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J.D. Lasica, blogger, author, and journalist, goes On the Record…Online with host Eric Schwartzman at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto, California, to discuss working as a journalist in the mainstream media, citizen journalism and citizen media, and the affects the new media has upon traditional journalism.

J.D. Lasica is co-founder and executive director of Ourmedia, a nonprofit global repository and community space for grassroots video, audio, photos and text. He’s a writer and blogger. His new book about the personal media revolution -- "Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation" -- is the result of two years of reporting and research. J.D blogs about citizen media and digital rights at Newmediamusings.com and Darknet.com. In a previous life, he was an entertainment editor at the Sacramento Bee. He is a senior fellow of the Society for New Communications Research. J.D., thanks for joining us.

SHOW NOTES:

3:15 – J.D. Lasica talks about his work as a journalist in the mainstream media: “…my managing editor actually issued an edict at one point saying ‘any story containing the word the web has to be officially approved by me.’”

4:15 – Lasica on what he covered as a journalist.

4:40 – Lasica on leaving his job as a journalist and working for Microsoft.

5:14 – Lasica talks about Our Media: “…its been a wild success…”

7:17 – Lasica on how to determine what media content is valuable.

9:19 – Lasica on “remix culture.”

11:58 – Lasica talks about open source software.

13:12 – Lasica discusses the “Mashup Camp” conference and explains what mashups are.

14:20 – Lasica talks about RSS feeds.

15:20 – Lasica discusses the notion of objectivity in journalism.

16:58 – Lasica on working at a newspaper and in a newsroom: “…very seldom do they [those in charge of a newspaper] just let you run with a new idea…I think that’s become a real problem…” 18:35 – Lasica discusses citizen journalism and citizen media.

20:49 – Lasica explains what the terms “populist” and “citizens” mean in a political context.

22:55 - End

This is a talk I had in the early days of digital with J.D. Lasica about working in the mainstream media, citizen journalism and the impact of social media on traditional journalism.

J.D. Lasica is co-founder and executive director of Ourmedia, a nonprofit global repository and community space for grassroots video, audio, photos and text.

His book about the media revolution -- "Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation" -- is the result of years of reporting and research. J.D writes about citizen media and digital rights.

In a previous life, he was an entertainment editor at the Sacramento Bee. He is a senior fellow of the Society for New Communications Research. J.D., thanks for joining us.

SHOW NOTES:

3:15 – J.D. Lasica talks about his work as a journalist in the mainstream media: “…my managing editor actually issued an edict at one point saying ‘any story containing the word the web has to be officially approved by me.’”

4:15 – Lasica on what he covered as a journalist.

4:40 – Lasica on leaving his job as a journalist and working for Microsoft.

5:14 – Lasica talks about Our Media: “…its been a wild success…”

7:17 – Lasica on how to determine what media content is valuable.

9:19 – Lasica on “remix culture.”

11:58 – Lasica talks about open source software.

13:12 – Lasica discusses the “Mashup Camp” conference and explains what mashups are.

14:20 – Lasica talks about RSS feeds.

15:20 – Lasica discusses the notion of objectivity in journalism.

16:58 – Lasica on working at a newspaper and in a newsroom: “…very seldom do they [those in charge of a newspaper] just let you run with a new idea…I think that’s become a real problem…”

18:35 – Lasica discusses citizen journalism and citizen media.

20:49 – Lasica explains what the terms “populist” and “citizens” mean in a political context.

22:55 - End

Photo by Geoff Livingston

Francois Gossieaux, president of the world’s first blog media company, goes On the Record…Online with host Eric Schwartzman at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto, California, to discuss his company Corante as well as offer advice for marketing professionals.

Francois Gossieaux serves as President of Corante, the world’s first blog media company, which currently attracts tens of millions of pageviews a month and ranks among the top most linked to sites on the web. Prior to Corante Francois was involved in a variety of technology start-ups. He has a long history with online media, has used blogs for grassroots political and environmental activities, and is currently blogging at emergencemarketing.com.

SHOW NOTES:

3:54 - Francios Gossieaux discusses Corante and how the site was able to get recognized by Google News: “…as there is more and more information overload and less and less attention…people are going to increasingly subscribe to people as opposed to content, and that’s what Corante is known for…”

6:12 – Gossieaux talks about how he is able to get authors to participate: “ …I would say that 95 percent our contributors…are interested in becoming part of an authoritative voice, a group voice, and then accessing audiences that are larger than what they can access themselves…”

8:14 – Gossieaux discusses the advertising on his site and the focus of Corante.

9:32 – Gossieaux on how he was able to get Corante’s feed into LexisNexis.

11:22 – Gossieaux on Corante’s work with the IT Services Marketing Association.

12:58 – Gossieaux discusses syndicating Corante’s blogs and editorial feeds on Google News.

14:40 – Gossieaux talks about Google’s business model and Corante’s goals: “…we have two assests. We have our readers and we have our contributors…if we can optimize a product that will work for our readers than we can optimize the value that our contributors derive from working with our readers…we as the facilitator of that will benefit.”

15:53 – Gossieaux explains what the product BlogBridge is.

18:00 – Gossieaux offers his recommendations for marketing professionals: “…marketing shouldn’t be an organization, marketing should be the way a company behaves in the marketplace.”

22:16 – Gossieaux discusses his views about companies using metrics to evaluate marketing success.

24:35 – Gossieaux talks about the reaction to recent religious cartoons mocking the Muslim Prophet and what marketing professionals may learn from this example of “the power of self-organization.”

26:46 – Gossieaux prides Visa on building itself in a “totally self-organized way…and on a common belief…[that goes] way beyond were going to make money for our investors...”

This is a conversation I had with Francois Gossieaux, who was president of the world’s first blog media startup, at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto, California.

We spoke about his company Corante and he offered advice to public relations professionals on how to assimilate digital communications into their campaigns.

Francois Gossieaux serves as President of Corante, the world’s first blog media company, which currently attracts tens of millions of page views a month and ranks among the top most linked to sites on the web.

Prior to Corante Francois was involved in a variety of technology companies and really understands how to do PR for start-ups.

He has a long history with online media, has used blogs for grassroots political and environmental activities.

I just released a 2020 Startup's Guide to PR is you want to learn from my 25 years of experience living through the digital revolution.

SHOW NOTES:

3:54 - Francios Gossieaux discusses Corante and how the site was able to get recognized by Google News: “…as there is more and more information overload and less and less attention…people are going to increasingly subscribe to people as opposed to content, and that’s what Corante is known for…”

6:12 – Gossieaux talks about how he is able to get authors to participate: “ …I would say that 95 percent our contributors…are interested in becoming part of an authoritative voice, a group voice, and then accessing audiences that are larger than what they can access themselves…”

8:14 – Gossieaux discusses the advertising on his site and the focus of Corante.

9:32 – Gossieaux on how he was able to get Corante’s feed into LexisNexis.

11:22 – Gossieaux on Corante’s work with the IT Services Marketing Association.

12:58 – Gossieaux discusses syndicating Corante’s blogs and editorial feeds on Google News.

14:40 – Gossieaux talks about Google’s business model and Corante’s goals: “…we have two assests. We have our readers and we have our contributors…if we can optimize a product that will work for our readers than we can optimize the value that our contributors derive from working with our readers…we as the facilitator of that will benefit.”

15:53 – Gossieaux explains what the product BlogBridge is.

18:00 – Gossieaux offers his recommendations for marketing professionals: “…marketing shouldn’t be an organization, marketing should be the way a company behaves in the marketplace.”

22:16 – Gossieaux discusses his views about companies using metrics to evaluate marketing success.

24:35 – Gossieaux talks about the reaction to recent religious cartoons mocking the Muslim Prophet and what marketing professionals may learn from this example of “the power of self-organization.”

26:46 – Gossieaux prides Visa on building itself in a “totally self-organized way…and on a common belief…[that goes] way beyond were going to make money for our investors...”

Photo by www.jeremylim.ca.

Blogger, Author, Journalist Dan Gillmor, goes On the Record…Online with host Eric Schwartzman at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto, California, to discuss the rise of grassroots media, the relationship between citizen journalism and traditional journalism, as well as the future of the media given the rise of online journalism.

Dan Gillmor is the founder of Grassroots Media Inc., a project aimed at enabling grassroots journalism and expanding its reach. He is the author of "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People," a book that explains the rise of citizens' media and why it matters. From 1994-2004, Gillmor was a columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley 's daily newspaper, and wrote a weblog for SiliconValley.com. He joined the Mercury News after six years with the Detroit Free Press. Before that, he was with the Kansas City Times and several newspapers in Vermont. Dan is currently directing and working on projects related to the Center for Citizen Media, a non-profit organization helping to enable citizen journalism.

SHOW NOTES:

3:18 - Dan Gillmor talks about launching the Center for Citizen Media.

4:45 - Gillmor on why he decided to leave the San Jose Mercury News.

6:03 - Gillmor discusses the development of grassroots media in the United States: “…the digitization and democratization of the tools for creating media…is the big shift that enabled people who wanted to say something to actually say it…”

10:30 - Gillmor on the credibility of citizen journalism: “We’ve learned over the years what’s trustworthy and what isn’t in traditional media. We have to now apply very similar skills and learning to understand what we can trust online...”

13:32 - Gillmor talks about how technology can help with editorial oversight.

14:31 - Gillmor talks about applying grassroots concepts to newspapers and traditional media organizations: “…look at the tools for conversational media that exist like blogs, like podcasts…and use them internally as part of the news gathering and dissemination process done by professional journalists…”

17:39 - Gillmor talks about how the online media can work towards ensuring truthful coverage: “one thing bloggers are pretty good at is debunking and fact checking after the fact.”

20:00 - Gillmor discusses his book “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People.”

20:58 - Gillmor talks about the ways traditional media organizations and citizen journalists can work together “I would like to see individual journalists…be more willing to listen to readers who want to talk about what they are doing and offer their own insights.”

23:30 - Gillmor on how long it will take newsmakers and readers to work together: “…I think over time we can have a pretty healthy and diverse ecosystem that includes the big media and the micro media...”

25:43 - End

This is a recording of a conversation I had with Dan Gillmor at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto about the rise of grassroots media, the relationship between citizen journalism and traditional journalism, as well as the future of the mainstream media amidst the rise of online journalism.

Dan Gillmor is the founder of Grassroots Media Inc., a project aimed at enabling grassroots journalism and expanding its reach.

He is the author of "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People," a book that explains the rise of citizens' media and why it matters.

Gillmor was a columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley 's daily newspaper, and wrote a weblog for SiliconValley.com. He joined the Mercury News after six years with the Detroit Free Press. Before that, he was with the Kansas City Times and several newspapers in Vermont.

Dan is currently directing and working on projects related to the Center for Citizen Media, a non-profit organization helping to enable citizen journalism.

SHOW NOTES

3:18 - Dan Gillmor talks about launching the Center for Citizen Media.

4:45 - Gillmor on why he decided to leave the San Jose Mercury News.

6:03 - Gillmor discusses the development of grassroots media in the United States: “…the digitization and democratization of the tools for creating media…is the big shift that enabled people who wanted to say something to actually say it…”

10:30 - Gillmor on the credibility of citizen journalism: “We’ve learned over the years what’s trustworthy and what isn’t in traditional media. We have to now apply very similar marketing skills and learning to understand what we can trust online...”

13:32 - Gillmor talks about how technology can help with editorial oversight.

14:31 - Gillmor talks about applying grassroots concepts to newspapers and traditional media organizations: “…look at the tools for conversational media that exist like blogs, like podcasts…and use them internally as part of the news gathering and dissemination process done by professional journalists…”

17:39 - Gillmor talks about how the online media can work towards ensuring truthful coverage: “one thing bloggers are pretty good at is debunking and fact checking after the fact.”

20:00 - Gillmor discusses his book “We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People.”

20:58 - Gillmor talks about the ways traditional media organizations and citizen journalists can work together “I would like to see individual journalists…be more willing to listen to readers who want to talk about what they are doing and offer their own insights.”

23:30 - Gillmor on how long it will take newsmakers and readers to work together: “…I think over time we can have a pretty healthy and diverse ecosystem that includes the big media and the micro media...”

25:43 - End

Photo by Joi Ito

The Rock and Roll Geek Show's Michael Butler interviews FIR‘s Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz and On the Record Online's Eric Schwartzman at the New Communications Forum, Palo Alto, California, USA.

Neville Hobson, ABC, is a communicator, blogger, podcaster, and one of the leading European early adopters and influencers in new-media communication for business.

He has 25 years of experience in organizational communication, including public and media relations, marketing and employee communication, as well as investor and financial relations. He authors a weblog with commentary and opinion on business communication and technology. Through his blog and his growing network of influence, he advocates how new communication channels such as weblogs, wikis and RSS can be of significant benefit to organizations in helping them achieve their business objectives.

Shel Holtz, ABC, is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. Shel has been advising companies on how to use online tools for public relations and corporate communications since 1996. Before that, he was a communications consultant and practice leader for Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group. He has also been director of corporate communications at two Fortune 500 companies, Mattel and Allergan. He is the author of several books, including "Public Relations on the Net," "The Intranet Advantage," and "Corporate Conversations." He's on the Web at http://www.holtz.com/ and blogs at blog.holtz.com.

SHOW NOTES:

1:56 - Eric Schwartzman talks about how he met Michael Butler.

5:35 – Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz talk about when they began podcasting.

6:19 – Hobson and Holtz on why they started doing a podcast and their line of work.

8:02 – Schwartzman on why he launched iPressroom and what it is: “So if you’re not a geek and you don’t know how to program and you don’t know how to code…you want some sort of solution that’s gonna allow you to email market, search engine optimize, do viral marketing campaigns, video on demand, audio on demand, RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts…you can conduct all those programs with our software without any web support or IT support.”

11:47 – Schwartzman on why he does podcasts.

13:03 – Hobson and Schwartzman on how podcasters work together.

14:16 – Holtz and Hobson talk about the length of their podcasts.

15:50 – Holtz discusses the New Communications Forum.

16:19 – Schwartzman on launching his blog Spinfluencer.

16:58 – Holtz on his experiences doing podcasts: “…one of the things that has evolved out of the whole experience is we have built a real community…it is a real two way medium.”

18:08 – Hobson talks about meeting people through the blogosphere.

19:21 – Schwartzman on the future of blogs: “...the blog is going to become ultimately…the online venue of choice for the individual but I don’t necessarily think it works for the organization.”

20:00 – Holtz shares his views on the future of social media.

20:46 – Schwartzman talks about the benefits of blogging and podcasting.

22:07 – Hobson offers his perspective on blogs: “…they give people another means, an easy means from a technological point of view, to tell a story, and that’s a basic human need to communicate.”

24:36 – Holtz and Hobson talk about how podcasting can help a business.

25:45 – Schwartzman on the relationship between doing podcasts and gaining clientele: “When a big podcast goes out…a lot of leads will come in from people who are interested in learning about our service.”

27:45 – Schwartzman talks about how he gains clients.

28:35 – Schwartzman discusses the changes that have occurred within the field of media relations as a result of the web.

30:56 – Hobson on how social media is changing the way public relations works.

32:17 – Holtz shares his views on what PR entails.

38:20 – Hobson talks about the questions participants posed during the New Communications Forum.

40:38 – Holtz on the book he and Hobson are writing about podcasting.

42:46 – Holtz and Hobson discuss making a business case for podcasting.

44:39 – Hobson and Holtz on how often businesses should do podcasts.

45:58 – Schwartzman and Hobson talk about the archival value of podcasts.

46:52 – Holtz discusses IBM’s podcast.

48:11 – Holtz, Hobson, and Schwartzman talk about what podcasts they listen to, as well as video podcasting.

52:26 – Hobson on podcasts in the Netherlands.

52:45 – Butler, Holtz, Hobson, and Schwartzman talk about their favorite music podcasts and their own podcasts.

56:23 – End

In this episode, The Rock and Roll Geek Show's Michael Butler interviews FIR‘s Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz and me  at the New Communications Forum, Palo Alto.

Neville Hobson, ABC, is a communicator, blogger, podcaster, and one of the leading European early adopters and influencers in new-media communication for business.

He has 25 years of experience in organizational communication, including public and media relations, marketing and employee communication, as well as investor and financial relations. 

Shel Holtz, ABC, is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. Shel has been advising companies on how to use online tools for public relations and corporate communications since 1996.

Before that, he was a communications consultant and practice leader for Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group. 

SHOW NOTES:

1:56 - Eric Schwartzman talks about how he met Michael Butler.

5:35 – Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz talk about when they began podcasting.

6:19 – Hobson and Holtz on why they started doing a podcast and their line of work.

8:02 – Schwartzman on why he launched iPressroom and what it is: “So if you’re not a geek and you don’t know how to program and you don’t know how to code…you want some sort of solution that’s gonna allow you to email market, search engine optimize, do viral marketing campaigns, video on demand, audio on demand, RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts…you can conduct all those programs with our software without any web support or IT support.”

11:47 – Schwartzman on why he does podcasts.

13:03 – Hobson and Schwartzman on how podcasters work together.

14:16 – Holtz and Hobson talk about the length of their podcasts.

15:50 – Holtz discusses the New Communications Forum.

16:19 – Schwartzman on launching his blog.

16:58 – Holtz on his experiences doing podcasts: “…one of the things that has evolved out of the whole experience is we have built a real community…it is a real two way medium.”

18:08 – Hobson talks about meeting people through the blogosphere.

19:21 – Schwartzman on the future of blogs: “...the blog is going to become ultimately…the online venue of choice for the individual but I don’t necessarily think it works for the organization.”

20:00 – Holtz shares his views on the future of social media.

20:46 – Schwartzman talks about the benefits of blogging and podcasting.

22:07 – Hobson offers his perspective on blogs: “…they give people another means, an easy means from a technological point of view, to tell a story, and that’s a basic human need to communicate.”

24:36 – Holtz and Hobson talk about how podcasting can help a business.

25:45 – Schwartzman on the relationship between doing podcasts and gaining clientele: “When a big podcast goes out…a lot of leads will come in from people who are interested in learning about our service.”

27:45 – Schwartzman talks about how he gains clients.

28:35 – Schwartzman discusses the changes that have occurred within the field of media relations as a result of the web. 30:56 – Hobson on how social media is changing the way public relations works.

32:17 – Holtz shares his views on what PR entails.

38:20 – Hobson talks about the questions participants posed during the New Communications Forum.

40:38 – Holtz on the book he and Hobson are writing about podcas...

Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, authors of the book Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers, go On the Record...Online with Eric Schwartzman at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto, California.

Shel Israel writes and speaks about blogging, communications, marketing and innovation. He is the co-author of Naked Conversations, How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Microsoft's Robert Scoble. A self-proclaimed recovering publicist, Israel spent more than 20 years as a public relations executive specializing in technology start ups. Among more than 100 companies he worked are Sun Microsystems, SoundBlaster, PowerPoint, and Filemaker.

Robert Scoble is a technical evangelist who works for Microsoft and maintains the popular blog, Scobleizer. Besides blogging, Scoble is part of the Channel9 MSDN Video team producing educational and evangelist mini-films targeted towards students and professional developers. Although Scoble often promotes Microsoft products like Tablet PCs and Windows Vista, at the same time he criticizes his own employer and praises its competitors (like Apple and Google). He has long been known as a prominent advocate of both RSS technology and the Tablet PC, two technologies that he has previously been involved in a professional capacity, at NEC Mobile Solutions, where he was sales support manager, and UserLand Software, where he was director of marketing.

SHOW NOTES:

3:46 - Robert Scoble and Shel Israel on their decision to blog their book before publishing it.

6:30 - Robert discusses the process of blogging the book.

7:01 - Shel talks about the blogosphere’s influence on the final draft of the book.

8:44 - Shel and Robert talk about publishing the book.

10:00 - Robert and Shel on corporate blogging: “…there’s a new human voice and that’s the key thing to what blogging does for the corporation, it puts a human face on it.” 14:00 - Shel and Robert on how blogs have changed traditional forms of marketing. 16:42 - Robert and Shel on word of mouth marketing: “…now because of blogging and other emerging social media you can go directly to your audiences world wide and make a difference. You don’t need The New York Times or the local daily to get your word out.”

18:57 - Shel and Robert on the differences between media relations and naked conversations.

22:26 - Robert and Shel discuss whether Steve Jobs should blog: “Companies that don’t blog, like Apple, are going to in the long term pay for this…”

24:10 - Robert and Shel talk about Bill Gates allowing employees to blog at Microsoft.

25:45 - Robert and Shel responding to a question about how to advise CEOs to blog: “Dialogue beats monologue let your people blog.”

26:46 - Shel and Robert on whether their book is a success.

30:07 - Robert discusses MSN’s censorship of Chinese blogger Zhao Jing.

33:58 - Robert and Shel on companies using social media and taking business risks: “…in the end the companies that deny that there’s been a change are going to have their cherry orchids cut down.”

37:36 - End.

This is an interview I did with Robert Scoble and Shel Israel when they released Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. It was recorded at the New Communications Forum in Palo Alto.  

Shel Israel writes and speaks about blogging, communications, marketing and innovation. He is the co-author of Naked Conversations, How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Microsoft's Robert Scoble.

A self-proclaimed recovering publicist, Israel spent over 20 years as a public relations consultant specializing in tech start-up pr. Among more than 100 companies he worked for are Sun Microsystems, SoundBlaster, PowerPoint, and Filemaker.  

Robert Scoble is a technical evangelist who works for Microsoft and maintains the popular blog Scobleizer. Besides blogging, Scoble is part of the Channel9 MSDN Video team producing educational and evangelist mini-films targeted toward students and professional developers.

Although Scoble often promotes Microsoft products like Tablet PCs and Windows Vista, at the same time, he criticizes his employer and praises its competitors (like Apple and Google).

He has long been known as a prominent advocate of RSS technology and the Tablet PC, two technologies that he has previously been involved in professionally, at NEC Mobile Solutions, where he was sales support manager, and UserLand Software, where he was director of marketing.  

SHOW NOTES  

3:46 - Robert Scoble and Shel Israel on their decision to blog their book before publishing it.  

6:30 - Robert discusses the process of blogging the book.  

7:01 - Shel talks about the blogosphere’s influence on the book's final draft.  

8:44 - Shel and Robert talk about publishing the book.  

10:00 - Robert and Shel on corporate blogging: “…there’s a new human voice and that’s the key thing to what blogging does for the corporation; it puts a human face on it.”  

14:00 - Shel and Robert on how blogs have changed traditional forms of marketing.  

16:42 - Robert and Shel on word of mouth marketing: “…now because of blogging and other emerging social media networks you can go directly to your audiences worldwide and make a difference. You don’t need The New York Times or the local daily to get your word out.”  

18:57 - Shel and Robert on the differences between media relations and naked conversations.  

22:26 - Robert and Shel discuss whether Steve Jobs should blog: “Companies that don’t blog, like Apple, are going to in the long term pay for this…”  

24:10 - Robert and Shel talk about Bill Gates allowing employees to blog at Microsoft.  

25:45 - Robert and Shel responding to a question about how to advise CEOs to blog: “Dialogue beats monologue let your people blog.”  

26:46 - Shel and Robert on whether their book is a success.  

30:07 - Robert discusses MSN’s censorship of Chinese blogger Zhao Jing.  

33:58 - Robert and Shel on companies using social media and taking business risks: “…in the end the companies that deny that there’s been a change are going to have their cherry orchids cut down.”  

37:36 - End.  

Photo by JD Lasica