On the Record...Online with Bloggers Phil Gomes and Steve Rubel

Phil Gomes, The Senior Counsel of Online Communications at Edelman, and Steve Rubel, a Senior Vice President of Edelman, go On the Record…Online with host Eric Schwartzman to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of blogging, how online communication is changing the PR business, and on intergarating social media in their work at Edelman.

Phil Gomes is considered to be the first PR blogger. In addition to working at Edelman, he is a graduate student at USC, as well as a senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. Gomes blogs at www.philgomes.com

Steve Rubel is a senior marketing strategist and one of the most influential bloggers in the world, according to Technorati. Rubel is charged with helping the Edelman team win new word-of-mouth marketing business as well as developing and executing client programs. He also explores how new technologies are transforming marketing, media and public relations on his well-read Micro Persuasion weblog. Prior to joining Edelman in 2006, Rubel spent five years at CooperKatz & Company.

6:43 - Phil Gomes talks about how he became the first PR blogger.
9:41 - Gomes discusses the software he uses to blog and how the software influenced him to begin blogging.
11:32 - Gomes talks about how blogging has affected his career.
15:39 - Gomes discusses his clients’ views on blogging and using other sources of social media.
17:50 - Gomes talks about blogger Jeff Jarvis and his influence on the blogosphere. 20:46 - Gomes on working at Edelman and using online communications in public relations: “…the online program needs to…melt into…the overall communications strategy.”
22:26 – Gomes discusses businesses using blogs: “…there are certain things for which I think a blog is great…but I don’t think it’s for everybody…”
24:15 - Gomes talks about how PR is changing as a result of new media.
25:31 – Gomes talks about press releases and traditional forms of media: “…people are realizing that traditional media relations techniques and PR techniques are an awfully blunt instrument.”
28:29 - Gomes on corporations embracing blogging.
33:13 – Gomes explains what tagging is and his views on tagging.
35:00 - Gomes talks about what he perceives to be the basis for successful marketing. 38:39 - Gomes on being persuasive online.
42:27 – Gomes discusses the decision to launch the Edelman earShot podcast.
44:45 - Gomes talks about the process of creating the podcasts. 48:11 – Gomes discusses the goals of earShot: “…I want it to be a really good platform for talking about communications…”
53:02 – Steve Rubel discusses his future position at Edelman as a Senior Vice President and his goals.
54:00 – Rubel on other PR agencies following Edelman’s path.
55:19 – Rubel talks about the different methods of releasing news and word of mouth marketing.
58:00 - End.