To Write is To Write

Naked Conversations -- A Book, A Blog -- Necessary Reading for Communicators

So, I took a break from my work Friday and was tooling through CW, IABC's magazine.  I didn't get through the whole magazine, but I did read Neville Hobson's review of Naked Conversations.  If you are hanging in the PR blogosphere, you most likely have already heard of this book, this blog, its authors and Hobson.  But if not , I wanted to point you in the right direction. 

If you are at all interested in learning more about how blogs (and other social media) are changing the way businesses talk and engage with their customers, you have to check out this book, which was written by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel.  The book is one of the most talked about business books in publishing history because the authors solicited their readers (blog readers) feedback via their blog while they were writing the book.

Hobson explains that Scoble and Israel included 50 case studies based on interviews with more than 50 who are involved with blogging.  Such people ranged from corporate CEOs to small business leaders and to self employed individuals.    The book makes the point that

"corporate communication is one-way and that customers are tired of being talked at.  They want to be talked with, to be engaged by people in organizations in a way that 'strips out all the crap that gets in the way of understanding and trust.' "

This is a definite read for anyone in the communications profession.  As communications vehicles change and as more customers enter the blogosphere, companies will have to understand how to enter in to the conversation with the same means or be left behind.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Business Blogging, Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Robert Scoble, Neville Hobson, Shel Israel, Naked Conversations

"Gotta Read" Book: "Finding George Orwell in Burma"

For you aspiring travel writers (and nonfiction lovers),  Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin is a "Gotta Read" Book.  I read a review on World Hum today and listened to an interview with Emma Larking today on NPR.  I was intriqued to no end.  Here is an excerpt from Frank Bures, World Hum's book editor, review...

It’s hard to believe that a place like this still exists in a region of the world home to booming economies like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.  But it does.

Now, thanks to Emma Larkin’s fascinating new book, Finding George Orwell in Burma, we have a much clearer picture of just how this came to be, and of what life is like in this brutal and reclusive dictatorship, which makes Laos and Cambodia look like progressive democracies.

Larkin (a pseudonym to protect herself and her Burmese friends) is a Bangkok-based journalist who speaks Burmese and who has been visiting the country for the past 10 years.

....

Lately there has been an increase in tourism to Burma, but most travelers will only see so much. One tourist told Larkin, “Everyone smiles at you—it can’t be that bad.”

But guides receive strict government training about what they can and cannot discuss with tourists, and the punishments are severe—jail, torture, disappearance.

Fortunately, Larkin draws back the bamboo curtain far enough for us to see what’s behind it. In one encounter, she talks to an impassive old woman who suddenly breaks down and tells Larkin she has no hope for the future.