Inside PR 442: Our tenth anniversary takes tips from Disney Creative

• • Inside PR

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We’re  belatedly celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Inside PR podcast. Terry Fallis and David Jones posted the first episode of Inside PR on April 3, 2006. Back then the tag line was “Inside PR: Going deep on the state and future of public relations.” After recording 200 episodes, Terry and David decided that they’d said all that they wanted to say. But they didn’t retire the podcast. Instead they passed it along to Martin Waxman, who had been co-hosting with Terry and David. Martin, in turn, brought Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley in as new co-hosts. And thanks to Terry and David’s benevolence, the Inside PR podcast now has been running continuously for over ten years. That’s a record of longevity that we’re proud of. And we’re not thinking of stopping anytime soon.

Also this week, we give a shout out to original co-host Terry Fallis, who has just been shortlisted for the Leacock Medal for his novel, Poles Apart. Terry has won the Leacock award twice before, for his first novel, The Best Laid Plans, and for his fourth novel, No Relation.  The award winner will be announced on June 11. So check your Twitter feed on the evening of June 11 and send Terry your best wishes.

This week’s #IPRMustKnows:

Also this week, we talk about the Counselors Academy Conference that Martin attended in Puerto Rico. Martin’s big takeaway from the conference was the continuing trend for PR agencies to integrate design, video, paid media and other disciplines as the traditional silos of creative, advertising, PR and content converge.

While at the Counselors Academy Conference, Martin interviewed one of the keynote speakers, Duncan Wardle, Vice President of Creative Inc., Disney Parks and Resorts’ creative think tank. He offers some great advice for priming creativity in our own organizations.

We’d love to know what you think.

Leave a comment on the blog, send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. And we have a favor to ask: If you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

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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 407: PR generalists versus specialists

• • PR

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Martin here and it’s a jam-packed episode this week. But first a milestone: it’s been nine years since Terry Fallis and David Jones started Inside PR and we want to give Terry and Dave a big congratulations and bigger thank you! And thanks to all of you for sticking with us. If you’re interested, head to the archives and listen to IPR #1.

Back to 2015…On today’s show, we talk about three things:

1. When to hire a PR firm – and when you should wait
Gini wrote a post about a startup client whose product wasn’t ready when they hired her firm, so any traffic the Arment Dietrich team drove to the site led to customer frustration since the business wasn’t ready for…um business. Moral: sometimes entrepreneurs need to put the brakes on their PR efforts until they have something to show, solid goals and can afford it.

2. PR generalist or specialist – where is the industry heading?
According to the Holmes Report Card, in recent years PR agencies have been hiring specialists over generalists, similar to the way things operate in the ad and marketing industries. However, data now shows the generalist may still have a role, especially as it pertains to developing strategy. Thanks to Shel Holtz for suggesting this idea.

3. LinkedIn buys Lynda.com – are jobs posting now going to be linked to skills training?
LinkedIn’s become a publisher, job source, networking space and virtual rolodex and now it’s moving into training with its $1.5 billion purchase of training site, Lynda.com. See a job you want but lack some of the skills. LI may have a training program for you. Thanks to Alison Garwood-Jones for suggesting this topic.

What do you think?

We’d love to hear from you.

Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the FIR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

And we have a favor to ask: if you like this podcast, please rate us on iTunes.

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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 Ashlea McGrath.

Inside PR 3.38: On advertising, PR and choosing an agency 2.0

• • PR

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We start this week on a sad note as we remember Arthur Yann, vice president PR, PRSA, who passed away suddenly in June. Arthur was an industry leader, a man of integrity and intelligence and a good friend of Inside PR. His untimely death is a big loss for the PR industry and we want to send our deepest condolences to Arthur’s family and colleagues at PRSA.

You can read tributes to Arthur by Gini and Martin.

We also congratulate Louise Armstrong on becoming the new president of IABC Toronto, the organization’s largest chapter.

This week we talk about two things – some of the innovations advertising has been making in recent months and whether or not PR is in danger of being commoditized – again.

Martin recaps a blog post he wrote on recent changes to the ad landscape including the launch of Instagram video, hashtags on Facebook and Google/YouTube training advertisers how to make their videos more viral.

Gini wonders if PR is just not creative enough as an industry and perhaps that starts with the way we name our agencies, like lawyers and accountants. Joe suggests that it’s not an industry that innovates, it’s the people in it.

Martin mentions an observation by Dave Jones, one of IPR’s founders, who made the leap from PR to the ad and now digital worlds.  Dave suggests PR people default to one of three strategies when they develop campaigns: celebrity spokesperson, charitable component or survey. And if you can work in all three, that’s the holy grail. He says the industry needs to liberate itself from that mindset.

And speaking of a new mindset, Joe talks about AirPR, an online platform, just out of beta, that claims it can match clients to PR agencies more effectively than RfPs. Joe and Gini think it may be worth trying, while Martin feels it’s a step in the wrong direction because it places no value on relationships.

And finally we want to thank podcaster and video producer Steve Lubetkin for leaving a comment on Inside PR 3.36.  We appreciate your thoughts on the subject of visual storytelling. You can read more of Steve’s insights here.

That’s a wrap for this week. We’d love to hear what you think.

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Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Google+ Community, join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joseph Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson and Ashlea LeCompte.

 

Inside PR 3.00: Happy birthday to us!

• • PR

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This is our 300th episode!  So we thought we’d take a few minutes to celebrate reminisce about a few of the highlights from years past.

Inside PR started out in 2006 with Terry Fallis and David Jones as creators/hosts – the early days of podcasting. They came up with the idea and vision for the show.  We wouldn’t be here without you, Terry and Dave.

In episode 201, Terry and Dave were joined by Julie Rusciolelli, Keith McArthur and Martin and had a grueling recording schedule – Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m. (we’ve since moved it to Friday afternoon).

Gini got introduced to the podcast four years ago during Martin’s first foray as a roving reporter at Counselors Academy, ‘have Zoom, will travel…’

Joe recalls that in episode one, Terry and Dave did a shout out to Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson, whose podcast For Immediate Release inspired them – and is still going strong today.  They also talked about a new philosophy for media training – authenticity versus the message machine.

Martin mentions that the more we change the more we stay the same and that some people in our industry are still focusing on message and control rather than two-way communications.

Special thanks to our talented and dedicated producers, Chris Clarke, Kyra Aylesworth, Samantha Lovelace, Janna Guberman, Sarah Laister, Yasmine Kashefi and our current producer – Kristine Simpson. If we had our sound machine, now would be the time for some cheering and applause!

The first episode the three of us did was on April 27, 2010: we talked about what we were going to talk about and asked for listener input.  And we decided to shorten the format. It took a few weeks for us to figure out the chemistry and flow (and along the way each of us forgot to press record…)

2012 is the year of the interview where we’re highlighting conversations with leading practitioners and thinkers, thanks in large part to our partnership with PRSA.

As always, a big thank you to all our listeners for hanging in there with us, and sharing your comments and stories.  We would love to hear what you’d like us to talk about in the coming year and, if we choose what you suggest, we’re going to invite you to come on the show.

And, finally thanks Kristine doing such a great job editing the blips, keeping our sound waves balanced and including a special effect where we need it most. We want you to come back on the podcast again soon! And all the best with your Young PR Pros podcast.

Hopefully, we’ll have more exciting times ahead. Stay tuned.

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Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

Inside PR 2.74: On the road with On the Record Online

• • PR

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We’re on the trade show of PRSA International Conference in Orlando talking with Eric Schwartzman – on a special joint episode with On the Record Online and Inside PR.

Like us, Eric also records his podcasts over Skype but prefers face to face interviews when he can. And he’s a veteran, who started in April 2005, just after For Immediate Release and around the same time Terry Fallis and David Jones began Inside PR.

Gini, Joe, Eric and I discuss the state of podcasting and Eric talks about his approach:

– He’s feature-oriented, as opposed to news focused, so his shows have a longer shelf-life.
– He continues podcasting because he likes to learn and finds when there’s a mic and recorder, he gets the best answers from experts.
– He sees which shows people love based on the stats, but doesn’t chase the audience; he does what interests him.
– He spends a good deal of time – about eight hours per episode – preparing, conducting interviews, editing and producing, writing and publishing show notes and publishing. It is a time commitment, but he gets nearly 1,000,000 downloads a year.

The discussion ends when a band starts up in the booth behind us.

Do you have an idea for a topic you would like us to discuss? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 2.44: PodCamp Toronto reunion show part 2

• • PR

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It’s time for part two of our PodCamp Toronto ‘reunited’ shows featuring IPR creators Terry Fallis and Dave Jones joining Gini, Joe and me.

Terry continues as host and looks back to April 2006 when IPR began and how he and Dave felt the need to act quickly in order to establish themselves among the many, many burgeoning Canadian PR podcasts.   He observes that five years later the big PR podcasting wave has yet to hit.

Eden Spodek mentions recent CRTC research saying hobbyist podcasting is growing.

Martin contends MSM has done a great job podcasting their shows and wonders if that hasn’t had an effect on the number of people tuning into hobbyist podcasts.

Joe feels podcasts are fulfilling the expectations of people who are looking for niche content.

Gini believes we learn visually or by reading and not by listening and thinks that’s one of the reasons podcasting hasn’t exploded.

Joe talks about how businesses that experimented with audio podcasting quickly realized the power of putting that together with video.

Terry takes a straw poll of the crowd and asks how many people prefer audio or video podcasts. The audience is split 50/50. Terry talks about how much he likes audio and launches into a quasi-romantic story about the time he met Mitch Joel IRL… Enough said.

Martin asks Gini if she notices any difference between Canada and the US in social media?

Gini remarks that she’s impressed by PCTO’s ability to attract so many people and how well organized the free event is. She says she doesn’t think that there would be this many people attending in Chicago.

Martin wonders how you engage people in social media if you’re not a creator?

Joe thinks we’re all creators and need to have the passion to stick with it. The challenge is putting up with the work required to be creative.

Dave believes it’s about expectations and what keeps you motivated. He said that when he and Terry started IPR, they committed to do the show every week, aimed for consistency and quality and built an audience from there. It’s important to respect what your community wants and to do what’s right for you in your space.

Gini talks about community and uses an example of how her community came to her defense when another group criticized her en masse for her position in a blog post.

And that brings the second PodCamp Toronto show to a close…

Do you have comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and me on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Yasmine Kashefi.

Inside PR 2.43: Then meets now at PodCamp Toronto – the reunion show part 1

• • PR

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Get ready for some familiar voices as Terry Fallis and Dave Jones join Joe, Gini and me for Inside PR, recorded before a ‘live studio audience’ at PodCamp Toronto.  #PCTO is Canada’s largest social media event, an unconference now in its fifth year.  Terry, Dave and I recorded episodes there in 2009 and 2010 and thought we’d get the (almost) whole crew together again. It’s a fun way to connect and reconnect with our listeners IRL.  And it’s always great to see and thank our talented and hard-working producer, Yasmine Kashefi!

This week, Terry plays ‘host’ after nearly a year’s hiatus and reminisces about our five-minute-before-the-show-planning.  He mentions PodCamp Toronto’s 5th anniversary and Joe notes PCTO has 1400 people registered.  Eden Spodek, one of the event organizers talks about how in 2007, its first year, there were 300 early adopters and people thought it was about podcasting, but it’s always been focused on social media.

Joe believes the quality of speakers and discussion further demonstrates that Toronto is not only a Canadian business centre, but also a digital centre second to none with many great events and a smart and engaged community.

Martin comments that attendance at PCTO mirrors the adoption of social media and asks Dave about ROI and potato chips.

Dave observes SM should be realistic about what you can accomplish: in year one it’s very much about recruitment and engagement followed by entertainment, activation and reward; building community over time.

Joe talks about Kobo and wonders if clients are developing a longer-term sense of value for social media or if the pressure is on immediate sales.

Jodi Echakowitz makes a comment about about integration and uses an example of how her client, Sympatico, helped increase Kid’s Help Phone’s database by supporting a community.

Martin asks Gini how she transformed her firm from pure PR into a social media agency.  Gini says she’s more of an integrated agency and talks about the need to educate clients on the fact that social media programs are a marathon. You have to built trust, credibility and relationships and that doesn’t happen overnight.

And that brings us to the end of part one of our #PCTO shows. We’d love to hear what you think and hope you tune in next week for part two.

Do you have comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], join the Inside PR Facebook group, leave us a comment here, message us @inside_pr on Twitter, or connect with Gini Dietrich, Joe Thornley, and me on Twitter.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Yasmine Kashefi.

Inside PR 2.29 – Wednesday, November 17, 2010

• • canadian podcasting, PR, Show Notes

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Comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], visit the Inside PR Blubrry site, leave us a comment on the Inside PR show blog or message us @inside_pr on Twitter.

This week on Inside PR, Martin, Gini and Joe and special guest, Donna Papacosta, take a look at the worlds of Public Relations vs. Advertising.

0:29 Martin opens the show.

1:01 Martin introduces Donna Papacosta, Inside PR’s special guest this week.

2:12 Donna tells us when she first started podcasting.

5:15 Gini shares how her company, Arment Dietrich, is celebrating having 1000 fans on Facebook.

7:40 Martin mentions that he has recently finished reading Terry Fallis‘ second book, The High Road.

9:50 Donna adds that when she speaks to writers who are hesitant to podcast any material, she tells them it’s not stealing that they should be worried about. It’s being obscure.

10:40 Martin shares that former Inside PR host, Dave Jones, has made the move from PR to an ad agency. Martin wonders if this is a new trend?

11:39 Gini talks about how she made a shift to a mid-sized ad agency early in her career.

12:48 Donna weighs in.

14:10 Joe thinks all these transitions show that PR people have won the battle.

17:10 Gini shares where she thinks PR people and advertising people differ.

20:17 Joe suggests they invite Dave Jones back as a guest on the show.

20:47 Martin closes the show.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Yasmine Kashefi.

Inside PR 2.04 – Wednesday, May 19, 2010

• • 30, Bob Ledrew, canadian podcasting, Inside PR, PR, Show Notes, social media

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Comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], visit the Inside PR Blubrry site, leave us a comment on the Inside PR show blog or message us @inside_pr on Twitter.

This week on Inside PR, Martin,  Joe, and Gini discuss the pros and cons of attending conferences.

0:19 Martin opens the show.

1:11 Martin brings up the first listener comment, from Bob Ledrew, about the upcoming Podcasters Across Borders taking place in Ottawa this June.

1:41 Joe explains what Podcasters Across Borders is.

4:09 Joe introduces this week’s topic, conferences, and mentions Martin and Gini’s upcoming trip to the Counselors Academy in Asheville, NC.

5:15 Gini mentions she doesn’t get a lot from speakers and workshops at Counselors, but she benefits from being able to talk and brainstorm with others.

11:30 Joe wishes that conference sponsors would pitch less and educate more.

13:50 Joe kicks off the -30- segment

19:29 Martin wraps up the show.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Yasmine Kashefi.

Inside PR 2.01 – Wednesday, April 28, 2010

• • 30, Inside PR, PR, Shownotes, social media

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Comments? Send us an email or an audio comment to [email protected], visit the Inside PR Blubrry site, leave us a comment on the Inside PR show blog or message us @inside_pr on Twitter.

This week on Inside PR, Martin introduces Inside PR’s new hosts, Joe Thornley and Gini Dietrich and they discuss how small businesses should approach social media.

0:20 Martin opens the show.

1:09 Gini introduces herself and talks about getting involved with Inside PR.

2:11 Joe introduces himself.

3:01 Martin suggests they discuss how they hope to shape the show.

5:18 Martin brings up a recent blog post by Jason Falls about how small businesses are approaching social media.

6:57 Gini explains how small business owners can use social media.

7:42 Joe mentions that instead of using traditional advertising, he focuses on social media and community as a means of promoting his agency.

10:42 Martin recalls a panel where he spoke to students about using social media to get noticed by agencies.

12:25 Gini notes the importance of communicating online with agency heads and leaders to build relationships that can help you get a job.

13:24 Gini gives three pieces of advice to small business owners about using social media.

16:00 Joe kicks off the -30- segment.

19:51 Martin wraps up the show.

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer.

This week’s episode was produced by Yasmine Kashefi.