For Immediate Release

In a LinkedIn post, internal communications thought leader Monique Zytnik wonders if there is not enough specificity in the “AI” label. “It’s like trying to have a conversation about different animals and only being able to use the word animal. One person is talking about lions and tigers 🦁and the other about cute chicks 🐣 but you’re only using the word animal,” she writes. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel tackle Monique’s question and explore some real-world business uses of AI that were included in a Microsoft article Monique shared in her post, examine the pending European AI regulations Monique mentioned, and look at some other recent AI developments.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, February 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

The post FIR #386: Is AI Too Generic A Label? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing all manner of things. It should be no surprise, then, that it is bound to revolutionize online searching, which has been dominated by Google. A new search engine, Perplexity, threatens Google’s dominance by delivering answers in narrative form with links to the resources from which the narrative was derived in two forms: annotations without the text and tiles that appear above it. Nowhere in evidence are the paid (and often lower-quality) links that occupy most of the first search engine results page these days. But how often will you click one of those links if Perplexity gives you the information you need? Neville and Shel have both become devoted Perplexity users and discuss it in this short midweek episode.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, February 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

The post FIR #385: Amazing Search Results That Drive Little Traffic appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

People are spending less time on the big open public social networks, opting instead for closed communities, hidden away from public scrutiny. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel examine the phenomenon and share their thoughts on the challenges this presents to organizations trying to reach their stakeholders through social media.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, February 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

The post FIR #384: Social Networks Shift Away from the Public Commons appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Back in 2012, business executives thought the most important traits to exhibit when interacting with stakeholders included things like forcefulness, a blue-chip pedigree, and physical attractiveness. No more. A repeat of the study 10 years later found that inclusiveness, a “listen to learn” orientation, and authenticity are among the new traits for a strong executive presence. Neville and Shel discuss the evolution of executive presence and communicators’ role in helping their leaders adapt in this short midweek episode.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, February 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

The post FIR #383: Leadership Traits Aren’t What They Used To Be appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Elon Musk’s company, Neuralink, claims it has successfully implanted a device in the brain of a human subject who is recovering well. These devices are designed to enable severely disabled individuals to manipulate computers with their minds, moving cursors, typing, clicking, and so on. It’s the stuff of science fiction, but, like AI, it seems destined to become just another fact of life. The implications for society are huge, and there are considerations for communicators. Neville and Shel speculate about the concept and what it means for business and society in this short midweek episode.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, February 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #382: Brain Implants Are a Thing Now appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It happens every January, as surely as the Tiffany ball will drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve: Edelman has released its annual Trust Barometer with a focus on the public’s views on innovation and the pace of change, along with the usual dimensions of trust the survey tracks every year. Neville and Shel examine some of the study’s core findings and reflect on their meaning for today’s communication professionals. Also in this episode, Neville and Shel discuss a court case in the U.K. in which an employee was told she could not work remotely and had to return to the office, along with other developments in the whole remote-hybrid-return-to-the-office battle; a global advertising conglomerate did something remarkably creative with synthetic media, demonstrating some of the positives that are possible with AI-generated hyperrealistic video; and a scandal 20 years in the making has erupted in the UK thanks to a four-part docudrama. In his tech report, Dan York reports on WhatsApp’s launch of voice updates, Threads’ plans for integration with the fediverse; generative AI developments, and a couple of milestone anniversaries.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, January 29.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Links from this episode:

Links from Dan York’s Tech Report:

The post FIR #381: The State of Trust in 2024 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

When the word came down from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that investment companies could offer Bitcoin ETFs, Vanguard shrugged off the opportunity — but didn’t make an effort to let its investors know, leading to high volumes of online criticism and some investors closing their accounts. Neville and Shel dig into the communication failure in this short midweek episode.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, January 29.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #380: Vanguard Leaves Investors Twisting in the Wind appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

When blogs first got hot, every December, it was the rare PR agency and independent communicator that didn’t feel compelled to post their predictions and assessments of trends for the new year. That practice has not slowed down. Rather than try to find and read through them all, just sit back and listen to this short mid-week episode of “For Immediate Release.” Neville and Shel will summarize key 2024 trends drawn from a number of sources.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, January 29.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #379: Top Communication Trends for 2024 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Deepfakes! Volumes of disinformation generated at scale! Hallucinated information shared as fact! Inherent bias underlying official communication! The number of crises people can imagine AI creating continues to grow. But do AI’s abilities to aid in crisis communication outweigh these risks — especially if we find ways to minimize or eliminate the risks? Crisis expert Philippe Borremans has released a study, “Artificial Intelligence in Crisis Response: Perspectives from Communication Experts,” that begins to identify the multiple ways AI can do some heavy lifting during a crisis. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel look at the study results and discuss AI’s potential during a crisis.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, January 29.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #378: AI for Crisis Communications appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Back on January 3, 2005, Neville and Shel released the first episode of “For Immediate Release.” That was several months before Apple introduced podcasts to iTunes, an event that is widely associated with the rise of podcasting’s popularity. Our best guess is that there were about 400 podcasts available at the time. FIR was the first to focus on PR and communication. Since then, we have produced over 1,200 episodes of the show, along with FIR Interviews and a couple of other spinoff shows.

While the newest episode is officially episode #377, we reset the episode numbering back in 2015 when we retired the show name, “The Hobson and Holtz Report,” at episode #824. Add them together, and this is actually our 1,201st episode. It also marks the beginning of our 20th year of podcasting.

In this anniversary episode, we briefly recount FIR’s beginnings but spend more time on podcasting’s status today and where it’s heading.

Links from this episode

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, January 29.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #377: Two Decades of Podcasting appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.