Inside PR 3.20: The Year in Review

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It’s our last episode of the year – our winter finale, if you will. We take a look at the things that affected each of us, both in running our own businesses and working with clients.

This was the year Facebook hit one billion users and social networks, in general, wormed their way into every part of our lives. This was the year that it became impossible to treat social media as anything other than the main show.

Of course, we also had the introduction of the visual social networks with Pinterest and Instagram and even sites such as Mashable became more visually appealing.

Martin Waxman talks about the phenomenon known as Gangnam style and how interesting it is what goes viral and what does not. As a side note: We talk about doing an Inside PR Gangnam style dance next time we’re together. Who wants to see that??

Joe Thornley talked about the convergence of agencies and how Thornley Fallis ran into ad agencies during what would normally be PR firm pitches to prospective clients. Of course, Marketing in the Round calls for this breaking down of silos and integrating the disciplines and it was interesting to see it begin to take place this year.

We discuss search and what Google is doing with search plus your world. Martin mentions how Google now sees “Joe” and “Thornley” as a person instead of two words. And we talk about how tools, such as Zemanta, help you create content that is both optimized and has the right links included.

Joe, of course, talks about how “Trust Me I’m Lying” changed his sunny disposition about the blogosphere. He talks about how the era of trust is gone and how most bloggers are more interested in getting the backlinks and traffic than in creating a community.

And I wrap it all up with color commentary about each of the trends. You’ll have to listen to learn more.

Now it’s your turn. What was your year like?

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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 DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.19: Lots of news in the social space

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In this week’s episode of Inside PR, Gini Dietrich, Martin Waxman and Joseph Thornley talk about a number of things that caught our eye this week.

Google+ Communities

Google has added Communities to its Google+ Network/layer/thingamabobby. Think Yahoo Groups. Discussion groups you set up to discuss specific subjects.

We’ve set up a Community for Inside PR listeners on Google+. If you like the podcast and would like to suggest future topics or discuss each week’s episode, click over to our Google+ Community and join the conversation.

Twitter upgrades(?) with Filters on Photos

Gini Dietrich points us toward Twitter’s move to add filters to photos.

Both Martin and Gini wonder whether Twitter is on the right path – or undercutting itself by moving away from the universal publishing platform to one that emphasizes its proprietary solutions and services.

Facebook drops its commitment to user democracy.

Does anybody care? Was this ever a real thing or did Facebook’s thresholds so high that it simply fed a feeling of powerlessness from the outset?

Lots of questions in a great discussion.

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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 DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.

Inside PR 3.18: An eclectic look at different cultures, a new digital strategy certificate and an NPR experiment

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The team is back together and catching up on some exciting events that have happened in the past few weeks.

Gini Dietrich shares her stories of her trip to the great land of Holland. She regales us with tales of her journey to Amsterdam. You will get a little chuckle when you learn why she was thrown out of the red light district.

Gini’s trip also sparks the conversation of how different cultures respond to people in different ways. The hosts talk about the art and culture of listening in different parts of the world, and the importance of being a good and active listener, especially in the industry of public relations and communications.

Martin Waxman announces that he will be part of a new digital and social media program created by the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. They will be launching a three-course Certificate in Digital Strategy and Communications Management in January 2013. The classes are geared to communications and marketing professionals who want to fine tune their skills and learn how to adopt a strategic approach to digital and social networks. You can read his blog post on the program here.

And last, but most certainly not least, Joseph Thornley shares an NPR Facebook experiment that determined what kinds of local stories drive engagement. The result were the following nine type of local stories: place explainers, crowd pleasers, curiosity stimulators, news explainers, major breaking news, feel-good smilers, topical buzzers, provocative controversies, awe-inspiring visuals.

This study can help your organization determine what kind of stories to share to ensure engagement with your local audience.

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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 DietrichJoe Thornley, and Martin Waxman on Twitter. Our theme music was created by Damon de SzegheoRoger Dey is our announcer. Inside PR is produced by Kristine Simpson.