When I lead workshops, seminars and other professional development events that address social media and organizational communication, I always ask who's heard of the term 'Web 2.0.' Usually, a reasonable number have, often as much as 20 percent of participants if the overall audience is a non-geeky crowd. Things then get interesting when I show an image like the one above (originally created by Markus Angermeier) and ask if anyone can describe what Web 2.0 means. Even the non-geeky folk … [Read more...] about Web 2.0 from the communicator’s viewpoint
Archives for April 2008
A nice little earner from mobile roaming
Channel 4 broadcast a hard-hitting report on Monday by its Dispatches investigative reporting team on the UK mobile phone business. Allegations of sharp practices by mobile phone retailers (an outfit called Phones4U came under especially severe criticism), denial of responsibility by mobile operators when things go wrong with changing contracts, and government collusion to keep voice and text call rates artificially high were at the heart of "The Mobile Phone Rip-Off" report. It's that last … [Read more...] about A nice little earner from mobile roaming
The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #340: April 28, 2008
Content summary: Reflections on FIR 339; Lee Hopkins' transition and introducing Michael Netzley; great content in IABC Cafe2Go April podcast; Michael Netzley reports from Singapore on PR and digital media in Asia; the Media Monitoring Minute with CustomScoop; does blogging need rules like journalism?; Twitter mashups; coming soon: Wikipedia the book; influence and trust; RSS needs an 'easy button'; listeners' comments discussion; music from Antiqcool; and more. [Messages from our sponsors: FIR … [Read more...] about The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #340: April 28, 2008
Product placement insight from Mercedes-Benz
The movie version of the hit TV series Sex and the City opens in the UK later next month. Stars of the show look like being the range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles as much as Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. Yesterday's Telegraph Motoring has a terrific feature on how and why Mercedes-Benz got involved. Choice quotes from Ferdinand Froning, head of Mercedes' Entertainment Liaison Office in Los Angeles: [...] "This film was a no-brainer," he announces [...] talking about the existing … [Read more...] about Product placement insight from Mercedes-Benz
Old Bailey opens its unseen files
What a rich resource for law students. Indeed, for anyone interested in the law and history of England: The long arm of the law now stretches across time: from tomorrow [April 28], the transcripts of every trial heard at the Old Bailey from 1674 to 1913 can be read online, free of charge. The records of more than 210,000 criminal trials held from shortly after the Great Fire of London until just before the Great War, and the biographical details of around 3,000 men and women executed at Tyburn, … [Read more...] about Old Bailey opens its unseen files
Three books for recommended reading
I'm not a great reader of business books even though there are some 20 such volumes sitting on my office bookshelf, all read and mostly not remembered. Recently, though, there has been a slew of excellent and compelling business writing that is very much to do with a broad area in which I have a strong and keen interest - things that are disruptive, whether it's technology or behaviours, and the effects on people and organizations. So here are three books that I'm in the midst of reading, all of … [Read more...] about Three books for recommended reading
The Brits who went to Silicon Valley
I've been following the progress of a group of 20 British tech startups who have been in Silicon Valley this past week as part of Web Mission 2008. The trip - sponsored by HSBC Bank, UK Trade and Investment, TechCrunch, BT and Heller Ehrman Venture Law Group - was designed to showcase innovative UK web talent, seek meaningful assistance for companies ready for expansion, and provide a platform for those involved to gain valuable media and business exposure. Much of what I've been reading has … [Read more...] about The Brits who went to Silicon Valley
The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #339: April 24, 2008
Content summary: Dan York and Sallie Goetsch are your guest co-hosts; NewComm Forum, including an audio segment from Shel; Twitter outage; One-Minute News: Enterprise Web 2.0 to become a $4.6 billion industry according to Forrester, Linden Lab gets a new CEO, Skype on PSP, podcasting in plain English; Podshow renamed as Mevio, Facebook enables chat, WordPress plugin for Seesmic video comments; a report from David Phillips; LinkedIn discussions on blogging; Media Monitoring Minute; Neville on … [Read more...] about The Hobson & Holtz Report – Podcast #339: April 24, 2008