New Scientist: Twice a week, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson co-host an internet radio talk show. No big deal. What is a big deal is that Holtz lives in California while Hobson lives in the Netherlands. And neither has access to a radio studio. Yet with a couple of PCs, a broadband connection and a […]
Category: Communication
GM blog stays on track
Yesterday, General Motors announced its financial results for the first quarter this year, reporting a net loss of $839 million compared to a net profit of $1.2 billion for the same period last year. It’s interesting to see the focus in media reporting about yesterday’s announcement – “GM posts worst results in 13 years”, “GM […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #26: April 21, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on not knowing what to think about blogs; recording on an iPod; on enjoying open source marketing interview; more on character blogs; screencasting and Camtasia; on IBM intranets and good publicity; suggestions for transcribing interviews; syndicating RSS content; from our Australia correspondent); report on the Blognomics conference; don’t dismiss press releases; […]
Why every company should blog
I’ve just been reading the drafts of the four interviews that Shel Israel posted in the past few days on The Red Couch, the blog that’s the focal point for developing the book on blogs that Shel and Robert Scoble are writing. Those interviews are with Jonathan Schwartz, COO of Sun Microsystems; Bob Lutz, Vice […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #27: April 25, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on character blogs, recording with an ipod, our mention in the New Scientists article on Skype, FeedDemon, our review of Yahoo 360 and employer monitoring of employee e-mail and online activity); Les Blogs update; Business Week’s cover story, "Blogs Will Change Your Business," communication strategic planning, executive voice in a CEO […]
Collaborative working with wikis
The Financial Times has an excellent report on why wikis (definition) are an effective collaborative tool for the workplace, quoting examples from three prominent companies: "It helps to think of [a wiki] as a sort of online whiteboard," says Gary Boone, research manager at Accenture‘s technology laboratories. "We set up a blog and wiki system […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #28: April 28, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on featuring FIR, snarkiness by Business Week, having a guest host for the show, archiving and broadcasting audio input, blogs that float in outer space, audio blog summaries, syndicating RSS feeds, yet more on character blogs, doing promos like Adam Curry, searching podcasts by keywords); a broad review of Les Blogs; […]
Will Paris’ podcast have character?
I’ve heard this already described as a ‘character blog’: Podcasting is hot. But it just got hotter. Paris Hilton invites you to join her on "The Paris Hilton Podcast — Countdown to House of Wax," beginning on April 29. Join Paris and friends as she shops, parties, poses and publicizes in the days leading up […]
Podcasting is disruptive for radio advertising
Fast Company: Podcasting is the newest disruptive technology threatening traditional radio — and making the satellite guys nervous, too. Intro to a well-written short piece in Fast Company on the threat podcasting presents to radio, which also says: Podcasting has the makings of an audio version of the blog phenomenon, allowing any bum with a […]
Tips and tricks for corporate blogging
The cover story about blogs in last week’s Business Week (magazine cover date today, 2 May) has been widely commented on in blogs around the world. For instance, a Technorati search of blogs that link to the cover story shows over 170 blog posts so far. Even more interesting, though, is seeing the conversation thread […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #29: May 2, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on communication strategy, measurement, champagne and tea "from our Australian correspondent"; on communication impact of blogs; podcasting at Les Blogs; identifing a blog author; equipment for mobile podcasting); Doc Searls at Les Blogs; Business Week’s cover story on blogs; lots of developments with podcasting; upcoming interviews in May; suggestions for co-hosts […]
Integrating blogs with PR and marketing
First there was Business Week featuring Steve Rubel in their cover story on blogs last week, complete with full-page photo. That feature evangelizes blogs, exploring the business perspective in quite a different way to other recent mainstream media reporting, and in a far more relevant way for the business reader. Today, the Wall Street Journal […]
On the road
Light posting ahead until the weekend as I’ll be in the UK for the next few days. A client meeting, catching up with some friends for dinner and something quite special. Next month, I’m co-leading a session about new media channels such as blogs at the Communication Directors Forum. This stellar event takes place on […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #30: May 5, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on the Paris Hilton podcast, Adam Curry’s and Ron Bloom’s strategy cast, how podcasts can keep you from getting a traffic ticket, saving shows on a dedicated hard disk, the Business Week blogging cover story – from Business Week – and corporate vs. blogs vs. trade media); downloading sound clips from […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #31: May 9, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on being talked about at the New York geek dinner, sound clip joke, URL misdirecting to Microsoft home page, making PR accessible, podcasts and Podscope); what Paris Hilton could have done with her podcast; the occasional conflict between corporate communications and marketing; political podcast interviews at the UK general election; retrofitting […]
IABC features new communication technologies
If you’re an IABC member, the May edition of CW Bulletin is a must-read for getting some excellent insight into all the primary new communication technologies – blogs, wikis, RSS and podcasts – and their relevance to organizational communicators. CW Bulletin is an online supplement to Communication World magazine. Published monthly, it features timely articles […]
Social software: Out of the lab and into mass culture
As someone who’s more into the ‘fusion cuisine’ side of new communication tools and channels rather than the theoretical/cerebral analysis side, I tend not to spend an extraordinary amount of time in digesting long essays and white papers about new media or social networks. Give me the executive summary every time. That changed this morning. […]
GM blog continues to push the envelope
There’s a new blogger on the GM FastLane Blog, with a new approach – talking to women. A post yesterday by Cynthia Price, GM Center of Expertise, Women’s Market Initiative: I’ve been noticing that guys make most of the comments in this blog. But I’d like to address the women out there. It seems there […]
Interview: Mark Elbertse and Hans Mestrum, Tulip Computers – May 11, 2005
In this latest in our series of For Immediate Release podcast interviews – complimentary to our regular "Hobson & Holtz Report" bi-weekly shows – Shel and Neville enjoyed a 24-minute conversation with Mark Elbertse, Chief Executive Officer, and Hans Mestrum, Trendwatcher, of Tulip Computers NV headquartered in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. Our conversation centered on Hans […]
Podcasting: Adding the human and informal touch
Some say it’s a revolution that will change radio broadcasting and people’s listening habits for ever. Others say it’s a fad that’s of limited appeal and use beyond geeks and enthusiasts. Whatever anyone says, you’d have to admit that something that, in just eight months, has rocketed out of nowhere and today got big companies […]