Today, Brian Solis and Stowe Boyd have launched MicroPR, an effort designed to leverage Twitter for PR professionals and journalists. Initially, it will enable journalists to communicate directly with communicators to get help with stories, share pitching preferences, announce coverage changes, or solicit entries for awards and similar events. (continue reading)

In this week's Roundtable, Albert Maruggi, Chip Griffin, and Jen Zingsheim discuss the varying approaches different companies (and employees) take to responding to social media. "Bob," Motrin, and Toyota's "Saved by Zero" ad campaign are covered. (continue reading)

At the risk of alienating all of my remaining friends in the public relations industry, I thought I might share some of my running commentary during today's For Immediate Release broadcast on Blog Talk Radio focused on the topic of PR for tech startups. (continue reading)

When trying to simplify complex issues for audiences, it's important for communicators to maintain the integrity of the issue, and not oversimplify things to the point of inaccuracy. Disney has done just that in an upcoming episode of 'Hannah Montanta.' (continue reading)

Valeria Maltoni and Doug Haslam joined the show this week to discuss the Technorati State of the Blogosphere report, Twitter censorship in the classroom, and the PR ramifications of the country's current political and economic crises. (continue reading)

Undercurrent's Julia Roy joins us this week to discuss Yammer, the new collaborative microblogging service; the mega-collider and Internet rumors vs. authority; and the Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft marketing push. (continue reading)

This week, Jen discusses an overly introspective group of people who document their entire lives online, and has a few more thoughts on Twitter and relationships. (continue reading)

Christine Perkett and Fred Han offer up one of the better responses I've seen to Jason Calcanis' now infamous "fire your PR firm" post (including the point that he never actually said to fire your PR firm). Also: AMC making the right move; tips for searching within Google Reader and Delicious feeds. (continue reading)

Corporations have started to realize the value of social media, and are responding to customers quickly and with a very high level of service. Is this level of service scalable, or is scalability the Achilles' heel of social media? (continue reading)

Our world today is changing the way we work: Gas prices are driving an increasing number of professionals to telecommute and the economy is driving more and more employers to cut back on internal staff. The result is significant growth in the number of professionals working from home. And while it has its obvious benefits, telecommuting has its unique challenges. Sara Adams has advice for telecommuters interested in growing their careers. (continue reading)

Does "manners training" for Olympic athletes cause them to be less than authentic, and can it be compared to the standard "media training" that PR pros conduct? And, when an entire generation believes that everything it reads online is questionable, how should communicators approach them? (continue reading)

This week Jen Zingsheim and I welcomed Bob Ledrew to the Roundtable. We tackled topics ranging from inappropriate use of tragedy to cash in on an agenda to how the location of the Summer Olympic Games starting today may have affected the public relations surrounding the event. (continue reading)

Many thanks for Scott Monty for this post--let's all say it together: you can't just invent a viral video. You can try your hardest to create something that's valuable, interesting, and that you hope will catch fire on YouTube, but nothing is guaranteed. Also: PR vs marketing, the power of female bloggers, and the importance of monitoring strategy. (continue reading)

In contrast to the minor scandal of a student-PR program launching a fake blog earlier this year, we offer a more positive take on students getting hands-on PR experience. Sarah Wurrey points to Temple University's PRowl Public Relations, a student-run PR firm, as an example of students gaining the experience they need to compete in today's competitive PR job market. (continue reading)

Jen Zingsheim and I were pleased to welcome Geoff Livingston to the Media Bullseye Roundtable this week, where we cover issues ranging from a potential Congressional threat to Twitter (no, not really), to managing your personal brand while boosting your company's profile. (continue reading)

I asked Nathan Burke o join the Roundtable this week in part because his work for matchmine, which offers a recommendation tool to users to suggest content they might like across all forms of media, makes him an excellent guest to discuss one of the stories coming out of the 2.0 world this week--Digg.com's recommendation engine. Also: Echo chamber danger, and Stride Gum and the dancing guy. (continue reading)

Welcome to CustomScoop's PR Pod Jots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere. There's a lot going on this week, let's get started! I wanted to kick things off with Donna Papcosta's Trafcom News, because her guest on the show this week was the same as Media Bullseye's own Roundtable podcast, the illustrious Katie Paine. (continue reading)

We talk a lot about reputation management here at Media Bullseye, and have even dedicated a several-part series to the best ways to manage your reputation online. We constantly urge companies and public figures to use services like CustomScoop to keep a close eye on potential PR flare-ups and how they are perceived. But does a brand ever reach a point where it is beyond repair? Will damage control even work when that happens? (continue reading)

Is social media making all of us unbearably rude? With the increased popularity of social networks and tools, are we forgetting about the humans around us while interacting with others online, and if so, are we really being good communicators after all? (continue reading)

Welcome to Media Bullseye's weekly Radio Rountable. Joining me as always on this week's episode is CustomScoop VP Jennifer Zingsheim, and our special guest is Todd Van Hoosear. Todd is the social media practice manager at Topaz Partners in Boston, and also heads up the Social Media Club Boston. In this episode, we break down the Associated Press' kerfuffle with the blogosphere, and discuss the impact of Twitter on journalism and PR. (continue reading)

Knowing what to do when you find negative information about your brand online is one of the most important, yet least understood steps in a first-class online reputation management program. In part four of his series on managing your brand's reputation online, Mark Story advises readers on how to weather an online firestorm. (continue reading)

Amanda Gravel, who has the benefit of being both a PR pro and a blogger, decided to just ring up the person behind a recent bad pitch, and the experience ended up being positive for them both. A better solution than just complaining, perhaps? Also: How to stay on topic in your blogging, and will Twitter be felled by spammers? (continue reading)

Welcome to Media Bullseye's weekly Radio Roundtable. Joining us on the podcast this week was Aaron Brazell, better known to most as Technosailor. In a lively conversation, we cover everything from web 2.0 on the campaign trail (where Aaron reminds me that astroturfing was around long before the Internet, something this poli-sci major really ought to have remembered) to whether FriendFeed could feasibly replace the SMR (here, Aaron reveals his true feelings about the service in a spirited yet diplomatic mini-rant). (continue reading)

After a brief hiatus, Two Thoughts on Tuesday is back--this week, Jen looks at the social media news release and then asks what the sweet spot is for marketing. (continue reading)

Welcome to another edition of CustomScoop's PR Pod Jots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere. This week features less discussion of the now-infamous Andrew Cohen remarks from last weekend than I'd have thought there'd be, but there are still plenty of juicy tidbits. (continue reading)