Content summary: Debbie Weil’s new podcast; Rob Safuto’s new venture and blog; Eric Schwarzman interviews the Washington Post; corporate reputation report from Hill & Knowlton; Forrester Research on social computing; Heidi Miller and Apple’s customer service experience; The Guardian launches ‘Comment is free’; Google doesn’t verify press releases; London’s Metropolitan Police blog policy angers coppers; Phil Gomes shouts out; more on Wal-Mart and Edelman PR; David Phillips reports; listeners’ comments discussion (FIR sponsorship; Wal-Mart/Edelman; hiring a PR pro; IABC podcast provenance; Podbridge podcast services; FIR listener survey); the music.

Show notes for March 16, 2006

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 98-minute podcast recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 39MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon).

Listen to this podcast now:

In This Edition:

Intro:

• 00:27 Shel introduces the show; what the show’s about; how to give your feedback; show notes
• 02:01 Debbie Weil’s new podcast; Rob Safuto’s new venture and new blog (great example of customizing the K2 theme for WordPress)

News and Commentary:

• 07:13 From the Spinfluencer in LA – Eric Schwartzman talks to Chet Rhodes, deputy multimedia editor for breaking news at the Washington Post
• 11:17 An overview of a new report on corporate reputation from Hill & Knowlton, released this week (free download)
• 21:40 A look at Forrester Research‘s report on social computing published in February
• 25:43 Heidi Miller recounts her disappointing experience with Apple customer service; we think Apple is missing signficant opportunities for connecting with their brand lovers
• 39:16 The Guardian’s ‘Comment is free‘ blog marks an evolutionary move in engagement by mainstream media, and a good indicator of what Rupert Murdoch is talking about
• 52:32 Google doesn’t verify press releases as a teenager games Google News with a fake one
• 56:27 London’s Metropolitan Police blog policy angers coppers – lessons for any organization
• 64:50 Phil Gomes shouts out!
• 67:32 Two FIR listeners – Tac Anderson and David Phillips – with their views on Wal-Mart/Edelman blogger outreach, transparency and disclosure (and more in listeners’ comments, below)
• 77:41 David Phillips reports – the values of reputation are now proven by the neuroscientists: you heard it here first

Listeners’ Comments Discussion:

• 84:24 Thomas Goetz offers congrats on the podcasting book deal; asks why we don’t have sponsorship yet; provides some thoughts on ethical behavior in the Edelman/Walmart case; and which PR pro to hire when only one is a blogger
• 88:16 Donna Papacosta on the provenance of her IABC conference podcasts
• 89:36 Sebastian Keil‘s view on Edelman/Wal-Mart are that if you work for a PR-agency you should disclose that in a way that is not ambiguous; some thoughts about Podbridge; and asks what happened to the FIR listener survey we talked about before? (50 shows ago, says Sebastian)

Outro:

• 91:42 Neville wraps the show; let us know your views about today’s discussions; how and where to send your comments; where to find the show notes
• 93:40 Outro podsafe music from the Podcast Music Network – Not On The Radio by Geoff Smith

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show are posted to the FIR Show Links pages at The New PR Wiki. You can contribute – see the home page for info.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at fircomments@gmail.com, or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Monday March 20…

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)