This says it all about the folks behind the latest version of Konfabulator, an application that lets you run a wide range of programs called widgets on your desktop. (Tech explanation: it’s a JavaScript runtime application that runs little mini-programs, ie, the widgets, on the Mac and Windows operating systems. Also see this explanation in […]
Survey: Engaged employees = engaged customers
A feature in the Financial Times last week on how to engage employees (paid sub access) referenced a study by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement at Northwestern University in the US. Carried out last year, the study surveyed 100 US media companies to find out how engaged their staff were and whether […]
First the foundation, then the PR
What next for European unity, following the rejection of the idea of a European constitution by voters in France and The Netherlands? Stuart Mudie wonders if Europe needs better PR: […] As far as I can tell, many people feel simply that they didn’t understand what they were being asked to vote on and decided […]
Microsoft tech webcast bonanza
If you can’t get to TechEd US, Microsoft’s annual get-together of IT professionals and software developers, there is a way you can still be part of it. Angus Logan in Australia has a list and links to all the webcasts that will be done from the event which started yesterday and runs until 10 June. […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #39: June 6, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on starting a podcast; Boeing’s blogging guidelines; full-time vs. part-time blogging; broken headsets; PR advice for the US government); keeping political commentary away; what’s next for Europe?; Lee’s 4 learnings; finding out who listens; podcasting growth and Apple’s lead; new books on podcasting; guest co-presenter for the next show; some of […]
On the road
Heading to the airport shortly, over to London. Tonight I’ll be attending the London geek dinner. Nearly 200 people signed up for that! Very little blogging until the weeked as I’ll be participating in and presenting at the Communication Directors Forum conference which takes place from 8-11 June. This event is on a cruise ship […]
Schwarzenegger podcasts
Podcasting knows no boundaries as a communication channel. It was just a matter of time before high-profile and internationaly-known politicians embraced this medium. Via Steve Rubel comes news that Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hollywood actor and current Governor of California, is now offering his weekly radio addresses as podcasts: Podcasting is the latest in on-the-go, on-demand technology […]
How was it for you?
Great event last night – the London geek dinner. At least 180 people there from how I judged it. This must have been the first and biggest such event in the UK, and maybe in Europe. How was it? Well, for my part, I met some really great people, many I’ve know only online. Lots […]
The days are numbered for ‘gatekeeper’ journalism
Journalism is the rightful guardian of disclosure of news and information, and what should be disclosed and what shouldn’t, and has a duty and a right to maintain that position. That’s my interpretation of a very interesting discussion point in John Humphreys’ opening address at the Communication Directors Forum conference on Wednesday evening. The conference […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report: Podcast #40 – June 9, 2005
Content summary: Introducing our co-host, Sam Whitmore; Listeners’ comments (on a new iPod-focused wiki and the work involved in creating audio comments); consequences of the isolation of print publications from their online staffs; Neville’s introductory comments from London, including a discussion about an airline survey; the hard-dollar return from online sales and its potential to […]
A lot of learning to do
It’s the final day of the Communication Directors Forum on board the P&O Oriana, currently at anchor off Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Participating in this three-day conference has been a valuable experience, both from being a speaker and a delegate. Yesterday I hosted my workshop (described as a think tank in the conference catalogue). […]
Flickr’d events
I’ve just uploaded quite a few photos to Flickr: London Geek dinner 7 June: 25 photos (Flickr tags: londongeekdinner0607 and londongeekdinner) – views of a stroll from Green Park, down Duke Street, into St James Square, along the Mall, around Trafalgar Square and then to the Texas Embassy cantina in Cockspur Street for the London […]
Powerful lessons from eBay
This week’s Economist magazine features eBay on its cover and has a special report about the company, analzying its history, its business model and its future as it marks its tenth year in business. It’s a terrific report and well worth reading if you want to gain some knowledge about one of the most successful […]
Don’t become an RSS extract
Catching up with RSS feeds since being away for much of the past week, I read BL Ochman’s Why Full Posts in RSS Feeders Don’t Make Sense with some exasperation. As the writer of only three blogs with summary content in an RSS feed that I still read, BL’s argument for not publishing full content […]
PR gaffe burns Wal-Mart PR director and agency
Daily Telegraph: The Wal-Mart publicity manager behind an advert that equated the retail giant to victims of the Nazis has resigned. Peter Kanelos, who had overseen public relations in Arizona and southern California on behalf of Wal-Mart, left his job yesterday, a few weeks after the company apologised for its PR gaffe. And what a […]
Reboot7 talk
Reboot 7.0 took place in Copenhagen last week, an event I’d have loved to have been at (if I hadn’t been presenting at the Communication Directors Forum, I would definitely have been there). Already plenty of talk about presentations, conversations, etc, which you can track via the Technorati tag. That page includes links to other […]
Fear and loathing with Sarbanes-Oxley
The Financial Times has a story about how CEOs and CFOs feel about providing the financial markets and investors with guidance regarding a publicly-listed company’s future earnings. The issue of how best to share critical information with the public is such a hot potato, the FT says, that few corporate officers, auditors and investor relations […]
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #41: June 13, 2005
Content summary: Listeners’ comments (on the linear nature of podcasts, RBLs, organizing thoughts about podcasts); guidelines for employee blogging; the Communication Directors Forum; communication measurement; what if the novelty of blogging wears off?; blogging and engagement; sans-serif or serif fonts?; rebuilding trust; blogs for tourism; the Ragan Corporate Communicators Conference; IABC International Conference; Global PR […]
Can Ketchum walk the new media talk?
I was reading the press release issued yesterday by Ketchum Public Relations announcing their new service offering called Ketchum Personalized Media: "a global service that advises organizations to know how, why and when to integrate the growing roster of online and wireless media – from blogs and podcasts to mobile marketing – into their overall […]
Too much of a good thing
I bet this rings a bell for many people: It’s a gazillion degrees in my house right now, but I can’t figure out the thermostat controls, so the heat’s still on and the air conditioning unreachable. My new Denon receiver/tuner sounds amazing–good thing I’m using it mostly with my iPod; I have no clue how […]