Gaming. Blockchain. NFTs. The Metaverse. They are all colliding, creating something bigger than any single one of these platforms. In the October episode of For Immediate Release, Neville and Shel talk about this phenomenon and some of the companies making it happen. Also in this month's Hobson & Holtz Report, Neville and Shel discuss the rise of robo-voices, how some companies are taking a more authentic and organic approach to influence, the widening gap between employees and leaders when it comes to policies for returning to the office, ways to encourage employees to engage and share on an intranet, and whether now is the time to hire a chief metaverse officer. Dan York's Tech Report looks at the recent Facebook outage, Facebook Reels, TikTok's billion-user milestone, Slack Clips, Twitch's code base, and Global Encryption Day.Continue Reading → The post FIR #212: When Worlds Collide appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release

For Immediate Release #212: When Worlds Collide

The September installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Apple, Google, and Facebook are all in the news and none of it is good. In fact, some employees are up in arms. Gartner's Emerging Technology Hype Cycle for 2021 is out. There are CEOs who won't touch social media with a 10-foot pole. Then there are those who want nothing more than to post a meme that goes viral. Artificial Intelligence's place in the Gartner Hype Cycle gets its own deep dive. People tune out bad news for a variety of reasons. Knowing why can help you overcome obstacles and get your message heard. There's a wide gap between how executives think their companies' cultures have done during the pandemic and how employees feel about it. Dan York's Tech Report covers a gamut of topics, from LinkedIn ending Stories and Twitter introducing Tips to TikTok enhancing livestreaming and introducing a SiriusXM radio channel. Continue Reading → The post FIR #211: Come On In! The Culture’s Great! appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #211: Come On In! The Culture's Fine!

The August installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Whatever it turns out to be, the metaverse is absolutely coming as the next iteration of the internet An update on NFTs: They have more staying power than we originally predicted Unpacking the vicious cycle of anger, hostility, and outrage on social networks Internal communicators need to get more involved in how managers manage Shades of Dooced! How a boss discovering a secret blog changed an employee at a company in Belgium Continue Reading → The post FIR #210: Dipping Our Toes in the Metaverse appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #210: Dipping Our Toes in the Metaverse

The July installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Subway employs SEO and SEM to fight reports that there's no tuna in its tuna sandwich Wikipedia in Arabic and bring books back to Mosul: A brief interview with Ideas Beyond Borders founder Faisal Saeed Al Mutar Communicating the return to the workplace is a change management challenge Is the digital nomad dream over? Don't give up on Clubhouse just yet: The social audio service has done a deal with TED Is short-form audio the next big social network trend? Continue Reading → The post FIR #209: The Great Resignation appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #209: The Great Resignation

The June installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Half of U.S. adults consider who publishes it as the key factor in assessing a story’s trustworthiness Colgate launches its sonic logo How “Zoom” became the “Kleenex” of video calling Business leaders turn to internal podcasts to stay connected with employees... Continue Reading → The post We’ll Zoom You On Webex appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #208: We'll Zoom You on Webex

The May installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Research finds that fear is sometimes a great way to influence people's behavior. A train company emailed employees they were getting a bonus. It turned out to be a cybersecurity test. Should brands and marketers pay attention to BitClout? What, exactly, is the hybrid model that is likely to define the future of work? Employee activism is taking a number of forms. The employee exodus from Basecamp is one of the latest. Prepare yourself for the changes in travel Dan York reports on social audio as Clubhouse releases an Android app, Twitter launches Spaces for everyone with more than 600 followers, and Facebook pivots into audio. Also: Instagram and YouTube updates, and Automattic's acquisition of CC Search. Continue Reading → The post About That Bonus… appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

FIR #207: About That Bonus...

The April installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Reuters' website goes behind a paywall NFTs are still hot as problems (and possible solutions) emerge Advertisers like podcasts but want better measurement CEOs and brands are pushing COVID-19 vaccinations Volkswagen tarnished its already dicey reputation with an ill-conceived April Fool's prank Is Clubhouse cooling off already? Dan York reports on Unsplash's acquisition by Getty Images, Wix's challenge to WordPress, TikTok, Clubhouse, and Substack facing competition, Google's revamp of Feedburner, Core Web Vitals' change to Google search ranking, and Instagram Lite. Continue Reading → The post FIR #206: We’re Both Vaccinated, So Listen Without a Mask appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

FIR #206: We’re Both Vaccinated, So Listen Without a Mask

The March installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: The road to hell is paved with good intentions, which Burger King learned after one well-meaning but poorly thought-out tweet Do you subscribe to a podcast or follow it? (Or listen to it?) These verbs may have consequence, especially in attracting new podcast listeners. Another company has fired another employee who built a following sharing work-related TikTok videos. A racing drone's 87-second flight through a bowling alley has captured Hollywood's attention. Neville is trying Timely, an Android-based competitor of Clubhouse. NFTs -- non-fungible tokens -- are a hot topic right now. Will they become a staple of marketing and communication or will remember them as a flash in the pan in a few years' time? Dan York has updates on WordPress and Google in his Tech Report. Continue Reading → The post FIR #205: Are NFTs Nifty or Not? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #205: Are NFTs Nifty or Not?

The February installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: Can anyone moderate podcasts the way we expect Facebook and Twitter to moderate content? How communicators can make a difference when IT introduces new software or systems There's a right way and a wrong way to engage in newsjacking Can "branter" build long-term brand value (and what the hell is it, anyway?) A deep dive into Clubhouse, the hot new audio social networking app Continue Reading → The post FIR #204: Won’t You Join Us In Our Clubhouse? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #204: Won't You Join Us In Our Clubhouse?

The January installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report -- which marks the beginning of the 17th year of FIR -- includes reports on these stories: The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer is one of the bleakest yet Communications and the U.S. presidential transition Business, communication, and the insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol The future of misinformation Why CEOs Need to Amp Up Their Social Media Presence The Heinz bottle competition Dan York's Tech Report covers the deplatforming of Parler, the new White House website, U.S. government analytics, and sea shanties on TikTok (and TikTok's duet feature) Continue Reading → The post FIR #203: Insurrections and Sea Shanties appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #203: Insurrections and Sea Shanties

 Twitter's plans to relaunch verification and what's next Clubhouse is poised to become a major social media platform (if Twitter Spaces doesn't squash it like a bug) How a company should say, "We're sorry" Walmart and others expand their employee advocacy programs while Sherwin Williams fires the only employee engaged in it on their behalf Euphemisms for getting laid off Could Substack be a new channel for journalism (including brand journalism)? Dan York's Tech Report covers more Twitter changes; screen sharing comes to Discord while Reddit acquires Dubsmash for its screen sharing functionality; Snap and Facebook take on TikTok; Walmart and TikTok introduce video shopping; WordPress powers 39% of the web (and more about WordPress); podcasting turns 20 Continue Reading → The post FIR #202: We Regret Any Inconvenience appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #202: We Regret Any Inconvenience

The November installment of the Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories: A spoof airline fooled a lot of people. Experts say it had some good ideas. A look at some technological behaviors adopted during the pandemic but that are likely to outlast it. Twitter is the source of some remarkable PR pitch fails. Digital-only financial services startups are turning to influencers to help build their brands. Retailers and other brands are pressuring employees to become TikTok influencers for them. What happened when humans stopped managing social media content? (It wasn't pretty.) Dan York's Tech Report explores Twitter "Fleets," Google search results and "page experience," and Google's new webinars and its partnership with PRX. Continue Reading → The post FIR #201: Wow! Mom Air’s Big Launch appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #201: Wow! Mom Air's Big Launch

The October 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing… A look at how employees are handling life in the pandemic and what companies can do to help Techlash hasn't gone anywhere, but it has fragmented Journalists need training on advanced verification techniques to curb disinformation Sonic logos and other company-used audio needs to change to reflect broad public sentiment Tesla has done away with its corporate PR department; apparently, all they need is Elon Voice connects us to others even more than video -- and way more than text Dan York's Tech Report covers Snapchat getting sounds, WordPress's new ability to turn blog posts into Twitter threads, Cloudflare's automatic platform optimization for WordPress, Spotify podcast promo cards, and the crazy amount of live streaming going on. Continue Reading → The post FIR #200: Elon Musk Doesn’t Need No Stinking PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #200: Elon Musk Doesn't Need No Stinking PR

The September 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing… The new crisis PR: What companies should do when they're "canceled" Twitter's plans to motivate users to "read before you retweet" How COVID-19 has changed the way we write content (and engage with video and social media) The arrival of the NHS contact-tracing app gives a big boost to QR codes Your company's history could pose a risk for your reputation LinkedIn is making changes Dan York reports on Amazon podcasts, LinkedIn Stories, WordPress news, and TikTok at home and in China Continue Reading → The post FIR #199: The Cancel Culture Crisis appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #199: The Cancel Culture Crisis

The August 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing… Twitter's new conversation settings (which are not an assault on free speech) Instagram's terrible attempt to duplicate TikTok What the coronavirus pandemic will do to our homes and offices How the pandemic is reshaping our approach to social media Google's pandemic-related additions to travel searches Dan York's Tech Report covers the release of WordPress 5.5, the TikTok war, the war against app stores, merging messengers, and the demise of Flash Continue Reading → The post FIR #198: Instagroan appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For Immediate Release #198: Instagroan

An expert panel analyzes the week’s news in digital and social media for communications professionals.

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For Immediate Release

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