Astroworld and Crisis Comms; Aaron Rodgers Fumbles Media Interview; The Problem With Polling Data

Understanding your audience, crafting a compelling narrative, and building relationship are the core tools everyone needs to be successful in public relations. However, since artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the chat, how do we evolve the field and adapt our careers?

On the latest episode of The Business Communicators, Josh Kail joins Austin and Thomas for a discussion on the evolving media landscape through digital platforms, social media, and emerging technologies like AI. 

Kail emphasizes that, while AI can assist in tasks like data analysis and pattern recognition, it cannot replace the human element in PR - the creativity, empathy, and ethical judgment that are crucial in storytelling and relationship building.

The episode touches on navigating the ethical challenges that come with new technologies and data usage, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and the potential for misuse of data in influencing public opinion. 

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

Eleanor Hawkins, a communication strategist and writer at Axios, joins The Business Communicators to discuss the changing landscape of media and communication, including the impact of AI and digital strategies on the industry.

The episode focuses on the challenges and opportunities faced by communicators in reaching their audience, especially in the context of political events like elections and the evolving media environment. They discuss the role of AI in future elections and the importance of adapting communication strategies to meet audience needs and expectations.

Eleanor highlights the significance of owned content and how companies like Amazon and Spotify successfully leverage it. She stresses the need for communicators to be creative and strategic in their approach, especially in an election year where everything becomes political.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

Before we fully embrace the new year, The Business Communicators takes a look back at their “bold” comms predictions for 2023 while breaking down their hits and near misses. From AI and ChatGPT to fact-checking and propaganda, do Thomas and Austin have a future in forecasting models?

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

Rutgers grad student Anna Tamke penned an op-ed in PR Week sharing her thoughts on why college has not prepared her for a career in public relations – a plea for higher education to teach real world skills in the classroom.

"It’s a rude awakening when you graduate with a PR degree and realize you’re unemployed in a post-pandemic world with an unreal expectation for what working in your field looks like,” Tamke wrote. “If the education system properly taught students — like myself — what PR is and how to do it, entering the workforce wouldn’t be so hard."

Austin and Thomas are joined by Calgary-based comms pro Matthew John to weigh on the opinion piece, share their personal experience breaking into corporate communications, what schools of higher learning can do to properly equip students to succeed, and why it’s important for students and professionals to look after their own professional development.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW MATTHEW JOHN ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
📥 LinkedIn
📚 Read Matt’s latest Trust Talk

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

Meek John Havard, the creator of the kids-focused YouTube channel, Cowboy Jack. Launched during the pandemic, Havard created The Cowboy Jack Show as an educational and fun channel for kids that takes them on adventures to explore this amazing world.

Havard describes the channel as a “therapeutic hobby” that has now blown up with more than 8 million views per month. On this episode of The Business Communicators, Havard shares insights into the creation of the show, how he utilizes online resources and his network to grow and evolve the channel, and tips for those looking to monetize, grow, or leverage their passion.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW COWBOY JACK ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎥 YouTube
🎬 Facebook
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

What impact will college athletic realignment have on the future of academic institutions? Are schools of higher learning left chasing the highest dollar from TV networks like Fox Sports, ESPN, and streaming services like Apple TV? On the latest episode of The Business Communicators, data analyst Sam Bradshaw discusses the financial implications of college athletics and what it means from a communications angle. Simply put: Don’t think it’s about the money, know it’s about the money. 

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW SAM ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🐦 Twitter

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

The summer blockbuster season is in full swing amidst Hollywood's striking actors and writers. Now, studios are turning to influencers to hype up releases like Barbie, Mission Impossible, and Oppenheimer. Can content creators seize this opportunity and how will it shake up advertising for brands?

To close the episode, Austin and Thomas discuss their influential mentors and share career-changing advice they wish they had known before diving into the corporate world.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

With nearly 100 million users signed on just days after launch, Meta’s Threads has quickly skyrocketed to the top-ranked app in Apple’s App Store directly placing Twitter on life support. However, is the growth sustainable or will Threads become the next Clubhouse or Google Plus?

On the latest episode of The Business Communicators, Chris Ferris, VP of Digital Strategy at Pierpont Communications, joins the podcast to weigh in on the long-term viability of Threads and Twitter, and what immediate steps your company should take to evaluate the business case for Threads and other digital media platforms.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW CHRIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
💻 Pierpont Communications
🧵 Threads
📥 LinkedIn

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

Matt Lanza is a Houston-based forecast meteorologist in the energy sector and part of the team behind the wildly successful Space City Weather and The Eyewell – both dedicated to hype-free weather forecasts that see readers through the storm by providing timely and accurate information.

Lanza, who previously worked as a broadcast meteorologist in Upstate New York, joins The Business Communicators to discuss how communications and cross-agency collaboration is crucial during severe weather disasters, the simplification of complex weather information and its potential impact on people and assets, preparedness during a weather crisis, forecasting El Niño, and more.

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW MATT LANZA ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
💻 Space City Weather
💻 The Eyewall
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

More than a week after Apple’s WWDC, communications professionals across the globe are evaluating Apple’s latest “one more thing” – the Apple Vision Pro. With a hefty price tag of $3,499, will businesses embrace the headset and utilize augmented reality for their day-to-day operations? What are the implications for communications professionals as we shift toward a world that embraces VR and AR?

Then, Austin and Thomas breakdown Reddit’s rebellion after a number of subreddits (forums) went dark as moderators attempted to hold the platform hostage over CEO Steve Huffman’s new direction on API access – potentially putting some apps like Apollo and others out of business. 

The show wraps on the diamond by discussing the Oakland A’s “reverse boycott” with fans demanding that owner John Fisher sell the team due to his efforts to move the franchise to Las Vegas. The podcast analyzes what corporate comms and marketing pros can learn from international sports and how treating the fans/customers always pays dividends in the long run.  

Music Credit: Smoke (with Lostboycrow) – Feather 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 
🎬 Facebook
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
📥 LinkedIn
🧵 Threads
🎥 YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST
🎙 Apple Podcasts
🎙 Spotify
💻 Website