In today's professional development landscape, a major educational imperative for PR practitioners, marketers and others involved in online engagement is knowing how to find influential voices across the social web: what to look for, where to focus your attention, what tools are there to help you, and where do you start. One man who has the credentials to share insights on such questions is Adam Parker, chief executive of RealWire, the UK media intelligence company, and the founder and … [Read more...] about FIR Interview: Adam Parker, RealWire, on the roles of listening and influence
Archives for November 2013
Get used to “Ok Google”
Earlier this year, Google announced a new feature for search - conduct a search with your voice in the Chrome browser. To conduct a conversational search, you'd fire up Google Search; if you saw a little microphone symbol in the search box, you could click on it to activate the function, and then speak your search phrase in conversational English (or any of the other supported languages). When I tried it in May, I thought it was a bold step by Google in making everything easier in how you … [Read more...] about Get used to “Ok Google”
FIR Interview: Andrew Grill, IBM, on Social Business
The idea of an organization being a "social business" is one that's been talked about for the past few years, and acted upon by many businesses, especially large enterprises. While social business has quickly captured imaginations with many people, the term itself hasn't universally caught on, perhaps because of the word 'social' that many seem to confuse with "social media." In this FIR Interview, IBM's Andrew Grill tells FIR co-host Neville Hobson why he believes social business is an … [Read more...] about FIR Interview: Andrew Grill, IBM, on Social Business
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #731: November 25, 2013
Intro: FIR Listener Survey update; FIR Interview with Andrew Grill coming November 25, with Sharam Fouladgar early December; newest addition to the FIR Podcast Network this week: Episode 1 of "AllthingsIC with Rachel Miller"; FIR Contest: win a copy of 'Age of Context' thanks to the CIPR - 5 copies to give away; Shel caught up with Andrea Vascellari, Bryan Person, and Sallie Goetsch at Social Media Breakfast East Bay; Quick News: BP caught trolling its Facebook critics; The Public Relations … [Read more...] about The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #731: November 25, 2013
Re-imagining the retail banking experience
Retail banking in the UK is set for a radical change in how customers use branches, and what their experiences are like, over the next five years. The Telegraph reports that some major banks are thinking about introducing "express" branches, similar to self-service checkouts in supermarkets. These smaller outlets would be almost completely devoid of human interaction, the Telegraph says. [...] Martin Shires of banking technology firm NCR said: "As early as next year, you could see one of the … [Read more...] about Re-imagining the retail banking experience
On a digital roll at the FT
If you want evidence that digital and print publications can live together very nicely in the midst of continuing change and declines in circulations and advertising revenues for printed newspapers, look no further than the Financial Times. In July 2012, the paper reported that, for the first time, digital subscriptions had surpassed print subscriptions. And in an email today, the FT told me that paid readership - print and digital - is the highest in the paper's 125-year history at almost … [Read more...] about On a digital roll at the FT
How to accelerate culture change
Are you of the school of thought that changing organization culture is a complex, linear, time-consuming process, one that typically would take years to plan and execute? A process that requires courage to break down silos and is firmly a leadership-derived and -driven one, requiring significant commitments of time and energy from the C-suite? Turn that idea around and see the concept of 'culture change' from a different angle. A concise post in the Harvard Business Review blog shines a … [Read more...] about How to accelerate culture change
The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #730: November 18, 2013
Intro: Another new show is coming to the FIR Podcast Network: Linked Conversations with Chuck Hester; we're interviewed for Inside PR; Shel interviewed for GaggleAmp's podcast; listener survey update; upcoming FIR Interview podcasts with Andrew Grill, Global Social Business Partner at IBM, formerly CEO of Kred, on defining social business, and with Sharam Fouladgar, founder of AirPR, on his new PR-focused enterprise; Quick News: How Twitter's new Custom Timelines can be used for brands, have … [Read more...] about The Hobson and Holtz Report – Podcast #730: November 18, 2013