IBM unveiled a new report, “The Changing Face of Communications,” available at www.ibm.com/telecom, that highlights the need for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to embrace social networking in order to protect and enhance their role in the communications industry. CSPs who don’t take bold steps to adapt to this rapidly evolving cultural phenomenon — which is redefining communications as we know [...]

SALT Branding, an integrated brand consultancy that helps leading Fortune 500 and start-up companies achieve their business objectives, announced its annual Trends in Branding review, an independent look at some of the latest opportunities and threats facing businesses and brands over the coming year. Trends in Branding looks at how social, environmental and technological changes influence brands and the businesses [...]

Chris Klaehn, Partner and Director of Account Strategy, and Ryan Evans, Director of Experience Design at Corey McPherson Nash (CMN) (www.corey.com), recently outlined the six rules for social media at the AIGA (www.aiga.org) Boston event, “Social Media & Your Business.” 1. Be authentic. 2. Strengthen your current audience and engage new ones. 3. Connect. Give your audience a reason to engage [...]

In this challenging economy, a veteran business owner offers a few words of wisdom about maintaining a steady business in tough times. William Houlihan, owner of Wilmot Decorating Center in Middleboro, has seen the economy both rise and fall in his 30 years in business. “Today, for the small business owner, if (he or she) wants to grow or even [...]

Where 2008 kicked off as an encouraging year filled with promising business opportunities, construction and potential development, 2009, experts say, will likely be seen in just the opposite light. In the grips of a worsening recession, many businesses who had been looking to expand, are now sitting back, watching and waiting for the economy to improve. And, without evident signs [...]

From a communications perspective, reaching “buyers” directly for a long time has been an important communications objective. For us, it’s evolutionary because we can use these same social channels and services to meet this long- standing objective. Despite the clear benefits, many organizations still are skeptical. The prevailing perception is that social media is too new and unproven, and in [...]

Saba Software and the Human Capital Institute announced the results of a new study, Tapping the Power of Social Networking to Manage Talent. This new research shows that there is a tremendous opportunity for HR leaders to greatly enhance employee performance at work by becoming early movers in Social Network Analysis and Corporate Social Networking. The report uncovers that today, less than 2 [...]

To manage these challenges and facilitate smooth employee communications during a downturn, executives should consider the following strategies. Get executive support from the beginning. Chances are, if the internal crisis needing to be communicated involves layoffs, the mandate came from above. Communications and HR executives might be the conduits of the announcements, but the actual bad news should come straight [...]

Barack Obama has made it clear that he intends to bring with him to the White House the same online organizing and messaging tools he used so successfully during the campaign. That’s made some in Washington nervous, and with good reason. No candidate had ever marshaled supporters as effectively, and no president has entered office with such a network so [...]

As talk at the State House returns to casinos, a grass-roots group is mobilizing, hoping to ensure that legislators keep the region’s needs in mind when they consider legalized gambling. The Regional Task Force on Casino Impacts, formed by members of 17 communities across southeastern Massachusetts to protect the interests of those towns, also is closely following a related drama [...]