Blog Smart with Dave Taylor on May 5, 2005 in Boulder, CO

Dave Taylor, one of my favorite online thinkers, is running Blog Smart, a workshop on blogs in Boulder, CO on May 5, 2005. Wish I could attend. If you're in the area, this one sounds like a no-brainer. Covers all the basics: how blogs are different from HTML Web sites; how blogs create loyalty; case studies including Microsoft's Robert Scoble, Tom Peters, and big wig bloggers at GM, Boeing and Sun Microsystems. Check out the course outline Dave Taylor, one of my favorite online thinkers, is running Blog Smart, a workshop on blogs in Boulder, CO on May 5, 2005. Wish I could attend. If you're in the area, this one sounds like a no-brainer. Covers all the basics: how blogs are different from HTML Web sites; how blogs create loyalty; case studies including Microsoft's Robert Scoble, Tom Peters, and big wig bloggers at GM, Boeing and Sun Microsystems. Check out the course outline online and note particularly one of the last topics: "The future of findability." What gets you found?? Your content, of course. Ultimately, that's what blogs are all about. Thanks to Amy Gahran of Contentious for the link.

Blogs carve out business niche, according to Knight Ridder

Useful article from Knight Ridder news service: Blogs carve out niche in business. I'm quoted several times and there's a link back to this blog.

Sun Microsystem’s Jonathan Schwartz on corporate blogging

"Blogs are more searchable. Technorati and PubSub are more useful to me than Google."

Above quote from a fascinating interview with Jonathan Schwartz on The Red Couch. Sun's President blogs here. He's prolific and voluminous; often writes essay-length entries. Trying to snag an interview with him so I can find out what makes him tick as a top corporate blogger. How and why does he write such long entries. Are his topics strategically

"Blogs are more searchable. Technorati and PubSub are more useful to me than Google."

Above quote from a fascinating interview with Jonathan Schwartz on The Red Couch. Sun's President blogs here. He's prolific and voluminous; often writes essay-length entries. Trying to snag an interview with him so I can find out what makes him tick as a top corporate blogger. How and why does he write such long entries. Are his topics strategically selected? Must be a closet writer. Or maybe he's just smart. I'll find out.

ADDENDUM: What Schwartz means by his quote, above, is that he can find more useful information through blog search engines than he can by just doing a quick Google search. In his case, he's looking for conversations, positive or negative, about issues related to open source, etc. Stuff he cares about and that he blogs…

If the blogosphere had elected officials…

Paul Chaney has rounded up "the usual suspects" (that's from Casablanca) and suggested a slate of elected officials for the blogosphere. Microsoft's most high profile blogger, Robert Scoble, as President; law prof Glenn Reynolds as Attorney General, etc. Much as Paul's idea has some charm, I completely disagree with this approach to describing the blogosphere. It misses the point. The point (to my mind) is that blogging is way more than a Paul Chaney has rounded up "the usual suspects" (that's from Casablanca) and suggested a slate of elected officials for the blogosphere. Microsoft's most high profile blogger, Robert Scoble, as President; law prof Glenn Reynolds as Attorney General, etc. Much as Paul's idea has some charm, I completely disagree with this approach to describing the blogosphere. It misses the point. The point (to my mind) is that blogging is way more than a couple hundred folks who've heard of each other's blogs and link back and forth to each other. It's a new way of spreading ideas, starting conversations, informing and persuading that threatens both the established MSM (mainstream media) as well as the way corporate America has been communicating to and marketing to customers (through PR and Madison Avenue ad agencies). Sorry, Paul's slate gets no votes from me. Now click that Comments link below.…

Another view: no business case for blogs

According to a "25-year-old marketing & PR professional" writing in Darwin. I don't agree. But Graeme Thickins makes some good points: Businesses don't like gossip, they're not passionate, they're already time-strapped, they can't write in blog style, etc. Maybe, maybe not. If Bob Lutz can blog for GM, still #3 in this year's just-released Fortune 500 list, then who knows what's possible. And no, Bob isn't baring his soul or spilling GM secrets

According to a "25-year-old marketing & PR professional" writing in Darwin. I don't agree. But Graeme Thickins makes some good points: Businesses don't like gossip, they're not passionate, they're already time-strapped, they can't write in blog style, etc. Maybe, maybe not. If Bob Lutz can blog for GM, still #3 in this year's just-released Fortune 500 list, then who knows what's possible. And no, Bob isn't baring his soul or spilling GM secrets but he does a creditable job in his FastLane blog. Both "comments" and "trackbacks" are enabled per proper blogging etiquette. And he's started to develop a recognizable voice, which is key to good blogging.