I’m pleased to share word of the much-rumored return of the Friday Skypecast. This week’s is being hosted by the venerable Mr. Bob Robertson-Boyd himself, protagonist of many past Skypecasts. Bob has provided the description: “Discussion for higher ed and non-profit PR and Web professionals regarding the read/write Web and to use it to drive traffic.”

For those of you who are new to Skypecasting, basically it’s a free conference call via IP telephony. Download Skype (free), check the link above at 1 pm E.D.T. on Friday, September 8, and log in when the call becomes available. You need a headset or a mic and speakers attached to your PC or laptop. Works with the latest versions for both Mac and Windows.

I’ve a sneaking suspicion that this week’s topics might include Starbucks, YouTube, and viral marketing, but you’ll have to join us to find out.

Tell a friend.

Let’s cancel tomorrow’s Skypecast. For those of you in the U.S., happy July 4 holiday!

Why not join us for today’s open-mic Skypecast at 1 p.m. Eastern time?

Today we don’t have a set topic–anything goes. In some recent Skypecasts, we’ve talked about the importance of blogging, education journalism and new media, and microformats. What’s on your mind relating to this new world of new media? Are you sick of hearing about blogs and podcasts, and need a place to vent? Are you interested in getting started or sharing your ideas?

In order to participate in the call, all you need is Skype, a free program for making calls over the Internet. When 1 p.m. Eastern rolls around, click this link, and you’ll be given instructions about how to sign into the call.

Conversation Strategies in Higher Education
The Weekly Open Skypecast
June 9, 2006, Part 1 of 2
New Media and the World of Education Journalism and PR
(20 minutes)
Mp3
RSS Feed

Participants: Paul Baker, Karine Joly, Dan Karleen

How do education reporters think about new media?
Are education reporters blogging as part of their journalism?
An education journalist at Dayton Daily News has a blog that can be found on the paper’s site: http://www.daytondailynews.com
An education journalist Atlanta Journal Constitution has a blog found at the paper’s site: http://www.ajc.com
Alexander Russo’s blog: http://thisweekineducation.com
Why aren’t more education journalists blogging?
“Newspapers companies are going to have to move in new technologies to continue to reach their readers.”
Do you have to be clever and opinionated to be a blogger?
Is a blog just a platform, or is it something more?
Education Writers Association lists some blogs: http://www.ewa.org
What will it take to change negative opinions about blogs?
Who’s interested in using an RSS reader?
Karine’s offer to set up a Bloglines account for those that want to get into RSS
Is there any evidence to suggest how are journalists using blogs and RSS in general?
Where are all the education blogs?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this conversation, where we’re joined by Dimitri Glazkov who shares his opinions on fundamental distinctions between blogs and other forms of communication media.

Join us live for these Skypecasts each Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

It will be fun to participate in and record our weekly open Skypecast on new media in higher education from my hotel room in San Fran. Dimitri Glazkov has kindly offered to be discussion leader. He’ll be walking us through the wild new world of microformats and what they might mean to universities.

Right after that, I head downstairs at the St. Francis to talk to a group at the GMAC annual conference about podcasting in admissions. Pete Johnson from Berkeley is my panel partner. It will be great to hear from Pete about his adventures in podcasting at the Haas School. I’m really excited about it, as GMAC has graciously given permission to post materials from the presentation, as well as the screencast. Tomorrow we may be creating the first-ever screencast from a GMAC conference.

Part 1 of the June 2 Conversation Strategies in Higher Education (CSHE) Skypecast is now available. Show details are below.

CSHE is an informal, open-mic, open forum weekly discussion held live via Skypecast on topics relating to social media and higher education.

Skype provides a directory of Skypecasts. Feel free to join us on a future Skypecast.

Please note that the series is available as a podcast allowing you to subscribe via your favorite podcast aggregator.

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Conversation Strategies in Higher Education
June 2, 2006, Part 1 of 2 (approximately 33 minutes)
Get the mp3

Topics Covered: Second Life, Blogging and Blog Reading, and the Role of Blogs in Scholarly Pursuits

Participants: Kevin Guidry, Karine Joly, Dan Karleen

-Second Life avatars don’t support buzz cuts

-Kevin and projects at Sewanee University of the South

-Momentum towards new media at Sewanee?

-Electronic calendaring is a hot topic on campuses

-Kevin is considering blogging

-Is blogging navel-gazing and elitist?

-A gentleman from Austria introduces himself to the conversation

-Is the blogosphere circular and insular?

-Where is the value in reading blogs?

-When will blogs begin to be recognized as an academic venue?

-University Business is looking to the world of blogs as a source for information about grassroots developments

-Is there a role for blogs in the world of scholarly thinking, perhaps in the way of idea incubator?

-Can tools of new media be used as a way to get past some of the insularity in the blogosphere, in scholarly circles, etc.?

-Kevin shares short list of blogs and RSS feeds (he uses Google Reader)

-The Atlantic National Hurricane Center has an RSS feed.

It was another lively discussion yesterday as we heard from Paul Baker of EducationPR about his informal survey of education journalists and their use of new media (e.g. blogs, RSS feeds) as a way of uncovering stories and staying current with trends. Paul reports that very few education reporters he’s encountered recently are reading blogs. Dimitri Glazkov, Karine Joly, and others were on the call.

On next week’s Skypecast, Dimitri will be leading a discussion about emerging data formats such as microformats, and their role in the larger context of search and new media.

Just a reminder about tomorrow’s Conversation Strategy in Higher Education Skypecast at 17:00 GMT. Paul Baker from EducationPR and WISC will be on the ‘cast updating us about the state of new media in education public relations and offering some viewpoints on social media based on recent industry events where he’s participated. And of course, we’ll have the open mic time for which we’re starting to become so famous.

Here’s the mp3 of the May 26, 2006 Skypecast Conversation Strategies in Higher Education, a free-ranging open-mic call, this time exploring the need for social media in the world of non-profits. Participants included Bob Robertson-Boyd, Elaine Nelson, Kevin Guidry, Dimitri Glazkov, Karine Joly, Paul Baker, David Phillips, and others as the meeting went along. Paul was live-blogging it.

Here’s the list of future Skypecasts on similar topics. We’re doing one tomorrow at 1 pm ET, 17:00 GMT. Here is a time converter in case you need one.

Bob Robertson-Boyd, who’s been part of our “Conversations” Skypecast since the beginning a few weeks ago, is hosting a Skypecast of his own from the NetSquared conference on Wednesday. The NetSquared Conference explores new media and social change.