Holtz Communications + Technology

Google’s Think Quarterly magazine is the latest example of a company recognizing that, regardless of whatever else it is, it’s a media company.

Google, of course, is a media company on a number of levels. Its primary business helps people find stuff. Its YouTube operation is all about letting people share video. The company produces scads of media, from apps (like Google Earth) to…

One of the problems with research studies is the tendency of some leaders to see the headline and skip the actual study, especially when the sound bite version of the study’s conclusion supports the leader’s views.

So it was with dismay that I read about a study conducted by the University of Nottingham’s School of Economics. The sound bite to which a lot of leaders…

At a recent conference, I heard a highly-respected (and respectable) PR professional argue that Twitter accounts should always—always—be a real person with a real-person avatar. Logo accounts, he said, shold be avoided.

It’s not the first time I’ve heard this argument. In Shel Israel‘s book, “Twitterville,” Department of Defense consultant Mark Drapeau is quoted (from a Mashable.com post) saying, “Twitter is about people sharing information with other people.…

It’s funny how The Pew Internet & American Life Project can release results of a study in December, but a late-February article about one of the study results published in The New York Times can create such an uproar.

The Pew study offered a broad overview of how members of different generations use the Net. Among many other things, the study revealed that

My new boss intimidated the hell out of me.

He intimidated me when I met him during the job interview and the intimidation I felt continued on my first day on the job. He reminded me of Professor Kingsfield (from “The Paper Chase”). He wore a professorial coat that looked as though chalkdust would fly off it if you patted it. He had a…

Tech journalist and author Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman—PR counselor, podcaster and occasional FIR correspondent—have teamed up to write “Social Marketing to the Business Customer,” the only book we’re aware of dedicated entirely to social marketing in the business-to-business world.  Paul and Eric will join us on February 19 for our first FIR Live of 2011 to discuss B-to-B and social media.

For the first time,…