targeted, results-focused uses. Business…
December 2011
FIR Book Review: ROI of Social Media, by Guy R.... →
The ROI of Social Media: How to Improve the Return on Your Social Marketing Investment, by Guy R. Powell, Steven W. Groves and Jerry Dimos, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR…
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #631:... →
Content summary: Today is Boxing Day, a public holiday in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some other Commonwealth nations; Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Day messages available for…
Volkswagen turns off BlackBerry email for... →
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #630:... →
Content summary: Dan York is guest co-host in Neville’s absence. A Google+ Hangout panel discussion on Le Web has been posted, as have two book reviews by FIR book review editor Bob…
SOPA votes derailed by politician's 'offensive'... →
FIR Book Review: Humanize, by Jamie Notter and... →
Humanize, by Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant, is the latest book to be reviewed by FIR Book Reviews editor Bob LeDrew. From the Amazon.com description: “Knowing the tools of…
FIR Video Panel Discussion: Le Web 2011 →
Le Web brings together the most influential audience in the Internet ecosystem. Top industry entrepreneurs, executives, investors, senior press and bloggers gather for two days in…
FIR Interview: Spinklr.com Founder and CEO Ragy... →
Sprinklr.com is a social media management platform for large organizations, run by founder Ragy Thomas. In this FIR video interview—conducted over the latest iteration of the Google+…
Why Your C-Suite Should Love Open Access to Social... →
This is my presentation from BlogWorld and New Media Expo Los Angeles on November 5, 2011. It’s one of over 100 recorded sessions from BlogWorld Los Angeles 2011. You…
Why Your C-Suite Should Love Open Access to Social... →
This is my presentation from BlogWorld and New Media Expo Los Angeles on November 5. It runs a bit over an hour and shows just the slides. It’s one of over 100 recorded…
Augmented Mirror of the Future Reflects You and... →
Apple’s social media policy is just as... →
Back in 2005, when IBM first encouraged its employees to blog publicly about their work, the company explained the initiative in part by noting that no marketing campaign could evangelize the…
November 2011
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #627:... →
Content summary: FIR Interview with Ragy Thomas postponed; update on PRSA’s #PRDefined campaign; News That Fits: US military takes to social media to rebut extremists; Michael Netzley…
Most employees don’t use intranet social... →
For years, employees have been subjected to the “Godspeed” method of their employers introducing new communication technologies to the workplace. Here’s how it works: The IT department configures…
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #626:... →
Content summary: On this day in 1980; good result for Tony Loftis (FIR Interview last week): his missing daughter Allie found safe; two FIR Interviews coming: Peter Espersen of Lego and…
FIR Interview: Chad Warren on Adobe... →
When Adobe announced Adobe SocialAnalytics earlier this year, and offered it under open beta in May, the news attracted close attention from enterprises keen to learn more about…
Eight tips for getting employees to comment on CEO... →
Whenever I raise the issue of leader blogs on intranets, the same issue inevitably arises, as it did during a workshop I conducted a week or so ago on social intranets and again at an…
Companies need to learn to love public customer... →
I had one of those customer service issues the other day that led me tweet my unhappiness. An as-yet undiagnosed medical situation has my wife using a cane these days. She’s not accustomed to taking…
Advertising's Self-Regulatory Guidelines on... →
Four pillars of a customer advocacy program →
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #624:... →
Content summary: FIR Interview with Chris Boyer posted; Dell B2B Social Media Huddle in London on November 3: podcasts coming soon; Shel was at BlogWorld Expo; News That Fits: Technorati’s…
FIR Interview: Healthcare Social Media Specialist... →
Chris Boyer found more FourSquare checkins at the six Inova hospitals than he would have guessed. He decided to look into it a little more and found himself producing measurable…
My common-sense approach to managing the glut of... →
A lot of hype accompanied the launch of Unthink. Most major news outlets carried the story of a decently-funded social network launching with the intention of being the iconoclast on the block,…
Five ways to enhance communications with mobile... →
Americans with mobile devices are getting adept at multitasking, at least when it comes to the number of screens they manage. According to a mid-October report from Nielsen, 40 percent of American…
The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #623:... →
Content summary: FIR Interviews coming: Chris Boyer, Adobe’s Chad Warren, more in the pipeline; Dell B2B Social Media Huddle in London on November 3, sessions will be recorded at FIR…
October 2011
Plagiarism | Common Craft →
5 Key Roles for Content Marketing Success in 2012 →
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #622:... →
Content summary: Lunch with Jeremiah Owyang last week; thanks to Debi Davies for adding to the show notes; GaggleAmp update; News That Fits: Content marketing drives B2B; Dan York reports…
It’s not about you →
More than once, I’ve heard tales of executives rejecting social media platforms because they personally dislike them. In one instance, a communicator recommend the company adopt FourSquare,…
September 2011
Are you capturing employee stories and turning... →
I was interviewing the CEO of a Silicon Valley company as part of an internal communications audit. “How does knowledge move most effectively through your organization?” I asked. He pondered the…
The Hobson and Holtz Report - Podcast #617:... →
Content summary: Dave Fleet, VP of Edelman Digital in Toronto, is our guest co-host. There’s one week left to share your thoughts about FIR by taking the 2011 listener survey. An FIR…
FIR Interview: Jillian Beard, Morton’s... →
The social media world erupted with speculation when Peter Shankman blogged that Morton’s Steakhouse had read his tweet (written in jest) and delivered to him, via tuxedo’d staffer, a…
December 2010
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #576:... →
Content summary: Neville solo host this week; new FIR Interview posted: Shel in conversation with Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Foundation Acting Director John G. Lowe and…
A point-by-point demolition of the latest case for... →
Cross-posted from Stop Blocking An article by Barclay Communications appearing in a tech publication from Northern Ireland is strident in its insistence that blocking employee access to…
How agencies and consulting firms can develop... →
As consumers shift some of their digital interactions from computers and laptops to smartphones and tablets, the need for apps as a point of contact becomes more obvious. Coming up with a focus for…
FIR Interview: Crowdsourcing content for the VFW... →
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Foundation Acting Director John G. Lowe and Fleishman-Hillard digital strategist Justin Goldsborough join FIR co-host Shel Holtz to discuss the V-Wall…
November 2010
Eight ways to improve employee brand literacy →
Countless articles and blog posts have been written listing ways to encourage employees to become brand ambassadors. A lot of companies already engage in many of these practices, but that…
FIR Cut: Smartphones to ring up 28% of holiday... →
Cut from episode 575: Information Week articleexplores the role smartphones will play in 2010 holiday shopping Download the file here (MP3, 1.10Mb; length 2:40), or sign up…
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #575:... →
Content summary: Kristin Brandt from Manic Mommies is guest co-host; FIR Live on BP Gulf oil spill set for December 11; listener comments; Ragan promo on Corporate Editors and Writers…
Activate employees who already use social media,... →
The various reasons companies block employee access to social media can be summed up in one word: fear. Among the many things that make employers afraid, from lost productivity to network…
Activate employees who already use social media,... →
Cross-posted from A Shel of My Former Self
The various reasons companies block employee access to social media can be summed up in one word: fear. Among the many things that make employers…
Take a deep breath before caving in to the... →
The outrage over intensified screening procedures at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport checkpoints was palpable. Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter were swamped with complaints,…
FIR Live on BP Gulf oil spill communications set... →
The next episode of FIR Live will look at the communication efforts surrounding the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill—the worst in U.S. history. Our guests are…
Gerald Baron,…
The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #574:... →
Content summary: Two FIR Interviews posted: with CC Chapman and Ann Handley, and with Mitch Joel; the next FIR Live will be on Dec 11 with Neil Chapman of BP and Gerald Baron on the…
FIR Cut: Are video games the future of journalism? →
Cut from episode 574: New Scientist article proposes the story-telling mechanism of video games could be a means of presenting journalism. Download the file here (MP3,…