Inside PR 492: Is 2018 the year that AI will take over my job?

January 1, 2018 • thornley • PR, Show Notes

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Artificial intelligence was a hot topic amoung communicators in 2017 and it’s something to continue watching and exploring in 2018. Clearly, it will have an impact on the nature of the work we perform. It will destroy many existing jobs, especially those involving repetitive, data-based tasks. But, for those who are lucky and prepared to innovate, it also holds the promise to create new opportunities.

It’s your turn.

We’d love to know what you think about the topics we discussed as well as your suggestions for questions you’d like answered or topics for future shows. Leave a comment on the blog, send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], leave a comment on the Inside PR Facebook group or the FIR Podcast Network Facebook group, We’re also on Twitter. We’re @inside_pr or connect directly with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman.

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 492 by Joseph Thornley, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Inside PR 491: To Bot or not to Bot

December 27, 2017 • thornley • Show Notes

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On this week’s episode of the the Inside PR podcast, Martin Waxman interviews Fatima Zaidi about the chatbot a couple of Toronto-based firms created for TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival. This led to a partnership with TIFF. Smart marketing for the firms involved. A good way to explore the leading edge of the communications practice. And something that more firms should try.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 490: When an apology just isn’t enough

December 18, 2017 • thornley • PR, Show Notes

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Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley discuss two topics on this week’s Inside PR podcast:

Can Snapchat be fixed? It is a great service with the right set of users, but just a terrible user interface? Or do its problems runs deeper?
The outing of sexual predators gives us pause to examine how you can respond to the unconscionable. What do you want? An apology? Or a commitment to change? Are either sufficient alone or even in combination?

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 489: People before Platforms

December 11, 2017 • thornley • Show Notes

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We talked to one another for 42 minutes to plan the podcast before we started to record. At the end, we’ve decided to take the pressure off by saying that this is a recording that is not remarkable. Just three friends, three communications professionals talking about issues of importance to us. The responsibility of the big platforms, Facebook and Google. Their begrudging appearance before Congress, an appearance that makes that case that government has levers that, just by their existence, keeps the big players in check. If Congress had not persisted, we never would have gotten the real picture about what was going on with Facebook, Google and Russian interference in the US election.

Yep, Facebook and Google are media companies. Publishers that makes judgements through the algorithms they deploy just as surely as humans do. Have they become too dominant, too focused on their own commercial interest, to realize the original dream of people connecting with one another in a meaningful, positive way?

And what’s the impact of a few dominant players on innovation? When they buy new innovative companies when they haven’t yet fully realized their potential.

That may not be a remarkable discussion. But that doesn’t make it unimportant.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 488: Make that a Pizzum to go

November 13, 2017 • thornley • Show Notes

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Consumer Beware

Does Amazon have a problem with Bot reviews? Are your purchase decisions influenced by the reviews that you read on Amazon? Just like fake news and fake people on Twitter and other social media platforms, we need to be constantly skeptical about what we read and see. The number one rule of online reviews? Do your research before you click. Consumer beware.

Influencer Disclose

And when it comes to endorsements, the FTC makes it clear that influencers really must disclose any paid sponsorships or promotions connected to any of their social media posts. This is something about which PR professionals should be constantly mindful. However, we all can point to examples of PR people who post about client-related matters without any disclosure. We’ve all lapsed on occasion. But its’ essential that we keep this top of mind and observe the rules. Influencer disclose.

Come for the Content. Stay for the Team

Would you join the PR dream team? Gini has created the PR Dream Team as an online PR support community. Since launching in beta in February, PR practitioners have joined to learn from one another and help one another with common issues and challenges that we all have. Come for the content. Stay for the team.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

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We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 486: Terry Fallis tells stories

October 16, 2017 • thornley • Show Notes

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Think about what you heard yesterday. Do you remember the facts that you heard or do you remember the stories that you were told?

We’ve come a long way since the days when corporate executives were rehearsed in the art of “bridging” in order to keep returning to their predetermined key messages. Authenticity didn’t count as much then as it does in the art of social media.

Terry Fallis‘ career in communications has reaches back to those days. But he left them behind to be an early pioneer in social media (He was the original co-host of Inside PR). And along the way, he began writing. Six novels later, he’s an award winning best-selling author who advises executives and public figures on how to communicate effectively in the era in which we all have a voice.

Listen as he talks with Joseph Thornley about the importance of narrative and story telling.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Will this discussion get us into trouble?

August 22, 2017 • thornley • Show Notes

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Google’s HR problem

We offer our take on the James Damore memo on gender diversity and how Google handled it. Will this discussion get us into trouble? Will you unsubscribe? Will you judget us harshly?

Google expands speech recognition

News that Google extended speech recognition to an additional 30 languages and locales, serving an addition 1 billion people, underlines how rapidly Google is preparing for the era in which we will be interacting with our devices primarily by voice commands.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

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We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

Inside PR 484: Bag O’ Chips TV

August 14, 2017 • thornley • Inside PR, Show Notes

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Farewell to Anthony Scaramucci

We received a great deal of reaction to our discussion of the appointment of a communications novice to the White House Communications Director. And the day after our discussion, Anthony Scaramucci was fired! Cause and effect? Hardly. But the right move in light of his disastrous ten days in that position. Altogether now, communications professionals: A big sigh of relief.

Facebook Watch

Facebook is rolling out a new “Watch” tab on the mobile app to feature short form, more professional videos. But what will be on it? Variety profiled several early shows, which sounded to Joe like reality TV dreck. Gini, however, is one of the lucky people with early access – and she reports that her “Watch” tab includes the Ellen DeGeneres Show, ABC News, Good Morning America, and the Tonight Show. So, there will be dreck there. As Martin says, it sounds like something created by Chuck Barris, known for his low brow game shows. However, Gini’s first set of feeds suggests that the algorithm will give people the kind of content they consume (if not deserve). If you click on dreck in your Facebook feed, expect to see dreck in your Watch tab. If you click on more intelligent news and videos on your newsfeed, expect to see something more thought provoking in the Watch tab.

The Future of Voice Search and AI

We have entered the era of voice search. And we talk about its implications. One thing is clear: voice search will require marketers to think differently about the content they create and the placement they seek in a voice search environment. Think about the way you interact with your voice devices like Alexa and Siri right now. Do you ask a question and then go to the first result you hear? Or do you ask it a series of questions? We think that success in the era of voice search will be rely on finding a way to be useful in a conversational mode – to have the most useful content that will surface as users interact with their voice interfaces.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

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We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

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Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.

483: Can any Tom, Dick or Anthony do what we do?

July 30, 2017 • thornley • PR, Show Notes

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The White House has a new Communications Director – who is not a professional communicator.

Gini and Joe discuss what the demise of Sean Spicer and the appointment by Donald Trump of Anthony Scaramucci as White House Communications Director says to professional communicators and what it means for professional communications. Can any Tom, Dick or Anthony do what we as professional communicators do? Can they do it well? Do they even know what we do and what goes into it?

Do you feel belittled as a professional communicator when a person with no professional communications experience or expertise is appointed to one of the most senior communications positions in the world? Is being able to get yourself on television a critical skill for a communications executive? How important is it to be able to manage up? It’s nice that you like your boss. But, when telling truth to power, it’s better that you respect the boss.

The bottom line: This could get ugly.

Post Script: In fact, it did get ugly, really ugly. We recorded this prior to the publication of Ryan Lizza’s New Yorker interview with Anthony Scaramucci, with all of its vulgarity. The quotes in that article speak for themselves.

Inside PR 482: The state of political communication in Washington

July 25, 2017 • thornley • Inside PR, Show Notes

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This week, Gini, Martin and Joe are doing something special – a joint episode of Inside PR and the Spin Sucks Fireside Chat. During her journeys on the speakers’ circuit, Gini met Tyler Brown, a long-time senior communicator at the Republican National Committee who has recently moved over to public affairs consulting. The confluence of political and corporate communications is a hot topic for all of us. So, Gini asked Tyler if he would share his experience and insights with us.

Tyler knows both the worlds of political and corporate communications. From 2009 through the 2016 US election season, he held a number of senior communications positions at the Republican National Committee. During that time, he served first as Northeast Regional Press Secretary, then Director of Rapid Response and Deputy Director of Communications. From 2012 through to the end of 2016, he was the Republicans’ Director of Digital Strategy. In January 2017, Tyler joined Mercury Public Affairs’ Washington office as Senior Vice President. His areas of practice at Mercury include digital, grassroots coalition building, and public affairs campaign management.

Our conversation covers a lot of ground. Join with Martin, Gini and Joe as we talk with Tyler about what he saw in eight years inside the Washington political machine and what that taught him that we all can use.

It’s your turn.

#IPRMustKnow

Our hashtag is #IPRMustKnow. If you are tweeting or posting about the podcast, please include our hashtag so that we can find your post.

Please rate us on Apple Podcasts

We hope you like the podcast as much as we like making it for you. If you do, we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts.

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We’re trying to be wherever you want us to be. So, you can subscribe to Inside PR on the most popular podcast apps.

******************************************************************

Thank you to the people behind Inside PR. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Joseph Thornley.