For Immediate Release #77: Blockchain, Brands, and Trust

Phil Gomes and Sherrilynne Starkie join Shel Holtz for this week’s episode, which covered these stories…

* Snap Inc.’s IPO went well and the stock is performing better than expected. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a bright future for Snapchat.

* One blockchain startup leader believes the technology can play a central role in rebuilding trust in business by encoding the company’s values on the blockchain.

* Dan York’s tech report looks at the Amazon Web Services outage.

* Companies invest a lot in social media but publishers are far more successful. Can communicators learn anything from how media uses social media?

* A special, brief report on what Shel means when he says “30” at the end of every episode.

Connect with guest co-hosts on Twitter at @philgomes and @sherrilynne.

Links to the source material for this episode are on Contentle.

Join the FIR Gaggle for a chance to get a free copy of J. Kelly Hoey’s book, “Build Your Dream Network.”

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

FIR was recorded using Zencastr.

About today’s guest co-hosts:

Phil Gomes is senior vice president at Edelman, working in U.S. B2B Digital, advanced community engagement and special situations, a role he developed that focuses on preparing clients for advanced issues and special situations regarding online corporate reputation and emerging technologies. Phil has been with Edelman since 2005; before that he was with Dryden Marketing Group working as a media programs manager. Phil co-founded CREWE – Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement, and he’s a founding fellow of the Society for New Communications Research. Phil was a recent FIR Interviews guest talking about blockchains and their potential role in communications, a topic that will come up again in today’s show.

For more than 20 years, Sherrilynne Starkie has been providing communications consulting and services to blue-chip organizations in Britain, Canada and the United States. She focuses on helping clients leverage digital and social media to achieve organizational objectives.  As President at Thornley Fallis, Sherrilynne is responsible for the profitable operation of the communications business including client strategy overview, business development, HR, quality assurance, marketing and team development. She is a blogger, an occasional contributor and is very active on social media. Recently, she’s been a speaker at the IABC World Conference, SXSWi, WTC and the UA Canada National Conference.  She is an active volunteer with IABC Ottawa has volunteered with many other organizations.