Euroblog, the conference which focuses on (the only) scientific research on blogging, social media and communications in Europe will take place in Brussels on March 13/14/15, 2008.

I was there last year and did a short interview about the findings with the researchers then. If you are even remotely interested in the impact of social media on the communications profession you have to attend.

Here's the Facebook event page and here the call for papers. Please join in and submit your findings, case studies and survey results.

Apart from that, it will take place in Brussels (my favorite city - see Serge's clip), the center of Burgundian life and good food and drinks... and, I am hosting a pre-conference dinner/drink if there's enough interest ! Don't tell me you need more incentives... ;-)

Let me know if you're interested to join me for a relaxed dinner & drinks and I'll set something up.

Technorati : blogging, brussels, euprera, euroblog, research, social media

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Here are 2 conferences you shouldn't mis if you're a communications professional:

The International Association of Online Communicators conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The conference will take place on the 12th and the 13th of June 2008 (Thursday & Friday) and will gather educators, researchers and professionals who are involved with online communications. Some of the topics that will be debated during roundtables are:

• Teaching online communication: best practices

• Web 2.0 ethics for PR & journalism

• Internal collaboration with Web 2.0 tools

• Measuring online video & podcast ROI

• and many more...

You can find a detailed agenda and registration page here. The conference page allows you to promote the event through your own network and blog/website.

Already interested and eager to visit Reykjavik in the Summer..?

I'll be there with my colleagues from the IAOC and am looking for online communications professionals who would like to participate in a panel with me.

I am thinking about a US/EU comparison of the whole social media phenomenon etc... Interested ? Let me know.

The European Association of Communication Directors conference in Brussels, Belgium.

This is the second edition of the EACD Conference and if it is going to mimic the success of last year then it will be a gathering of top European communicators again. The conference takes place on the 24th & 25th of April, 2008.

The program is too detailed to describe here but do visit the website. You can check out the pictures and videos from last year here as well as download the presentation papers.

Here again I am looking for some Communications colleagues who would like to share a panel with me on the topic of new media. My aim is to have someone from the media, someone from an NGO and a corporate colleague.

Send me an email if you're interested.

Disclaimer: I am a founding member of the IAOC and a full member of the EACD.

Technorati : Brussels, EACD, IAOC, Reykjavik, communications, conference

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The Institute for the Future of the Book has developed a new WordPress theme with a very nice twist: you can comment on each paragraph instead of commenting per blogpost...

"Annotate, gloss, workshop, debate: with CommentPress you can do all of these things on a finer-grained level, turning a document into a conversation."

A good example is the white paper of the New Media Consortium entitled Evolution of Communication.

I have commented on several paragraphs and it works just great. Checking other comments & commenters - paragraph by paragraph - really allows for more "finer-grain level" discussions.

Technorati : blog, collaboration, commentpress, futureofthebook, wordpress

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According to the Center for Media & Democracy, "2007 was a year full of spin, manipulation and deception...".

Well now you can vote for the most unethical PR at the 4th Annual Falsies Awards.

"This year, we are asking you to help identify the worst spinners and propagandists of 2007. Please read through the list of nominees below and rank them. You can also nominate additional candidates in our readers' award section." (CMD website).

The list can be viewed here and you can of course cast your vote. Companies like Edelman, Merck, Hill & Knowlton but also US government officials and business leaders are among the nominees. The list contains mainly US stories but is worth reading....

I voted for WikiScanner which allowed the public to see who anonymously edited what in Wikipedia and as such gave a twist to the collective truth & at the same time violated Wikipedias policy. Winner(s) will be announced in December.

Does anyone know about such an imitative in Europe ?

Technorati : CMD, PR, center for media and democracy, ethics, falsies awards, public relations, spin

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A recent study by the European Interactive Advertising Association found that Europeans read more and more news online.

Some details:

• 65 per cent of European internet users access news sites at least once a month.
• 28 per cent of the respondents admitted to reading newspapers less frequently as a result of the availability of news online.
• 40 per cent said they watched less television.
• 22 per cent found they were listening to the radio less.

Combine this with the latest online shopping trends from The "Social Shopping Study 2007," commissioned by PowerReviews:

• 70% of all online shoppers said customer reviews and ratings on a retailer's website were extremely or very important when they are selecting and purchasing products - these shoppers are called "Social Researchers" in the report.
• 86% of Social Researchers find customer reviews extremely or very important, vs. 70% of all online shoppers.
• 64% of Social Researchers research products online more than half the time, no matter where they buy the product (store, web, catalog, etc.)
• 76% of Social Researchers (vs. 69% of all online shoppers) are more likely to shop on a retailer's website - vs. its competitor site - if it offers social navigation.

Two important trends that clearly support the case for understanding what social media and online trends could mean for your company and products. As I wrote before, at least start listening through the use of RSS feeds and active online participation.

Technorati : EIAA, europe, media, newspaper, online news, powerreviews, research, social researcher

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