Commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett on the use of blogs for public relations, media, marketing, communication & branding and from time-to-time the unsolicited opinion.
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On Friday I un-boxed a new toy, the Nikon D300. I also picked up the MB-D10 since I actually like the larger size. I'll need to play with it and post some shots and then a review.
What will I be doing with the D80? Not sure. A few friends that have been thinking about buying one are going to borrow it though.
A month ago Delta posted their new in-flight safety video. As a frequent Delta flier (40K miles so far this year) I have the current video pretty well memorized. I watched the new one and figured that it would appear in cabins soon. Well in the past few days the media discovered the popularity of this new video staring flight attendant Katherine Lee. Let's just say Katherine, or Deltalina as she's being called has some fanboys out there.
Delta has been quick to pick-up on the momentum and have a new blog post up today written by Katherine.
I can't help but think of the irony of this situation though. If you remember way back to 2004 when Ellen Simonetti was fired by Delta for blogging. Ellen writes the Queen of Sky blog and was perhaps the first 'sassy' blogging flight attendant for Delta.
Wow, I can't believe I'm actually posting about BlogOrlando 2008, but then again it's almost April. Quite a few friends have asked, "Are you doing BlogOrlando again this year?" Yes. At least as of now I am :-)
Back in 2006 when I planned the first event, you may remember that the original concept for BlogOrlando was a bit different than the actual event:
The original concept/title for this event was: Josh is Tired of Traveling Outside of Orlando so Everybody Come Here Con or JTTOOECH-Con. I wanted to get some friends to the area to meet, but more importantly spend some down-time at the theme parks with their families.
That private gathering of friends soon expanded to a public event that eventually became the first edition of BlogOrlando. Then things expanded even more with the 2007 event with almost 300 people taking part.
For 2008 we're blending the old with the new. BlogOrlando will once again be held on a Friday in late September. The main event cost (FREE) and format will not change, and perhaps expand, but there is a twist.
Reaching back to the original concept, BlogOrlando will now feature a private invite-only event on Wednesday. Just an intimate gathering of colleagues, clients, industry leaders, etc. Perhaps a limit of 30-40 folks. The topics will focus more on things like future trends, etc. I dare say Davos-like. The catch is, if you're invited to the Wednesday event, you are required to lead a session at the Friday event.
Here is a tentative schedule:
Wednesday:
- Invite-Only Event
- Special Event/Fun Thing at Orlando Theme Park for Session Leaders
Thursday
- Special Event/Fun Thing at Orlando Theme Park for Session Leaders
- Official BlogOrlando Reception
Friday
- Main Event
- Friday Night Reception
Saturday
- BlogOrlando Day at Orlando Theme Park
More thoughts soon.....
I made it back from Seoul last week and hope to post a recap of my trip there soon....amazing city. I've been buried with project work these past few weeks and the load doesn't get any lighter.
April is a busy travel month with trips to Oregon, London, Michigan, Wyoming and Nebraska. May brings Indianapolis, New Hampshire and Miami to name a few.
Talk to you soon, I hope :-)
Combine rain with a foreign city full of neon and you get a fun photowalk. Here are a few select shots from Seoul on Thursday night.
Swap out the language on the signs and it could be New York or Chicago. More shots from Seoul over on Flickr. Of course, other things are the same no matter where you go.
No, I'm not going to SXSW. I think I've been asked that 50 times in the past few weeks. Why not? Well on Sunday I head to California for a few meetings then I'm off to Seoul, South Korea for a presentation and a bit of tourism.
It will be my first time in Seoul, any suggestions? Of course I'll be taking my camera.
Jackie Huba finally wrote about something that's been bothering me for the past few weeks. Somehow, my name/e-mail ended up on a list at Vocus, so now 90% of all the unsolicited e-mail pitches I get are from Vocus clients. How do I know this? Well at the bottom of these e-mails is the standard 'unsubscribe' link. That link takes me back to a site run by Vocus.
Jakie took the time to contact Vocus and asked them some questions when they never responded via e-mail.
Four times in four months I used the contact info on the Vocus website (info@vocus.com) to ask for full removal. No reply to any email. Finally, I called Vocus' main number and asked to speak with someone. Julie returned my call 30 minutes later and promised to remove my name from their system. It seemed like a good time to ask Julie about Vocus' practices:
How do bloggers get added to the database? Vocus monitors top blogs in certain categories then adds their contact information to the database. Without permission, I asked? Yes, she said. Most bloggers are OK with that, she said. How does she know if they don't ask first?
Why couldn't I opt out entirely? We're working on that, she said, and promised to investigate why no one responded to my four emails.
Julie also said a client could have copied my email address from the system and might continue to send me emails. Lovely.
What's sad is that Vocus is a sponsor of NewComm Forum. Hopefully a number of attendees will stop by their booth and ask them to stop this practice. While you're at it, Vocus, please remove me from your list :-)
e-mail: josh@hyku.com
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