The SEC opens up for corporate blogs in investor relations

Jonathan Schwartz, the chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems, suggested to the SEC that his corporate blog could be used as an approved channel to disclose corporate information. Although the response is not entirely positive, the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox leaves the door open for further discussion, according to CFO.com.

“The Commission encourages the use of websites as a source of information to the market and investors, and we welcome your offer to further discuss with us your views in this area,” Cox wrote.

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Crop circles, fake blogs and other fairy tales

Håkan Nordkvist either,
1. travelled through time;
2. is completely wacko; or
3. is blogging to create a buzz about a tv ad for AMF Pension.

I’d go for #3.

I’m not a big fan of marketing stunts that pose as real stories but hey, it’s Friday and I’ll be nice. This is so far out that hopefully most people will see through it. Even a flog can have some charm to it.

Via Reklamfeber.

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The press release 100 years old

Via the India PR Blog I notice that the press release supposedly turned 100-years-old on October 28.

“On October 28, 1906, at least 50 people lost their lives when a three-car train of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s newly equipped electric service jumped a trestle at Atlantic City, NJ, and plunged into the Thoroughfare creek. 

That afternoon, Ivy Lee, who some consider to be the father of modern PR, created the first press release. The Pennsylvania Railroad was one of his clients. Following the accident, Lee not only convinced the railroad to distribute a public statement, he also convinced them to provide a special train to get reporters to the scene of the accident.”

About time then that this communications channel evolved a bit. The PR agency SHIFT Communications initiated a discussion around the development of a “social media press release” this summer. The thought was that the press release should be re-designed to fit the new social media/web 2.0 environment. I am sure we will continue to see interesting developments regarding press releases and other PR tactics. For PR practitioners, these are exiting times.

Birro blogs

Writer, poet etcetera Marcus Birro has just launched his own blog. His comment describes very well how many feel when they get access to their own instant publishing platform.

“Det här är en jävligt rolig grej. Nu när jag läser något som jag reagerar på, så tänker jag på en gång att jag ska blogga om det.”

“This is damn fun. Now when I read something that I react to, I immediately think that I will blog about it.”

But it’s a bit odd that Norrköping’s Folkbladet can write an article about his blog and not give out the web address to it. The blog can be found here.

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