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Blockchain, says Phil Gomes, has developed enough and is so imminent a factor in multiple dimensions of business, that communicators no longer have an excuse to ignore it. The landscape is filled with startups seeking to solve long-standing business problems and disrupt current business processes in everything from payments to identity and reputation, from data analytics to data provenance, from the financial services infrastructure to supply chains.

Communicators will be explaining the dramatic changes their employers or clients are going through because of blockchain — both the opportunities they are leveraging and the disruption blockchain is inflicting on them. But blockchain will have a direct impact on communication processes and tools, as well. There are blockchain startups focused on media, advertising, and social networks.

Gomes, senior vice president of U.S. B2B Digital at Edelman, has been studying blockchain and its impact on PR, marketing, and communications before most of us had ever heard the word. He recently authored a white paper, “Blockchain Technology: The Marketing Value of Digital Permanence,” published by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA). The paper makes a case for marketing and communication use of blockchain and introduces readers to some of the startups whose work will affect the way communication work gets done.

In this FIR Interview, host Shel Holtz talks with Phil about the paper and other dimensions of blockchain that will soon be part of communication workflows and processes.

Connect with Phil on Twitter at @PhilGomes.

FIR Interviews are sponsored by Thornley Fallis, the public engagement specialists. If you are looking for tools and up to date techniques to engage with your community, Thornley Fallis can help. Find them at thornleyfallis.com.

About our conversation partner:

Phil Gomes is a senior vice president of U.S. B2B Digital at Edelman. He has more than 20 years of experience in promoting and integrating new and emerging technologies, working in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Chicago, where he currently resides. He is a founding fellow and advisory board member for The Conference Board’s Society for New Communications Research and the director of communications for the Chicago Blockchain Center, a public/private partnership. Phil has been exploring blockchain technology since 2014, open source software since 1994, and keeps a clandestine Linux machine under his desk at work, because reasons.

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