We at IAOCblog would like to wish our readers in the U.S. a Happy Thanksgiving. We are in a membership drive now and we are thankful for your financial support.

Morty Schiller, Don Dunnington, and me, Steve O'Keefe, are working on these upcoming programs for "This Week on IAOCblog.com":

Book Review Week!
Send us your books to review on the blog. I'll be reviewing two textbooks for 2008 classes at Tulane University and George Washington University. Morty's got a couple books he's anxious to blog about. We welcome your book reviews, too.

Online Reputation Management
There's no hotter topic in Online PR than reputation management. We're trying to coax Sally Falkow to come school us on the subject as soon as her schedule allows.

How About You?
Do you have a show idea for "This Week on IAOCblog.com"? We are building our schedule for the Winter 2008 Season which begins in January. Guest bloggers are asked to take the helm for a week and bring a couple of colleagues with you. Contact info is below.

Thanks to Peter Gloor, Lois Kelly, Dave Taylor, Dianna Huff, Shel Horowitz and Ted Demopoulos for making the Fall 2007 Season on IAOCblog.com an outstanding success. Unique visitors to the site averaged 25,000/month this fall while pageviews averaged 100,000/month! Well done!

Send your show suggestions or books for review to:

STEVE O'KEEFE
steve.okeefe at patronsaintpr.com

MORTY SCHILLER
morty at mortyschiller.com

DON DUNNINGTON
DDunnington at ktron.com

While some scientists are worrying about the missing bees, lots of marketers are worrying about the missing buzz.

Tune in next week, when Lois Kelly, author of Beyond Buzz, tells us why it's not enough anymore to make noise in the marketplace. You have to engage your market in what she calls "meaningful dialog."

Learn how to put more meaning in your message November  5-9 when Lois Kelly hosts the IAOCblog "talk show" with:
Conversational Marketing: Mood over Matter?

Is your website lost? Now it will be found!
Tune in Monday for
Search Engine Friendly Copy
October  29-November 2, 2007
GUEST: Dianna Huff, Marcom Writer Blog
TOPIC: Writing Search Engine Friendly Copy

ABOUT THE TOPIC:
We are all know by now that "Markets are conversations." But Lois Kelly, author of Beyond Buzz, says it's not enough anymore to spread "Word of Mouth." To succeed in the marketplace today, you have to have a meaningful dialog -- and really listen to your market.

Stay tuned for more details. And be sure to join IAOCblog.com November  5-9, 2007 when guest host Lois Kelly takes over the conversation with:
Conversational Marketing: Mood over Matter?

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER:


Lois Kelly writes, consults and speaks about how to use conversational marketing and social media to more quickly connect with customers, employees and marketplace influencers.

Reviewing her new book, Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word of Mouth Marketing, Northeastern University professor Walter Carl said “The Cluetrain Manifesto was a call for corporations to wake up to the global conversations about them, and potentially with them. In Beyond Buzz, Lois Kelly gives corporations the practical tools to answer that call.”

Lois' articles have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Advertising Age. Clients have included Sapient, SAP, Sun Microsystems, FedEx, The Business Innovation Factory, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Communispace. 

Coming soon to a screen near you:
October  29-November 2, 2007
GUEST: Dianna Huff, Marcom Writer Blog

TOPIC: Writing Search Engine Friendly Copy

Is SEO magic? manipulation? a myth?

In a recent teleclass at which Dianna Huff was a guest, white paper guru Michael Stelzner asked, "What's more important: the words humans read on the landing page or manipulating information in favor of search engines?"

As a B2B marcom consultant and SEO copywriter, Dianna Huff bristles at the word, "manipulation." "The biggest myth," she says, "is that you can manipulate the search engines -- especially Google -- to do anything."

So what can you do with SEO? Is it a science, an art... or hocus-pocus? Join Dianna as she reveals what SEO is and isn't.... why direct response writers make ideal SEO copywriters, how to write copy that's BOTH search engine and people friendly, and why high-quality content will do more for your SEO efforts than "manipulating" the search engines.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER:

Dianna Huff blogs at the MarCom Writer blog. When she's not blogging, she's working with clients on projects ranging from e-newsletters and Websites to search engine optimization and online marketing.

REMINDER:
Coming next week: October 22-26, 2007 Ted Demopoulos, author of Blogging for Business tackles the issue: Should CEOs Blog?

ABOUT THE TOPIC:
"CEO Blogs" are blogs written by executives. At their best, they put a human face on huge corporations. At their worst, they have been boring... or phony... to the point of doing more harm than good.

Are CEO blogs worth the trouble? Are they worth the risks? What if a CEO can't write... or hasn't got the time to write? Can they have ghostbloggers or blog less frequently? Will that undermine the whole purpose of blogging? The week of Oct 22, Ted will answer these and other questions on IAOCblog.com.

ABOUT THE TOPIC:
The Blogosphere honors "Transparency" above all. Publishers of fake blogs or are treated like horse thieves in the old West.

But is blogging an art form or a business? Blogging guru Dave Taylor may ruffle some feathers next week with a look at whether it's OK to take pay for blogging. Is it OK to ghostwrite a blog? Are paid bloggers like bounty hunters? Or have bloggers become like any other professional writers? Then again, didn't Moliere say, "Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money."

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER:

Dave Taylor blogs at Intuitive Life Business Blog, Blogsmart and Ask Dave Taylor. He is esteemed for his technical and business expertise and is sure to have some important insights on what has become a controversial issue

Tune in next week. And keep your powder dry!

Mark October  22-26, 2007  on your calendar for a blog program that promises to be profitable... and provocative. The host will be Ted Demopoulos, author of Blogging for Business. His topic: Should CEOs Blog?

ABOUT THE TOPIC:
The term "CEO Blog" refers to a blog written by a high level executive such as a CEO. The few CEO blogs that exist are very popular, but should the average CEO or other executive blog? How can they possibly make time among their other responsibilities? Are the "rules" different for CEOs and other high profile poeple? Can they have ghostbloggers or blog less frequently? The week of Oct 22, Ted will answer these and other questions on IAOCblog.com.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER:

Ted Demopoulos’ professional background includes over 25 years of experience in Information Technology and Business, including 15 years as an independent consultant. Ted helped start a successful information security company, was the CTO at a "textbook failure" of a software startup,  and has advised several other startups. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, conventions, and other business events,  author of  What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting: Real-Life Advice from 101 People Who Successfully Leverage the Power of the Blogosphere, coauthor of  Blogging for Business. Ted blogs at www.BloggingForBusinessBook.com

Wow, what a lineup we have for the Fall 2007 season of "This Week on IAOCblog.com"! Take a look at these hosts and topics, and plan to tune in next week for the kickoff program with Sloan School of Management researcher, Peter A. Gloor.

We have two vacancies left in the schedule. If you would like to present, contact Morty or me. Who do you want to see on the blog? Maybe Morty and I could convince them to join us.

STEVE O'KEEFE & MORTY SCHILLER
Co-Hosts


This Week on IAOCblog.com
Fall 2007 Program Schedule

September 24-28, 2007
GUEST: Peter Gloor, Sloan Management School at MIT
TOPIC: The Virtual Mirror: Patterns in Collaboration

October  1-5, 2007
GUEST: Open
TOPIC: Open

October  8-12, 2007
GUEST: Open
TOPIC: Open

October  15-19, 2007
GUEST: Dave Taylor, Blogsmart, Ask Dave Taylor
TOPIC: Is It Okay to Get Paid to Blog?

October  22-26, 2007
GUEST: Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business
TOPIC: Should CEOs Blog?

October  29-November 2, 2007
GUEST: Dianna Huff, Marcom Writer Blog
TOPIC: Writing Search Engine Friendly Copy

November  5-9, 2007
GUEST: Lois Kelly, Foghound
TOPIC: Conversational Marketing: Mood over Matter?

November  13-16, 2007
(Monday, Nov. 12 is Veteran's Day)
GUEST: Shel Horowitz, Ethical Marketing Expert
TOPIC: Blogger's Code of Ethics: News or Ruse?

Welcome back teachers, professors, students, and professionals to another season of "This Week on IAOCblog.com." I'm Steve O'Keefe, co-producer of this program with the irascible Morty Schiller, who has been shooting down spam comments and trackbacks all summer.

For those who are new, "This Week at IAOCblog" is a weekly blog show where we try to bring in experts each week to lead discussions on topics related to online communications.

Here are some of the people who have asked about being on the show this season, or we solicited them and they've agreed to teach:

Nettie Hartsock - Blog Consultant and Book Publicist, who promised Lois Kelly, the Word-of-Mouth marketing expert with her for a show on how "point-of-view matters more than messaging in conversational marketing." Yum.

Shel Horowitz, ethical marketing expert and copywriter extraordinaire, we hope will lead us in a discussion of efforts to generate and enforce a "Blogger's Code of Ethics."

Dave Taylor -- yes, THE Dave Taylor, tech guru, innovator, iconoclast -- as in Ask Dave Taylor your questions right here, on IAOCblog, about (shhhh!) generating revenue from your blog.

Ron Sansone on the Independence Day Digg Mugging the IAOCblog received and what it shows about the future of tagging, digging, and Ron Paul's chances of riding social networking into the Oval Office.

And Much More! We'll continue bugging Bob Bly to visit us; we might get an update from Dianna Huff, and I'm hoping MIT's Peter Gloor will join us to talk about a new study analyzing workplace communications for signs of "Swarm Creativity."

All in all, a busy season ahead. Interested in leading the blog for a week? Send me your show idea and let's talk. We're going to take the rest of this week on IAOCblog to talk about what's coming this Fall -- and about our European Conference in Zurich next Spring.

STEVE O'KEEFE
Vice President, IAOC
Co-Host, "This Week on IAOCblog.com"

Today I examine the fallout from my recent Ron Paul discussion. In between the expected hostility, keen insights could be gleamed from all sides.   more »

Where do Digg articles go when they die? I track the shelf life of popular Digg.com articles and report my findings.   more »

Call for Search Engine Optimization Resources

This week, we are looking for your recommendations on the top Search Engine Optimization articles or resources. Please place your suggestions in this thread and students from my Tulane University class in Internet Public Relations will post reviews here. Or post your own review.

Morty Schiller and I have been swapping SEO suggestions. Hopefully, he'll share some of his top picks. Also, my IT department -- Jesse Vohs a.k.a. The MacMaster -- has been doing SEO work for my company and found some good resources for analyzing your web site's SEO-friendliness. If he doesn't post, I'll extract his tips from previous e-mails and post them here.

Here are a couple of my top picks:

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Search Engine Watch

http://www.searchenginewatch.com/

An amazing resource for information about web site registration strategies and search engine optimization. A good list of links to do-it-yourself registration pages. Students will find many articles here worthy of review.

---

Words In A Row

http://www.wordsinarow.com/wheretogo.html

An excellent site for do-it-yourself registration, with a comprehensive list of top directories and search engines, links to their submit pages, and tips on using each one.

---

STEVE O'KEEFE

Author, Complete Guide to Internet Publicity

Professor of Internet Public Relations, Tulane University

Vice President, IAOC

Please join us this week December 11-15, for a blog program: Blog Rules, with discussion leader, Nancy Flynn

ABOUT THE TOPIC:

Blogs have become as essential as email and newsletters. But with news stories about everything from embarrassment in the blogosphere to legal action... blogging carries risks. Know how to protect yourself and your company. Blog safely.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER:

Nancy Flynn is the author of the new book, Blog Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policy, Public Relations, and Legal Issues from Amacom Books. Nancy is founder and executive director of The ePolicy Institute, and author of the books: The ePolicy Handbook and E-Mail Rules.