June 2013 - NevilleHobson.com

The Google Reader shutdown: Last chance to move on

If you use Google Reader, you’ll know by now that Google is shutting the service down on July 1. That’s tomorrow. Since its launch in October 2005, Google Reader became a popular choice for many as the preferred method of subscribing to, reading and sharing information via RSS from blogs and websites. I’ve had a Google Reader account since its launch, yet I never really used Google Reader. My preference was a desktop reader programme: FeedDemon for Windows. I preferred…

Goodbye IABC and good luck

Last week, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) held its international conference in New York. By all accounts I’ve read, some 1,400 members went and took part. I’ve heard, too, that the professional development, networking and social events over the three days of the conference were as compelling and enjoyable as they ever have been at IABC conferences. A different picture emerges, however, when it comes to the business of IABC itself. You may know that I was an…

FIR Interview: Tansley Stearns and Patrick Rooney on employee social media training

While between 30 and 42 percent of companies (depending on which research you cite) still block employee access to social media, research increasingly suggests that training employees is more effective than trying to stop them engaging. The Filene Research Institute – which conducts research for credit unions – wanted to offer training to credit union employees, and asked QUEsocial to modify their off-the-shelf product (one screen of which is pictured above) to address the specific needs of the credit union…

This story about PR qualifies for ‘must read’

Every now and again, something is written or said about the practice of public relations, its development and evolution, usually with the phrase “this is a must read” attached. In my experience, much of what’s described as “must read” is anything but, especially when the words “social media” are added; it’s just spin for the PR. Now and again, though, something is written that you really must read for its clarity of thought, its intellectual excellence, its demonstration of innovation…

FIR Interview: Nick James on the future for towns, shopping and digital marketing

A big topic of debate in many countries today concerns the future of towns and cities and their roles as places people go to shop. A big element in the debate concerns digital, the internet, social channels of communication, and their disruptive effects on people’s behaviours when it comes to shopping (think of new consumer behaviours such as showrooming). In this FIR Interview, co-host Neville Hobson talks to Nick James, founder of freshbusinessthinking.com, and organizer of the Digital Marketing Show…