HP has come a long way from a tiny garage on Addison Avenue in Palo Alto where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard took $538 in working capital and a Sears-Roebuck drill and built what is now the largest technology company in the world. When HP tasked Edelman Digital to build a website for its passionate tech enthusiast community, we looked at our own entrepreneurial heritage for inspiration. After all, Edelman came from humble beginnings as well – Daniel J. Edelman transformed his company from a one-man PR business to the leading independent global PR firm in world.

In 1949, Dan Edelman accepted his first public relations job for the Toni Company (now a Gillette division) and launched the first-ever product media tour with 12 sets of identical twins asking the question, “Which Twin has the Toni?” The campaign achieved unprecedented success. Why? It was creative, personal and told a story. Those are the cornerstones of great PR and now, the essentials of online engagement, such is the case with HP’s The Next Bench community.

HP’s new Tech Community website, called The Next Bench, was named for Bill and Dave Packard’s approach to product development. The idea was simple: if the guy on the next bench wanted the product you were working on, chances are it would be a success. Just as HP continues to look to customers for input on what kinds of product ideas to pursue, The Next Bench strives to carry on that tradition as well.

Today, in an era of information overload and mass personalization, telling the story and integrating customers into that story is more important than ever. Therefore, Edelman and HP agreed that The Next Bench site must [not only tell a compelling story, but also be a place for people to connect, engage and continue to come back ] The Next Bench does just that. It’s a new kind of online media channel – it’s a central hub that serves the function of part newspaper, part blog, part broadcast medium and part corporate newsroom that reinvigorates the way HP delivers news and engages its community.

As Mark Budgell (Twitter.com/MarkatHP), Social Media Lead for HP’s Personal Systems Group explains it, “Story telling is a really valuable way for us to establish lasting relationships with our customers. Our goal when we redesigned The Next Bench was to make it easy for them to find, comment on and share the stories they liked. The new site takes on a simple news blog format that immediately serves up the content and information our customers want.”

Check out the site. Share it with others. Connect with HP. And, we’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions and how we might make this site better for you. www.TheNextBench.com

PSFK, a trends research and innovation company, recently prepared a report for Unicef titled “The Future of Health” in which they explore how advances in technology are impacting healthcare for the masses, particularly in less developed markets. PSFK also invited several leading advertising and design agencies to imagine solutions for healthcare in emerging countries by responding to a creative brief from Unicef that identified their key challenges.

The first half of the report details 15 trends that will impact health and wellness around the world, and the second half showcases the agencies’ conceptual ideas for Unicef. As this Check-up only highlights 5 of the global trends, I encourage you to read the full report for additional information.

Distance Learning

The development of faster mobile networks and improved device technology is allowing for an unprecedented level of quality content to be streamed and viewed on handheld devices, enabling “anywhere, anytime” classrooms. For instance, the Berkeley Institute of Design created short videos on maternal health for healthcare workers in India to share through their handhelds, while mobile apps like the Blausen Human Atlas are helping physicians explain conditions.

Handheld Hospital

With the development of mobile applications, peripheral devices and add-ons, patients in remote areas can receive basic services without having to travel to health clinics. One such tool is the Near-Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment project from MIT which provides an eyesight test utilizing the screen of a smartphone. The Japanese firm Scalar Corp has even developed a powerful handheld microscope called the AirMicro that can transmit video to the iPad or iPhone over wireless.

Remote Diagnostics

Web-connected devices are also being used to capture individual health data and communicate it to healthcare professionals virtually anywhere. This allows for distributed care enabling remote diagnoses. The Zargis Telemed platform streams heart and lung sounds using a web-connected stethoscope, while the sensor-equipped headband by Watermark Medical allows for sleep apnea diagnosis from the patient’s own home.

DIY Check-Up

The proliferation of consumer electronics such as mobile phones have allowed individuals to detect early warning signals related to illness or other medical conditions themselves using simple biomedical inputs. By periodically checking their personal wellness, people can better manage their own health before consulting a doctor. One app in development is designed to diagnose respiratory disease using the sound of a cough, and WebMD has created a free app that provides a symptom checker and basic drug and treatment information.

Gaming for Health

In the absence of need, people have a natural tendency to make their decisions based on positive reinforcement. By introducing game mechanics to motivate individuals to make smarter decisions about their health, designers are helping influence and reinforce positive behaviors. Switch2Health is a wearable technology that tracks fitness and provides incentives in promotions and prizes. Bayer has introduced a new blood glucose monitor – Didget – that connects to the Nintendo DS to educate kids with diabetes and rewarding them with virtual currency and access to skills within games.

Originally posted on Campaign Asia.

Edelman and Brandtology’s Digital Brand Index (DBI 10.3) offers insights into how brands are being discussed online in China, tracking over 518,000 conversations to identify the most active channels and the most interesting subject areas.

Here are the key findings:

Offline drives online. Online drives offline. The impact of product launches and the World Cup demonstrates the opportunity for brands to proactively engage and measure online buzz.

518,028 online conversations were tracked, with references to 89 large technology brands, which were contained within 736 influential channels from April to June 2010. This represents one major technology brand mentioned every 15 seconds, compared to one brand mention every 42 seconds found in the DBI 10.2.

The major consumer electronics brands in China, Samsung, Sony, Nokia, Cannon and Asus, continue to rank on the list of the top 10 most talked about technology brands amongst the online channels, as they expand their drive in the social media field.

Canon made DBI’s top 10 ‘buzziest’ channels list for the first time with 15,098 online conversations, and Google, which dominated previous DBI results, dropped to sixth place on the top 10 ‘buzziest’ channels list.

The volume of online buzz for technology brands increased sharply this quarter, partly due to technology brands’ online marketing campaigns around the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which helped drive a record amount of social media traffic. Both consumer electronics and telecommunication carriers including China Mobile and China Unicom launched new products and services around the World Cup through online news portals and video sharing channels.

Samsung worked with three major news portals including Sina, Sohu and Tom.com to launch social ads and initiate online competitions. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom partnered with phone makers on intensive online marketing of new phone models and services that enabled consumers to watch The World Cup on their mobile phones.

The social networking phenomenon continues.

Social networking websites, especially Sina, Weibo and Kaixin001, have become important channels for IT/ technology brands to effectively reach and engage consumers. So far, 56 percent of all the surveyed IT/ technology brands have launched their own local Sina Weibo brands.

While Twitter dominates in other regional markets in Asia Pacific, Sina Weibo is building a social media phenomenon in China which is reshaping the way technology brands contact and engage consumers. Sina Weibo not only provides a platform to directly listen to and engage consumers, it also dwarfed other channels at promoting events and generating conversations. Sina Weibo generated 31,019 tweets that mentioned Nokia, compared with a total of 16,760 online conversations generated by other channels.

BlackBerry’s official Sina Weibo account has gained more than 7,000 fans since its launch on 16 June this year.

Disclosure: Edelman represents technology brands around the world, many of which are included in the Digital Brand Index.

Making the transition to fatherhood can be difficult for many guys. Women seem to have a built-in support system that creates a well-worn path to motherhood. Guys, on the other hand, have a journey and a role mostly neglected by society.

This disconnect has been reflected online as well. But fathers are starting to realize this, and in recent years, men have been working hard to create resources online for other dads, both new to fatherhood and expert diaper changers. In honor of the Modern Media Man Summit happening in less than two weeks, this week’s Friday Five focuses on highlighting some of the best resources for dads around the web.

Digital Dads

As C.C. Chapman searched the web in 2009, he noticed that there were few sites writing about being a dad, and the ones writing about men’s topics rarely included content for men who were also parents. As a result, he and some other involved dads started Digital Dads, which strives to be an honest view of what it’s like to be a dad in today’s world. C.C. has been a huge advocate for dads online for some time now. He also recently launched Digital Dads TV, a partnership with the Pulse Network, where he’ll be streaming live discussing all kinds of topics related to being a guy.

The Good Men Project

The Good Men Project seeks to start a national conversation about what it means to be a good man. Although this online magazine, book and documentary isn’t for dads alone, much of the content focuses on issues to which dads can relate, including a section of the site dedicated to fathers. I’ve had my eye on this project for a while and I love how they are striving to make men out to be more than the media portrays us to be.

The Art of Manliness

Another resource focused on overall manhood as opposed to just fatherhood (although again, they do have family focused content) is The Art of Manliness. The site attempts to provide men with the resources they need to live virtuous lives. Don’t let the name or the moustaches fool you – this site isn’t frivolous or for entertainment only. Brett and Kate McKay, the founders and editors, are serious about helping men recover some of the skills that used to be associated with being a man. I mean, come on – “How to Make a Corn Cob Pipe?” Not your typical guy-related content.

Dad Blogs

Started by Pete Janelle and Joe Schatz in January 2009, Dad Blogs has been slowly growing into a serious resource for dads to connect with one another online. Although it is a self-described “social networking site primarily for dads and dad bloggers”, Dad Blogs doesn’t discriminate, and has actually seen moms come in to participate in the conversations. Members can contribute blog posts, discuss topics in the forums and network with other dad bloggers.

GeekDad

This last resource is for dads as geeky as I am. Wired magazine’s highly popular blog is for those who are unafraid to pass on a little geek to their children. Covering everything from Comic-Con to games to the latest geeky toys for your little ones to play with, GeekDad takes father/son bonding to the next nerdy level. How often do you get to create your own edible clone trooper army together?

Only a few months ago we were in Austin attending panels, interviewing amazing social media entrepreneurs and hosting AllHat2 at SXSW. Once again, the time has come for us to get ready for Interactive geek week, which starts by selecting the panels we’d like see at SXSW by using PanelPicker. The SXSW PanelPicker allows the community to have a 30% voice in programming for the Interactive, Film and Music festivities. Show your support by voting before August 27 and hopefully your favorite speakers can present at SXSW 2011.

We gathered the best and brightest panels from our employees and clients and we’d love a few thumbs up if you think the panels below might be interesting to attend.

Health: Is There Really an App for That?

Steve Rubel (Edelman Digital, New York) and Jane Sarasohn-Kahn (THINK-Health)
It seems like there’s an app for everything nowadays. There’s even apps to make people healthier! Steve and Jane will discuss the impact health related apps are having on the consumer and how to develop more effective tools.

Dr. Wikipedia: Can We Trust Online Health Information?

Emily Downward (Edelman Digital Health, Austin)
Crowd-sourcing is great for a lot of things online, learning new things or coming up with a great collective idea. In this panel, Emily will discuss the evolution and management of medical information in this corner of the online world – and how even the wisdom of the crowd (a.k.a., Dr. Wikipedia) may still be missing the right credentials that would ensure accurate information about health is being shared.

The New Frontier of Social CRM in Healthcare

Earl Whipple (AstraZeneca, an Edelman Client)
Social CRM is a discussion happening in almost all social media planning conversations today. Earl will cover the roles that Social CRM plays in online health engagement and how healthcare brands can use social CRM to share information.

Take Two, Don’t Friend Me in the Morning

Libby Pigg (Edelman Digital, New York)
Consumers are talking to companies and brands daily through social media but one major group is missing out on the conversation: health professionals. Libby will talk about the appropriate level of online interaction we should expect from the healthcare industry and will cover the benefits in participating in online conversation.

Hacking the Future

Phil McKinney (HP, an Edelman Client)
Phil will share his predictions for the future of technology. He’ll present on the “must have” technologies for consumers in 5 years, 10 years and even 20 years! Beyond sharing his predictions, he’ll also cover the ways you can capitalize on these trends today.

Why PR’s Future May Not Look Like PR

David Armano (Edelman Digital, Chicago)
The face of PR is changing and the focus is shifting to engagement. David defines the new future of PR and how companies can leverage social media to benefit from online communication.

Sky-Rocketing Popularity of Social Media in Latin America

Thiane Loureiro (Edelman Digital, Sao Paulo)
Latin America is a growing social media market and the audience and tools vary from those in the US. Thiane will talk in-depth about the regional differences in social media in Latin America and the opportunities that are available to companies.

Personalities, Policies & Problems: Companies and Employees 2.0

Dave Fleet (Edelman Digital, Toronto)
Dave will help answer the question everyone is asking nowadays…what is the best way to structure social media within a company? He’ll cover topics from policies to censorship and everything in between.

Habbo Hotel: Developing A Successful Virtual Economy

Sulka Haro (Habbo, an Edelman Client)
Over the last 10 years, Habbo Hotel has made multiple fundamental changes to the virtual economy in order to accommodate competition and end-user expectations. Sulka examines how Habbo Hotel’s economic system has evolved and answers questions about how valuable a virtual currency should be, how many currencies make sense for a virtual world, what users are looking for in virtual goods when making purchasing decisions and the future of microtransactions.

We hope you find these recommendations helpful. Happy voting!

If you’re a woman interested in blogging and social media, you have your choice of events that cater specifically to you. But so far men have gotten the short end of the stick event-wise. Enter the Modern Media Man Summit.

The M3 Summit is an attempt to give men that space to learn and connect with other “media men” in a setting designed with us in mind. As a blogger and a father, I’ve been looking for an event such as this for quite some time. And with great speakers and an awesome lineup of sessions (including a meet and greet with Cal Ripken, Jr.), M3 promises not to disappoint.

But the M3 Summit represents much more than a great event. I’m hoping this will be a watershed moment for dads online, when brands finally start recognizing the important role that dads play. I’ve stated before that I believe this shift is coming. And as dads get even more connected and have a more cohesive voice online, companies are beginning to recognize that working with dads – not just moms – is in their best interest.

I’ll be speaking about this exact subject at M3, and I’d love to get your ideas and your feedback in person. As if this wasn’t enough to wet your appetite, you can listen to an interview I gave where I chatted with the folks organizing the Summit about some ideas to get this process started.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been wanting to meet some of the amazing men bloggers out there, and connect with other guys making a career out of social media. So let’s all get together in Atlanta on September 9. Modern Media Men: Assemble!

There are many new trends popping up here and there regarding where health communication and care is going thanks to digital technology. That’s NOT what this week’s Health Digital Check-Up is going to cover. Instead, let’s take a look at the opposite side: the places where digital still hasn’t taken hold.

That’s right, the Digital Check-Up is going analog for a week. Shocked? Well here’s five ideas and stories to consider for when it comes to the case for traditional tools in health care. Are these destined to change too?

Word Of Mouth

Online resources may act as a second medical opinion for Internet users, but to find a specialist in the first place, word of mouth may still be number one. Tony Brayer included this point within a guest post at KevinMD: selecting a physician is still very much rooted in referral and less-digital guidance. As he noted, “The primary care physician is still the leading source for patients seeing specialist physicians and the opinions of referring physicians remain the leading factor for an individual patient choosing a hospital.”

Patient-Physician Communication

One of the hot topics of the digital age is how patients and physicians can communicate when they aren’t face-to-face through social networks, e-mail, etc. While the topic is still being discussed, it means that there is an important role of direct communication between physicians and patients. As Stephen Wilkins at Mind the Gap discussed, there are immediate gains from direct, strong communication between a patient and their doctor.

Bookshelves

There always has been a little bit of perceived pride that comes from a hefty bookshelf office, and in the medical industry, perhaps a hearty case of texts and guides will never be replicated by things like e-books and tablets. Think about this quote from Malcolm Jones that appeared in a Newsweek piece on the cultural downside of e-books:

I come from a generation for whom the books and records on the shelf signaled, in some way, who you were (starting with the fact that you were a person who owned books or records or CDs). If you visited a friend, you took the first chance you had to surreptitiously scan that friend’s shelves to get a handle on the person. I suppose I could sneak a peek at a friend’s Kindle, but is that the same? And try that kind of snooping on a bus or in a coffee shop and you’ll probably get arrested. 

Rural Practice

For all of the Wi-Fi coffee shops and wired hot spots that fill our major cities, it’s really easy to forget that there are plenty of places around the world that aren’t completely connected. Among other things, practicing medicine and supplying healthcare to these regions relies on traditional, traveling physicians and small practices. Among other challenges to recruiting to this field is a newer one: the impact of the digital age. The attraction for young doctors to join the ranks, as this Washington Post article explained, is fading fast as many new physicians have been trained in a tech-heavy era that may not be as applicable in rural areas.

Nostalgia

Culturally, there may be one thing that never fades: our sense of nostalgia for how things used to be. Perhaps this mindset is one of the greatest challenges of moving forward in the digital space among many healthcare organizations. We have come a long way in the last few decades thanks to technology, but as Paul Waldman wrote last month in The American Prospect, we are in an era of immense innovation, and discussed how nostalgia can actually play into the fears of technological change.

Originally posted on Logic + Emotion.

Several weeks ago I delivered a 16 minute TEDx talk titled “reinventing social media.” Typically I like to frame topics outside of the social media bubble, but in this instance the topic itself and the purpose of the talk was designed to get us all thinking about things a bit differently. You see, businesses, brands and organizations are truly struggling with the disruptive nature of social technologies. In fact, the term “social technologies” is part of the problem—we are all fixated on the technologies and meanwhile the real action lies in harnessing the change brought about by human behavior enabled by technology. I used the simple story of how a colleague shared a book with me. The book itself (media) is not social—the interactions, communications, stories and conversations that involve the book are.

But to say “it’s about people” is too simplistic. Toward the end of the talk, I made my case that in a couple of years it would be unlikely that I would even be talking about “social media.” This thesis based on the belief that “social” translates into the conversion of an organization which requires shifts in culture, technology, process and ultimately behavior. If an organization does not empower its people to behave in a productive and beneficial social manner than can we actually use the word “social” to describe it? If the organization has not begun integrating these changes across several functional groups as opposed to leveraging just one (such as marketing) then is it really taking advantage of some of the changes I discuss in my talk?

I believe that the answer is no. It means that one part of the business is behaving a certain way while the others behave differently. This would be like your head looking at the person’s face who you are having a conversation with while your body is walking away from them in mid conversation. So in order for “social media” to become reinvented, to go with the theme of the TEDx discussion, it has to change (or we need to). And change as we all know always begins with people—so our focus needs to turn here. Hope you like the talk and as always feel free to share your own thoughts.

For all the enrichment that the digital age has brought, one of the biggest challenges presented has been the balancing act between time spent online and time spent up, moving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Couple the popularity of social media with a brighter spotlight on “the wellness era” and it’s easy to see why online health tools are taking front and center stage. This past weekend, over 200 health and fitness-minded bloggers convened at the Healthy Living Summit to celebrate the very online community coaxing this trend along. A few hundred more are now listed in the Healthy Living blog index.

The once passé act of sharing your most recent exercise online has become a widely-adopted social norm, not to mention a source of motivation and positive impact for people around the world. This week’s Friday Five takes a closer look at some of the sites that are pulling together health, fitness and the power of social integration.

DailyMile

Increasingly popular among running enthusiasts, DailyMile tags itself as a “social training log.” Its clean interface, intuitive user experience and connections with Twitter, Facebook, Garmin and Nike+ have put this running site at the front of the social training pack. Users can log a variety of workouts, receive and send “motivation,” search a race calendar, map their routes, and even create challenges for their DailyMile friends to compete in. But more than anything, users boast that its DailyMile’s sense of community that keeps them on track and coming back for more.

Skimble

Like DailyMile, Skimble allows you to track, share, motivate and challenge with the best of them. But unlike DailyMile, Skimble puts equal focus on 30+ sports and will pony up points for each activity accomplished. The points won’t earn you any prize money, but they can place you on the Skimble leaderboard. To up the ante one more, Skimble has released iPhone and iPad apps, as well as an Android app.

Nike+

Nike hit social fitness from a new angle by not only creating an intuitive social fitness site, but by coupling it with useful, and mandatory, products. Grab a pair of Nike compatible shoes and an iPod, sync it with the Nike+ sensor and you’re on your way. Super star bonus: celebrity athletes will provide real-time feedback while running. Post-run, users can simply log-on to the corresponding Nike+ site to log and share their run, compete in challenges, and get inspired by other Nike+ users.

DailyBurn

DailyBurn, formerly known as Gyminee, is less niche and more overall health and fitness. The site boasts a variety of tools that many of the above sites feature, including exercise and fitness logs, free and “pro” training programs, the ability to find and follow “motivators,” and more. But what really differentiates DailyBurn is its propensity to innovate with new technology. Outside of their standard smart phone apps, they’ve created a “FoodScanner” app that allows you to use your phone’s camera to scan UPC barcodes to track your daily calorie consumption. If that’s not enough, what about their WiFi enabled scales that connects directly to DailyBurn.com! Necessary? Depends. Innovative? Indeed.

Athlinks

In a world of numerous health and fitness tracking sites, Athlinks puts itself of the map by being the ultimate resource for endurance statistics. In fact, it calls itself the “largest and most complete results database for endurance races on the planet.” If you’ve ever competed in any footrace, simply enter your name and watch the results miraculously appear. Athlinks went so far back to find one of my first races from 2002! And yes, like the sites above, you can definitely track and share your workouts, and “rival” your Athlink friends.

Image credit: strongwomanbootcamp and martineric

Originally posted on 6 A.M.

At Edelman’s fourth Annual New Media Academic Summit, we convened a superb group of senior media executives who offered insights into the future of the sector. They included Raju Narisetti, managing editor of the Washington Post; Greg Coleman, president of Huffington Post; Gerard Baker, deputy editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal; Jonah Bloom, CEO and editor in chief of Breaking Media; Mark Lukasiewicz, VP of NBC Digital Media; Mike Oreskes, senior managing editor of the Associated Press; David Carey who has just joined Hearst as President of the Magazine Unit; and Jon Miller, CEO of Digital Media at News Corp.

These media leaders are addressing challenges head-on, and are optimistic about their future. Here are a few of the most important insights:

1. New Readers & Channels—David Carey, Conde Nast group president cited the incremental revenue and readers for its relaunched Gourmet food magazine and Wired’s completely reimaged iPad app (they sold 95,000 digital copies at $4.99 each in June), as only the beginning as people are willing to pay for mobility and engagement. Baker described the iPad as a potential game changer, noting that the WSJ has sold many subscriptions at $208 per year for this platform, and the Washington Post charges $1.99 for iPhone application for a year.
2. New Revenue Options—Bloom believes Media will integrate eCommerce directly into content so “media will sell stuff directly.” So, right beside a book review will be the option to buy the book. Access to the archives, conferences and direct access to journalists via email are also being considered viable premium paid options.
3. The Pay Wall—Narisetti offered a strong defense of the Washington Post policy on free access to content. “Subscription revenue has always been a tiny part of the newspaper business model. We have 30 million unique visitors each month to our site.” Baker went the other direction describing the Wall Street Journal pay model, “In the beginning of the web, there was optimism that we could focus advertising so ad revenues would suffice. Now it is clear that we need other revenue streams.” News Corporation is bringing in paywalls for its British newspapers and Miller emphasized that will keep investing in quality content to get people to pay.
4. Trust in Content—Baker noted that the decline in trust in establishment institutions (business, government) extends to mainstream media. “We often fail to properly represent the views of the majority of our readers.” He quoted Oscar Wilde, “The parts that were original were not true and that which was true was not original.” Jonah Bloom noted that “there is not enough originality in stories being tackled.” Lukasiewicz said that “transparency is the new objectivity. We will have a point of view in stories.” Oreskes took a strong position on “Journalism being distinguished by its higher standards for quality, not by ownership of the printing press.”
5. Narrow-casting—Narisetti wants to get away from the single “front page approach” so that a reader can focus only on specific more narrow interest (politics or sports). “We need multiple front doors to the house, such as PostLocal.com, PostSports.com, PostPolitics.com.” He said that “we link to other sites on stories they break (Politico as example)—we need to offer everything that is relevant.”
6. Value from Conversation—Coleman said that the Huffington Post gets three million comments from its users each month. “Our content model envisages 1/3 from each of bloggers, original reporting and aggregation.” Narisetti added, “Comments may reflect the market’s view but those who comment represent a narrow slice of readers—but we keep comments as open as possible because these are the most engaged readers.”
7. New Measurement for Reporters—Narisetti said, “Newsrooms have never wanted to measure how they are performing—specifically how many readers look at each article. We now do a daily report to 120 editors, with page views, time spent, unique visitors, which photos are preferred—metrics that are key to the business.” He said that his reporters must use meta-data to be sure they use words that “help readers to find your story…people search for Republican Party, not GOP, so use that term in stories.” Bloom added that reporters must be able to market their stories via Twitter and Facebook.
8. Power of Visuals—Oreskes noted that while the AP may have 50 reporters on the coverage of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the most powerful content has been visual. “People remember the pelican photo or the AP photographer donning scuba gear to get unique video.” He quoted Walter Lippmann, media pundit, “The world outside, the pictures in our head.” At our dinner, key note speaker, Tom Cibrowski, Good Morning America Executive Producer, ABC, also mentioned they are rapidly adopted new hi-def video cameras to reporters to report more quickly and cheaply with video.
9. Importance of Local Market Dominance—The Washington Post reaches 45% of Washington area households. You need 30 ads on local TV or 60 ads on cable TV to achieve the same reach as one ad in the Washington Post. Of the 18-34 year olds in the area, 62% use the Washington Post on-line. This is group most easily monetized in advertising. Note that 86% of the Washington Post web traffic comes from outside of the DC area.

Those of us in PR would be wise to adapt our business model to reflect the new demands of immediacy, visualization, conversation and localization.