For Immediate Release

The COVID-19 pandemic created a host of new communication pressures on company leaders, so they, in turn, leaned on their communicators, who evidently came through for them in a big way. The result: increased influence in the C-suite, according to a Gartner survey. Neville and Shel have questions.
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The post FIR #256: Comms Influence in the C-Suite appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Micro-learning is the formal label for the upbeat, music-backed TikTok videos that demonstrate how to accomplish tasks on Excel, Microsoft's ubiquitous spreadsheet tool. The videos are racking up billions of views and the influencers behind the videos are making fistfuls of cash. Microsoft played no part in getting the video trend started; the company is just taking advantage of what the influencers are producing. Lessons abound for companies and communicators.
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The post FIR #255: How TikTok Makes Spreadsheets Cool appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Google used a short video to tease a feature for its Augmented Reality (AR) glasses that could be AR's killer app. They don't look bad, either.
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The post FIR #254: AR You Ready? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Search "blockchain" and you're sure to find plenty of commentaries that proclaim the core Web3 technology doomed. It can never work, they say, and they outline a broad range of reasons. Yet blockchain is already managing processes in the background -- some of which you may already be using in your own home. Neville and Shel explore some of the ways blockchain-based technologies are becoming everyday tools and what this means for communicators.
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The post FIR #253: Blockchain In Your House appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Matthew Rechs confesses that he was not a great manager at first but he learned some fundamental rules that will benefit anyone who hopes to be more than an old-school boss. For internal communicators, Rechs' "promises" -- first published as a series of tweets -- can serve as the foundation for a targeted effort to elevate effective management in your organization.
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The post FIR #252: Managers, Not Bosses appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

POAPs are getting to be a big deal, with Warner Music inking a deal with the organization behind them. Never heard of POAP? It's the Proof of Attendance Protocol, used to mint a special kind of NFT that serves as proof you were there, whether it's a concert, a conference, or some other kind of event or activity. Their use by businesses is inevitable. Even internally, companies can award POAPs to employees who attend the town hall, for example, some of which could wind up being highly coveted. In this episode, Neville and Shel break down POAPs and their potential for organizations, especially those looking to engage Gen Z-aged individuals.
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The post FIR #251: Proof of Attendance appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Nissan and Toyota are entering the metaverse, one with a focus on employees and the other targeting consumers. They join some other auto manufacturers that have already established a metaverse presence. Fidelity Investments is also setting up shop, as is Vanity Fair. And these are a drop in the bucket among the businesses staking metaverse claims.
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The post FIR #250: Go for a Drive in the Metaverse appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For those who are weary of the staged, curated images people share on social networks like Instagram (as if their lives were truly that enviable), BeReal wants to be the antidote. It is finding favor with the college-aged crowd but there could be untapped opportunities for businesses to participate, too.
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The post FIR #249: Getting Authentic with BeReal appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Cross-posting your social media posts is a great way to extend reach and get more bang for your image/video/text buck. It can also backfire when not done well and some platforms actively discourage it. Neville and Shel share some thoughts on cross-posting in this episode.
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The post FIR #248: Cross-Posting Do’s and Don’ts appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Mining big data is a routine activity among many organizations. That’s exactly what a company called Hiq was doing with data it obtained from public LinkedIn pages. LinkedIn sued and now an appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling determining that such web scraping is legal. The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will... Continue Reading →

The post FIR #247: Permission to Scrape appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.