Inside PR 458: From the floor of the PRSA International Conference

November 21, 2016 • thornley • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

This week’s Inside PR podcast comes to you from the PRSA International Conference in Indianapolis. Gini Dietrich and Martin Waxman presented sessions at the conference and they bring us their sense of what is on the minds of North American communicators who attended the session. Even better, we’re joined by a special guest, Michael Smart. Michael delivered a presentation on how to generate positive media coverage. And Gini and Martin dig in for his insights in this area.

We also visit some of the takeaways of the panel on podcasting that featured Gini, Deirdre Breakenridge and Shonali Burke.

Finally, Martin, Gini and Michael talk about the discussion around cybersecurity that really stood out for them at this year’s PRSA conference.

The audio quality has some background noise. Gini, Martin and Michael were in a room with a fair amount of traffic. But we think the content is good. So, I hope you will overlook the background sounds. They never quite drown out the conversation.

Oh, and by the way, Joseph Thornley was here too.

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.

Please rate us on iTunes

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 iTunes.

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

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.

IPR special edition: Rob Biesenbach on telling stories

April 29, 2014 • Martin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Martin here. I’m getting ready to head off to PRSA Counselors Academy’s spring conference and thought I’d catch up with one of the presenters, Rob Biesenbach. Rob is a communications expert, speaker, writer and actor who is ‘fighting to end dull ordinary communications in our time’. (But he doesn’t have a cape.)

At Counselors, Rob’s going to be talking about how to Unleash the Power of Storytelling to build trust and win business.

He says most people play fast and loose with the definition of story and don’t understand its distinct structure: a character, in pursuit of a goal, in the face of some sort of obstacle.

Stories aren’t a quote from Winston Churchill or a customer testimonial.

Rob likens our job as communicators with acting: both require you to connect with your audience, tell a story well and express yourself. Too many businesses compare themselves to other businesses – when they should be looking to and learning from show business, where the most powerful stories in our culture can be found.

Rob is also doing an Ingnite style presentation based on his new book, 11 Deadly Presentation Sins.

He talks about the three he thinks are the worst:

Failure to connect with an audience
Failure to focus
Doing a data dump rather than a story that’s filled with emotion.

And when it comes to PowerPoint, he cautions us that when you see ‘insert text here’ on a slide, it’s a suggestion, not a command.

Want to hear more? You can catch Rob at Counselors Academy or check out his website.

And if you’re interested in Counselors Academy and the other presenters, you can follow the hashtag on Twitter #CAPRSA.

Gini and Joe will be back next episode.

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

We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Inside PR is part of the FIR Podcast Network.

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.

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 LeCompte.

Inside PR 3.24: Value, Ethics and Diversity with Mickey Nall

January 30, 2013 • Gini Dietrich • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

We’re trying something a little bit different this week. We have a video of our interview with Mickey Nall, managing director of Ogilvy and incoming chair and CEO of PRSA International.

But don’t fear! Those of you who prefer the audio version (and to hear the voices of Joe Thornley, Martin Waxman, and me), Kristine Simpson stripped the audio from the video and edited it into our normal recording.

This interview is really interesting because Nall breaks down his goals for 2013 into three areas: Value, ethics, and diversity.

We discuss the three, where we think this year will take us from his perspective, and whether or not we agree. Martin and Nall discuss the types of things PRSA members receive and whether or not they’re valuable, particularly in this new economy where we’re all doing more with less.

Of course, ethics is a big one as we could all readily quote some recent issues with large PR firms (and PRSA members) getting caught doing some unethical things, in the form of whisper campaigns and more.

The diversity angle has some fun debate – we don’t all agree on what that means. Does it mean diversity as it relates to males and females? Or nationalities? Or both?

We’ll leave these things for you to listen (and watch!) and decide. Where do you land on PRSA member value, ethics, and diversity?

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

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, Joe 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.

Inside PR 3.22: Looking at the year ahead

January 9, 2013 • admin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

Well, it’s January 2013 and we thought we’d start the year with some upcoming projects and a list of the conferences we’re planning to attend.

Projects:

Gini’s writing her second book, aptly titled Spin Sucks: The Book. It’s about the general perception that PR is made up of a bunch of spin doctors and what we can do to restore the industry’s reputation and perform our jobs ethically and honestly. In other words: how to ‘Fight Against Destructive Spin’.

Joe and the Thornley Fallis team are working on an ebook entitled, The User’s Guide to Social Media Listening and Engagement Tools, a marketing and communications industry resource. Twenty-two platforms will be reviewed and rated and individual sections will be published as blog posts.

Martin mentions he’s gearing up for the new University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Digital Strategy and Communications Management Certificate program. The first class, a Foundations course, starts on January 23 and is almost full. Future plans include offering the Certificate courses online. Stay tuned…

And speaking of online courses, Gini is one of the presenters in the Content Success Summit presented by Social Media Examiner. And Joe and Shel Holtz are offering an Integrated Social Media Course through IABC beginning on January 17.

Conferences we’re looking forward to/speaking at:

BlogH.O.T., March 25 to 27, Los Angeles

PRSA Western District Conference, April 18 to 20, Phoenix

Ragan 22nd Annual Corporate Communicators Conference, April 29 to May 1, Chicago

Mesh conference, May 15 and 16, Toronto

PRSA Counselors Academy Conference, June 9 to 11, Austin

CPRS National Conference, June 9 to 11, Ottawa

IABC 2013 World Conference, June 23 to 26, New York

PRSA Digital Impact, June 27 and 28, New York

PRSA International Conference, October 26 to 29, Philadelphia

There are lots more places to learn and keep your digital and social media skills finely tuned. We’d love to hear about what you’re looking forward to.

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

Inside PR 3.14: Content Marketing Secrets from Lee Odden

November 5, 2012 • admin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

Following up on our last episode, Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley, talk about another great interview they recorded at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco.

This week, we feature Joe’s discussion with Lee Odden about his successful approach to content marketing.

Odden is the author of Optimize – ‘How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing’. He is also the CEO of @TopRank Online Marketing, a Minneapolis based digital marketing agency specializing in strategic internet marketing consulting, training and implementation services including: content, search, email and social media marketing.

Joe and Odden talk about the book, the ‘people’ behind the SEO, and how to strategically integrate other distribution channels beyond social media and email marketing to promote your content.

Lee Odden is one of the featured speakers at the 2012 meshmarketing conference in Toronto on Nov. 7.

Inside PR will also be there to talk to more thought-leaders and digital innovators and keep you up-to-date with digital trends in our industry.

Watch the video interview on the Inside PR YouTube channel:

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

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 is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.10: Check-in with the Founder of Foursquare and the Role of Agency and Client

September 27, 2012 • admin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

Well ladies and gentlemen, this is our last episode of the summer series of interviews. Next week, you get to hear all three voices of the Inside PR team: Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley.

This week, Martin catches up with Dennis Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Foursquare , at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Martin and Crowley talk about how far Foursquare has come, what they plan on doing next year and the amazing stuff they are doing with big data.

Martin also catches up with Doug Haslam, Client Services Supervisor at Voce Communication Architecture, at the PRSA Digital Impact Conference. Martin and Doug talk about the relationship between agency and client and the roles each should fulfil.

They also talk about data and trends. Doug says “data lies, trends don’t.” It is important to look at data over a period of time watching where the spikes and lows are to determine what works and what doesn’t.

Doug also shares his views on infographics. He has two Pinterest boards, one called Infographics I like and the other Infographics Crimes Against Humanity. Just remember, Doug says “if you make me scroll I will troll.”

Until next week!

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

Inside PR 3.08: Rob Flaherty and the PRSA 2012 International Conference

September 17, 2012 • admin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]
This week, we air a special episode of Inside PR. Martin Waxman catches up with Rob Flaherty, the co-chair of the PRSA International Conference and CEO of Ketchum.

The 2012 International Conference takes place in San Francisco between October 13 and 16 and focuses on the intersection of technology and media. Here’s where to go to register online.

Flaherty talks about his role, and how he, along with his co-chairs Jack Martin, Global Chairman & CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Janet Tyler, Co-CEO & Founder, Airfoil Public Relations, worked on planning the conference. He says it took a lot of bright and intelligent people to bring together such a strong line-up for 2012.

Flaherty also talks about an exciting panel on The Agency of the Future, hosted by himself, Jack Martin, Tyler and Fred Cook, CEO of Golin Harris.

If you are attending PRSA, you may catch Martin at this panel. You can also catch Martin at his own session, Social Media Barometer, on Sunday.

This year’s conference theme is ‘The Future is Now’, which represents how we are entering a new era of public relations and communications. Everything from radical transparency to globalization of PR.

To support the theme there will be keynotes by some of North America’s leading entrepreneurs, thinkers and innovators:

Biz Stone, Co-Founder, Twitter
Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Pandora
June Cotte, Ph.D., Consumer Behavioral Expert
Michael Steele, Political Analyst, MSNBC

But, PRSA is not all about the keynotes, there are a variety of networking opportunities to meet other greats minds in our industry.

If you have the opportunity we encourage you to check out the conference in San Franciso between October 13 and 16. Make sure to look out for Inside PR we hope to see you there!

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

Silver Anvil Awards: interviews with finalists [videos]

August 31, 2012 • admin • PR

Martin Waxman, Gini Dietrich and Joseph Thornley got busy this year at the PRSA Silver Anvil Awards. They, well, Gini, caught up with award winners and finalists to find out what made their campaigns and initiatives successful.

Here are some of those interviews, enjoy!

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Home is Where the GIFT Is

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Centennial Celebration of Service

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: The Power of the Purple Purse: Talking About Domestic Violence

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Oink Outings: Bringing Moms to the Farm

PRSA 2012 Silver Anvil Awards: Helping Pets Win a Losing Battle

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

Our theme music was created by Damon de Szegheo; Roger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.00: Happy birthday to us!

July 12, 2012 • admin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

This is our 300^th 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.

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

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

Inside PR and PRSA present: 2012 Best of Silver Anvil Awards Winner

June 24, 2012 • admin • PR

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

[display_podcast]

Inside PR and PRSA present a special interview with the 2012 Best of Silver Anvil award winner: IBM’s ‘Centennial Celebration of Public Service’ featuring Lisa Lanspery, manager of Corporate Communications, IBM and Esty Pujadas, partner and director of the Global Technology Practice at Ketchum.

Last year IBM turned 100, a rare milestone for a technology company, and the organization wanted to mark the occasion with a year of celebrations. Looking to their values and heritage for inspiration, they created a comprehensive corporate social responsibility program that focused on activating and engaging employees to share their skills in projects around the world.

IBM has over 400,000 employees globally and all were encouraged to contribute at least eight hours of their time. The corporate communications team and Ketchum developed an integrated communications strategy inviting staff to give back through active participation in hyper-local programs that provided a direct benefit to the communities involved. And they wanted to provide a platform that enabled staff to share stories and visuals about the positive impact their work produced.

Central to the program was a digital map of the world showcasing the various activities. The employees’ stories offered a glimpse into their dedication and the breadth of the volunteerism whether it was engineering and computer projects or personal donations of time. What made it stand out was the human element – how the company empowered employees to help.

For its anniversary, IBM wanted to make a difference its staff’s efforts and their results were impressive: 80 per cent of IBMs work force volunteered on programs in 120 countries and touched the lives of 10 million people.

And it was captured and amplified via social sharing and traditional media, with a message to spread the word to others to volunteer.

It’s an innovative and inspiring initiative and we want to congratulate IBM and Ketchum on their honor. And the volunteerism from within IBM continues.

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

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

This week’s episode was produced by Kristine Simpson.