Content summary: Solving recent audio problems; listeners’ comments (on improving audio quality; blocking employee access to blogs; tools to create RSS feeds; Nikon’s camera problems and the PR perspective; the media and podcasting; media training movie); readers write to Business Week about their blogging cover story; upcoming communication and blog events in Australia; search engine optimization and blogs; IBM’s strategic initiative on company-wide employee blogging; upcoming interviews.

Show notes for May 16, 2005

Welcome to For Immediate Release: The Hobson & Holtz Report, a 41-minute conversation recorded live from Concord, California, USA, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Download the file here (MP3, 17.2MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need software such as the FeedDemon RSS aggregator, or the free ipodder or DopplerRadio).

In this edition:

Intro:

• 00:30 Shel introduces the show; solving the recent audio problems; how to give your feedback; show notes

Discussion on listeners’ comments:

• 01:52 Dan York on audio quality; companies blocking employee access to blogs; tools to create RSS feeds
• 06:32 Mike Strock on Nikon’s problems with the D2X camera and the PR perspective; saying nothing in the face of potential product/customer satisfaction issues is a bad move
• 09:57 Peter Clayton on a Wall Street Journal story on the media and podcasting; on a movie about media training

Features:

• 11:58 Readers’ letters in response to the Business Week cover story on blogging, published in this week’s edition - wide-ranging feedback, skeptical and supportive; great fuel for developing more blog conversations
• 20:37 Report from our Correspondent Down Under - Lee Hopkins in Adelaide, Australia, reports on an upcoming communications conference in Sydney and on BlogTalk DownUnder; on search engine optimization and blogs; on the power of podcasting
• 27:24 IBM’s strategic initiative on company-wide employee blogging - a huge step forward in organizational communication, and its potential impact on customer relations and external perceptions of IBM

Outro:

• 34:31 Upcoming interviews - Mike Wing, IBM, Friday May 20; Peter Clifton, Editor, BBC News, next week (date still to be confirmed); Tudor Williams and Angela Sinickas on employee communication measurement, Wednesday June 22.
• 36:01 Neville outros the show; how to give your feedback; Shel intros the music and the band; outro music

Links for the blogs, individuals, companies and organizations we discussed or mentioned in the show:

Intro - Skype.

Listeners’ comments discussion - Dan York, Marco Derksen, Aegon, De Telegraaf, ListGarden, Dan Bricklin, VisiCalc, Mike Strock, Nikon, Nikon D2X camera, Christopher Carfi, Kryptonite, Peter Clayton, Wall Street Journal article on the media and podcasting, Fast Company, Syndicate conference, Ragan Corporate Engagement conference.

Features - Business Week cover story on blogging, Nicco Mele, Blogspotting, Tulip Computers, Lee Hopkins, Melcrum communication summit in Sydney, BlogTalk DownUnder, Adam Curry, Daily Source Code, RadioDaddy.com, Fredrik Wacka on podcasting, IBM, IBM’s employee blogging initiative, Mike Wing, Silicon Valley Watcher article on IBM, Tom Foremski, James Snell’s post on IBM’s blogging guidelines, Sun’s policy on public discourse, Robert Scoble’s Corporate Weblog Manifesto, Groove Networks’ weblog policy, Charlene Li’s blogging policy examples, Forrester Research.

Outro - Mike Wing, Peter Clifton, Tudor Williams, Angela Sinickas, SamanthaMurphy.com, I Wanna Go Home, For Immediate Release, A Shel of My Former Self, NevOn.

If you have comments or questions about this show, or suggestions for our future shows, email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call the Comment Line at +1 206 984 0931. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

So, until Thursday May 19…