I also kind of liked one of the commnets: “Unprofessional” and “passionate” is the same thing.
This is such a good idea. First time I’ve seen it but I predict it will be routine in the not-to-distant future. AgWired’s Chuck Zimmerman will be blogging the 2006 Commodity Classic:
All the pictures I take and video and audio I record will be pre-loaded onto a video iPod. One of those things will be country music star Michael Peterson’s performance that’s being sponsored by New Holland. Once we know who the winner is Michael will record a personal message which we’ll also load onto the iPod. And, there’s more. We’ll also load Michael’s newest CD, “Down on the Farm,” which you can currently only purchase from your local New Holland dealer. It won’t be out in stores until later this spring.
Or you could hand out some key-chains.
Sounds like SC and LA have lifted the black-out on the breakup: Lance used his satellite radio program to talk about the breakup, saying lots of nice things about his former love. And Sheryl was talking with Ellen DeGeneres. The 44-year-old rocker thanked fans for their support and noted that — despite the heartache — she is free and single again. “‘All my friends say I have to get right back on the bike,” Crow quipped, “‘and I keep saying, ‘Maybe not a bike.'”
Chuck Z. (AgWired) already has more business than he can take care of and he’s looking for bloggers and podcasters:
Passionate about agriculture. Willing to write one or more articles per day at least 5 days per week. Can be brief and yet offer significant information and ideas. Computer literate (knows how to make a hyperlink, Google’s to find out stuff, etc.). Already blogs would be nice. Can take a decent digital photo and edit it. Owns a digital camera and notebook computer.
I don’t care if you have a “day” job. I don’t care if you’re currently unemployed even. What I will care about is quality, self-initiative and dependability.
My first thought was anyone with this skill set has or can land a full-time gig. They don’t have to take digital piece work. But maybe you like your day job (with 401k and health benefits) but would like to indulge your “passion for agriculture” in your spare time…be part of a communications revolution…and pick up a few bucks to boot. Maybe you’re an FFA student working your way through college. Maybe you’re a radio news guy making $22k.
I have no doubt Chuck will find his bloggers and podcasters. And he won’t care if they work in their pajamas.
Received a news release today from Monsanto announcing a new video podcast called, Conversations about Plant Biotechnology. These are short (the one I watched was just a couple of minutes) and extremely well produced. They feature “… farmers and experts discussing their personal views and first-hand experiences with genetically modified crops.”
Difficult for me to imagine someone subscribing to these on a regular basis but then I’m not interested in biotechnology. I think this is a very good use of video podcasting and expect to see lot more of it. I’d package it with a good audio podcast and a blog.
Robert Scoble and Shel Israel co-authored this excellent book on “how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers.” Just a couple of chapters in but finding a nugget on almost every page:
If you’re not sure if your sales proposal or corporate brochure or news release is corpseak, stand in the middle of a room with some of your co-workers and read the copy aloud. If they laugh, it’s corpspeak.
I’ll update this post as I move through the book.
More on Google’s foray into the world of radio advertising from RAIN’s Kurt Hanson, including quotes and links to The New York Times and the WSJ Online.
“The key to it is that Google is potentiallty bringing 400,000 new advertisers (their AdWords clients) to the radio medium. These new advertisers will (A) fill up unsold inventory and (B) eventually add increased demand for avails. Increased demand, of course, will inevitably drive up prices. That’s how supply-and-demand works.”
I’m still waiting for someone to explain what –if anything– that’s going to mean for barter arrangments with radio stations. Are we looking at a future where every avail can be sold?
Apparantly the dMarc software can automatically send advertisements right into radio station’s traffic ystems, bypassing the largely manual process currently used in the radio industry. Anybody have any first-hand experience with dMarc? Know a station that uses it? I’d love to know more about it.
As a barter radio network, part of our pitch to prospective affiliates has been: Instead of letting your unsold commercial inventory “go to waste,” give them to us in exchange for some top-notch news and sports to enhance your station’s programming. Win-win.
So Google buys dMarc Brodcasting, a radio advertising firm whose technology allows national advertisers to buy unsold station inventory, and automatically inserts those commercials into the stations’ unsold slots.
In the online world, Google AdWords enables advertisers to find the lowest-possible rates publishers will take, and helps publishers find the highest-paying spots. This technology could greatly enhance the process of national ad buys — making it more efficient on both ends. [Analysis by RAIN]
Big Question: Will barter networks like ours someday (soon) have to compete for this inventory? Will station managers put his unsold avails in a big Google basket rather than barter them for programming? That might not be the question at all. I don’t pretend to understand what’s happening here. And there has always been rep outfits that promised to sell a station’s unsold avails, but most stations wisely steered clear of hese guys. Be interesting to see where Google heads with this technology.
Chris Anderson (The Long Tail guy) looks at why big companies should have public blogs. Among other reasons, they serve as a peer-to-peer product support channel for “alpha customers”, whose opinion can sway others.
Does Learfield (the company I work for) have “alpha customers?” Who would that be? Our university partners? Our advertisers? Our affiliated radio stations? I would argue that the correct answer is: D) All of the above.
Those charged with knowing and influencing “alpha customers,” whomever they might be…might argue that we are already doing a fine job of this. No argument here. But “deep in my heart, I do belive” we could do it even more effectively with some savvy blogging.
Which brings us to a DWR moment: Pushing your company or organization to blog before they are psychologically ready or have the will and talent to pull it off, is like showing motion pictures to the indigenous tribes of Borneo. They might cheer and make you Tribal Witch Doctor, or they might stab you to death with tiny little spears.
Anytime you see this little robot, you know you’re reading something that could get me –and you– in a lot of trouble.
The big “PR technology” panel went off reasonably well today. Not my best showing but it’s been a while since I did one of these. [AUDIO: 5o min] I got a little distracted when my nano (which I was using for a timer) shut off. But it could have been worse. And the room was packed.
Tony Calandro did a nice overview of blogs, RSS, podcasting, etc. I added a few thoughts on podcasting. and Richard Callow (www.mayorslay.com) did convinced me that a smart politician with good people advising him/her can get a lot of mileage from blogging and podcasting. I was very impressed.
You can listen to the discussion if you care to download this 23 meg MP3 file. Questions from the audience were not mic’d so I left those off.
I came away with the sense that the PR community sort of knows what blogs and podcasts are… and want to know more. But they have miles to go. Controlling the message is hard-coded into their DNA and the idea of open, unfiltered, uncontrolled communication will make many of them –and their clients– uncomfortable for a long time.