Eric Schwartzman

In this exclusive investor relations episode, two distinguished SEC attorneys, Brian Lane, a partner at Gibson Dunn and Crutcher, and Broc Romanek, the Editor of TheCorporateCounsel.net, engage in a comprehensive discussion surrounding the intricacies of complying with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD). The conversation delves into the legal intricacies and associated risks of disseminating nonselective corporate disclosures through unconventional channels such as Facebook company pages and Twitter. The featured experts shed light on the potential legal liabilities that CEO bloggers may inadvertently expose their respective public companies to, emphasizing the importance of adhering to regulatory guidelines.

The discussion explores various aspects and approaches to satisfying the SEC's Reg FD requirements, including utilizing social media posts, company websites and press release distribution services. The insights provided by Brian Lane and Broc Romanek offer guidance to investor relations professionals, public relations firms, and legal practitioners navigating the complex landscape of financial communications and securities regulations concerning nonselective disclosure.

Acknowledgments are extended to Dominic Jones of the IR Web Report and Mark Story, the director of new media at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, for their invaluable contributions in furnishing supporting information and research that significantly enriched the podcast's content.

It's worth noting that Michael Decker, the press release distribution disclosure expert at BusinessWire, a renowned press release distribution service, was initially scheduled to participate in this podcast but was unable to join the call. Plans are in place to extend an invitation for his participation in a future podcast episode, further enhancing the depth of insights shared with the audience.

Regulation Fair Disclosure Compliance Insights  

2:46 – Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) is a vital topic of discussion, shedding light on its implications, including whisper numbers and how publicly traded companies' public relations and investor relations officers strive to comply with this regulation. The conversation delves into the reasons behind the enactment of Reg FD and its impact on corporate communications.

4:56 – Selective disclosure and insider trading are intricately examined, emphasizing why it is considered inequitable for publicly traded companies to disseminate material information in ways that could confer an unfair trading advantage. The discussion explores the fairness aspect of corporate disclosures and how they affect investors and market integrity.

Understanding the Genesis of Reg FD

5:55 – The NASDAQ bubble of the 1990s stands as a significant backdrop to the discussion, illustrating how historical events and market dynamics contributed to the creation and implementation of Reg FD. The insights shed light on the regulatory response to past market anomalies and the subsequent development of securities regulations.

Compliance Beyond Press Releases

7:40 – The podcast addresses the pressing question of whether press release distribution services remain the exclusive means to ensure compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD). Recent guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prompts this discussion, exploring alternative avenues for companies to satisfy their Reg FD obligations while keeping investors informed.

8:09 – The evolution of the SEC's perspective on push technology (such as email) versus pull technology (like company websites) is scrutinized. This discussion delves into the dominance of pull technology today and the use of company websites or online newsrooms to meet Reg FD requirements. The SEC's changing stance and guidance are explored in detail.

10:21 – The conversation shifts towards understanding how to comply with the SEC's updated Reg FD guidance, particularly regarding the use of company websites for corporate disclosures. The podcast highlights the transition from initial skepticism to the acknowledgment that corporate websites can now serve as recognized channels for disseminating material information.

11:01 – The podcast introduces eight crucial factors that companies must consider when choosing to release material information exclusively on their websites. The complexities of these factors, relevant to both large and small companies, are thoroughly examined, emphasizing their implications for Reg FD compliance.

11:55 – SEC Commission guidance becomes a focal point of discussion, particularly focusing on the August 7, 2008 Commission Guidance on the Use of Company Websites for Corporate Disclosures. This guidance is explored in-depth, highlighting its significance in shaping companies' approaches to Reg FD compliance.

13:27 – A significant confirmation emerges, affirming that public companies can indeed satisfy Reg FD by initially releasing material information on their websites, provided they adhere to the SEC's guidance. The discussion underscores the importance of precision in following regulatory standards.

14:05 – The conversation delves into what determines whether a company's website qualifies as a recognized channel of distribution, as outlined in SEC guidance. The podcast scrutinizes the criteria that define whether a website is suitable for Reg FD compliance, providing clarity on regulatory expectations.

Digital Landscape of Reg FD

15:05 – The potential role of search engine optimization (SEO) in aiding companies to comply with Reg FD takes center stage. This discussion explores how SEO strategies can enhance the visibility of corporate disclosures on company websites, ensuring that investors can access material information effectively.

16:03 – The shortcomings of outsourcing services for investor relations websites come under scrutiny, alongside the NYSE's decision in May 2009 to eliminate the requirement for listed companies to announce corporate disclosures via press releases. The podcast highlights the impact of these developments on Reg FD compliance.

17:32 – The podcast reaffirms that companies can sequence the release of corporate disclosures on their websites first, provided they follow up with push technology releases. It underscores the SEC's leniency regarding this approach, offering flexibility to companies in their Reg FD compliance efforts.

20:08 – Leveraging press releases to alert investors in advance about the release of earnings information on a company's website becomes a key topic of discussion. The podcast examines the rationale behind this strategy and its relevance to investor relations practices.

20:36 – The podcast explores the rationale for shifting press releases to corporate websites before disseminating them through other channels. It draws on insights from SEO consultant specialists Danny Sullivan and Lee Odden to illustrate the advantages of directing inbound links to a company's domain.

22:30 – The growth of shareholder activism is highlighted, emphasizing how it may compel public companies to take a more active role in managing the investor relations section of their corporate websites. The podcast underscores the changing dynamics in investor relations and corporate communications.

24:35 – The significance of website accessibility from the SEC's standpoint is examined, along with the regulators' approach to companies with websites that are challenging to navigate. The discussion underscores the importance of user-friendly and accessible websites to meet regulatory standards.

24:54 – The podcast emphasizes SEC staff guidance, indicating that reference hyperlinks must lead directly to pertinent content, not to a homepage or directory of the investor relations website. The importance of permalinks in Reg FD compliance is underscored.

26:31 – The use of Facebook company pages as investor relations websites sparks discussion, exploring how companies are adopting this approach and the early adopters in various business sectors. The podcast considers the implications of using social media platforms for investor relations.

27:42 – The legality of releasing corporate disclosures first on a company's Facebook page is explored, shedding light on the regulatory considerations surrounding this emerging practice. The discussion addresses the use of social media in investor relations and its compliance with Reg FD.

29:25 – The podcast reflects on whether individuals like Sun Microsystems Chairman Jonathan Schwartz, who pushed the boundaries of Reg FD through blogging, would encounter similar resistance in today's regulatory landscape. The evolution of communication in the digital age is considered.

31:26 – The legal challenges faced by public companies whose CEOs engage in blogging, particularly the risk of selective disclosure and the duty to update, are scrutinized. The podcast distinguishes between corporate disclosures suitable for press releases and those appropriate for blog posts.

34:55 – The inherent risks of corporate blogs hosted on company websites are discussed, emphasizing the perception that companies endorse the accuracy of content on their blogs. Strategies for mitigating risk through blog content are explored.

36:39 – To mitigate risks associated with blogging, one strategy is to focus on nonmaterial corporate information. By steering clear of disclosing sensitive or material data, companies can engage in blogging while reducing the likelihood of regulatory concerns. This approach allows for the open exchange of non-critical information with stakeholders.

37:39 – Corporate blogs walk a fine line when they are perceived as semi-private conversations by regulators. This scenario raises concerns of selective disclosures, potentially leading to violations of Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD).

US Army Public Affairs Staff Sgt. Joshua Salmons coordinates internet-based capabilities training at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) on getting the United States Army public affairs staff up to speed on social media, speaking truth to power, and advocating decentralized communications in a command and control organization.  

I'm returning as the Official Podcaster of the Public Relations Society of America International Conference, where I'll be interviewing military public affairs officers who handle public affairs and manage PR agencies for this podcast.   

Digital Public Affairs Training Insights

3:01 – Integrating digital marketing training into the Defense Information School (DINFOS) curriculum.  

4:28 – How the US Army’s senior leadership uses public affairs and information operations in battle to manage public perceptions and the fundamental policy that every service member is a spokesperson for the US Armed Forces.  

6:53 – How US Military senior leadership is responding in principle to the risks and opportunities of new media engagement and how middle leadership is applying social media on a tactical basis.  

8:52 – The seriousness with which Major General Bergner and General Casey, as well as the US Air Force, US Navy, and US Coast Guard’s senior leadership, are acting to ensure that the US Armed Forces get social media right.  

9:34 – Specifically, what the US Armed Forces are doing now with social media.  

10:09 – How the media and blogosphere got the news about the US Marines Corps social media policy all wrong.  

10:23 – Select US Dept. of Defense social media programs by the numbers (as of Oct. 15, 2009):  

US Marine Corps Facebook Followers – 98,945

US Army Facebook Followers – 65,268

US Air Force Facebook Followers – 8,125

US Coast Guard Facebook Followers – 7,420

Pentagon Channel YouTube Subscribers –140

11:20 – Social media is an information operations battlefield tool where public opinion is won and lost.  

12:12 – Tia Nelson asks if the US Army is actively nurturing relationships gained in society and whether service members are conversing with civilians.  

14:16 – US Dept. of State foreign service officer and former US Army infantry reservist Don Kilburg III asks if the US Army is systematically listening and if information coming in is being used to drive outgoing information.  

16:40 – How Jack Holt, the US Dept. of Defense's social media analyst, explores social media tools tactical value.   

17:37 – Theresa Christianson asks how the military monitors pictures that personnel post to social media services, given the potential security risks and the “grisly quotient.”  

18:20 – How the US Army uses training and education to curtail and mitigate the security risk of social media, and why misuse should never be used as a justification for inaction.  

20:08 – US President Barack Obama and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen recognize the risks of social media, but they see the benefits of establishing a secure, trusted communications channel as well worth that risk.  

21:11 – The US Army’s operational security (OPSEC) strategy and training to offset the risks of cyber warfare and cyber-terrorism.  

24:07 – Whether or not social media could be used to win the trust and confidence of the Afghani people in the current conflict.  

26:08 – The attitude inside the US Dept. of Defense about the social media review that is expected to conclude this month and whether it will form the basis of an umbrella social media policy for all military branches sometime in the future.  

27:12 – Mr. Price Floyd, assistant Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, greatly advocates social media and has talked about using past guidelines and widely moving forward.  

29:37 – Tips on speaking truth to power.  

32:13 – Advocating for a decentralized communications model inside the ultimate command and control organization.  

33:51 – Balancing social media communications against national security.  

37:00 – Will social media become a core component of the US Armed Forces training regiment?  

39:10 – The use of Twitter, possibly by the Basaji riot police during the recent electoral protests in Iran, to trick Mousavi supporters into showing up at fake protest sites where they would be arrested.  

40:58 – Will laptops and handheld devices ever be standard issue for service members?  

42:40 – Reclassifying “social media” and “internet-based operations” to better communicate it value to all facets of the military complex.  

43:29 – Empowering all service members to tell the military story themselves directly to their peers via social media.  

45:20 -- End

A discussion with Mark Weiner, CEO of PRIME Research (acquired by Cision) about why the Public Relations Society of America formed a Measurement Working Group, media monitoring, and the never-ending controversy over advertising value equivalency (AVEs).  

Weiner will present a session at the Public Relations Society of America International Conference entitled “Proving the Value of Public Relations," and was a member of the Public Relations Society of America Measurement Working Group with David Rockland, Pauline Draper-Watts of the Institute of Public Relations Measurement Commission Chair, Katie Paine of KD Paine & Partners and Don Wright of Boston University.   

Prior to PRIME, Mark Weiner was the Global Director and Senior Vice President of PR firm Ketchum Research, where he led an international team of news media analysts.  

Before joining the Ketchum PR agency, Weiner was the CEO and president of Delahaye, a corporate communications and public relations consulting firm founded by Katie Paine, who has also appeared on this podcast, and who provided research support for this episode.  

This was recorded under the auspices of the official podcast of the Public Relations Society of America International Conference.

Public Relations Firm Measurement Insights

1:01 - Mark Weiner’s background, a brief introduction to the Public Relations Society of America Measurement Working Group, and an overview of what Mark will cover in this podcast.  

4:35 – How Mark Weiner helps PR firms overcome the challenge of communicating the value of public relations at the 2009 Public Relations Society of America International Conference.  

5:50 – Mark Weiner on his participation in the Public Relations Society of America Measurement Working Group, which brought together thought leaders to explore how public relations impacts business and which published a “Business Outcomes” deck to help practitioners communicate the value of public relations to clients and managers.  

7:05 – Why PRSA created a Measurement Working Group and a clarification for anyone who heard about this effort first on episode 484 of “For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report.”  

9:12 – The Public Relations Society of America's intention of providing a solutions-agnostic approach and the Measurement Working Group’s pooling of measurement intelligence.  

11:14 – Based on his experiences traveling the globe consulting on public relations measurement, Weiner explains the common misconceptions about public relations measurement outside the US.  

12:32 – The purpose of public relations search and evaluation in business and translating public relations performance through data.  

13:33 -- Whether or not communicating through numbers is more objective than communicating through language, as per 2009 Public Relations Society of America International Conference keynote speaker Todd Buchholz’s appearance on this podcast.  

14:29 – Minimizing misinformation through transparency.   

15:23 – The percentage of Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil Award applications that are eliminated each year because of they lack measurement data and use purposely vague language.  

18:06 – The pros and cons of using advertising value equivalency to communicate the value of public relations to managers and clients.  

19:37 – The most meaningful measures of public relations value.  

21:20 – Advertising value not as a dollar value but as a measure of relative value.  

22:12 – 2009 Public Relations Society of America International Conference Keynoter Bob Garfield’s dire prediction on the future of ad-support media and building the business case for social media engagement.  

24:20 – The importance of measurement standards and how measurement standards for social media engagement will evolve.  

26:57 – Overcoming the challenges associated with interpreting the sentiment of an avalanche of user-generated content in real-time.  

30:59 -- End.

Photo by William Warby on Unsplash

Public Relations Society of America International Conference Keynote Speaker and Former White House economic policy advisor Todd Buchholz discusses whether numbers are inherently more objective than language at communicating facts, communicating through raw data, and number-crunching truth in the digital age.

Keynote Speaker Highlights

1:20 – Former White House economic policy advisor Todd Buchholz is confirmed as a keynote speaker at the upcoming Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) International Conference in San Diego. He shares highlights of what he’ll talk about in his presentation.  

4:08 – James Carville exploited what Buchholz said was a relatively mild recession in 1991 during US President H.W. Bush’s administration on behalf of the Clinton Campaign.  

4:52 – How and why US Federal Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan’s monetary policy resulted in a global economic meltdown.  

6:32 – How US Banks can regain the American people’s trust.  

8:28 – The sustainability of outsourcing as a business strategy and how it will impact the American economy.  

9:50 – Todd Buchholz shares what worries him most about the health and welfare of the American economy.  

11:36 – Why critical thinking skills and an understanding of statistics will be essential to the professional success of future generations.  

12:42 – A recent New York Times cover story on the hot job for college graduates today.  

13:05 – How statistics might used by the government to mislead voters.  

14:47 – Todd Buchholz responds to the following passage from Anand Giridharadas’s recent New York Times opinion piece Athens on the Net.  "The headlines from Washington today blare of bailouts, stimulus, clunkers, Afpak, health care. But it is possible that future historians, looking back, will fixate on a quieter project of Barack Obama’s White House: its exploration of how government might be opened to greater public participation in the digital age, of how to make self-government more than a metaphor.”  

15:21 – Whether or not numbers are inherently more objective than language at communicating facts.  

15:45 – How Washington budget cuts result in releasing inaccurate, financial market-driving information, and why we need to upgrade our statistics capabilities.  

17:11 – Todd Buchholz responds to another passage from Anand Giridharadas’s piece:   “If the Internet needed a further nudge from its pedestal, the health care debate obliged. From the administration’s point of view, the Web arguably proved better at spreading deceptions about “death panels” than at spreading truth, and at turning town halls into brawls than at nurturing the unfettered deliberation that some imagine to be the hallmark of the Internet.”  

18:03 – Number crunching truth in the digital age.

21:08 – End

Photo by David Everett Strickler on Unsplash

Public Relations Society of America International Conference Keynote Speaker Bob Garfield, author of The Chaos Scenario and co-host of NPR’s On the Media, talks about the imminent fate of advertising agencies and the mass media business, why the insatiable quest for quarterly profits spells death for the old media guard and what the collision of our TV sound bite culture and the Net means for so many Americans who are chronically disengaged from credible sources of news and information.

Digital Advertising Agency Insights

3:12 – Bob Garfield on what he’ll discuss (*explicative*) at the 2009 PRSA International Conference.

3:34 – How the web empowers those formerly known as the customer, the electorate, or the congregation to make life miserable for organizations.

4:39 – Why the digital revolution, which allows us to aggregate the energies and combined passions of the world, means utter catastrophe for the media and marketing industries.

6:02 -- The imminent fate of the fabled symbiosis between advertising and media due to the digital revolution.

7:02 – Why the public financial ownership model, which demands increased quarterly net profits, promotes the status quo by restricting the mainstream media business from experimenting with new media and social media channels that could have long-term benefits at the expense of short-term gains.

10:03 – Stakeholder relations as the future of marketing and advertising online.

13:40 – The dangers of living in a US without a vibrant mainstream news media complex serving as a proverbial fourth estate, offering another set of checks and balances against the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

14:34 – The difference between the crowd's psychology and the crowd's aggregated wisdom.

16:35 – Cable news puts sensationalism before journalism by serving up a continuous feed of lies, half-truths, and demagoguery that corresponds with the worldview of its target audience, but the Internet hosts an endless number of points of views, so there will always be a more significant number of moderate, rational thinkers on the web than in the polarized world of cable news, says Garfield.

20:01 – Whether or not trusted journalism brands will ever enjoy their day in the sun again.

21:17 – How and why unchecked power, as demonstrated by the careers of Kevin Costner and Eddie Murphy, rarely results in quality products.

21:55 – The severity of the digital revolution will not allow old media to adapt to the new media landscape.  Garfield says this shift is on the scale of the industrial revolution, collapsing entire business models.

22:31 – Why the advertising industry cannot and will not adapt to the digital revolution.

24:39 –Transferring one’s knowledge of mass media to the business of new media engagement and what the convergence of the sound bite and the internet means for a large number of Americans who are chronically disengaged from accurate, balanced news and information.

26:38 – Some journalism brands will survive, but while the imminent Chaos Scenario that Garfield predicts is underway, many purveyors of mainstream news media will disappear. He shares what the media and democracy landscape might look like in 20 years.  

28:04 – The impact of the rise of social media on television spot advertising, Madison Avenue’s mad dash to reinvent itself in the digital world and why online display advertising is so ineffective.

29:54 – Garfield’s investment advice to shareholders of ad agency Interpublic Group [NYSE: IPG] and Omnicom [NYSE:OMC].

Photo by (cc) David Berkowitz - www.marketersstudio.com

Public Information Officer John Shea discusses strategically leveraging social media for crisis management, the credibility gap between what consumers say on social media and what you say on your website, and why press releases are ineffective crisis management tools.  

FEMA Public Information Officer John Shea discusses how the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses social media for crisis management.

FEMA uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Widgets, and RSS to amplify potentially lifesaving information on a local and incident basis that may be available at FEMA.gov. 

FEMA Crisis Management Insights

1:39 – How online newsrooms help public relations firms use the web as a primary stakeholder relations channel.

2:47 – Why FEMA sees social media as an effective crisis management channel.  

3:41 – How FEMA is leveraging social media regionally and geographically by working with state and local partners during emergencies like earthquakes, fires, and tornados to provide disaster relief and promote disaster preparedness.   

6:01 – FEMA’s Regional Twitter (Example: Region 9), social media account management policy, who decides what information moves via Twitter on a region-by-region basis and coordinating the national and regional message.  

10:12 – How FEMA uses an automated, decentralized social media for crisis management to empower experts, state and local officials with preconfigured social media footprint, standard operating procedures, and training and support to integrate social media into existing job processes and minimize staffing requirements.  

11:12 – How FEMA external affairs – which includes public affairs firms, congressional affairs, intergovernmental affairs, and community relations  – use tool-based standard operating procedures as guidelines for experts, state and local officials who may be using FEMA’s social media websites during a disaster or to promote crisis readiness.  FEMA has standard operating procedures for using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  

14:17 – How FEMA is leveraging off-network solutions (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) to extend the reach of its on-networks resources (information available through FEMA.gov) and navigate IT security, privacy, and legal issues.  

15:06 – Why creating and hosting content on-network is critical to maintaining the credibility of FEMA’s off-network social media communications efforts.  

15:33 – How FEMA sequences the release of information during a crisis incident on-network and off-network.  

17:22 – How and why social media has marginalized the effectiveness of press releases.  The benefit of amplifying on-network information via Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites to reach individuals with potentially life-saving information.  

18:05 – Making social media status updates more credible by back-ending them with links to on-network information so recipients can verify information by means of the authority of the FEMA.gov domain.  

19:08 – Instead of only pushing out safety alerts, FEMA uses social networking sites to search for and connect people looking for disaster relief, safety, and security information with links to potentially lifesaving information at FEMA.gov.  The sequencing of on-network versus off-network information distribution and the value of presenting content at your domain versus a third-party social media site.  

20:53 – Managing information security concerns when communicating about potentially vulnerable communities during times of crisis.  

22:56 – The tools FEMA uses to crowdsource the kind of crisis communications people need most during emergencies and natural disasters and the benefits of using web-based tools or software as a service at organizations with stringent network security demands.  

24:16 – What skill sets and staffing levels are required to manage media monitoring during a crisis, and how is FEMA using social media to listen proactively to identify and distribute the information people need most?  

26:24 – Why compatibility is critical to the effectiveness of America’s disaster response systems and why interoperability and compliance are critical to FEMA’s social media communications strategy.  

28:16 – What FEMA is doing to make disaster relief information available via mobile devices, and the notion of FEMA evolving into the public steward of raw disaster relief data, which could be repurposed and visualized by the public with open source tools like Google Maps.  

30:42 – The network infrastructure required to respond to significant spikes in traffic, which customarily arise during times of crisis, and the content delivery network FEMA uses to help respond to increased page requests.  

33:05 – The legal guidelines mandate what types of features government agencies can and can’t use when setting up and customizing social media accounts.  

35:11 – How FEMA uses internal communications to replace command and control style communications with a more scalable model that lets the center of the organization inform the edges, and the edges inform the world.  

37:02 – End  

Photo by John Middelkoop on Unsplash

Public affairs and public diplomacy blogger Matt Armstrong discusses U.S. Public Diplomacy, repairing America’s image abroad, and whether or not the U.S. Department of State will ever be adequately resourced to lead the nation’s global online public affairs efforts through social media.

Mountain Runner is a blog on the practice and structure of public diplomacy, public affairs and public relations. It is read by senior government officials, practitioners, trainers, academics, and analysts from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, the United States Congress, related institutions, think tanks, and government agencies around the globe.

1:46 – How an online newsroom can help public relations firms increase their news media coverage for clients.

2:09 – Public diplomacy definition from Mountain Runner blogger Matt Armstrong.

4:05 – Why social media is critical to public policy, public affairs, and public relations.

4:54 – How public policy can be used to dispel inaccurate information being promulgated by extremist groups online by highlighting the differences between what an organization says and what it does.

6:06 – Matt Armstrong gives his report on how the U.S. Department of State is doing in the area of social media engagement and web-based communications relative to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Defense and what could be done to improve the State Department’s global engagement strategy.

8:20 – Matt Armstrong opines on how the U.S. Dept. of State is using Dipnote as an extension of their public diplomacy, public policy and public affairs efforts.

9:30 – Matt Armstrong shares has strategic communications approach to Facebook for U.S. Embassies.

10:31 – Matt Armstrong talks briefly about Exchanges Connect, which the U.S. Department of State set up on the Ning white-label social networking platform.

13:54 – Matt Armstrong advises Secretary of State Clinton on how the U.S. Department of State can effectively achieve global electronic engagement in the age of social media, cutting the red tape between public affairs and public diplomacy and the problem with the Smith-Mundt Act.

17:18 – How the U.S. Department of State International Information Program website America.gov defies the Smith-Mundt Act, according to Matt Armstrong.

18:15 – Why broadcasting in Spanish in the United States is one of the easiest, most effective ways to convey public policy and conduct public affairs with Latin America by leveraging foreign nationals and foreign media operating within the United States.

21:25 – Why are open and honest online communications that acknowledge bad news as much as good are the only way to win what Presidents Truman and Eisenhower called the “struggle for the minds and wills” of global audiences?

21:47 – The origins of public affairs, public diplomacy, and public relations, and why openness, honesty, and the frequency of engagement are even more critical in online communications and social media. Why web-based communications frustrate segmentation.

24:25 – Social media engagement for government communicators debunked by Matt Armstrong.

26:40 – Whether or not the U.S. Department of State will ever be adequately resourced to lead in global engagement online. Matt Armstrong grades the performance of senior advisor on innovation to Secretary Clinton Alec Ross and the institutional hurdles that the U.S. Dept. of State will need to clear to practice successful global engagement in the social media age.

29:10 -- End

Twitter marketing training episode with public relations firm leader specialist Sarah Evans, who has more than 100,000 followers.

In this interview, Sarah talks about a tweet chat she organized that took off, the Twitter apps she likes best for moderating her weekly chat on Twitter, the best online reputation management practices for tweeting on behalf of brands, and how early adopter brands can use Twitter for corporate reputation management, crisis communications, social media optimization and lift search engine rankings.

Twitter Marketing Insights

2:49 – Sarah Evans on Twitter apps Tweetchat and Tweetgrid, two online social networking services designed for participating in group discussions on Twitter; which one she likes better and why?

3:42 – Sarah Evans on using Twitter apps for group messaging to block spammers from Twitter chats.

4:15 – Sarah Evans reveals her biggest surprises about moderating her weekly Tweet chat.

5:34 – Sarah Evans on the community size she’s built from moderating #journchat weekly.

6:43 – Sarah Evans on how and why #journchat snowballed on the Twitter instant messaging platform.

8:02 – Sarah Evans’ top three tips for leveraging social media to launch a successful, recurring online social media PR event.

9:15 – Sarah Evans on the support she received through the Twitter social networking platform when she first introduced #journchat and how it validated her social networking event.

10:21 – Sarah Evans on social media strategy considerations for organizational communicators, branded Twitter accounts, and personal Twitter accounts.

12:37 – Sarah Evans on best online reputation management practices for disclosing who the organizational communicator(s) behind a branded Twitter account is.

13:48 – Sarah Evans on the risks associated with letting employees build their personal brand at the expense of a corporate brand. Eric mentions a previous episode in which Toyota revealed their social media strategy for putting their brand first on Twitter while still acknowledging each employee’s contribution.

15:40 – Sarah Evans on pitching news stories to journalists and other media relations techniques via Twitter.

16:52 – Sarah Evans on her role as a guest writer at Mashable, the social media marketing tactics, social media SEO and social media marketing blog.

17:05 – Sarah Evans discusses Media On Twitter, a free, user-generated contact record database of journalists on Twitter that provides Twitter IDs for reporters and bloggers.

18:42 – Sarah Evans on social media PR strategy and social media engagement.

19:45 – Sarah Evans names the companies she thinks are doing a good job leveraging social media for communications.

21:15 – Sarah Evans on where we’re headed and future growth prospects for social media and online social networking.

22:57 – Sarah Evans gives out her Twitter ID and shares the best way to reach her.

24:04 -- End

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Social networks were how student, parents and faculty communicated with each other during the tragic Virginia Tech Massacre, where an active shooter shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on April 16, 2007.

Social media usage during the Virginia Tech Massacre is the topic of this discussion with University of Colorado at Boulder researcher Leysia Palen, who's research examines features of computer-mediated communication and information sharing activity during and after the April 16, 2007.

The discussion explores how the crisis at Virginia Tech caused members of the public to problem solve collectively on social networks in real-time.

She also consider consequences that social networking has crisis communications, emergency response and implications for methods of facilitating communications during a shooting.

Crisis communications used to be the handled by public relations firms through official channels like press releases, spokespeople and media relations.

But today, through the power of socially distributed problem-solving, a first draft of history more nuanced and accurate than ever before is emerging from social media, and increasingly, people are turning to unofficial sources first, particularly in times of crisis.

She shared what she learned about social media usage during a crisis, assessing the credibility of citizen journalism and the dependability of user generated media during a crisis, and how organizations might align with unofficial back channels in the future.

Social Media Crisis Management at Virginia Tech

2:56 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen, an assistant professor of the Department of Computer Science at the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder and lab director of her research group, which focuses its research on social media crisis communications, shares her social science perspective on the differences between crisis, disaster, and emergency.

6:02 - Social media crisis communications researcher Researcher Leysia Palen on how accurate social media research is conducted, on the potential problems in social media crisis communications research, and on how these potential problems in social media communications research are tackled.

7:55 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen shares her experience on the use of software tools for measuring conversations. She shares her knowledge on what tools are most useful and productive and what tools are being built.

9:58 - Social media crisis communications researcher Researcher Leysia Palen gives her insight on which of the readily available tools like Google are the quickest in indexing and delivering the most useful information during times of crisis.

12:37 - Eric Schwartzman comments about social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen’s report, “Crisis in a Networked World: Features of Computer-Mediated Communication in the April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech Event,” published by the Social Science Computer Review.

13:13 - Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen shares crisis communications and emergency management advice on how to incorporate social media into how they manage emergencies.

15:45 - Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on what she learned about how people used social media during the Virginia Tech tragedy, what she found surprising, and what the event shows from a social media emergency management point of view.

She refers to the ethnographic work of one of her graduate students, Sarah Veiweg.

20:24 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on whether she thinks distributed problem solving is more reliable than top-down, commander control style problem solving during the inventory stage of a crisis. She talks about the difference between a disaster and an emergency.

22:42 - Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on how most Virginia Tech students were aware of the shootings.

23:24 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on what students did once they were informed of the shootings on Virginia Tech’s crisis communications throughout the day.

She talks about how social media and online social networking sites were used for student-to-student communication and discovering information throughout the day.

25:28 – Social media crisis communications researcher Palen on emergency management. She talks about backchanneling communications and the importance of frequent updates.

27:47 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on the accuracy of the information, why we have to be critical consumers of information we receive, on making decisions with the information we are given, and on whether to trust pieces of information under uncertain situations.

29:56 - Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen talks about whether or not a website is important for organizational communicators as a source of crisis communications. She talks about whether or not she would advise that most websites be mobile-friendly as well

31:25 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on whether she thinks the violent nature of the Virginia Tech tragedy and the helplessness of the victims is what compelled so many volunteers to accurately self-police their list-building activities. She talks about whether or not she thinks there would be the same level of accuracy in a political crisis.

34:45 - Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on what she thinks about timelines and visualizations of data and why their impact is appreciated. She refers to the research work of another one of her graduate students, Sophia Liu.

36:50 – Social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen on what type of policy changes she hopes her social media communications research on the use of social media during a crisis will prompt.

39:04 – End.

In this comprehensive interview, social media crisis communications researcher Leysia Palen provides valuable insights on the distinctions between crisis, disaster, and emergency situations, the challenges and solutions in accurate social media research, software tools for measuring conversations, the efficiency of information retrieval tools, and the significance of her report on the Virginia Tech tragedy. She also offers guidance on incorporating social media into emergency management, highlights how students used social media during the Virginia Tech tragedy, discusses distributed problem-solving approaches, emphasizes the importance of frequent updates and critical consumption of information, evaluates the role of websites in crisis communications, analyzes accuracy in list-building activities, explores the impact of timelines and data visualizations, and envisions potential policy changes stemming from her research. Leysia Palen's expertise underscores the evolving landscape of crisis management in the digital age, emphasizing the dynamic nature of social media and its implications for crisis response and communication.

Online newsroom best practices, online newsroom design, and social media communications with Scott Deyager – Head of Internal Communications for Toyota North America – who discusses online newsroom strategy, online newsroom software, online newsrooms and social media, mana/PR agencies, and the future of social media communications.

Schwartzman & Associates is a PR firm of record for Toyota Motor Sales.

Online Newsroom Best Practices

2:48 – Scott shares his experience as a member of the Toyota family and his transition from traditional media relations to the social media communications team.

4:18 – Online newsroom access to the 2010 Pruis reveal at the Detroit Auto show, simulcast live without password protection in Toyota’s online newsroom, and how live video streams are becoming an online newsroom best practice.

5:47 – The importance of maintaining open access as an online newsroom best practice, why Toyota chose not to use password protection for its online newsrooms, and why the loss of password protection has become an online newsroom best practice.

7:55 – How Toyota decides what press releases, press kits, and other press materials go in their online newsroom, what press kits and related content go on their social media sites, and how Toyota uses different channels for different purposes.

9:17 – Toyota Social Media Supervisor Scott Deyager on people and process, how Toyota decides who does what, and how the decisions to post content ensure online newsroom best practices are made.

10:20 – Note: At this point in the interview, the MP3 file ended abruptly, and Scott Deyeger agreed to schedule a second interview, essentially rerecording the second half.

10:53 – How Toyota evaluates online newsroom best practices and the success of its social media outreach efforts.

11:47 – Toyota’s rationale for outsourcing its online newsroom to an online newsroom software provider instead of building a custom content management application or skinning an open source platform and having to instill online newsroom best practices autonomously. He talks about why Toyota selected the iPressroom online newsroom software.

12:57 –Toyota’s experience transitioning to the iPressroom online newsroom service

13:41 – Twitter integration in online newsrooms, Toyota’s communications objectives for Twitter, managing corporate and personal brands responsibly as communicators, and online newsroom best practices for Twitter integration.

16:28 – Putting the Toyota brand first, using signatures in tweets, and Toyota’s Twitter strategy of maintaining branded communications without sacrificing personal transparency.

18:00 – Toyota’s decision to establish branded Flickr and YouTube accounts instead of personal, employee accounts and still maintain the peer-to-peer influencer advantage and integrate these accounts into online newsroom best practices.

20:17 – The rules of engagement for social media interaction at Toyota.

21:10 – Eric Schwartzman brings up his experience with podcasting and thinks having the last word as an interviewer is inappropriate. He asks whether or not Toyota is comfortable letting its critics have the last word in their online pressroom or social media sites.

22:20 – What’s next for Toyota in terms of social media communications? He talks about how the company is now “waking up” to social media technology.

23:01 – Eric asks for Scott’s job-seeking advice to Eric’s intern, Jessica Shu, who wrote and search engine optimized these podcast show notes. Scott Deyager advises job-seekers who would like to secure a position in social media communications at a major organization like Toyota.

24:31 – The future of Toyota hybrids. He talks about the 2010 Toyota Prius and when it will be available. He explains why now is an excellent time to buy a car. 

25:56 – End.

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Photo by Raivis Razgals on Unsplash