Robert Swan, OBE, is a polar explorer, environmental leader and special envoy to the director of UNESCO. As the first man to walk across both the North and South Poles, Swan witnessed firsthand the damage to the polar regions. Over a five-year period, he removed and recycled more than 1,500 tons of waste from the Antarctic Peninsula. He is a noted speaker at global environmental summits, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and a visiting professor at the School of Environment at Leeds University. In 1995, Swan was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

On June 10, he delivered a powerful message to 1,200+ communicators gathered at the IABC 2009 World Conference in San Francisco. He also asked for help.

Listen to this 1-minute interview to hear what amazing challenge Swan announced at the IABC World Conference, and how you can help.

 

These Quick & Dirty podcasts are unedited MP3 recordings made with my portable digital recorder at the IABC 2009 World Conference at the SF Marriott in San Francisco.

#3 was recorded on Monday, June 8, 2009 following a presentation by Lynn Patterson, director of corporate responsibility at RBC Financial Group, Ontario, Canada. Lynn's presentation, "The Suite Spot: Transforming your corporate responsibility report into a communication suite," included ideas for moving away from a focus on corporate responsibility reports so that communicators instead can provide a "suite" of communications tailored to key audiences across appropriate media.

Our discussion covered the reasons to move in the direction of CS communications suites, examples of how it is done at RBC, and the possibly surprising thought that CSR departments may one day disappear--but the work won't.   

These Quick & Dirty podcasts are unedited MP3 recordings made with my portable digital recorder at the IABC 2009 World Conference at the SF Marriott in San Francisco.

#1 was recorded Saturday morning, June 6, 2009 in a cab. The interview is with Stacey Thornberry, IABC 2009 Conference Manager, as we headed to the Ocean Beach cleanup event. 

Subsequent podcasts will include interviews with IABC World Conference session presenters and attendees. Stay tuned!   

These Quick & Dirty podcasts are unedited MP3 recordings made with my portable digital recorder at the IABC 2009 World Conference at the SF Marriott in San Francisco.

#2, recorded Sunday morning, June 7, 2009 in my room at the Marriott.

Summary of the events in which I've participated since arriving here on Friday afternoon:

Meetup with Mike Zimet of the IABC SR Committee and two IABC IT staffers, Isaac and Tonia.

Community service event (beach cleanup).

Walking tour of Union Square / Chinatown. The above photo shows the two SF Chapter hosts, Molly Walker and Janet Bailey (seated, wearing black shirts) and Russell Grossman (standing to the left).

Bumping into IABC leaders and colleagues.

Subsequent podcasts will include interviews with IABC World Conference session presenters and attendees. Stay tuned!   

Show 21 Commakazi Speek

Jason Ryan Dorsey, the Gen-Y Guy (tm)

An 8-minute interview with author and speaker Jason Ryan Dorsey, who shares some information about the Gen-Y generation that isn't the typical points covered in a "Generations in the Workplace" seminar.

Social Responsibility—A Discussion with communications expert Roger D'Aprix. Commakazi Speek Podcast, Show #20

Sept. 28, 2008

Show Notes:

00:00–00:45  Roger D'Aprix out-take re: social responsibility (SR)
00:46–02:10  Intro / Show Theme
02:11–05:45  A broad look at SR
05:46–07:10  Is SR a good career path, or just a fad?
07:11–08:00  The SR / employee engagement link
08:01–09:45  Senior leadership must connect with employees
09:46–13:40  The Credible Company, Roger D'Aprix's new book
13:40–13:53  Outro

Recorded on Sept. 22, 2008 at the Melcrum Strategic Communication Management Summit in Chicago.

Show theme, "Rollin'" by Barry McCabe

00:00  Introduce Guests

01:15  Intro

01:30  EIU Journalism Enrollments Remain High

02:15  Preparing for a Different Sort of Newsroom

03:00  Journalism as a Career Path

05:00  Rick Popley, Chicago Tribune. Today's Newsroom

07:15  Is Journalism Worth Pursuing as a Career?

09:00  Ethics and the J-Student

10:00  Blogging and Journalism

11:50  The Gene Seymour Scholarship

I've decided to keep this Libsyn account for podcasts because, frankly, moving the feeds was more hassle than it was worth. Libsyn is only $5 per month, and even if I only post a few podcasts per year, that is a small price for the ease of use.

I was going to use PodPress on my WordPress site to consolidate podcasts and blogs onto one site, but after some real frustrations with trying to find the .xml file to edit for my iTunes subscribers, I gave up. (Even my wife, who does not understand why I'm spending time blogging and podcasting, agreed that the $5 per month is not a big deal.)

I may still experiment with cross-posting a podcast on this site and my blog site. I need to get comfortable with PodPress.

Anyway, I'll soon be posting an interview that I conducted with a licensed counselor and school psychologist on the topic, "How parents' expectations impact their children."

 

During a much-needed and unplanned sabbatical from podcasting and blogging, I thought about my plans for this site. CommaKazi Speek began as an extension of my desire to delve into the world of social media. First, I blogged. Then I created podcasts.

Both ventures provided me with practical experience and a better perspective of this portion of the social media space. They helped me to connect with other bloggers and podcasters. They let me stretch my professional skill set while having fun.

Like a lot of people, I have plans for my life--both professionally and personally. Those plans change at times, due to circumstances or opportunities. I wondered whether my blog and podcast could help me launch into a different phase of my career. They didn't. They remain a hobby without reward, other than personal satisfaction.

That only goes so far, when I have to balance other commitments and responsibilities. It has been several months since I've posted a new podcast--even though I have two nice interviews recorded, waiting editing. Frankly, I'm tired of feeling the pull to edit those recordings and get them published, when it would require me to give up time and energy that I want to invest elsewhere.

So with that realization, I'm planning to shut down this site as soon as I ready my CommaKazi Speek blog to handle podcasts. Why pay Libsyn to store my old shows, when I can't be sure when I will have new content ready to post?

Thank you to everyone who has listened to my podcasts and commented to me about them.