Episode lucky number 25 of the Quick'n'Dirty podcast wasn't as hectic (or wrought with technical issues) as last week's episode, but it was sure fun and informative (if we do say so ourselves). The theme of the show was "garden gnomes," but you'll need to listen to find out how that happened. We will tell you that we started out the show talking about SpredFast, which is an intriguing social media campaign management system. Aaron hadn't heard of the service and I only recently found out about it so we couldn't really review it, but we think that it could definitely bring some value to businesses. Aaron, a CMO in his day job, said that the service -- which promises to bring multiple campaign management, team work flow, voice management, content scheduling, etc., in addition to real-time reporting and monitoring -- is definitely worth checking out.
After discussing SpredFast we introduced Karen Auby, public relations manager from Plantronics, to discuss what the communications headset company is doing in terms of social media. Karen talked about everything from how Plantronics has engaged social media as part of both its external communications and product feature escalation programs, to using social media campaigns (such as the popular #behandsfree promotion) to engage more users, promote the brand, and educate users about important legislation relative to driving hands-free. She also talked a little bit about how social media has changed the dynamic of public relations to make it more customer-facing than ever before, versus just press, analysts or investors. This piece is definitely a must-listen for any internal public relations manager who is trying to get more creative with social media.
After that discussion we let Karen off of the hot seat and moved onto our featured Twitterer of the week, none other than Brian Morrissey (@bmorrissey), Adweek digital editor and self-proclaimed lover of cheeseburgers. Morrissey was Aaron's pick, and he was chosen due to his approachable style and great sense of humor while tweeting.
Finally, we had our standard point / counterpoint of the week, this time around social media certification, as brought to the table earlier this year by the International Social Media Association. The ISMA announced that it would offer a social media certification program which would give those who went through with it, and paid substantially for it, a social media certificate. The idea hit some controversy when blogger Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) called it out as "nonsense." Aaron and I came at this from differing viewpoints. I don't believe that a certification program is necessary as it is a person or company's references and track record that should speak volumes beyond a piece of paper (i.e. look at how many "pay for play" product certifications exist). Aaron believes that there is a place for such a program but it needs to be organized by a governing board of some sort with people who hold their own true track records in social media. You'll have to listen to see where we landed.
Again, the replays of the Quick'n'Dirty podcasts can be found on BlogTalkRadio or over on iTunes by searching for "QuicknDirty." Next week join us at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET as we speak with Jess Berlin, who manages social media for Cirque du Soleil. Don't miss it!
