FIR Podcast Network

For Immediate Release: Podcasts for Communicators

  • Home
  • Shows
  • Episodes
  • People
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
    • Join the FIR Podcast Network
  • Archives

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.

Interview: Hannah Oiknine, CEO of media relations solution Babbler

August 12, 2015 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-babbler.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:58 — 8.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Babbler, already a success in France, comes to the US in September as a solution to the email mess that media relations has become. Designed as a platform to connect and provide for collaboration between PR representatives and journalists who cover their clients/companies/industries, Babbler is free for journalists, while it provides a single place for brands to make their digital assets (from press releases to videos and graphics) available to the press. In this FIR interview, Shel Holtz talks with Babbler CEO Hannah Oiknine about the site and how it can improve media relations.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: FIR Interviews

Save the date: August 27 for Circle of Fellows panel on measurement and ROI

August 12, 2015 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

The second episode of the Circle of Fellows podcast will be broadcast live at noon EDT on August 27. Join four IABC Fellows and moderator Shel Holtz of the FIR Podcast Network for an illuminating hour about how to demonstrate your value to your company or client leadership.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Circle of Fellows, News

album art: the Hobson & Holtz Report

#820: Marketing is shifting from agencies and moving in-house

August 10, 2015 by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-820.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:05 — 30.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Marketing is shifting from agencies and moving in-house; Dan York’s Tech Report, including Google’s handling of new top-level domains, a kerfuffle over Facebook videos, and WeChat and mobile in China; controlling the media channels: can football win the game? and much more.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Hobson & Holtz Report Tagged With: football, marketing

FIR Interviews

Interview: Infegy’s Rion Martin on News Ninja

August 4, 2015 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-newsninja.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:29 — 12.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Infegy Marketing Director Rion Martin discusses the company’s service, News Ninja, which ranks the topics people are talking about based on analysis of reams of data, and updated every 10 minutes. The free service is a boon to newsjackers and real-time marketers.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: FIR Interviews

album art: the Hobson & Holtz Report

#819: The ad-blocking revolution is just months away

August 3, 2015 by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-819.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:54 — 32.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

The ad-blocking revolution is just months away; what’s the fate of Google+, and should communicators remain engaged?; and more.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Hobson & Holtz Report Tagged With: ad blocking, Google+

New podcast: Circle of Fellows lets you tap into IABC Fellows knowledge and experience

July 28, 2015 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

The Circle of Fellows is a new FIR podcast featuring a monthly panel made up of Fellows of the International Association of Business Communicators. Each episode will feature a single topic, enabling the Fellows to dig deep and provide insights based on their vast experience. The podcast will be delivered live as a Google+ Hangout on Air, then made available both as a YouTube video and an audio podcast.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: News

Circle of Fellows #1: The value of communicators

July 28, 2015 by Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-fellows-001.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:06 — 24.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

The inaugural episode of Circle of Fellows — a monthly panel featuring a selection of IABC Fellows taking a deep dive into a single timely communication topic– looks at the value communicators bring to an organization, whether that value has risen or fallen in recent years, and what communicators can do to improve their value in the eyes of organizational leaders.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Circle of Fellows

album art: the Hobson & Holtz Report

#818: Do we really have to take emoji seriously?

July 27, 2015 by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-818.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:41 — 26.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Do we really have to take emoji seriously? Do you need guidance on how to use Twitter such as that produced for members of Parliament?
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Hobson & Holtz Report

album art: the Hobson & Holtz Report

Hobson & Holtz #817: Sarcasm poses a challenge in sentiment analysis

July 20, 2015 by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-817.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04:16 — 25.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Sarcasm poses a challenge for computer algorithms in sentiment analysis: is relying on humans to make the final call the only way forward?; social by design: how Ogilvy leveraged the Chinese obsession for naming with an integrated advertising campaign for Visit Britain.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Hobson & Holtz Report

album art: the Hobson & Holtz Report

Hobson & Holtz #816: How Reddit and Subway have handled their crises

July 13, 2015 by Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz Leave a Comment

http://traffic.libsyn.com/fir/fir-816.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:49 — 27.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

From the Apple Watch to the Ice Bucket Challenge, plus Reddit, Subway, and the Internet Society.
Continue Reading →

Filed Under: Hobson & Holtz Report

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • …
  • 62
  • Next Page »

Connect with FIR

Support FIR

Become a Patron

Pledge as little as $1 per month to help support the existing stable of shows, make new shows possible, and be part of the growth of the FIR Podcast Network.

FIR Podcast Network Shows

FIR SPONSOR

The FIR Podcast Network is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, of which we currently have none. Please reach out to us if you are interested in sponsoring FIR. Contact us at fircomments@gmail.com.

Looking for Older Episodes?

Visit the FIR Podcast Network Archives at forimmediaterelease.biz.

Join Our Facebook Community

Facebook Group Icon

FIR Podcast Network on Twitter

My Tweets

We Want Your Feedback

Email comments with or without audio attachments (5 MB/3 minute limit) to fircomments at gmail dot com.

North America Comment Line:
+1.415.895.2971

Europe Comment Line:
+44.20.3239.9082

Skype: fircomments

Promote FIR!

Let your readers and colleagues know about FIR by adding a logo to your blog or web page. Get it here!

FIR Podcast Network Logo

Help Spread the Word about FIR!

GaggleAMP: spread the word about FIR!

License

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

FIR Podcast Network website © 2023 Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson | Community Guidelines | Privacy Policy

Website development by WP Fangirl. Album art and design by Effective Edge Communications.