Shel and I had such a rich selection of topics to discuss in the June episode of The Hobson & Holtz Report podcast, aka FIR 208 - recorded during the weekend of the G7 meeting - that it was quite a job to assemble the order of discussion! As always each of us provides three topics, making six in total for discussion in each episode. Here's the final list for June: Half of U.S. adults consider who publishes it as the key factor in assessing a story’s trustworthinessColgate launches its … [Read more...] about FIR 208: A timely PR stunt at the G7
Employee Communication
FIR 203: Insurrection and Sea Shanties
'Trust' was the major theme for discussion in the January episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report podcast aka FIR 203 that Shel and I recorded last weekend and published on Monday. It underpinned all other topics we discussed as we started the episode reviewing the key analysis in the Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 - the report concludes that there is a 'crisis of leadership' with a growing trust gap and declines in trust worldwide; and without a trusted leadership source to look to, people … [Read more...] about FIR 203: Insurrection and Sea Shanties
FIR 195: UN call to educate, uplift and inspire the world
In the last few episodes of For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, we've been highlighting great examples of how organisations are engaging with employees, customers and other stakeholder groups during this time of coronavirus lockdown. In this episode 195 for May that Shel and I recorded a week ago, the example of what the United Nations is doing captured our imaginations leading to a great discussion. In a global call to action at the end of April, the UN asked for help in … [Read more...] about FIR 195: UN call to educate, uplift and inspire the world
FIR ZoomChat 2: Zoom and Privacy
The second weekly FIR Zoom Chat hosted by Shel and Neville includes a robust discussion with a group of FIR listeners of criticism leveled at the increasingly popular videoconferencing tool, Zoom, and the response from the company’s CEO. Links: A Message to Our Users from Zoom founder and CEO, Eric Yuan, April 1.The Zoom Privacy Backlash Is Only Getting Started - Wired, April 1.Everybody seems to be using Zoom. But its security flaws could leave users at risk. - Washington Post, April … [Read more...] about FIR ZoomChat 2: Zoom and Privacy
FIR 176: Our 1,000th episode is hefty but good
The February 2019 edition of the Hobson and Holtz Report podcast, aka FIR episode 176, is a show that marks a big milestone for Shel and I. It's the 1,000th episode* of a podcast that we began in January 2005. In addition to recollections of times past and comments from listeners from throughout FIR’s 14-plus-year history, plus special news from Shel about continuity plans, we report on these stories in this episode: Is it no longer acceptable to call people “users”?Five revelations … [Read more...] about FIR 176: Our 1,000th episode is hefty but good
For Immediate Release 164:
BA flummoxed by cyberflashing
In the November episode of “The Hobson & Holtz Report,” aka FIR 164, Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz reviewed these stories:
British Airways management was as unprepared for the iPhone’s AirDrop creating an onboard kerfuffle as flight attendants were
With the influencer and micro influencer market saturated, marketers now look to nanoinfluencers
By 2022, most of the skills required for employability will be soft skills
The length of YouTube videos people will watch on their … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 164:
BA flummoxed by cyberflashing
2018: the year of chatbots, AI and digital personal assistants
2017 was the year that artificial intelligence (AI) generally gained a greater consciousness in the public mind as well as in the minds of many professionals, not the least being those in the broad communication business – especially public relations, advertising, marketing and employee communication. Every time we see a robot mentioned in the mainstream media, there's either a photo of the Terminator or some human-looking machine which feeds our fear – adding to the uncertainty and doubt … [Read more...] about 2018: the year of chatbots, AI and digital personal assistants
New Report on Change Agents: the Unsung Heroes in Digital Transformation
According to Brian Solis, the real (often untold) stories about digital transformation are the human struggles "change agents" face as they try to modernize their organizations. There are always colleagues, managers and others who don't get it. Solis - futurist, best-selling business-book author and principal analyst at Prophet's Altimeter Group - has written a 29-page report that examines how the people behind digital transformation lead change from within their organizations. From the … [Read more...] about New Report on Change Agents: the Unsung Heroes in Digital Transformation