FIR Interviews

I had an opportunity to have Prasant Naidu, the Founder & blogger at Light House Insights visit our Academy and share his experience on how he organizes content, Indian social media stories and more. The podcast is the outcome of our discussions.

About our Conversation Partners

 Prasant Naidu is the Founder at Lighthouse Insights  – Indian social media stories. He is a blogger, social media content researcher. Lighthouse Insights is an online site that captures all social media related news, insights and updates in the country. As India goes through dynamic changes in embracing social media, we observe, analyse and look out for trends that help the common man. For any story that you want to share you can reach out to Prasant – [email protected] or @PrasantNaidu on Twitter.

Links discussed in this episode

It would be of great help of you could share your ratings and reviews. Please give us your feedback.  If you have something to say, you can leave a comment in the comments section below and you could get in touch with us on [email protected]. We hope you have enjoyed this weekly updates from the digital marketing world of India brought to you by Web Marketing Academy. For more info visit: www.webmarketingacademy.in Catch you same time next week.

The post Interview: Light House Insights Founder Prasant on Content appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The Social Conclave in Christ University, Bangalore – June 30th 2015

Note: this interview comes courtesy of the producers of our new podcast, Digital India.

World Social Media Day Bangalore, brought some of the top social media professionals in India on one stage.  Students from the Christ University and many more digital marketing enthusiasts witnessed a great deal of passion, motivation and the nitty gritty of social media at The Social Conclave 2015,  The Social Conclave the brainchild of Dr.Khushbu Pandya, CEO of Konvophilia, a 360° marketing firm – held on the Social Media Day – June 29th, 2015 in Christ University, Bangalore. These podcasts were recorded in the crowded auditorium but these presenters were patient and courteous to share their inputs.  Thanks to Dr.Khushbu Pandya, Dr. Falguni, Ritu David and Nakul Shenoy.

Suresh Babu, from Web Marketing Academy & the host of Digital India had an opportunity to meet with some of the speakers from the social media day (The Social Conclave) and did some interview for the FIR listeners.

Key Takeaways from The Social Conclave:

About our Conversation Partners

Ritu David is an Omnichannel Consultant, who lived in Australia.  She’s in India after a long time.  She thinks Social is not just for promotions.  Social is a way of life and is a way we must do business says Ritu David. Ritu David’s tips for the students and digital marketing enthusiasts: you can find gold if you could just put your ears into social media.  She listens to multiple podcasts. You can follow her @RDConsultingIN Website: www.ritudavidconsulting.com

Dr. Falguni Vasavada is the Associate Professor in advertising and marketing at MICA.  MICA is a leading school in the country – strategic advertising and marketing. After her presentation in the social conclave, she was as enthusiastic as ever. Her topic for presentation: Data never sleeps – is it a data manager’s dream or a nightmare?

She discusses about how digital and social is slowly but surely catching up with the academics. She thinks that it is bureaucracy that is constraining the adaption of social and digital in India.  She says students should read blogs, watch and learn from videos and other resources , if students are not able to get into MICA.

Check out the faculty blog on : www.mica.ac.in Follow her @falgunivasavada

NAKUL SHENOY is The Mind Reader – a sought-after magical entertainer and corporate speaker based in Bangalore, India. This acclaimed mentalist is the author of Smart Course in Magic and a multi-faceted personality: a communication scientist, a usability consultant holding patents, a user experience researcher, and an entrepreneur.

Author: Smart Course In Magic (HarperCollins) Nakul Shenoy @NakulShenoy

Since its a new show, if would be of great help of you could share your ratings and reviews. Please give us your feedback.  If you have something to say, you can leave a comment in the comments section below and you could get in touch with us on[email protected]. We hope you have enjoyed this weekly updates from the digital marketing world of India brought to you by Web Marketing Academy. For more info visit: www.webmarketingacademy.in Catch you same time next week.

The post Social with The Mind Reader, Omni Channel Consultant & Professor appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) held its 2015 World Conference in San Francisco this week. Amidst the keynote talks, breakout sessions, receptions, and a host of other events, 2014-15 Chair Russell Grossman passed the gavel to 2015-16 Chair Michael Ambjorn. Ambjorn takes over the lead volunteer role as the association continues to recover from some turbulence. In this FIR interview, conducted moments after the conference officially wrapped up, FIR co-host Shel Holtz chats with Ambjorn about the state of IABC, his goals for the next year, how the association can remain relevant, how communicators can benefit from membership, and how IABC can serve non-members.

IABC’s 2015-16 Chair Michael Ambjorn discusses his vision for his term during the Annual General Meeting in San Francisco on June 17. Outgoing Chair Russell Grossman (left) and Executive Director Carlos Fulcher listen.

Michael has captured his primary goals for his term in three hashtags:

He discusses the ideas behind these hashtags in the interview.

While Michael spoke extemporaneously at the AGM, the remarks he prepared are available for review on the IABC website.

About our Conversation Partner

Michael Ambjorn is founder of Align Your Org, and passionate about helping changemakers – whether corporate, public sector or non-profit – achieve purpose-driven impact. With a participation- centric approach he and his colleagues enable effective strategic planning, communication – and clarity of execution. Ambjorn has served as chair of IABC’s Europe and Middle East Region and is the facilitator for IABC’s 2014–17 strategy. He has worked in various management roles at IBM, Motorola and, most recently, the 260–year–old Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (RSA) in London, where he remains an active Fellow.

Connect with Michael on Twitter at @MichaelAmbjorn.

The post Interview: IABC 2015-16 Chair Michael Ambjorn appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For 10 years, Netvibes has been providing individuals and organizations with a dashboard service that allows them to transform browsing, sharing, and tagging into tangible business data to share, analyze and act on. Netvibes dashboards have been used by organizations for brand monitoring, reputation management, product marketing, community portals, and personalized workspaces, among other things.

On Tuesday, Netvibes unveiled the new Dashboard of Things that it announced earlier in the year. With the addition of connected devices to the service, users can now create use existing “potions” or create new ones that initiate an action when specific conditions are met. For example, Netvibes can monitor the company’s website and if it goes down, immediately email the IT team, text the website administrator, and automatically reboot the server. Or, of more interest to communicators, if Netvibes detects a spike in negative sentiment in posts about your product or service, it can email the PR team and text the social media manager. Individuals can take advantage of the dashboard, too, getting a text reminder to bring an umbrella if the forecast calls for rain, for example.

Potions are easy to assemble (see screenshot below).

In this FIR interview, Netvibes CEO Freddy Mini and UX and Press Relations Director Kim Terca join FIR co-host Shel Holtz to talk about the addition of the Interent of Things to the dashboard and how communicators can take advantage of it. (Netvibes Basic is a free service, with monthly fees for VIP, Individual, Team, and Enterprise accounts.)

About our Conversation Partners

Freddy Mini has been CEO of Netvibes Limited at Dassault Systemes SA since May 2008. Netvibes is the Dashboard of Everything, delivering social media and brand monitoring, news aggregation, drag-and-drop analytics and data visualization—all in one easy-to-use and fully customizable platform. Mini joined Netvibes Limited as COO in 2007. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of CNET Networks Europe, where he was responsible for creating and building their operations to more than 200 people while exceeding all profitability goals. He co-founded musicMe.com, the first music search service in the world. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Ziff-Davis France. He serves as Director of MusicMe and Netvibes Limited.

Kim Terca leads marketing and PR for Netvibes, “The Dashboard of Everything” that delivers news and social media monitoring, analytics and automated reporting for agencies and brands. An experienced tech PR practitioner, Kim has worked with some of the leading companies in big data and analytics during her PR agency career. Kim holds a degree from Harvard University and lives in San Francisco.

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The expansion of the global internet population will continue to have a profound impact on infrastructure, education, finance, commerce, and healthcare, among other industries worldwide.

That was a major theme of The Next Billion London, a one-day conference on May 19, 2015, presented by Quartz magazine.

At the Quartz event, FIR co-host Neville Hobson had the opportunity to record a conversation with Leila Janah, founder and CEO of Sama Group and an award-winning social entrepreneur who uses technology and lean business methods to promote social justice.

A wide-ranging conversation focused on the future of work which was how Quartz titled her conference session, very much in the midst of the profound impact the Quartz conference addressed. A thought-provoking segment in the latter part of the discussion concerns the role of governments as enablers of positive change through specific actions that include taxation and rebuilding trust with citizens.

The interview began with Janah introducing her business model.

About Our Conversation Partner

Leila Janah is the Founder and CEO of Sama Group and an award-winning social entrepreneur.

Prior to Sama Group, Leila was a Visiting Scholar with the Stanford Program on Global Justice and Australian National University’s Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. She was a founding Director of Incentives for Global Health, an initiative to increase R&D spending on diseases of the poor, and a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners (now Booz & Co). She has also worked at the World Bank and as a travel writer for Let’s Go in Mozambique, Brazil, and Borneo.

Leila is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a Director of CARE USA, a 2012 TechFellow, recipient of the inaugural Club de Madrid Young Leadership Award, and the youngest person to win a Heinz Award in 2014.

She received a BA from Harvard and lives in San Francisco.

The post Leila Janah and The Future of Work appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Communicators struggle to build genuine online engagement among employees using the various social tools available for intranets. Study after study shows that few employees use these tools, regardless of how much they might be engaged with external social media. At Bank of Montreal, though, Julian Mills overcame the obstacles to introduce social tools employees at all levels used to advance business goals. In this interview, FIR co-host Shel Holtz talks with Mills about the impetus for the introduction of social channels, and with TemboSocial CEO Steven Green, who worked with Mills to introduce the internal social media tools that drove the interaction on the Bank of Montreal intranet.

(Julian participated via mobile phone; the audio quality isn’t quite up to snuff, but it’s definitely listenable.)

About our conversation partners:

Julian Mills is a management and business development executive with a focus on social media utilization, workplace productivity and marketing innovation. In his role as Head, Corporate Intranet and Social Media at BMO Financial Group, Julian leads that team that maintains BMO’s intranets as well as manages portal renewal and the greater utilization of social business tools for 46,000 employees. Prior to joining BMO, Julian was Vice President of Client Development at Prescient Digital Media, where he worked with Fortune 500 Companies to improve their business performance using employee portals and social business technology.

Connect with Julian on Twitter at @millsj007

Steven Green founded TemboSocial Inc. back in 1999 to provide a polling application for marketing and communications departments. Today, TemboSocial offers a suite of social tools that drives intranet platform adoption and employee engagement for the worlds leading brands. In today’s competitive staffing environment, companies desire to retain their talent and make employees smarter about company business by introducing core business processes related to collaboration, innovation and recognition.

With an impressive roster of clients, such as Bank of Montreal, State Farm, Macy’s and The Cleveland Clinic, and with a reach of more than 1,000,000 employees every day, Steven continues to grow TemboSocial’s role in the modern workplace.

Steven has a BA from McGill University in Montreal and a Social Work degree from York University in Toronto.

Connect with Steven on Twitter at @TemboSocial

The post Julian Mills and Steven Green on social intranets appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In a recent post to her blog, longtime FIR contributor Donna Papacosta shared her first Clammr recording after learning about the app at New Media Expo in Las Vegas. While at the Expo, Donna heard Mark Ramsay say, “People don’t share audio. They share conversations about audio.” Later, she met Parviz Parvizi, which claims to be “the Instagram of audio,” allowing users to share snippets of sound. “This would be a boon for podcasters seeking to build their audiences,” Donna wrote.

In this FIR interview, FIR contributor Harry Hawk (@hhawk) chats with Parvizi, Clammr’s co-founder.

About our conversation partner:

Parviz is co-founder of Clammr, a mobile app and platform making audio more social and discoverable. Users are calling Clammr, which features bite-sized audio clips of 18 seconds or less, the “Instagram of Audio.”

Previously, Parviz worked at McKinsey & Company, Goldman Sachs, the FCC, and O’Melveny & Myers. He has advised top 5 global media companies and mobile carriers on strategy and growth. He was a founder of McKinsey’s iConsumer research initiative on digital consumer behavior, authoring 3 of the Firm’s 10 most-downloaded media sector knowledge documents. Parviz holds a JD from Yale Law School and AB from Cornell.

Harry Hawk talks with Parviz the core features of Clammr and its creation, and then dives deep into the importance of audio discovery. Parviz discusses a wide range of use cases that would be beneficial to professional communicators. At its core a Clammr is a metadata rich audio file that is bite size, shareable, embeddable, linkable and curratable. Because Clammrs can be collected and curated 3 to 10 Clammrs can convey a rich tapestry of voices, sounds, and messages; each one can link back to a full source, a PDF file, Etc. Parviz also talks about the audio editing and creation tools which allows users of Clammr to create their Clammr files, mash up existing ones or overlay audio on top of or along size of an existing Clammr.

Connect with Parviz on LinkedIn.

Additional resources

The post The Instagram of audio? An interview with Clammr co-founder Parviz Parvizi appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

While digital marketing dollars still flow into Facebook, marketers continue to express frustration at the social network, its reduced organic reach, and its ever-shifting algorithms. BlitzMetrics Chief Technology Officer Dennis Yu has a different perspective. A longtime Facebook marketing expert, Dennis believes good content can thrive organically on Facebook but that PR needs to adopt paid amplification of messages. He also makes the case that paid reach via Facebook should be seen as a gateway to using Google and other similar services (e.g., promoted tweets) to amplify messages, and that these buys should be aggregated for a more comprehensive analysis. They’re not traditional ads, however, and should not be viewed that way. They can, however, contribute to ROI and other success metrics.

In this FIR interview, FIR contributor Harry Hawk (@hhawk) delves into a variety of dimensions of Facebook marketing in a detailed conversation with Dennis.

Additional links from the episode:

About our Conversation Partner

Dennis Yu is the CTO of BlitzMetrics, which delivers Facebook analytics and content generation services. He is an internationally recognized lecturer in Facebook marketing, having been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, National Public Radio, TechCrunch, Fox News, and CBS Evening News. He is also an author at Adweek’s SocialTimes column.

Dennis has held leadership positions at Yahoo! and American Airlines. He studied Finance and Economics from Southern Methodist University and London School of Economics. Besides being a Facebook data and ad geek, you can find him eating chicken wings or playing Ultimate Frisbee in a city near you.

Connect with Dennis on Twitter at @dennisyu or on his blog.

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