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Shel Holtz, SCMP

Shel Holtz, SCMP (Certified Strategic Communication Management Professional), is currently director of Internal Communication at Webcor, a San Francisco-based commercial contractor. He is responsible for employee and executive communication, as well as social media. He also supports Webcor’s corporate public relations efforts.

Before joining Webcor in October 2017, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, where he brought more than 40 years of organizational communications experience in both corporate and consulting environments to his long list of clients. He is experienced in employee communications, corporate public relations, crisis communications, media relations, financial communications, investor relations, marketing communications, and compensation and benefits communications. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives, and communications research.

Before forming Holtz Communication + Technology, Shel was senior communications consultant and the communications practice leader for Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group in San Francisco, California. (A&ACG has since been acquired by Aon Consulting.) Other positions include director of corporate communications for Allergan, Inc., a Fortune 400 pharmaceutical company, and at Mattel, Inc. He also has worked for William M. Mercer, Inc., ARCO and Transamerica Financial Corporation.

In addition to his consulting and development work, Shel is a regular speaker on topics surrounding the application of online technology to strategic organizational communication. He speaks regularly at IABC and Ragan Communication conferences. He also has been on programs for the International Quality and Productivity Center, The American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, the American Gas Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts, the Association of California Water Agencies, and the Western Pension & Benefits Conference, among others. He also spoke regularly on the Lexis-Nexis touring seminar, “Communicating in a Wired World.”

Shel is a five-time winner of IABC’s Gold Quill award (most recently winning in 1997 for external Web sites) and was named IABC/Los Angeles’s Communicator of the Year in 1988. Shel served six years on IABC’s executive board, two as director of U.S. District 6 and four as a director-at-large. While a director-at-large, he held the Technology portfolio, among others. During his term on the board, he served three times as a member of the executive committee. He has also served as chapter president for IABC/Los Angeles and in a variety of other volunteer positions in IABC at the chapter, district and international levels. Shel earned his IABC accreditation (ABC/Accredited Business Communicator) in 1984.

In 2005, Shel was named an IABC Fellow, the highest honor IABC confers on its members. He also is an Accredited Business Communicator through IABC.

Shel is a Senior Fellow with the Conference Board’s Marketing and Communications Center and a Platinum Fellow of The Mayo Clinic Social Media Network.

Shel has applied online technology to his communication efforts on behalf of companies and clients since the mid-1980s. His most recent book is “Tactical Transparency,” co-written with John C. Havens and published by Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley. Shel is also the co-author of “How to Do Everything with Podcasting,” co-written with Neville Hobson and published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill and “Blogging for Business,” co-written with Ted Demopoulos and published by Kaplan. Earlier books include “Corporate Conversations,” a guide to employee communications, published by Amacom. “Public Relations on the Net,” published by AMACOM; and “The Intranet Advantage,” published by Ziff-Davis Press. He also wrote the manuals, “Communication and Technology” and “Communicator’s Guide to Intranets,” published by Ragan Communications and “Writing for the Wired World,” published by IABC.

Shel graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in Journalism from California State University, Northridge, in 1976.

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), is director of Internal Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio

FIR #256: Comms Influence in the C-Suite

May 19, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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The COVID-19 pandemic created a host of new communication pressures on company leaders, so they, in turn, leaned on their communicators, who evidently came through for them in a big way. The result: increased influence in the C-suite, according to a Gartner survey. Neville and Shel have questions.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

FIR #255: How TikTok Makes Spreadsheets Cool

May 17, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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Micro-learning is the formal label for the upbeat, music-backed TikTok videos that demonstrate how to accomplish tasks on Excel, Microsoft’s ubiquitous spreadsheet tool. The videos are racking up billions of views and the influencers behind the videos are making fistfuls of cash. Microsoft played no part in getting the video trend started; the company is just taking advantage of what the influencers are producing. Lessons abound for companies and communicators.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

FIR #254: AR You Ready?

May 12, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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Google used a short video to tease a feature for its Augmented Reality (AR) glasses that could be AR’s killer app. They don’t look bad, either.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

FIR #253: Blockchain In Your House

May 10, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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Search “blockchain” and you’re sure to find plenty of commentaries that proclaim the core Web3 technology doomed. It can never work, they say, and they outline a broad range of reasons. Yet blockchain is already managing processes in the background — some of which you may already be using in your own home. Neville and Shel explore some of the ways blockchain-based technologies are becoming everyday tools and what this means for communicators.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

FIR #252: Managers, Not Bosses

May 6, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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Matthew Rechs confesses that he was not a great manager at first but he learned some fundamental rules that will benefit anyone who hopes to be more than an old-school boss. For internal communicators, Rechs’ “promises” — first published as a series of tweets — can serve as the foundation for a targeted effort to elevate effective management in your organization.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

FIR #251: Proof of Attendance

May 3, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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POAPs are getting to be a big deal, with Warner Music inking a deal with the organization behind them. Never heard of POAP? It’s the Proof of Attendance Protocol, used to mint a special kind of NFT that serves as proof you were there, whether it’s a concert, a conference, or some other kind of event or activity. Their use by businesses is inevitable. Even internally, companies can award POAPs to employees who attend the town hall, for example, some of which could wind up being highly coveted. In this episode, Neville and Shel break down POAPs and their potential for organizations, especially those looking to engage Gen Z-aged individuals.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

Comms Research and Measurement is Focus of Next Circle of Fellows Panel

May 2, 2022 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

With today’s online discussions, forums, and social media platforms, communication professionals easily delve into what key stakeholders know-feel-do about something now. This enables comms pros to develop more efficient and effective plans to transform what stakeholders’ know-feel-do to achieve organizational goal(s) and objectives. Four IABC Fellows will dive into research and measurement in the next… Continue Reading →

Filed Under: News

FIR #250: Go for a Drive in the Metaverse

April 29, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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Nissan and Toyota are entering the metaverse, one with a focus on employees and the other targeting consumers. They join some other auto manufacturers that have already established a metaverse presence. Fidelity Investments is also setting up shop, as is Vanity Fair. And these are a drop in the bucket among the businesses staking metaverse claims.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

FIR #249: Getting Authentic with BeReal

April 26, 2022 by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson Leave a Comment

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For those who are weary of the staged, curated images people share on social networks like Instagram (as if their lives were truly that enviable), BeReal wants to be the antidote. It is finding favor with the college-aged crowd but there could be untapped opportunities for businesses to participate, too.
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Filed Under: For Immediate Release

Circle of Fellows #80: Executive Communication

April 21, 2022 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

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As part of the IABC Career Roadmap, the business leader path is essential to our profession and its role within society. The business leader plays a critical role in shaping an organization’s future by adopting the Global Standard for the profession while building and maintaining a well-structured, competent, and trusted organizational communication function.

In this Circle of Fellows, our panel of top international communication advisors explores executive communication and leadership, its importance in organizations, and how we as communication professionals build the relationships and competence of executives. They will discuss how to add business value while expanding communication competencies and coaching the people who drive today’s organizations.
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Filed Under: Circle of Fellows

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