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Chris Christensen and Christopher Penn joined host Shel Holtz for this week’s FIR podcast to talk about…

• Todd Defren’s departure from SHIFT Communications, the PR agency he co-founded in 2003 (and which was acquired by Canada’s National PR about 18 months ago)
• Podcast “super listeners” could be the next advertising sweet spot
• Travel podcasts (including the three Chris Christensen hosts or co-hosts) are coming into their own
• A head-to-head competition between human and chatbot Instagram account managers produces some interesting results
• United Airlines is auctioning off pieces of a 747 to loyalty members
• Artificial Intelligence is the new electricity
• Waiting to respond to a crisis costs you customers
• In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on the evolution of Facebook Stories, Facebook’s rebranding of its “Mentions” app, and Google’s crackdown on AMP users who create teaser pages. Dan also updates stories from last week, including the release of WordPress 4.9 and the “Freedom on the Net” report.

Connect with Chris Christensen on Twitter at @chris2x and with Christopher Penn at @cspenn.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

About our guest co-hosts:

Chris Christensen is the CEO at BloggerBridge.com, a website that helps connect companies with relevant bloggers, writers, podcasters, videographers, and other content creators. He’s also the host of the Amateur Traveler Podcast, which he’s been producing almost as long as this show, since June 2005. He recently introduced Passport, a new podcast with co-host Leif Pettersen focusing on travel marketing and PR, which is part of the FIR Podcast Network. He also co-hosts the podcast, This Week in Travel. Chris is also a coder; he was a director of Engineering for TripAdvisor, Executive VP of Engineering and Operations for LiveWorld, and a manager at Apple, designing and programming server solutions.

Christopher S. Penn is Vice President of Marketing Technology at SHIFT Communications. Chris is an authority on digital marketing and marketing technology. A recognized thought leader, author, and speaker, he has shaped three key fields in the marketing industry: Google Analytics adoption, data-driven marketing and PR, and email marketing. Known for his high-octane, here’s how to get it done approach, his expertise benefits companies such as Citrix Systems, McDonald’s, GoDaddy, McKesson, and many others. His latest work, AI for Marketers, introduces marketers to the different types of machine learning and how AI is impacting content creation, conversations, content distribution, and analytics for marketers. He is a founding member of IBM’s Watson Analytics Predictioneers, co-founder of the groundbreaking PodCamp Conference, and co-host of the Marketing Over Coffee” marketing podcast. Christopher is a Google Analytics Certified Professional and a Google AdWords Certified Professional. He is the author of over two dozen marketing books including bestsellers such as Marketing White Belt: Basics for the Digital Marketer, Marketing Red Belt: Connecting With Your Creative Mind, and Marketing Blue Belt: From Data Zero to Marketing Hero.

Links for this episode:

• Are podcast’s “super listeners” audio advertising’s next sweet spot?
• The travel podcast comes into its own
• Should you let a bot manage your Instagram account?
• Chatbot use is on the rise
• United Airlines to auction off Boeing 747 hardware to MileagePlus members
• AI is the “new electricity”
• The AI-powered SEO process: Associate
• Four new AI tools that will help you be more productive
• Waiting to respond to a crisis loses you more customers

Links for Dan York’s Tech Report

• Update: WordPress 4.9 is out
• Update: “Freedom on the Net” report raises concerns about Internet shutdowns, censorship, attacks on journalists, and more
• Facebook launches collaborative Stories for Groups and Events
• Your online freedoms are under threat – 2017 Freedom on the Net Report
• Facebook rebrands Mentions app as “Creator” for influencers to build video communities
• Facebook announces new tools for the creator community
• Google Webmaster Central Blog: Engaging users through high-quality AMP pages

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