Podcasting goes mainstream

Is there any doubt that podcasting has hit the big time?

Notes from around the Net 2/28/06

Steve Rubel comments on his first day on the job at Edelman PR. Sounds like it was a sleepless affair. His story will be interesting to watch: How a successful blogger adjusts to a major shift in work life and still keeps blogging. He says he’s going to do it.

Nike has launched a new blog to promote its basketball shoes. But there’s no commenting allowed. I wonder why?

Technorati’s got a new feature (at least, I think it’s new) that ranks blogs by the number of members who have voted them their favorites. It’s a great idea and should work over time as the number of votes grows. Of course, it’s also open to manipulation…

There’s a lot of buzz about a new product from Microsoft code-name Origami. It’s supposed to be some kind of mobile device. People are expecting big things. Tell me: when was the last time Microsoft surprised anyone with breakthrough technology?

Here’s a challenge in opacity. Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s #1 blogger, writes about the danger of concealing product plans from your internal blogforce. And he cites several third-party accounts that speculate about what Origami is. Now Scoble presumably knows what this mystery product is, yet he’s writing about what people are speculating about it and not confirming or denying anything. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s developers have the freedom to write about what they know as long as they’re not covered by NDA, from what I understand of MS’s blogging policy. It’s an interesting exercise to keep a secret when you’re openly encouraging blogging at the same time. I give credit to MS for even trying.

Warm Your Heart

As the parent of a learning disabled son, I almost cried watching this video about an autistic kid who got a chance to play in his high school team’s final basketball game. If this doesn’t boost your faith in the human spirit, I don’t know what will.

Wal-Mart Talks Back

Wal-Mart has created a website to counter criticism that its employee benefits are below par. It’s nicely done. There’s a blog, too, but that’s evidently an after-the-fact idea, since the most recent post is Nov. 23. That’s a cardinal sin in blogging. You don’t let your site lie fallow. It makes it look like you don’t care, have nothing to say or aren’t really committed to the topic you blog about.

Talk Radio

I had the pleasure of doing a radio show this past weekend with the guys over at Pundit Review. They have a weekly right-leaning radio program but with a very novel twist: most of their guests are prominent bloggers. They buy in to the concept that social media is influencing public opinion in some very profound ways and they make it a point to spotlight the people who are doing the influencing.

I was pleased to share much of the program with Glenn Reynolds’, whose Instapundit site needs no introduction. It’s the top political site on the Internet and Reynolds is an incredibly active blogger, posting 15 to 20 times some days and recently adding podcasts into the mix. He also just wrote a book about social media called An Army of Davids and somehow finds time for his day job as a law professor.

You can download a podcast of the program.

Glaxo deputizes employees for massive PR push

GlaxoSmithKline has turned its entire sales force into a public relations machine. The company has deputized its 8,000 sales people to go forth and spread the word about all the good things the pharmaceutical industry does. People are supposed to start with family members and expand the message through community gatherings and speeches. The story doesn’t mention blogs, but that would make sense, wouldn’t it?

What do you make of this idea. Do you trust your employees enough with your company message and positioning to send them out as PR ambassadors? Or does this idea give you the willies?

Google’s Ajax-based website editor

Google just launched a test of an Ajax-based website editor. Supposedly, this will let you create websites with a look-and-feel that mimics a native desktop application. Do you wonder why Microsoft is scared of these guys? Are you going to pay $90 for FrontPage if you can get comparable functionality for free?

Clayton Christensen has pointed out that high-end market leaders are always edged out by low-end competitors whose products are “good enough” but which make products available to large new audiences. Examples include off-the-rack clothing, transistor radios, Toyotas, Dell PCs, VOIP phone services, etc. Google is getting to be very good at “good enough.”

Tribune: 27,000 podcasts

The Chicago Tribune has a story that says there are 27,000 podcasts on the Internet, which is double the number that was quoted to me by the people at Podshow last month. This story talks about the passion of the podcasters, but there’s still that tricky issue of how to make money. Outside of Mommycast and perhaps a few others, no one’s figured out how to crack that code yet.

Another reason to skip class?

The University of Arizona is podcasting some lectures. If they had had this stuff when I was in school, there’s no way I ever woulda made one of those 8 a.m. classes .

Podcast innovators

No posts for a week. Shame on me! But I’ve been rebuilding my website, you see, and writing a newsletter.

Speaking of which, I got around to writing down more detail on the GM Fastlane Podcasts and the Whirlpool American Family podcasts based on my interviews with the people responsible for both. These are innovative uses of the medium and should be an example to others.

You can read the detailed account here.

I’ve also expanded my list of podcasting resources for marketers. Read it here.