CustomScoop's PR PodJots

Welcome to CustomScoop’s PR PodJots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR podosphere. As always, feel free to offer any new discoveries of PR podcasts in the comments.

We begin with New Comm Road this week, as Bryan Person talks tagging on del.icio.us:

New Comm Road #35 – July 28, 2007 – Yummy!

This week on New Comm Road, Bryan Person discusses how to use del.icio.us to improve your business communications. Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site that allows users to tag and save anything on the web, and to share with other users.

Bryan’s top tips for getting the most out of del.icio.us include: adding “my del.icio.us” and “post to del.icio.us” buttons to your browser for easy bookmarking; using meaningful tags that will help you to find your posts later on, and will be useful for the community, building a del.icio.us network, much as you would on any social network; and using the RSS features on the site to follow what others on the network are reading.

Bryan also recommends incorporating your favorite del.icio.us reads into your blogs or other social media activities. In a bit of synchronicity, we had a brainstorm session at CustomScoop today, and a colleague presented about the uses of del.icio.us; this will most definitely be my next venture as I continue building and expanding my social media universe.

Also discussed:

• Chip, CustomScoop, Joseph Jaffe’s Across the Sound sponsorship challenge, and what he would choose
• Bryan’s new venture — ConnectedWorker.com
• PodCamp Australia - Operation Rush the Charts promo.
• A “Tools of your Trade” segment with Sallie Goetsch, Andy Kaufman, and Shel Holtz

For Immediate Release #263 – August 2, 2007 – What Your IT Department Won’t Tell You

This week, Neville and Shel touched a topic that’s been much-discussed of late: employers prohibiting employee’s online activities while at work. Shel reads an article from the Wall Street Journal (surprisingly, as Shel notes that the WSJ is hardly an obscure “hacker publication”) listing ways to circumvent IT department blocks to access sites that have been “forbidden,” such as social media networking sites.

Shel argues that the WSJ realizes that often, accessing sites that our employers may frown upon can actually become important to our jobs and our overall productivity. The article offers advice on how to send large files, download forbidden applications (hint: use a USB stick or an iPod), etc. They also offer an array of hints for accessing forbidden sites, and “covering your tracks” on your work computer.

While I don’t recommend using any of these tips to abuse employer computers or waste time that ought to be spent working, I agree with Shel that sometimes, employers may overreact and block a site (such as Facebook) which may actually provide professional benefit.

Also discussed:

• Podcast Awards 2007
• Podcasting book availability – Tony Molloy and McGraw Hill
• Rob Cottingham’s cartoons
• BBC and Google Maps
• Dan York reporting from the road in Florida

Around the PR Podcast Horn (in alphabetical order):

Inside PR #70 – July 31, 2007 – This week, David and Terry spend some time discussing last week’s special edition of Inside PR, which featured an interview about how to pitch to the media. They also take some listener comments and discuss Joseph Jaffe's iPhone promotion, before turning to the main topic: how to get ahead at a PR firm, making the transition from management to leadership.

Managing the Gray – August 1, 2007 – CC Chapman discusses viral web video, inspired by Web Strategy by Jeremiah, a new blog discovery, after Jeremiah posted a discussion on the top ten viral videos on the web. CC urges marketers to create video content that will connect with the viewer, instead of focusing on creating something that will become a viral. He admits that it’s human nature to hope that your creation catches fire, but setting out with that purpose in mind will doom any video to failure.

Marketing Over Coffee – August 1, 2007 – John and Chris cover a wide range of topics as usual this week. They discuss what makes a great marketer (mentioning “bring your own community” as a key feature of potential marketing recruits), including how best to market a podcast, and marketing as a form of media. They also discuss LinkedIn as a possible marketing tool, as John mentions that PodCamp Boston has its own LinkedIn profile.

Six Pixels of Separation #62 – July 31, 2007- Mitch Joel broadcasts his podcast from Singapore this week, where he is attending PodCamp Singapore. He adopts a conversational style, abandoning his usual weekly features to discuss global technology with Melvin Yuan, Michael Netzly and Akanksha Goel of Singapore Management University, Glen Miles of Media Connect Asia, and William Claxton.

Comments

[Karen]

Sarah, I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your Podjots posts. I am definitely listening to more podcasts now because of your recommendations. Promise you won't stop!