If you haven’t yet listened to my interview with Pete Blackshaw, the man who coined the term CGM (consumer generated media) and recent author of “Tell 3000,” you might want to check it out now. Pete has just been elected the Chairman of the Better Business Bureau. Wow. He’s a huge advocate in the customer awarness/service/support space and this appointment will do wonders to inject the web-perspective into a group of more traditional business owners.

Here’s a link to the show and the press release is posted below.

Congratulations, Pete! They are lucky to have you and the business world just got better.

Pete Blackshaw on Expression Platforms, Digital Detox and the Love Spot

Council of Better Business Bureaus Elects Pete Blackshaw as New Board Chairman

Executive Vice President, Nielsen Online, to Support BBB Mission of Advancing Marketplace Trust during Two-year Term

Arlington, VA – October 15, 2008 – The Council of Better Business Bureaus today announced the election of Pete Blackshaw as the new Chairman of the Council’s Board of Directors. A recognized expert in customer satisfaction, digital marketing and word-of-mouth advertising, Mr. Blackshaw is the Executive Vice President, Digital Strategic Services, for Nielsen Online and author of the recently released and highly-praised book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000.

“We are extremely pleased to have Pete serve as our Chairman and welcome his fresh ideas and deep, first-hand experience with evolving issues such as customer empowerment and consumer-generated media,” said Steve Cole, Council President and CEO. “Pete’s dedication and expertise will help us focus and execute our strategic plan in the digital realm and bolster our rebranding initiative to more effectively help consumers find trustworthy businesses.”

Mr. Blackshaw joined the Council Board of Directors in April of 2008, and his two-year appointment to the Chairman position was made effective at BBB’s annual Assembly in San Francisco during the October 5 board meeting.

In his capacity as board chair, Blackshaw will also serve as a member of the BBB-administered National Advertising Review Council (NARC).

“The future direction of the marketplace is predicated on many factors, not the least of which is listening to and engaging increasingly empowered consumers” said Blackshaw.

“Great brands are built on a foundation of integrity, performance, and credibility and I look forward to helping BBB continue realizing its vision of creating an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust one another.”

In 2004, Mr. Blackshaw co-founded the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), and played a key role in developing and promoting its ethics code centering on transparency, honesty, and disclosure in word-of-mouth communication. Previously, in 1999, he founded PlanetFeedback, one of the Web’s longest running online consumer feedback services.

In 1998, while at Procter & Gamble, Mr. Blackshaw played an instrumental role in P&G being named Advertising Age Magazine’s “Interactive Marketer of the Year,” and two years later, the magazine named him one of the nation’s top twenty individual interactive marketers. Earlier this year, he was one of three “Industry Achievement Award” winners by ad:tech, one of the Web’s largest conference organizations.