With apologies to my friends in the satellite media tour/video news release world, I've been silently waiting for years for the time that technology would catch up and allow just about anyone to "broadcast" news using inexpensive devices and technology. The time has come. Today BBC announced that it's working on an iPhone/iPad app that will enable reporters to shoot, edit and feed stories (and I'm guessing live video) from their Apple device on both 3G and wireless networks. The implications for broadcast journalists are…
Read MoreInteresting story in the New York Times about network morning shows shelling out the big bucks for exclusive newsmaker interviews. What do you think about this practice? Is it a sign of the times given they have fewer staff members working on stories? What are your thoughts?
Read MoreYes, charge the returning soldiers for their bags in which they carry equipment to defend your honor. And wait till they make a YouTube video about it to reverse your baggage policy. Link to story Try defending that. UPDATED: Seems like Delta might be getting a bit of a raw deal on this. Link to Consumerist story Delta quickly reverses the policy but does it act quickly enough to defend its own honor? Thoughts?
Read MoreAfter about 20 years in the public relations agency business, I now realize the thing I must constantly work on, the thing that is my ultimate failing. It is not a great epiphany but at the end of the day it is the ultimate truth. By the very nature of the business, you're only as good as what you've done lately. You can have deep relationships with clients, they can become your friends and confidants, you can go to "war" with them and have success…
Read MoreOkay, crisis communications 101, or really even media relations 101, the first rules we teach students or clients is….create your key messages and whatever you do stay on message. Unless of course, the act of staying on message makes you look like a schmuck. Case in point, New York congressman Rep. Anthony Weiner, who for two days now has taken the art of staying on message and is riding it into his own political grave. The background story is someone tweeted a picture of a…
Read MoreFor many years at two agencies we had the honor of representing The Heinz Awards. They are annual awards given out by Teresa Heinz-Kerry, whose first husband Senator John Heinz was killed in the 90's as he was serving in the senate. In most years those awards were given in five categories including Arts and Humanities, one of the late senator's passions. In its 13th year, the Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities was given to Dave Eggers, the critically acclaimed novelist and publisher who…
Read MoreEditor's note: Here's a guest post from THP's Cameron McPherson who is leaving tomorrow to cheer on his alma mater VCU in it's quest to bring home the NCAA basketball championship to Richmond. I’ve been tempted to email Oprah’s producers all week and say, “nana-nana boo boo” because I just one-upped O’s latest Australia audience trip. How’s that? I’m going to the Final Four! That’s right! The Final Four. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind an Australia visit, but I think we’re all…
Read MoreSo there I was about half way through the second half last night, with most of this blog post already written in my head and my wife's uncle, a huge college basketball fan, sent me this email. "Jon, can Richmond handle two teams in the Sweet 16??? A lot of hype and PR for a small city? Well, can we? Given our lack of success in the professional sports arena, there will perhaps be no other time in modern history that the mainstream sports…
Read MoreIn the past week, I've done four speaking engagements, some with my colleagues at THP. Included in the audiences were students, journalists, PR professionals, small business owners, folks from non-profits, consultants from all walks of life. A pretty good mix of people. Some of the focus was on journalism and public relations but in all cases social media was in the forefront. In all cases though, the message back to me is clear. We are now in the "mature" phase of the social/digital/online thing we're…
Read MoreSo as "they" say, any PR is good PR. Right? That's the category of PR in which I'd suggest we place "The Great Watson Experiment" for the folks at IBM. The Big Bluers obviously sunk a great deal of money into the multi-year quest to create a super computer that could understand the lingo and nuance that only Jeopardy's answers and questions deliver. The accompanying ad campaign and three-night TV spectacle were only dwarfed in is impressiveness by the performance of Watson, the super computer…
Read MoreSome quick thoughts on The Daily, News Corp's new iPad-only newspaper. I love it. Not because the content is great or the design is tremendous, remember people ragged on the first issues of USA Today when it come out. I love it because, it represents the future of what dynamic, interactive, freshly delivered content CAN be. I also love it because at a time when daily news delivered in a "news-a-zine" format is dying, here is a new fresh source of information. Finally, I love…
Read MoreA quick post here to preview a talk that Sonali and I are giving next Wednesday to PRSA Richmond. They tell me that more than 100 folks have signed up so seats are going fast (more than veiled attempt here to jam the room.) Here's a link to sign up. Even though Hodges Digital Strategies is still in its first year, our learning over the course of the last year or so has been exponential. I peeked back at a similar presentation I gave last…
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