Category: For Immediate Release

AI tools that turn text prompts into images, video, and music are definitely cool, but they get a boost in utility when incorporated into a larger tool designed for a specific purpose. Omneky is one such tool, designed to improve the effectiveness of your social media ads. One element: DALL-E 2 is baked into the software, helping you create images that align with the software’s assessment of your current and previous ads.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, November 21.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• Omneky uses AI to generate social media ads
• Omneky – Personalized Design:Omneky
• Omneky Demo on YouTube

The post FIR #291: Adding AI to Applications appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The first graphic format for the web to gain widespread adoption was the GIF. Even the advent of better formats replaced it for graphical display, it gained new strength through animation; what was once called an “animated GIF” became just a GIF. But today, for multiple reasons, the end appears nigh for all but the most die-hard fans. This short midweek episode is an homage to the GIF.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, November 21.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• The GIF Is on Its Deathbed
• Here’s a Timeline of the Debate About How to Pronounce GIF

The post FIR #290: Alas, Poor GIF, We Knew You Well appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

New data suggests a lot of bloggers are employing practices that are the opposite of those that deliver results. Shel and Neville dive into the data from a new blogger survey. Also in this episode: Microsoft is bringing the DALL-E 2 AI graphic generator to Office 365 via a new app called Designer, as well as a tool called Image Creator that will be deployed through Bing and Microsoft Edge; virtual influencers, already a big deal in Asia, are making inroads in the US, performing in concerts, signing record deals, and pitching products for brands; Edelman’s CEO, Richard Edelman has given an interview in which he outlines his vision for the future of PR and his company; the category of meme creators is heating up but a lot of these people aren’t happy with Instagram’s rules; a new Danish political party is being led by an Artificial Intelligence.

In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on more digital services copying others, including yet another “stories” feature, this time on Signal; Facebook is dropping support for its Instant Articles mobile format amidst a decline in its support for news in general; meanwhile, TikTok is becoming more of a news source; and a volunteer opportunity awaits those interested in working with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, November 21.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• New Blogging Statistics: What Content Strategy Bloggers
• Microsoft brings DALL-E 2 to the masses with Designer and Image Creator
• Microsoft announces Designer, its AI rival app to Canva and Adobe – but why?
• AI-generated imagery is the new clip art as Microsoft adds DALL-E to its Office suite
• Microsoft Designer
• Are Virtual Influencers the Real Deal?
• Richard Edelman on the future of PR: ‘it’s going to be more like a newsroom’
• Meme Creators Help Brands Speak Internet
• How paying Instagram meme creators helped a Guy Fieri Super Bowl ad go viral
• Meme Creators Want Instagram To Change Its Content Moderation Policies And Stop Deplatforming Them
• This Danish Political Party Is Led by an AI

Links from Dan York’s Report:

• Introducing handles: A new way to identify your YouTube channel
• YouTube Shorts adds narration voiceovers, a popular TikTok feature
• Yes, even Signal is doing stories now
• Scoop: Meta ending support for Instant Articles
• Katie Robertson on Twitter: Facebook shuttering its Bulletin newsletter subscription service
• Meta officially cuts funding for U.S. news publishers
• Google to make “page experience” a ranking factor in Search results
• 33% of US TikTok users say they regularly get their news on the app, up from 22% in 2020
• Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google’s core products, Search and Maps
• Teens shun traditional news channels for TikTok and Instagram, Ofcom says
• Volunteer at the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (helping people with connectivity after disasters)

The post FIR #289: Bloggers, AI, and The Future of PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

October 11, 2022, was not your typical day at the UK House of Lords, where Ai-Da, a humanoid robot artist, delivered testimony in response to questions posed by peers. The testimony came as some of Ai-Da’s original artwork was displayed in a museum. In her answers, Ai-Da was candid about AI’s threat to human artists but was also realistic about the role technology has always played in art. In this short mid-week episode, Neville and Shel review the testimony and explore some of the issues Ai-Da raises.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• AI robot Ai-Da is about to make history giving evidence to a House of Lords inquiry
• Ai-Da robot makes history by giving evidence to parliamentary inquiry
• Ai-Da the robot turned on and off again during historic speech in House of Lords
• I’ve seen a few robotic performances in Parliament, but this will take some beating
• The Artist in the Machine? Meet ‘Ai-Da,’ the AI robot debuting her work in London’s Design Museum
• ‘Mind-blowing’: Ai-Da becomes first robot to paint like an artist
• Ai-Da: Portrait of the Robot
• The Intersection of Art and AI | Ai-Da Robot | TEDxOxford

The post FIR #288: A Humanoid Robot Artist Gives Testimony appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Some companies were experimenting with internal podcasts — for employees only — before companies sent employees home to work remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Faced with reaching and engaging employees who now never interacted face-to-face with their colleagues elevated the value of a podcast, which could establish a personal connection. At the same time, podcasting had gone mainstream, making more employees receptive to listening to one from their employer. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel look at some of the companies that have adopted internal podcasting and how they plan to evolve them in the new post-pandemic world of work.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• Your company might one day have its own internal podcast. Here’s why
• ‘You can’t show empathy over email’: Business leaders turn to internal podcasts to stay connected with workforces
• Podcasts Gain Favor Amid ‘Always on” Work Cultures
• Employer podcasts preferred over company-wide emails
• 4 ways internal podcasts can help boost remote employee engagement

The post FIR #287: Internal Podcasts Gain Momentum appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

We read everywhere about increased productivity resulting from the remote work the pandemic forced upon companies. In fact, that increased productivity is leading several companies to adopt remote or hybrid work as the new status quo. But research conducted by Microsoft finds that not everyone agrees with the assessment. Managers are not on board with the notion that remote work has led to greater productivity, and the gap between what managers believe and employee perspectives is considerable.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• Bosses think workers do less from home, says Microsoft
• Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work Work
• Are We Really More Productive Working from Home?
• 4-Day Workweek Brings No Loss of Productivity, Companies in Experiment Say

The post FIR #286: Managers Believe Remote Work Produces Lower Productivity appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

You have a business initiative, an organizational change, a new value proposition. Success depends on getting employees aligned around the vision and the path to get there. Could small group conversations be the means of achieving that alignment? A new study suggests it’s at least worth a shot.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• How to Change Minds? A Study Makes the Case for Talking It Out. (New York Times paywall)
• How consensus-building conversation changes our minds and aligns our brains
• Strategic Alignment: How Communicators Can Change the Face of Leadership

The post FIR #285: Alignment Through Conversation appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

From experimentation, ideation, and storyboarding to producing the actual images to be used in an ad, advertising agency creatives are finding Artificial Intelligence image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion instantly useful, saving time and money without sacrificing the end results. Does this spell the end of the graphic arts business?

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• How ad agencies are using AI image generators — and how they could be used in the future (AdAge paywall)
• Can You Use AI-Generated Art in Your Digital Marketing and Content Efforts?
• AI Art Is Here and the World Is Already Different
• Nestlé Brand Is Latest to Venture Into Brave New World of AI Art Direction

The post FIR #284: Ad Agencies Embrace AI Art appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Neville and Shel were together in person to record this episode, which focuses exclusively on leadership communication. The recording happened on Neville’s dining room table as Shel and his wife were on a two-week vacation in England and Ireland.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 17.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from Dan York’s Report

• Twitter is officially adding podcasts to its platform
• Listen up: Podcasts are coming to Twitter
• YouTube kicks off podcast strategy with new landing page
• YouTube Podcasts
• Instagram’s Dual camera feature copies Be Real, but misses the point
• Instagram’s next feature might be a copy of BeReal
• Snapchat brings ‘Dual Camera’ recording to in-app camera
• TikTok just launched a BeReal clone called TikTok Now
• Introducing more ways to create and connect with TikTok Now
• Snapchat for Web is now available for everyone
• Twitter is launching its “close Friends’ feature Circle globally
• Instagram will begin testing a new repost feature with select users soon
• TikTok tests its own version of the retweet with a new “Repost” button
• Introducing Community Chats: Connecting Your Community in Real Time on Messenger and Facebook
• Discord adds Reddit-like Forum channels for chatting about specific topics
• A new TikTok feature lets creators share TikTok Stories to Facebook and Instagram
• Instagram Stumbles in Push to Mimic TikTok, Internal Documents Show
• In Dozens of Lawsuits Parents Blame Meta, TikTok for Hooking Kids
• We Added 370 New Words to the Dictionary for September 2022

The post FIR #283: Communicators Helping Leaders Lead Through Communication appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

A lot of the communication with customers for which businesses once used email has transitioned to text messaging — along with communication among friends, families, and pretty much everyone. To some extent, that even includes employee-to-employee communication. Whether it’s SMS messaging or a messaging app like WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram, people increasingly prefer the functionality and speed of response with text messages. Email isn’t going anywhere but its uses may be diminishing.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop sometime in late September. Neville and Shel will be together in the UK and plan to record face-to-face. Watch for more information as our plans firm up.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

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

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this episode:

• Sorry I Missed Your Text: Messaging Is the New Email (WSJ paywall)

The post FIR #282: If You Need Me, Text Me appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.