Intro: Joe Thornley is sitting in for Neville on the penultimate episode of The Hobson & Holtz Report; the final show, episode 824, will air next Monday; a few words about For Immediate Release, the show that will fill the void left by Neville’s departure; Quick News: Facebook responds to suggestions that it benefits from copyright violations and introduces a new tool to help fight them; publisher performance on Instagram is through the roof; Instagram abandons the square-only photo and … [Read more...] about FIR #823: Do brands need Chief Narrative Officers?
Archives for August 2015
A key lesson in political fund-raising
President Clinton is Really Smart. Mountain View, California, 1995. During his reelection campaign, President Bill Clinton attended a fundraiser thrown by the top CEOs of Silicon Valley. L. John Doerr (center) helped organize the visit at the home of Regis McKenna. During dinner, the CEOs peppered Clinton with questions related to complex technology, trade, and economic issues. Listening patiently, the president smoothly delivered a point-by-point response to each guest, revealing a … [Read more...] about A key lesson in political fund-raising
FIR #822: The case against impressions as a digital metric
View image | gettyimages.com Intro: Red Folder is free for a year to those affected by fires in the U.S. West, IABC Fellows talk measurement and ROI live this Thursday on 'Circle of Fellows'; Quick News: Drones are taking off in the oil industry, the U.S. federal government partners with Yelp to get citizen reviews, personal photos at work: pictures that paint a thousand words; mobile messaging has come of age; CustomScoop promo; News That Fits: The case against impressions as a digital … [Read more...] about FIR #822: The case against impressions as a digital metric
Mapping to the centimetre
If you think about maps, you probably think about Google Maps and Street View or sat nav hardware and software from TomTom, Garmin and many others. Maps like these - all digital and available on almost any mobile device you choose - are light years on from paper maps and how map makers envisioned the role of maps and how people would use them. It's hard to imagine trying to go anywhere these days using only a printed paper map. The Ordnance Survey - founded in 1791, a government-owned … [Read more...] about Mapping to the centimetre
A chat about podcasting
Since announcing in FIR #820 last week that I'll be hanging up my FIR podcasting hat (or mic) next month after more than ten years of creating The Hobson and Holtz Report podcast with Shel Holtz each week, I've been humbled and encouraged by the array of messages and comments from fans and friends of FIR across all social networks. My favourite has to be this tweet from Mark Blevis: Scale :) Thank you again one and all. Last week, I sat down across the ether via Skype with Joe … [Read more...] about A chat about podcasting
FIR #821: The pitfalls of product promotion on social media
Intro: Next 'Second Circle of IABC Fellows' broadcast on August 27 with focus on measurement and ROI, we have a Patreon button on the FIR Podcast Network home page, the final episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report on September 7 won't be face-to-face after all, Neville was interviewed by Joe Thornley on this week's Inside PR 420 coming on Wednesday, FIR dinner in London with Kevin Anselmo on September 10; Quick News: Press release services hacked, stolen releases used for insider trading; … [Read more...] about FIR #821: The pitfalls of product promotion on social media
Is Crowd Mics the answer to making events truly engaging?
Such a familiar situation when you go to a conference: Ever been part of an audience and wanted to participate in a live event? Your options were limited: either raise your hand and project as far as your voice allows; or patiently await a wireless microphone to relay its way through the crowd. Yep, that's the picture I recall from every conference I've spoken at or attended in recent years. So a BBC news item today got my attention with its report on a pretty neat-looking method of … [Read more...] about Is Crowd Mics the answer to making events truly engaging?
The word on ad blocking
I run ad blocking software in the browser on my computer that prevents ads appearing on most web sites I visit. Chrome is my default browser; as I sign in to my Google account in Chrome, and have it sync across all my devices, I have the ad blocker available to me on all those devices including mobile. I have a white list of sites that I'm happy for ads to show, but they are few and far between. There has been quite a bit of commentary over the past few weeks on the economic cost to business … [Read more...] about The word on ad blocking