For Immediate Release #41: Earned media and the Brexit vote

Today’s panel features FIR on Higher Education host and communications consultant Kevin Anselmo, branding and digital integration consultant Olivier Blanchard, and communications consultant Shonali Burke. This week’s topics included:

* The Brexit vote: PR opportunities arising from the exit and media lessons PR practitioners can take to heart

* New Pew research finds social media use has become a standard part of the work day

* Live streaming video replaced the official Congressional video feed during a Democrat-led sit-in, while Facebook announces enhancements to Facebook Live and Tumblr introduces live video.

* Are Tumblr and Reddit worth communicators’ time and energy?

* Social media icon uses social video to defuse a crisis during Cannes Lion

* Should brands play podcasts instead of music while customers are on hold?

* Tech correspondent Dan York reports from ICANN 56 in Helsinki, Finland, reporting on Facebook Live and 360 photos and SoundCloud’s release of algorithmic suggestions.

Connect with our panelists on Twitter at @KevinAnselmo, @BrandBuilder, and @shonaliburke.

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

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

About today’s panel:

Kevin Anselmo is the Founder and Principal of Experiential Communications. He helps individuals and groups gain clarity about what to communicate. Once determined, he then works with his clients to disseminate those messages to ensure it is aligned to big-picture goals. His services focus on communications strategy development, media training, PR execution, coaching, workshops and events. Previously, Kevin was Director of Public Relations for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and prior to that managed the media relations for IMD in Switzerland. In addition, he was an adjunct communications professor at Nyack College in New York. Currently based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Kevin lived and worked in Switzerland for eight years and in Germany for two years. He has led public relations initiatives in various countries around the world. Kevin hosts the For Immediate Release on Higher Education podcast. The show is focused on best practice marketing / communications for individuals within higher education (professors, PR professionals, marketers and administrators) and is part of the For Immediate Release podcast network. He also blogs about higher education communications.

Olivier Blanchard is a French-born, American-based Brand Management and Digital Marketing consultant, the author of two best-selling books, and an acclaimed keynote speaker. As Director of Operations and Strategy at Frontspace, he draws from his years of experience in strategic Marketing and Business Management roles across a range of B2B, B2C and B2G industries, to help companies and their partners develop successful digital strategies, properly deploy social business capabilities across their organizations, and align their programs to business goals and objectives. Though based in the US, his geographic range extends beyond North America to Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Olivier is the author of the best-selling #1 social business desk reference for digital managers and business executives: Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts In Your Organization (Que/Pearson). Olivier is also a sought-after subject-matter expert and corporate trainer.

A veteran of small and large PR agencies, Shonali Burke is the award-winning president & CEO of her eponymous social PR consulting firm, Shonali Burke Consulting, Inc.,