Howard Bragman, the legendary Los Angeles public relations consultant and PR guru passed away from leukemia on February 11, 2023, at the age of 66. Bragman was known for his pioneering work in the field of public relations, helping to shape the image of numerous celebrities, politicians, and organizations over his long and distinguished career. In his honor, we are bumping this interview with him from our archives to the top of our show feed. Born in Flint, Michigan on February...

In this episode of For Immediate Release B2B, Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman interview SAP Head of Social Business Sarah Goodall and discuss the risks of relying on social networks to deliver news in a democracy, Sprinklr's Get Satisfaction acquisition, Meerkat and Periscope. Fair use is an essential tool for journalists, enabling them to draw upon copyrighted material in the name of the public’s right to know. But who decides what constitutes fair use in a medium that spans the...

Morgan Stanley’s recent decision to loosen the reign for their financial advisers on Twitter is the latest in a long list financial services social media case studies. Last December, FINRA fined Barclays $3.75M for system is record keeping and email retention failure. And last June, the regulator warned investors against trading on “pump-and-dump” emails. The finance industry has their social media conferences and consultants. Because of specific finance industry rules and regs like...

Ideally, you want someone with a neutral point of view editing Wikipedia entries, not PR firms clandestinely gussying up their client’s pages.  PR has a conflict of interest. But that doesn't mean they can't also help improve the accuracy of Wikipedia entries or that they shouldn't have a right to do so.   It’s been an issue for a while now, because if a PR representative wants to alert a Wikipedia editor to an inaccuracy on a client’s entry, there’s no clear process for...

Ideally, you want someone with a neutral point of view editing Wikipedia entries, not PR firms clandestinely gussying up their client’s pages.  PR has a conflict of interest. But that doesn't mean they can't also help improve the accuracy of Wikipedia entries or that they shouldn't have a right to do so.   It’s been an issue for a while now, because if a PR representative wants to alert a Wikipedia editor to an inaccuracy on a client’s entry, there’s no clear process for ethical...

Manning Selvage & Lee CEO Mark Hass goes On the Record...Online at the 2008 PRSA International Conference about MS&L’s strategy for penetrating China, his acquisition strategy for buying new firms and what it takes to be a managing director at MS&L. Mark Hass, CEO of Manning Selvage & Lee has held this position since April 2005. In this role, Hass leads MS&L and its global leadership team, and acts as a strategic counselor to the firm's largest clients, including General...

Most people think social media compliance is just for regulated industries. And it's true that regulated industries do have more rules to comply with.    But social media compliance is everybody’s business.   Whether you’re business is regulated or not, there are dozens of federal and state regulations and local ordinances that dictate how you can and can’t use social media lawfully for business.   In this podcast, Chris Kieff (@ckieff), Director of Sales Support and Operations,...

Most people think social media compliance is just for regulated industries. And it's true that regulated industries do have more rules to comply with.    But social media compliance is everybody’s business.   Whether you’re business is regulated or not, there are dozens of federal and state regulations and local ordinances that dictate how you can and can’t use social media lawfully for business.   In this podcast, Chris Kieff (@ckieff), Director of Sales Support and...

If your social media policy requires your employees to include a disclaimer in their social media posts that their opinions are their own, that's unlawful, according to a US Federal judge who called the restriction “unreasonably burdensome." How can you include a disclaimer in a Facebook Like anyway?   The development is the latest in a series of decisions by the NLRB, which has been challenging employers to reconsider whether or not they have the right to dictate how their...

If your social policy requires your employees to include a disclaimer in their social media posts that their opinions are their own, that's unlawful, according to a US Federal judge who called the restriction “unreasonably burdensome” and unlawful. How can you include a disclaimer in a Facebook Like anyway?   The development is the latest in a series of decisions by the NLRB, which has been challenging employers to reconsider whether or not they have the right to dictate how their employees...

  The number of social media policy violations by employees has doubled over the last 16 months, according to the 2014 Social Media in the Workplace Survey.   Don’t get us wrong.  We love social media and value free speech. We’re not condoning violating anyone’s personal privacy rights or their rights to discuss wages, hours and working conditions concertedly.   Used effectively and responsibly, numerous research reports show that social media increases profitability, productivity and...

The number of social media policy violations by employees has doubled over the last 16 months.  Ann Handley didn't violate anyone's social media policy, and those aren't schadenfreude likes from Beth, Shel and Richard. They're only there to demonstrate what kind of screen capture you need to take of a Facebook post if you're documenting a social media policy violation.   Don’t get us wrong.  We love social media and value free speech. We’re not condoning violating...

What steps has the FDA taken to provide the pharma industry with guidance and regulations around how drug companies can effectively and responsibly use social media for marketing, customer engagement and scientific research?   We talk to John Mack (@pharmaguy), Editor & Publisher of the Pharma Marketing Network about the issues and challenges of regulating how pharmaceutical companies conduct social media marketing.     Digital drug marketing topics discussed:   What the FDA...

What steps has the FDA taken to provide the pharma industry with guidance and regulations around how drug companies can effectively and responsibly use social media for marketing, customer engagement and scientific research?   We talk to John Mack (@pharmaguy), Editor & Publisher of the Pharma Marketing Network about the issues and challenges of regulating how pharmaceutical companies conduct social media marketing.     Digital drug marketing topics discussed:   What the FDA has...

How money and politics drove the Kansas Board of Regents to issue a social media policy that threatens academic freedom statewide with Doug Bonney, chief counsel and legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas.   State legislators threatened to cut funding after a journalism professor sent out an angry tweet blaming the NRA for the Washington Navy Yard Shooting. The Kansas Board of Regents responded by issuing a Draconian social media policy to try and deter faculty and...

How money and politics drove the Kansas Board of Regents to issue a social media policy that threatens academic freedom statewide with Doug Bonney, chief counsel and legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas.   State legislators threatened to cut funding after a journalism professor sent out an angry tweet blaming the NRA for the Washington Navy Yard Shooting. The Kansas Board of Regents responded by issuing a Draconian social media policy to try and...

Although the proposed FCC changes to Net Neutrality released last week are short on details about what constitutes "commercially reasonable," it looks like we're closer to reclassifying ISPs as Title Two common carriers than we were in the draft that was allegedly leaked to journalists a few weeks back.   In this podcast, we talk to EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry (@cmcsherr), who spent the weekend pouring over FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal (@TomWheelerFCC), which...

In this podcast, we talk to EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry (@cmcsherr), who spent the weekend pouring over FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal (@TomWheelerFCC), which is now available for public comment through DearFCC.   Topics discussed include: How could the concept of paid prioritization impact news media diversityArgument in favor of regulating ISPs like phone companiesArgument agasint regulating ISPs like phone companiesReclassifying ISPs as...

This is a deep dive interview with Marcia Stepanek. She is a journalist, new media strategist, NYU professor and an award winning news and features editor. Eric:  Tell us about yourself.   Marcia:  I have been covering the intersection of technology and its impact on society and business, for pretty much the past 25 years. I did a new media fellowship at Stanford and went out there all primed from Hearst Media in Washington to cover the shrinking middle class in America and...

Marcia Stepanek is a journalist, new media strategist, NYU professor and an award winning news and features editor. Her upcoming book is "Swarms: the Rise of Digital Anti‑Establishment.   Eric:  Tell us about yourself.   Marcia:  I have been covering the intersection of technology and its impact on society and business, for pretty much the past 25 years. I did a new media fellowship at Stanford and went out there all primed from Hearst Media in Washington to cover the shrinking middle...

Anyone can create an online course. On the other hand, making it an engaging and educational experience is a whole other question.   In this simulcast of FIR on Higher Education episode 7 Kevin Anselmo interviews Eric Schwartzman talks about how to make content interesting and educational in an online learning format. Eric has been conducting social media trainings in different parts of the world for several years. He recently took his courses online through his...

Anyone can create an online course. Making it an engaging and educational experience is a whole other question.   In FIR on Higher Education episode 7, Comply Socially Founder Eric Schwartzman talks about how to make content interesting and educational in an online learning format. Eric has been conducting social media trainings in different parts of the world for several years. He recently took his courses online through his company which helps employers manage risk and scale engagement...

Earlier this week the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America hosted a panel discussion on what it takes to prevent a social media crisis.   In my opinion, PR spends too much time talking about crisis management and not enough time thinking about how to prevent them from happening in the first place.     The panel was moderated by Karen North, Chair of the Online Communities Graduate Program at USC and this is an audio recording of the...