If you’re a listener to the FIR podcast – specifically, The Hobson and Holtz Report – you’ll know Shel Holtz  as my co-presenter in our weekly show that we began in 2005.

In January 2015, we will celebrate ten years of doing this together.

I’ve known Shel for more than 20 years and, given our physical locations eight hours apart – he’s in California, USA, and I’m in the UK – we don’t get to physically meet up that frequently. In fact, the last time we did was in Amsterdam in 2012; before that, in 2009 when I was in California.

So I’m thrilled that Shel and his wife Michele will be in London later this month and we’ll meet up, and we’ll record one of our weekly shows face to face for a change rather than down the line, as it were, of a Skype call.

You may also know Shel as one of the world’s most renowned corporate communicators and a regular, top-rated conference speaker. He is an accredited member of IABC and an IABC Fellow. His extensive experience embraces strategic corporate and employee communications, corporate public relations, crisis communications, media relations, financial communications, marketing communications, change communications, and compensation and benefit communications.

He is immersed in digital and social communication and also speaks frequently on topics surrounding the application of online technology to strategic organizational communication. (Full bio.)

However you might know Shel, if you want to meet up with him on his UK visit this month, there are at least three opportunities where you can do this:

• At “Beyond likes and follows: weaving social media into a results-oriented communication strategy,” a two-day workshop in London on October 28-29 organized by the International School of Communication at which Shel will be teaching participants how to apply today’s social media tools and tactics to real-world business challenges and opportunities. This is the primary reason for Shel’s UK visit.
• At “The keys to digital, social media and content marketing success” in Bath on Monday October 27 where Shel will be the guest speaker at this networking event organized by South West Corporate Communicators and the IABC UK Chapter. SWCC is a terrific LinkedIn group for communicators in southwest England; I’ve spoken at one of their networking events before.
• Join Shel and I, plus our wives, for an informal “FIR dinner” on Wednesday October 30 in London, actual venue to be decided and booked. The restaurant or pub will be in west London, probably in the Kensington/South Kensington area close to a tube station, leaning towards the £ to ££ price range (so not £££+). We’re thinking of a table of up to 20 depending on how many say they’d like to come, each of us paying our own way. If you would like to come, even without knowing precisely where yet, please leave a (non-binding) comment to this post indicating your wish, or in the FIR Podcasting Community on Google+. We’d be looking at getting together at 7pm.

As Shel would undoubtedly say, hope to see you later this month!