For Immediate Release

By Neville Hobson and Shel HoltzBusiness News Marketing Business News Tech News

For Immediate Release episodes

April 19, 2021FIR #206: We’re Both Vaccinated, So Listen Without a Mask
The April installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories:
Reuters' website goes behind a paywall
NFTs are still hot as problems (and possible solutions) emerge
Advertisers like podcasts but want better measurement
CEOs and brands are pushing COVID-19 vaccinations
Volkswagen tarnished its already dicey reputation with an ill-conceived April Fool's prank
Is Clubhouse cooling off already?
Dan York reports on Unsplash's acquisition by Getty Images, Wix's challenge to WordPress, TikTok, Clubhouse, and Substack facing competition, Google's revamp of Feedburner, Core Web Vitals' change to Google search ranking, and Instagram Lite.
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #206: We’re Both Vaccinated, So Listen Without a Mask appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 24 min
March 15, 2021For Immediate Release #205: Are NFTs Nifty or Not?
The March installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories:
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, which Burger King learned after one well-meaning but poorly thought-out tweet
Do you subscribe to a podcast or follow it? (Or listen to it?) These verbs may have consequence, especially in attracting new podcast listeners.
Another company has fired another employee who built a following sharing work-related TikTok videos.
A racing drone's 87-second flight through a bowling alley has captured Hollywood's attention.
Neville is trying Timely, an Android-based competitor of Clubhouse.
NFTs -- non-fungible tokens -- are a hot topic right now. Will they become a staple of marketing and communication or will remember them as a flash in the pan in a few years' time?
Dan York has updates on WordPress and Google in his Tech Report.
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #205: Are NFTs Nifty or Not? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 33 min
February 22, 2021For Immediate Release #204: Won't You Join Us In Our Clubhouse?
The February installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories:
Can anyone moderate podcasts the way we expect Facebook and Twitter to moderate content?
How communicators can make a difference when IT introduces new software or systems
There's a right way and a wrong way to engage in newsjacking
Can "branter" build long-term brand value (and what the hell is it, anyway?)
A deep dive into Clubhouse, the hot new audio social networking app
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #204: Won’t You Join Us In Our Clubhouse? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 38 min
January 25, 2021For Immediate Release #203: Insurrections and Sea Shanties
The January installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report -- which marks the beginning of the 17th year of FIR -- includes reports on these stories:
The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer is one of the bleakest yet
Communications and the U.S. presidential transition
Business, communication, and the insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol
The future of misinformation
Why CEOs Need to Amp Up Their Social Media Presence
The Heinz bottle competition
Dan York's Tech Report covers the deplatforming of Parler, the new White House website, U.S. government analytics, and sea shanties on TikTok (and TikTok's duet feature)
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #203: Insurrections and Sea Shanties appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 30 min
December 21, 2020For Immediate Release #202: We Regret Any Inconvenience
Twitter's plans to relaunch verification and what's next
Clubhouse is poised to become a major social media platform (if Twitter Spaces doesn't squash it like a bug)
How a company should say, "We're sorry"
Walmart and others expand their employee advocacy programs while Sherwin Williams fires the only employee engaged in it on their behalf
Euphemisms for getting laid off
Could Substack be a new channel for journalism (including brand journalism)?
Dan York's Tech Report covers more Twitter changes; screen sharing comes to Discord while Reddit acquires Dubsmash for its screen sharing functionality; Snap and Facebook take on TikTok; Walmart and TikTok introduce video shopping; WordPress powers 39% of the web (and more about WordPress); podcasting turns 20
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #202: We Regret Any Inconvenience appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 11 min
November 23, 2020For Immediate Release #201: Wow! Mom Air's Big Launch
The November installment of the Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories:
A spoof airline fooled a lot of people. Experts say it had some good ideas.
A look at some technological behaviors adopted during the pandemic but that are likely to outlast it.
Twitter is the source of some remarkable PR pitch fails.
Digital-only financial services startups are turning to influencers to help build their brands.
Retailers and other brands are pressuring employees to become TikTok influencers for them.
What happened when humans stopped managing social media content? (It wasn't pretty.)
Dan York's Tech Report explores Twitter "Fleets," Google search results and "page experience," and Google's new webinars and its partnership with PRX.
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #201: Wow! Mom Air’s Big Launch appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 18 min
October 19, 2020For Immediate Release #200: Elon Musk Doesn't Need No Stinking PR
The October 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing…
A look at how employees are handling life in the pandemic and what companies can do to help
Techlash hasn't gone anywhere, but it has fragmented
Journalists need training on advanced verification techniques to curb disinformation
Sonic logos and other company-used audio needs to change to reflect broad public sentiment
Tesla has done away with its corporate PR department; apparently, all they need is Elon
Voice connects us to others even more than video -- and way more than text
Dan York's Tech Report covers Snapchat getting sounds, WordPress's new ability to turn blog posts into Twitter threads, Cloudflare's automatic platform optimization for WordPress, Spotify podcast promo cards, and the crazy amount of live streaming going on.
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #200: Elon Musk Doesn’t Need No Stinking PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 5 min
September 28, 2020For Immediate Release #199: The Cancel Culture Crisis
The September 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing…
The new crisis PR: What companies should do when they're "canceled"
Twitter's plans to motivate users to "read before you retweet"
How COVID-19 has changed the way we write content (and engage with video and social media)
The arrival of the NHS contact-tracing app gives a big boost to QR codes
Your company's history could pose a risk for your reputation
LinkedIn is making changes
Dan York reports on Amazon podcasts, LinkedIn Stories, WordPress news, and TikTok at home and in China
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #199: The Cancel Culture Crisis appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 26 min
August 17, 2020For Immediate Release #198: Instagroan
The August 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing…
Twitter's new conversation settings (which are not an assault on free speech)
Instagram's terrible attempt to duplicate TikTok
What the coronavirus pandemic will do to our homes and offices
How the pandemic is reshaping our approach to social media
Google's pandemic-related additions to travel searches
Dan York's Tech Report covers the release of WordPress 5.5, the TikTok war, the war against app stores, merging messengers, and the demise of Flash
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #198: Instagroan appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 9 min
July 20, 2020For Immediate Release #197: A Better Social Network
The July 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing…
Emotional Intelligence as an Internal Communications focus
AI avatars as a new tool for training and marketing
The latest TikTok news
What a better social network might look like
The rise of Virtual and Augmented Reality
The staggering jobs challenge the world is facing
Dan York reports on xxx.
Continue Reading →
The post FIR #197: A Better Social Network appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
1 hr 15 min