Originally posted on Dave Fleet’s blog.

I recently took on a new role within Edelman (it’s a good thing, don’t worry), and as a result have begun working with a new team – once again, spread across different offices. Last week, I made a trip down to our DC office to meet with several of them.

You know what I did down there?

I learned.

I sat with each member of the team there and asked them what they did on a day-to-day basis; how they saw themselves within the team; what was going well and what wasn’t, and how I could help them. When they had questions I ans…

Originally posted on Dave Fleet’s blog.

A few weeks ago Facebook introduced its new Comment Box plugin, allowing companies and individuals to connect comments on their owned properties to their Facebook presences.

At the time, while reviewing the business implications of the new Facebook plugin, I wrote:

“There’s lots of potential for confusion, and controversy, when people realize their comments don’t just reside within the protective, search-resistant walls of Facebook. It’s just a matter of time before people start complaining as their commen…

Originally posted on Dave Fleet’s blog.

Facebook has announced a new version of its Comments Box plugin – its social plugin that enables Facebook-connected commenting on a website. In this post we’ll take a look at some of the apparent benefits and risks of this new feature for businesses.

Facebook’s Comment Box plugin

Among the features Facebook has revealed:

Social relevance – the new plugin uses what Facebook calls “social signals” to prioritize comments on posts. Comments from people in your social graph, highly-liked comme…

Originally posted on Dave Fleet’s blog.

This week I was privileged to attend the Toronto launch of the Canadian results of Edelman’s 2011 Trust Barometer survey with my employer, Richard Edelman.

This year, even more than in recent years, I find the results of the survey fascinating from both traditional and digital communications standpoints.

Trust in 2011

The broad findings of this year’s survey are themselves interesting:

Credentials Count More Than Ever

Trust in experts rose over the last year — and after year…

Originally posted on DaveFleet.com.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about 8 factors to consider when selecting a “social media expert.” Looking back now, I can see how my approach has evolved and matured since then. What’s more, as I’ve spent more time on the consulting side, my focus has shifted from self-identified “experts” to agencies.

Chris Kieff wrote a post last week giving his thoughts on some numbers-focused ways to select a social media consultant. Personally, I think the list was much too focused on superficial numbers at th…