Trafcom News Podcast

Show #32: An interview with Steve Crescenzo

The power of print and the role of corporate communicators in shaping culture

These are just two of the topics covered in an interview with communications guru Steve Crescenzo, conducted last week in Toronto. In this 21-minute podcast, Steve holds forth on the Great Print Purge, digital natives, the roles of print and online media in employee communications, and much more. Here are the shownotes:

00:01 Intro and welcome
00:55 About Steve Crescenzo
01:17 Steve’s work with Ragan Communications and his Corporate Hallucinations blog
02:00 The Great Print Purge; the problem with online publications and the benefits of print
03:36 Integrating print and online
06:25 Advice for corporate communicators who feel beaten down
08:52 Old ways don’t work any more (No more pudgy white guys spewing babble)
09:17 Digital natives (i.e., younger workers) won’t read boring corporate-speak
10:50 What about the cost of print? Steve has an opinion
11:30 Example of a great employee publication: Luvlines from Southwest Airlines
13:55 What do YOU think of the power of corporate communicators to shape the culture and stand up for editorial integrity?
14:22 Shout-out from Shel Holtz, co-host of the For Immediate Release podcast
14:48 Soliciting your opinion on a new listener-comments “policy”
15:50 Tom Keefe comments on Survivor – Elevator; link to Tom’s full comment
16:42 Bryan Person knows of the world’s first elevator podcast (Financial Aid Podcast); link to Bryan’s full comment
17:08 Neville Hobson has an elevator story too; link to Neville’s trackback
17:22 Lee Hopkins tracks back: how he records the Comms Café podcast with Allan Jenkins; link to Lee’s post
18:35 Mitch Joel uses Castblaster to record Six Pixels of Separation; asks about integrating social media into PR; link to Mitch’s full audio comment
21:00 Where to send comments

Theme music is “Beneath Your Surface” by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet.

Show #31: Six Communication Truths

Takeaways from the IABC International Conference in Vancouver

Whether or not you’re an IABC member, you’ll be interested in these truisms about communications – the glories of print, the joys of beautiful writing, what it’s like to be chuffed, and the best companions with whom to be trapped in an elevator. You can download this 12-minute podcast right now. Here are the shownotes:

00:01 Intro and welcome.
00:52 These truths apply to all communicators, not just IABC members.
01:06 Truth #1: The concept of social media is catching on, but there’s a great disparity between evangelists and naysayers. Example of the packed session with Shel Holtz, Neville Hobson and Allan Jenkins.
01:41 Truth #2: Print is not dead. Example of Steve Crescenzo’s session, which was a delight for publication editors who love to communicate in print.
02:18 Truth #3: Even if you write for a living, you still need to refresh your skills. Example: Don Ranly, professor emeritus at the Missouri School of Journalism, used the Wall Street Journal as a model of excellent writing.
03:07 Truth #4: There’s no substitute for face-to-face communications. Example: Meeting my online buddies in the flesh – Shel Holtz, Neville Hobson, Allan Jenkins, Tom Keefe and others. Example: Mark Burnett dislikes pitching by phone; he prefers face-to-face or video.
04:07 Truth #5: Life is not all about business. Example: Humanitarian Stephen Lewis raised the bar when he forced us, through his own passion and commitment, to think about the AIDS/HIV crisis in Africa, and to try to do something about it as communicators.
04:45 Truth #6: If you’re going to be trapped in an elevator, the best companions are fellow communicators.
06:00 Audio comment from the very tall Neville Hobson.
08:11 Comments from Show #30 on how I record the Trafcom News Podcast. Tom Russell was chuffed; Tom Keefe is inspired to podcast; David Jones shares how he and Terry Fallis record Inside PR; David mentions For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report and an article on Reel Reviews about how to edit with Audacity.
11:08 Where to send comments: email trafcom AT gmail DOT com; phone 646-403-8020 or post a comment on the Trafcom News Podcast page.
11:48 Outro: Music from Beneath Your Surface by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet.

Vancouver's harbour

Show#30: How this podcast is created

You can download the inside story on how to record a podcast right here! Well, this is my way, anyway;-)) Each podcaster seems to have a unique twist on recording. This podcast responds to a question from listener Tom Russell, who asked how the Trafcom News Podcast is recorded.

Here are the shownotes:

00:01 Intro and welcome
01:45 My production technique
02:00 Trafcom News Podcast used to be created on a Mac G4 running OS 9; now on a MacBook running OS X
02:42 Recording in Audacity
02:59 Preparation needed before planning a podcast
03:29 Recording with Apex microphone and Art tube pre-amp
04:30 Phone interviews captured with Telecom Audio VoicePort
05:00 Edirol R-1 captures phone interviews from VoicePort; also used for field recording
06:44 What’s a double-ender?
07:29 Many different ways to record podcasts
07:43 Start simple
08:00 Editing with Amadeus and Audacity; soon to be using Garage Band
09:00 Good books include Todd Cochrane’s Podcasting: The Do it Yourself Guide and Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Podcasting by Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass
09:33 Would love to hear from other podcasters; how do they record?
09:52 Where to send comments
Music for the intro and outro: Beneath Your Surface by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet