March 30th, 2007
By Scott sigler
A recent study by internet information provider Comscore reports that more than half of MySpace.com users are 35 years old, or older. Considering that MySpace accounts for 80 percent of the social networking market (according to Lee Ann Prescot at Hitwise.com), that one site makes for a solid benchmark - if the data is accurate, social networks are not just for teenagers and college students any more.
So we “old folks” are using social networks. But before you run out and invest in a social network site for internal communications, we need to remember what most social networking is currently about: connecting with people, not (more…)
Filed under All.
March 20th, 2007
By Renn Vara
I just wasted another weekend cruising the web searching for and reading corporate communication blogs. Most of what I found was interesting, if a bit out of touch. The most noticeable issue is the confusion between public relations, marketing, and internal communication needs. The less obvious problem is the big disconnect between those who are responsible for communicating and those who need to be communicated to.
Professional communicators can be a bit in the clouds, I’m afraid. They (more…)
Filed under All, Corporate Media.
March 20th, 2007
By Scott Sigler
One of the great things about blogging and social media is that if you look hard enough, you will probably find a thought-leader in your space. If you’re reading this blog, then you’re looking at for very specific content - social media and Web 2.0 use for internal communications.
So if you’re here for that, then you want to read the opinion of Lee Smith of Gatehouse Consulting. Lee’s blog Talking Internal Communications has a great piece on social media and, of course, internal communications. Click here for the PDF. Here’s an excerpt:
One of the most profound implications for communicators concerns message control. Those of us who were trained in traditional media relations techniques operate from a control mentality – we craft and refine key messages, we limit the number of spokespeople and we carefully groom them on what to say and how to say it. We monitor the media and, if we think a report is unfair, we write to the editor to seek redress.
Social media turns all this on its head. You cannot control a conversation. As a form of word of mouth, blog posts spread like wild fire. They become a matter of public record as soon as they are posted, no matter how well or poorly informed the author is. There are few editorial standards and there is no editor to complain to when things go wrong. More worrying still, blogs are increasingly influencing the agenda of the traditional media. In such an environment communicators will have to learn to let go and operate ‘freestyle’.
So check out the blog and see if it resonates with you.
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March 13th, 2007
By Scott Sigler
Social Media and business communications - all the PR and marketing people say it’s the way to go, while the money-makers in corporate sales and management could really care less. Social media means your people have to do something extra, download something, interact with something, post, read, comment - in short, take time away from selling to involve themselves in yet one more form of communication (how about another webcast, guys! fun!).
But every now and then, something in the Social Media space pops up that could have practical application to internal corporate communications. Take Twitter, for example. What is Twitter? Twitter is an online tool that lets you inform people what you’re doing at any given moment. “Working on end-of-year reports,” or “off for lunch with Sam,” for example. I know, I know, riveting stuff. Twitter lets you collect “friends,” and these people see the messages you’re (more…)
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March 13th, 2007
By Maureen Taylor
So you’ve been asked to handle a blog or press interview, what do you do? Here are some very top-level ideas to consider:
March 6th, 2007
by Renn Vara
I’ve had some interesting conversations this week. Without giving names, they included the creator of the original user interface for Google, the 
Chief Marketing Officer of a longtime Silicon Valley chip company, and a management consultant who’s building an exclusive online community of IT leaders for Cisco. We talked at length about innovation in business communication. The bottom line from all three of these tech leaders: “Just because we can do it, doesn’t mean we should.”
(more…)
Filed under All, Corporate Media.
