On Wednesday (November 30th) I participated in a panel organized by the Canadian Public Relations Society, Toronto titled “Wake Up and Smell the Blogs!”. I was the token academic on the panel chaired by Michael O’Connor Clarke whose personal blog is Uninstalled.
The focus was mostly on how to use blogs in public relations and how to get attention from journalists. Jack Kapica of the Globe and Mark Evans of the National Post, both have good blogs on the tech industry. Kapika’s is hosted by the Globe, Evans’ is not hosted by the Post. What does that say? John Oxley from Microsoft (see Canadian IT Managers) talked about Microsoft supporting bloggin by employees. There is a lot of anxiety about letting personal blogs loose and not being able to control the message of an organization, and he explained how Microsoft is trying to use blogs to provide a more personal and transparent face. Rick Segale (who used to work for Microsoft and is now a venture capitalist) spoke forcefully about the virtues of blogging and the need for passion.
I realized by the end that I am a very different blogger than the other panel members. I have a freedom to say what I want that most in industry (and yes, the media is an industry) do not. I also don’t have justify what I write in terms of attention – this blog doesn’t need to be read widely to be worth it. Finally, I realized, again, how blogging is not about the technology, it is about voice and engagement. It is a sign that web technologies are maturing when things like RSS and XML are not really the issue, it what you do with them and how they are hidden.
What are some of the issues that were raised:
How do you get started with blogging?
What makes an engaging blog?
How can blogs help engage an organizations stakeholders?
Is it safe to blog as an employee?