By Gini Dietrich

On Sunday, I spent a little more than an hour recording a podcast with Shel Holtz on Skype.

Because his regular For Immediate Release co-host, Neville Hobson, was in Boston with clients, he needed someone to fill his spot.

And I was more than happy to help. FIR, after all, is probably the most popular and well-done podcast in the PR industry.

It was a really great experience, both because it’s Shel and he’s wickedly smart (and cynical and has a dry sense of humor, both traits I love), and because the show is extremely well organized.

I thought I’d share a look behind-the scenes at the popular PR podcast.

The FIR Format

About 10 days in advance, I received an email from Shel that described how the run of show would work.

I was to choose two news items that I could talk about for two minutes each and two others that would prompt discussion between the two of us.

Then, he invited me to Rizzoma, the Google Wave reiteration. (I had never used it, but it’s a really good collaboration tool.)

In there, he had the following:

• Ident – Gini
• Welcome (recorded)
• Intro – Shel
• Steve Rubel is hosting a new podcast
• Quick News (2-minute reports; include URLs)
  • Gini
  • Shel
  • Gini
  • Shel
• Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop
• News That Fits (longer reports—four to five minutes—with discussion; include URLs) (Shel to intro)
  • Gini
• Michael Netzley’s Asia Report
• News That Fits
  • Shel
• Listener comments
• News That Fits
  • Gini
• Igloo Software
• Dan York’s Tech Report
• The last week on the FIR Podcast Network – Shel
• News That Fits
  • Shel
• Outro
• Music – Gini

We shared a Dropbox folder and I just dropped my recorded files in there.

Shel did all of the post-production and FIR 806 magically appeared less than 24 hours later.

FIR 806

The show, itself, covers a lot of ground.

We discussed:

• How Converse worked with brand loyalists to support a young woman with stomach cancer
• The Rockets social media manager who was fired for tweeting an emoji of a horse with a gun to its head (they were playing the Mavericks)
• No more “chikin” at Johns Hopkins University
• The FTC, disclosure, and native advertising 
• The Bud Light #UpForWhatever campaign and crisis communications (and Melissa Agnes’s response)
• What virtual reality means for journalism (this is super cool!)
• The health and wellness advice Walmart provided its employees after they were laid off
• PR needs more SEO, which is what I blogged about yesterday with content marketing and answering questions

There also were tips from Dan York on Soundcloud and Internet (which I don’t recommend you looking at unless you’re ready to be frustrated).

And I love what Rachel Miller is doing around the birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.