Comments on: Biz Blog Essentials Final Thoughts

By: Teresa Valdez Klein

Teresa Valdez Klein — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 11:22:59 +0000

Hi Jake,
I think I see what you're getting at now. And yes I agree with you that business communicators have a long tradition of sugar-coating things.
And yes, conversations between businesses and consumers do have the potential for eruption - like the Raging Cow blog. But even when conversations go awry, businesses can make moves to appease the blogosphere.
Take the story of GourmetStation. They used a character blog that was criticized as inauthentic, and when they recognized that the blogosphere was up in arms about it, they engaged their detractors head on and drove to closure. GourmetStation's blog wasn't an uncategorical disaster, despite the less than perfect blogosphere judgment that went into its creation because its creators made the decision to come out and defend it rather than stonewalling.
To bring it back to the seminar, I'll ask you the same question here that I did in my other comment. What session would you have added to the seminar to give attendees more of the "why?"

Thanks,
Teresa

By: Teresa Valdez Klein

Teresa Valdez Klein — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:22:59 +0000

Hi Jake,
I think I see what you're getting at now. And yes I agree with you that business communicators have a long tradition of sugar-coating things.

And yes, conversations between businesses and consumers do have the potential for eruption - like the Raging Cow blog. But even when conversations go awry, businesses can make moves to appease the blogosphere.

Take the story of GourmetStation. They used a character blog that was criticized as inauthentic, and when they recognized that the blogosphere was up in arms about it, they engaged their detractors head on and drove to closure. GourmetStation's blog wasn't an uncategorical disaster, despite the less than perfect blogosphere judgment that went into its creation because its creators made the decision to come out and defend it rather than stonewalling.

To bring it back to the seminar, I'll ask you the same question here that I did in my other comment. What session would you have added to the seminar to give attendees more of the "why?"

Thanks,

Teresa

By: Teresa Valdez Klein

Teresa Valdez Klein — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 11:59:15 +0000

Jake: Again, your criticisms are greatly appreciated, as they help us to clarify our editorial and to make a better seminar next time.

But I have to say - respectfully of course - that your comment about giving a 14 year old a car without telling him how to use it comes across as incredibly condescending.

Our attendees are responsible adults who - unlike a fourteen year old behind the wheel - have life experience and mature judgment. To insinuate that business leaders don't know how to blog is to say that blogging is some kind of elite cult that you can only join after you've been properly initiated. It's that very misperception that drove us to start these seminars in the first place. Blogging is an activity that is instinctively human, people already know how to do it by nature - they just need to understand the technology and what it's used for.

Like Anil said, there is no doctrine of blogging, no absolute right way or absolute wrong way to do it.

Despite our lack of agreement about the seminar, I absolutely value your comments. You've certainly made some excellent points - some of which make me wonder whether we marketed this seminar too broadly. We certainly hope that you'll continue this discussion, as your point of view is critical to us.

By: Teresa Valdez Klein

Teresa Valdez Klein — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 09:59:15 +0000