Rob’s blog
Sparklines
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what can you say about a picture the size of a single word? Infoguru Edward Tufte has coined the word "sparklines" to describe wee word-sized graphics that pack a lot of data in a tiny package. Conventional wisdom holds that an...
Google News goes RSS over teakettle (or, Seven steps to your own custom media monitoring command post)
At long last, Google News has enabled RSS feeds on news searches. Now, suddenly, Google's e-mailed news alerts are just so five queries ago. You want to keep on top of news coverage of a particular subject? Say, the name of your organization, or its spokesperson, or...
A perfect PR storm of Telus’ own making
Short of actually causing a loss of human life, a major oil spill or the bulldozing of an orphanage, companies don't often have a worse stretch of PR than Telus has weathered over the past few weeks. Just as the dust was settling from the site-blocking fiasco, a video...
I’ve been For Immediate Released
Hey, I've made the big time - my comment on the phrases "they don't get it" and "going forward" made it onto the latest podcast of For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report. Apart from shameless self-promotion, you should give it a listen if you're at all...
Podcasting and PR for beginners
Wondering what podcasting is, and what it means for public relations practitioners? Just listen to last week's episode of For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report - which is itself a podcast, and if you don't know what the means, don't worry - you will in...
SpeechList Issue 3:
New life from a used speech
Here's Issue #3 of SpeechList, the speechwriting newsletter. Get yours fresh from the keyboard by clicking here to subscribe. SPEECHLIST: WRITING TO BE HEARD Issue 3 - August 4, 2005 by Rob Cottingham https://www.robcottingham.ca/ mail: rob at robcottingham dot ca (c)...
Forward halt!
The Mozilla Foundation, the people behind the wildly successful open-source browser Firefox, is spinning off a for-profit corporation. The first sign? They're using a particular phrase in no less than five of their FAQs: "going forward". As in, "in the future." That...
Resources for communicators: eCatalyst by IMPACS
The latest issue of eCatalyst kindly recommends SpeechList as an important part of this balanced communications breakfast, and I'm happy to return the compliment. eCatalyst, a free e-mail newsletter, brings you fabulously useful information about PR and communications...
Blog remora
blog remora, n., blahg reh-MOH-rah: One who attempts to increase the popularity of her or his own blog, or avoid the labour of blogging, by quoting the comments of more established bloggers. e.g. - "Heyz, everyone. I'm kinda hung over after last night's MeetUp, so if...
The latest tool in consumer vengeance: the blog
Since we're on a revenge theme today, let's take a quick look at consumers who are using blogs to take a swipe at companies what done them wrong. The Hobson and Holtz Report has spent the past week discussing two bloggers who are taking on companies that have sold...
(Focus) tested in battle
BBC News: New name for 'war on terror' Confidential focus group report To: Karl Rove Re.: Rebranding exercise Note to Karl: This thing actually is confidential, okay? It's not like the identity of a CIA operative; this is serious business here. Focus group conducted...
The Telus firewall
While Telus cries foul over cable-cutting in its labour dispute, the company has been snipping a few virtual wires of its own. ...Specifically, the connections leading to at least two web sites critical of the company. If you want to check out their perspective, and...
Why, yes — I’d LOVE to speak at your event
Public speaking and speechwriting: the essential guides
Looking for advice on public speaking, speechwriting and leadership communications? Here are some of my most comprehensive posts, on topics that people ask me about most often.
