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
Employee Communication
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
For Immediate Release 113: Not a 280-Character Episode
Shel and I recorded the November edition of the monthly Hobson & Holtz Report podcast. We had a great chinwag on these topics: A follow-up to our KFC story (about 11 herbs and spices); the social media team struck again. Twitter has made its new expanded 280 character count available to almost everyone. Not everyone is happy about it. Uber’s new CEO took an investigator’s advice and scrapped the company’s old values statements. Instead of simply crafting a new one, he crowdsourced … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 113: Not a 280-Character Episode
For Immediate Release 96: The crisis that keeps on giving
In the July installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report, Shel and I talked about these topics: A 15-year-old participating in a work experience program took over the Twitter account of the beleaguered Southern Rail in the UK. The response to #AskEddie was undoubtedly a welcome break for Southern Rail’s social media team, but what did it ultimately accomplish? The online publication Quartz experiments with display-type ads in the text of stories that let users ask an artificial … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 96: The crisis that keeps on giving
Cyberattack: The lack of serious intent for the NHS is not a role model
One of the lingering impressions I have of the NHS is of an organization that's cornered the market in laser-printer labels. That's not to criticise or belittle an incredible public service in the UK that, in my experience, offers outstanding healthcare services at zero or low cost to patients. The provision of care is peerless; it's how the organization is administered that isn't. I recall hospital visits and physio sessions a few years ago when I suffered a leg injury where my … [Read more...] about Cyberattack: The lack of serious intent for the NHS is not a role model