Spencer Ante

Good article on the value of original quality content and risks of GenAI’s generics & distortions today when AI volume is everywhere online. The image simulation is cool example!

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For this podcast, the Confident Retirement, there's a twist: I was the one interviewed, not the one asking the questions. (I like it better the other way - but that was fun - thanks for inviting me on, Kristopher Flammang CRPC®AIF®BFA®) Oh - and I'm not retiring :) Some of the things we talked about: * My early journalism career change to being a juvenile probation office for three years; • Why and how the Business Observer has made a transtions to #digitalfirst — and why we keep the focus on that; and • The lessons I've learned from interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs ands business owners Take a listen!

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Lex Coors, Chief Data Centre Technology & Engineering Officer and EUDCA Policy Committee Chair on the Seventh Wave of AI – referred to as ‘We Are AI’ “As we delve deeper into this proposition, we confront profound questions about the nature of consciousness, autonomy and the human experience,” he writes. “By embracing the seventh wave, humanity embarks on a journey towards a future where AI serves not as a tool of domination, but as a catalyst for collective empowerment and societal progress.” #AI #Artificialintelligence #WeareAI

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Building on Daniel Kahneman's concepts of System 1 and System 2 thinking, AI is evolving from quick, reactive responses to deeper, deliberate reasoning. This shift will drive breakthroughs in complex problem-solving, including advancements in biomedical research, while highlighting the need for responsible development. 👀 Read the full WSJ article below. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gr4XFwym

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Give me an opportunity to talk about B2B PR and I'm all in! Thank you to Evan Kirstel B2B TechFluencer for having me on to talk about how PR can help business-to-business companies build, maintain and protect their reputations. We also chatted about my book, B2B PR That Gets Results. Thanks again, Evan! #B2Bmarketing #B2BPR

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Why Strategic Communications Is a Must for Every Business Recently, many corporations have found themselves in the headlines, but not in the way they wanted. These situations underscore the essential role a seasoned communications leader plays in shaping a company’s public perception. Whether in-house or outsourced, having someone oversee the communications function is crucial. A strategic communicator supports your business plan, navigates challenging situations, and amplifies your story with priority stakeholders. Whether you're an early-stage startup, a well-established private business, or a publicly traded giant, each stage in your company’s journey requires a unique communications approach. Here's why prioritizing communications is a must for every business: 1.  Strategic Counsel and Advocacy 🤝 Communications leaders are trusted advisors, providing insights on public perception and aligning strategies with company values and goals. They evaluate how actions impact stakeholders, crafting messages for each audience. Integrating communication strategies into your core business plan prepares you to adapt to changing dynamics.   2.  Crisis and Reputation Management 🔥 Every business faces potential crises, threatening reputation and stability. A seasoned communications advisor is crucial for proactive crisis planning, working with leadership to swiftly address issues. They help preserve brand integrity by delivering transparent, honest, and timely information. As recent news cycles show, maintaining trust during a crisis demands experience and situational awareness.   3.  Brand Awareness and Storytelling 📣 Communications professionals build credibility with the news media to tell compelling brand stories through earned coverage or a combo of paid + earned. Marketing and comms teams must work in lockstep, ensuring a consistent, authentic, and cohesive brand message across all channels.   4.   Internal and External Message Alignment ✳️ Consistency in messaging across all organizational levels is vital. A great external strategy starts with an internal focus. Ensure employees understand business goals and their roles in supporting them. Aligning internal and external messaging maintains a cohesive culture and delivers a consistent brand narrative.   5.  Business Growth 📈 Strategic communication fuels business growth and transformation by crafting compelling content and narratives that highlight products, services, and initiatives. A communications advisor ensures an ongoing dialogue with priority stakeholders. Their awareness of current trends and media strategies enables you to seize opportunities and tell your story. Investing in a skilled communications leader or advisor is investing in the long-term success and resilience of your business. It's not just a nice-to-have but a critical component of a successful business strategy. #StrategicCommunications #BrandReputation #CrisisManagement #CorporateCommunications

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Bold prediction time. Not for next year but over the coming years. I predict that content creators who can discern fact from fiction in the era of generative AI will become powerful trusted voices as institutions who attempt to do the same will become less influential. I think of it as the return and steep rise of citizen journalism. Their degrees or backgrounds won’t necessarily matter. What will give them notoriety is their ability to fact check and disprove the proliferation of deep fakes and other bogus content that will garner them respect. They will also be appreciated for their own authentic words. At the same time, counter voices will emerge as go-to sources to double down on unverified news that will align with people’s world views. We are already seeing this trend emerge with the political landscape, search in social media, the continuing decline of trust in institutions, the power of content creators and podcast hosts, and independent reporters building their brands. Media organizations will need to make bold moves to keep up. What does this mean for communicators? We will need to: 💡 Invest in tools to verify fake content 💡 Elevate authentic voices 💡 Evolve how we conduct media relations Does this prediction track for you?

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Life often moves at a frenetic pace. The last thing our readers want or need from us is a story that tells only a piece of a jumbled picture. I’ve long been a proponent of enterprise reporting: deeper stories about why things happen the way they do. During a Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus newsroom vision meeting last week, I identified different approaches to reporting that may help us better serve readers: 1. A higher percentage of enterprise stories 2. Swarming high-interest stories with follow ups 3.  Providing clarity stories 4. Creating takeaways from dense reporting. Of these four, clarity stories are the least comfortable for many of us in the newsroom. We report each new development in an ongoing issue, so we don’t see the need to retell the larger story from those already-reported parts. There’s a misguided assumption that readers should be up to speed on our previous reporting.  That’s where the “clarity” comes in. Sometimes we need to step back with fresh eyes and tell the whole story in a concise or narrative format, with the result being readers who understand what happened and why.

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What is one skill that differentiates Chief Comms Officers from their C-suite peers? We are dot connectors. 🔗 We can connect the dots between seemingly disparate initiatives and messages. ↔️ We tend to have a wide-ranging remit that enables us to see across the organization. 🧩 Because storytelling is core to what we do, we can fit all the pieces of the puzzle together to tell one larger story. 💡We love digging into audience insights, which means we can tailor that story to different audiences. That’s true even with employee communications. 🎯We can channel what employees want to speak to their direct needs. We can also help build bridges to connect internal efforts while breaking down silos. ⁉️What do you think? Does this ring true for those of you who are communications professionals?

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As we peer into 2025, what are some of the communications themes and challenges that will present themselves. Please listen to this episode of the Can You Hear Me? Podcast with Rob Johnson and Eileen Rochford to learn more!

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🎤🎸🤘🏻🚨 Latest from The Repute: "Crisis Comms Under the Microscope: Dave Grohl’s Approach" 🎤🎸🚨 In this edition, we take a real-time look at how rock legend Dave Grohl is handling the media fallout from his recent infidelity scandal. Using data-driven insights, we break down the New York Times' coverage of Grohl’s crisis communications strategy and analyze what worked—and what didn’t. https://bit.ly/3MIZy76 The analysis explores: - The effectiveness of proactively addressing scandals before they spiral - Why timing didn’t minimize media coverage as others have suggested - The nuanced balance between controlling the narrative and avoiding sensationalism Whether you’re dealing with a major PR issue or simply curious about how the media operates during high-profile scandals, this edition offers valuable lessons for managing your brand’s reputation. Read the full analysis and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Have a great weekend everyone! Will Valentine Publisher, The Repute Founder and Principal, Valentine Advisors

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The @PageSociety just released its newest report Beyond Communication: CCO Leadership in Navigating New Complexity. The findings underscore the CCO as an ever-more-essential partner with the CEO in defining and activating corporate character. Read more here: https://hubs.la/Q02x4nPQ0

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Join our experts as they dive into PR Newswire's groundbreaking AI innovations. We'll explore: ✨ How AI is revolutionizing #PR & comms ✨ Our unique solution that leverages historical data to offer press release insights ✨ Findings from our State of the Press Release Report on how PR pros are embracing #AI Save your spot now and join us as we drive the AI conversation forward!

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If we thought 2024 was the year of AI...buckle up. Because 2025 is already shaping up to outpace it in innovation, experimentation, and application. Take, for instance, OpenAI's announcement they sneaked in just before everyone tuned out for the holidays: ChatGPT is now accessible via landline. That's right -- just call in, ask a question, and get an answer. They've also made it available via texting in WhatsApp. This arguably opens up accessibility for some. Though, I'm curious if the majority of people who call will use it for something productive or if it'll turn into a gag. Evolution and time will tell. What applications and new uses are AI are you most looking forward to becoming a reality in 2025? You can read more in TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/gBYKg6ev

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In the wake of Meta announcing plans to eliminate fact-checking, a few reminders: 🫶 we are all Digital Citizens - we have (always have had) the responsibility to navigate these spaces safely and to engage respectfully: check our own facts, remember there are real people behind the screen. 💻 Digital Responsibility belongs to us all -- while IT and Compliance teams need to establish and educate on policies, we are all accountable for the security of our organizations' information and for using technology (including social media) in ways that align with our values, policies, regulations. Now is a good time to do refreshers on Information Security, Use of Technology, and Digital Responsibility standards. 🤝 Employees expect their leaders to take a position - while more than 60% of people around the world believe that government leaders, business leaders, and journalists are attempting to purposefully mislead them, business remains the only trusted institution. Moreover, more than 3/4 of employees trust their employer and almost 70% trust their CEO (Source: Edelman Trust Barometer). PSssst #CEOs...that means you have an opportunity and the responsibility to invest in your internal communications strategy: 🙉 listen to your employees 🤼 discuss ideas and involve future leaders 🗣️ take a clear position 📃 give your leaders and employees the facts and data they need to help combat misinformation about your industry, customers, and company. We have never needed a third party to police our online spaces. We need civility, diligence, and business leaders who are consistently purposeful with their communications. #PurposefulCommunications #PurposefulLeadership #IC

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Super important read from our insights and analytics team Message Lab:

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What can jazz teach us about modern leadership? #client Sisense CEO Ariel Katz shares key insights in Forbes: * Like skilled band leaders, effective leaders set direction but give their teams room to innovate * Top performers need space to "solo" - just as data scientists and developers bring unique perspectives * The best innovation happens when teams feel safe to experiment and occasionally miss notes * Deep listening - to both what's said and unsaid - keeps teams in harmony Read more about balancing structure with creative freedom in today's fast-paced business environment: https://lnkd.in/gZ-Nac7U #Leadership #Innovation #TeamManagement Ariel Katz Aircover Communications

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Farrago. Mishmash. Potpourri. Medley. Mixture. Blend. The Thesaurus is a wonderful tool, a treasure chest of synonyms, to help prose become more poetic. It’s getting on for two years since we first brought Data Malarkey – the podcast about using data, smarter – to the world. In approaching 50 episodes, it’s been my great pleasure to talk data-driven common sense with leaders and leading thinkers from a huge diversity of fields. Why, in Season Six alone, we showcased the smarter data thinking of … a publisher, a communicator, two marketers with specialism in neuroscience, the political pollster of his generation, a legal eagle with a passion for AI, and the creator of McCoy’s crisps. A right old fusion, intermingling, and amalgam of difference. And at the same time, this season featured more similarities than differences. What always strikes me as remarkable is what brings the experts I talk to together rather than what keeps them apart. The ability – in their diverse, respective fields – to answer the profound question “So what?” (showing what the data mean) and then to answer the even more useful question “Now what?” (showing what we can do with the data-driven insights as a result). There are links to the Greatest Hits of Season Six of Data Malarkey in the first comment below. If you’ve not already given “A Hard Day’s Data” a spin, follow the link to your podcast provider of preference to see what I mean.

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