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Stuff that’s sitting on my desk that’s worth a read, but I don’t have a ton to say about: [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While an army of bloggers have been complaining about PR pitches, Ewan MacLeod has the opposite problem. MacLeod, who writes SMS Text News and blogs at Mobile Industry Review, likes getting pitched. He even reaches out to PR people representing mobile companies in search of news. Amazingly, he’s more likely than not to be told they don’t have anything for him . [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Baldilocks has been in my blogroll since early in the history of this blog. I followed a link to a post of hers, liked it, and kept reading. I haven't dropped by lately (there are just too many good blogs to keep up with), which is a shame. I'd forgotten Juliette's military background regarding Russia, so I missed some good posts (like this and this and this and this ) about the Georgia situation. Including this valuable observation: it's about tribalism . [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Carnival of Education is open for your entertainment and edification at Bellringers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WordPress blogs are getting increasingly social, giving readers the ability to bookmark your site to a number of services, get to know you better in more ways than just your comments section (and vice versa), and view your activity on a variety of social sites. We’ve compiled a list of more than 30 plugins that will let you make your WordPress blog more social. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Let’s clear the clutter out of my blog lines and share some great posts and such that I haven’t gotten to: [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ah ha, caught you, didn’t I? You started to blurt out an answer, then stopped. I know I did, when I read a “Big Idea” post on FastCompany with the provocative title, ”Text messaging has become a likely alternative to traditional media releases.” Barack Obama will announce his vice-presidential running mate on Twitter. People who follow Obama on Twitter will be the first to learn who will round out the Democratic ticket (including journalists). Who needs a press release? Obama’s move is great on a number of levels, but I’ve no doubt the Obama campaign will still issue a release articulating all the right talking points. So, I thought to myself, a Twitter-first strategy isn’t really an alternative to a news release, because a news release is… And I stopped. To define what a news release is today, it’s useful to revisit what it used to be. There are three important points to keep in mind: The publics organizations wanted to reach relied on mainstream media to deliver content. There was no “pull.” There were two ways to get a message out through the mainstream media: Biu it (advertising) or earn the coverage (PR). Journalists—the gatekeepers—had limited channels through which they could receive organizations’ news: phone, fax, wire services, the postal system and (more recently) email. News releases worked all the way around. Organizations could distribute them by fax, wire service, the mail and email. Reporters learned about news to cover and got a kick-start on their reporting. Publics had access to this information. (Yes, a lot of what was and is communicated in press releases is crap. But a lot of useful and important news and information has also been conveyed in press releases.) Fast-forward to today. To begin with, the publics organizations want to reach are made up of individuals who are able to choose one or several channels to receive information. They can choose what to read and they are not forced to rely on any single medium or gatekeeper to get it. The media are not limited to old channels for story leads or research. A study by Brodeur revealed a growing reliance on blogs by journalists as sources of information. Finally, organizations are not limited to the media in order to convey information and make announcements. But—and here’s the kicker—organizations still have to communicate news and information and there are people who still have an interest in knowing what that news and information is. So, in this environment, what is a news release? It is not any one thing. There is no single bolt-from-the-sky alternative; you can’t “kill traditional releases and just blog it.” I submit that a news release is the communication of an organization’s news or other announcements through all appropriate channels in a transparent manner using tools that work in harmony and open the door to further conversation on the information released. Let’s say, for example, you’re announcing a new product line. A news release would include… Blog posts from the CEO, the brand manager, and anybody else in the company that has a perspective on the news. A tweet of the news through appropriate Twitter accounts, including any “official” company account as well as employees who have established themselves as company representatives (think RichardatDell). The official company tweet can include a link to the authoritative statement of record, while the tweets of the individual employees can link to their own blog posts. It most likely happens as a matter of course, but the ... [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dell is out with a new blog they created just for me. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tara Rowe at Political Game  writes about the damaging inaccuracy of talk radio from a man who is unemployed and listens to talk radio: [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I was running a daylong seminar that led one of the participants to fire off a blogging proposal to her CEO via her Blackberry. She shared with me the two-word answer that came back within minutes: [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This week’s memories edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is hosted by Sprittibee. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Carnival of Education is at full swing at Pass the Torch. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Carnival of Education is at full swing at Pass the Torch. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ten, five, even two years ago, documenting a road trip meant disposable cameras, a fold-out map, postage stamps and planning ahead. Now a road trip means streaming video, GPS, email, and Hotels.com. (OTCBB:IACPP) (NASDAQ:IACI) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dear Adam’s readers, thank you for kind and gentle words of rebukes and encouragements. I take them to heart and learn from them. They are very much appreciated. Thank you, also, for putting up with me. lol. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I’m back in Boise after a very week that had many highlights but also seemed to give truth to the saying, “I need a vacation from my vacation.” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Participation in social media has been hit-and-miss among the last several IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) chairs. Even with an existing chair’s blog available to them, eliminating the chore of starting a new blog from scratch, IABC’s president, Julie Freeman , has been more likely to post items than the chairs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Carnival of Education is in full swing at The Chancellor’s New Clothes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Consent of the Governed is hosting the Boy Scout edition of the Carnival Of Homeschooling . [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The topic of blogs and their authors and owners and what exactly defines their place on the ladder of the journalism industry never quite fully goes away. That’s because there’s always something or other that drives the commentariat to reflect on the present, compare it to the past, and try to forecast the future. Some of the latest noise to be made over the matter of “the great divide” has been sparked by Robert Scoble, a writer/videographer/journeyman for Fast Company magazine. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

-By Warner Todd Huston [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Carnival of Education is up at The Ed Wonks’ place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The controversy over Kevin Richert and Dave Olivera quoting me will pause, because I won’t be here to quote.    [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This week’s Carnival of Homeschooling , hosted by Life on the Road, has a Labors of Hercules theme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Allen Stern over at CenterNetworks has been asking a number of interesting questions over the last six months or so, starting with the question of whether an RSS feed is worth a buck. Today, in a continuance of this professional blogger introspective, he asks what you’re doing to put food on his table.  The whole question is neatly explained and contained in this video embedded below. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Blogging for all intents and purposes has been around for about the ten year mark. During that time it has gone through many changes as more platforms and tools became available that made it easier and easier for just about anyone to become a blogger. Styles of blogs have grown as well with everything from the original personal weblog style right through to today’s political blogs, tech blogs, and one of the hottest niches around – mommy blogging. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Text style blogging that has become the everyday common expectation of the way blogging is, has been going steady now for the better part of ten years. Now we have things like Twitter, which many refer to as micro-blogging and is, regardless of things like Twhirl, still a text based medium. Even FriendFeed, which is more of an aggregator but many people seem to consider yet another style of micro-blogging, is text based even though you can add pictures or video to your stream. For a while podcasting was heralded as the next big thing to take over from text-based blogging but it has had more of an up and down acceptance factor. It hasn’t replaced traditional blogging by any stretch of the imagination, although it is recently seeing a resurgence of popularity. When podcasting came along and started making its way out of a very small niche it was proclaimed by many to be the next generation of blogging, but to date it hasn’t proved to be any threat at all. As anything to do with technology there are always bright shiny new things that captivate us and get us rushing around like silly little fools telling anyone who will listen that a paradigm shift is going to happen – we are going to find our information flow radically changed forever because something new is on the horizon. Such was the case with video blogging, which really gained almost mainstream attention with iJustine and 24 hour video lifecasting. We were being told that things in the blogosphere and the Internet in general would never be the same again. (more...) ---Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:Magnify’s Really Cool Video and Image Search Tool for BlogsRevver Plug-in for WordpressCoverItLive Now Lets You Add Qik Mobile Video to Your Live BlogsHictu Adds Video Posts to its Micro-Blogging ServiceICTV Changes Name To ActiveVideo Networks, Broadens VisionUtterz Adds Audio/Video Direct Uploads for PodcastingMillions of MySpacers Rejoice: Photobucket Videos are Back [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Text style blogging that has become the everyday common expectation of the way blogging is, has been going steady now for the better part of ten years. Now we have things like Twitter, which many refer to as micro-blogging and is, regardless of things like Twhirl, still a text based medium. Even FriendFeed, which is more of an aggregator but many people seem to consider yet another style of micro-blogging, is text based even though you can add pictures or video to your stream. For a while podcasting was heralded as the next big thing to take over from text-based blogging but it has had more of an up and down acceptance factor. It hasn’t replaced traditional blogging by any stretch of the imagination, although it is recently seeing a resurgence of popularity. When podcasting came along and started making its way out of a very small niche it was proclaimed by many to be the next generation of blogging, but to date it hasn’t proved to be any threat at all. As anything to do with technology there are always bright shiny new things that captivate us and get us rushing around like silly little fools telling anyone who will listen that a paradigm shift is going to happen – we are going to find our information flow radically changed forever because something new is on the horizon. Such was the case with video blogging, which really gained almost mainstream attention with iJustine and 24 hour video lifecasting. We were being told that things in the blogosphere and the Internet in general would never be the same again. (more...) ---Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:CoverItLive Now Lets You Add Qik Mobile Video to Your Live BlogsMagnify’s Really Cool Video and Image Search Tool for BlogsRevver Plug-in for WordpressHictu Adds Video Posts to its Micro-Blogging ServiceICTV Changes Name To ActiveVideo Networks, Broadens VisionUtterz Adds Audio/Video Direct Uploads for PodcastingMillions of MySpacers Rejoice: Photobucket Videos are Back [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In his first re-election campaign, Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) then age 29 faced off against a powerful Democratic politician. Here’s how one of their encounters went: Smith faced a difficult race for reelection in 1982, when he was opposed by former New Jersey Senate President Joseph P. Merlino. At the end of one of their debates, Smith approached Merlino to exchange pleasantries. Merlino was quoted as saying “Beat it, kid.” Merlino, the powerful elder statesman and lost and Congressman Smith is to this day, Congressman Smith and beyond challenge. Reading the latest comments from the leftosphere reminded me of this incident. Alan at Idablue believes I should be persona non grata at the Idaho Statesman: Oh, and please, tell Kevin Richert that he ought to give Adam his own column or find somebody else to quote. Richert once said he quotes Adam so much because the Idaho right is a vast wasteland of rational thought, er, no, sorry, that’s not it, it’s because the right has such a small presence on the blogosphere and he has few choices. Well, the constant appearance of Adam on the Statesman’s op-ed page is giving him credence (that I don’t think he deserves) as the reporting on Fischer’s and Swindell’s activities is giving them. Oh no, Adam Graham gets 3 paragraphs in the Statesman. You must stop him! Must stop quoting him! Criticism leveled about Bryan Fischer being quoted was proceeded by Bryan being quoted less. As gratifying as it is to be quoted by my hometown paper, I’m even more gratified by the comments I get from other sources. However, I’m also encouraged that I must be saying something right. As Mike Huckabee said, “If you’re getting ftlack,  you must be over the target.” Of course, why am I so problematic? As I’ve written, I think Adam became politically aware at the zenith of the influence of the religious right, a group he is proudly square in the middle of. Part of their reactionary world view is that they are a persecuted minority - victims - that must battle the forces of secularism. He is young enough that he doesn’t see the zenith as the peak; he doesn’t have sufficient political experience to put it into context. I’m young and inexperienced, says the Democrat. By the way, I assume then he would urge Democrats to go out and vote for John McCain for President and in District 18 to choose Julie Ellsworth over my peer in age, Branden Durst. I do not often boast of accomplishments and credentials but as the gentleman on the left has called my credibility into question, let me tell you. Unlike a lot of people my age and liberals who are older than me, I’m under no impression that the History of mankind began with my birth. I’m also aware of global affairs and how the secularist agenda has progressed worldwide to lead to long-running show trials in places like Canada and Sweden, where folks of moderate means are, if not tried, they’re driven into poverty for standing up for biblical truths. I’ve studied extensively the history of movements, people, and leaders.   I’m subscribed to more than 120 different news and blog feeds and scan about 2000 seperate headlines from sources as diverse as Pam’s House Blend, Talk Left,  and on the right, people like Jill Stanek, Michelle Malkin, and Don Surber. I read o feeds from the AP, Reuters, and various magazines. I have 2 years of College-level journalism training with a focus in Communications.   ... [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Summer is the theme of the Carnival of Homeschooling at Red Sea School. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the current Family Chronicle, Janice Nickerson has an engaging article on writing your family history one short story at a time. She provided several great theme suggestions for story projects and I especially enjoyed her delightful ideas for getting genealogically-challenged family members to help write stories for you. It’s an informative article [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Blogging Family History", url: "http://moultriecreek.us/family/?p=821" });In the current Family Chronicle, Janice Nickerson has an engaging article on writing your family history one short story at a time. She provided several great theme suggestions for story projects and I especially enjoyed her delightful ideas for getting genealogically-challenged family members to help write stories for you. It’s an informative article and well worth reading. It’s also a lesson we bloggers have already learned. The primary reason I started my Moultrie Creek blog was to write short family stories along with stories about my hometown and the characters who have inhabited it. I don’t have the patience to build a complete family narrative, but I do have a lot of stories to tell and as my research continues I find even more. Blogging is a wonderful medium for people like me. In addition to providing a platform to develop stories and include photos, video, scanned documents and other ephemera, it also allows me to share the stories with my family and even make new connections with research cousins. By taking advantage of blog features such as categories and tags I can organize my stories by family, location and era even though I wrote them in no apparent order. If I decide I want more permanence, I can take advantage of services like Blurb to slurp [their word, not mine] my blog posts - text, images, comments and links - into a beautifully bound book. Although I’m no way near ready to do that, it is an intriguing idea. In the meantime, I’ll continue to tell my stories one blog post at a time. ShareThis [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Jason Calacanis, the supreme linkbaiter he is, goes theatrical in his last post, in which he announced he’s supposedly quitting blogging , replacing it with a smaller, private, mailing list affair. Essentially, he asks a question: has blogging lost its soul? Has it become too large; has the pressure to be quicker than the other guy taken a toll on the quality; is the real conversation (blogs are, after all, conversations) gone from blogging forever? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I have a friend in Chicago who would like to start a College Sports Talk Show Podcast. I’d be willing to do it except I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to College Sports. If you’re interested in co-hosting a College Sports show, e-mail me and I’ll forward it on to him. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

First, a humorous global warming video: [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Last September, Southwest Airlines found itself embroiled in a controversy when a passenger was asked to get off the plane because she was, according to ground personnel, dressed inappropriately. The passenger was able to re-board only if she used a blanket to cover her legs. Southwest addressed the issue on its blog—more than once. President Colleen Barrett wrapped up the issue that had already been discussed on the blog, linking to a press release that included a statement by CEO Gary Kelly. Since Southwest opted to tackle the kerfuffle on its blog—an action with which I agree—the company raised an expectation that the blog would be the channel to communicate about all such incidents. Which is why it’s curious that Southwest’s blog (not to mention its other formal channels) have remained silent in light of the news coverage of a family that was not allowed to board a connecting flight because the kids had been unruly on the first leg of the trip. The tale involves Wendy Slaughter, her four kids, and her pregnant sister, who were flying from Michigan to Seattle with a stop in Phoenix. Reports indicate that the flight crew had exhausted efforts to get the kids to settle down. When the plane landed in Phoenix, police were on hand to meet the family, who were barred from getting on the next flight. The police picked up the cost of meals and a cheap motel. The childrens’ grandmother ponied up $2,000 to have the family flown from Phoenix to Seattle on Alaska Airlines. (NYSE:ALK) Reports indicate that passengers supported Southwest’s allegation of disrputive behavior. As a frequent traveler, I question the assumption that Southwest overreacted or made an inappropriate decision. I’m always amazed and discouraged at the number of parents who make no effort to control their kids on planes. I’d happily take a dollar for every time I’ve had to turn around and ask a kid to stop kicking my seat while the parent sat quiet and oblivious. (One parent even took issue with my talking to the child.) In Southwest’s case, a company spokesperson—Christi Day—responded to an inquiry from a Phoenix TV news reporter: The family’s interaction with authorities in Phoenix prevented our employees from offering the family options and accommodations. Our concern was echoed in the police report and by other passengers onboard, and it became very clear to us that we needed to address the situation before it escalated further. That quote appeared in an Arizona Republic story. Another statement appeared in coverage by the Seattle Post Intelligencer: Over the course of a four-hour flight, our Inflight Crew exhausted all of their resources to resolve the situation, and their efforts were recognized by other concerned passengers. By the family’s own admission to the media, the children were, ‘out of control, restless, and excited. A Google News search finds 48 news articles dealing with the story. CNN covered it and made the video available on its website. Bloggers have been writing about it, too, notably, and Autism Vox, where the story was covered under the heading, “More Unfriendly Skies.” It turns out two of the children have medical conditions—autism and cerebal palsey, which makes the family suddenly a lot more sympathetic to readers of reports. The perception was reinforced when Southwest agreed to refund the Slaughter family the Phoenix-Seattle portion of their fares. Several headlines focused on the condition, such as the one that labeled its story, “Family Kicked Off Plane Due To Autistic Son Gets A Refund.” Did Southwest know about the children’s condition? Did flight personnel ... [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

You asked for a preview feature on comments — and you’ve got it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A lot of choices have to be made when a company decides to launch an official blog. Among these choices: Who will represent the company on the blog? If you opt for a single blogger, you need to decide whether to tap someone already working for the company or hire a blogger. eBay opted for the latter, Real Networks for the former. Either way, that individual can potentially become a significant voice for the organization. Some have argued the danger in this approach: If the blogger leaves the company to join, say, a competitor, the audience goes, too. While this may happen from time to time, I don’t buy it as an argument against an individual blogger. After all, key spokespeople have been changing jobs since long before the birth of the blogosphere. And if readers are as interested in the company as its blogger, they may just find themselves reading two blogs—the original blogger now talking about another company and the new blogger at the original company. The other approach is a group blog. Some of the best corporate blogs are group blogs, including Direct2Dell, Southwest Airlines’ blog, GM’s Fastlane blog and TSA’s Evolution of Security. FastLane’s key blogger is GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, but other key car executives—mostly people reporting to LUtz—also weigh in. At Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) , a number of employees representing the spectrum of jobs at the company were vetted and trained to blog. Some observers dislike group blogs because they dilute the single voice that can be so compelling on a one-person blog. However, a range of voices from throughout the organization can be equally appealing. There are other benefits to a group blog: Nobody is required to spend too much time blogging. A post every couple weeks from each blogger assures a steady stream of fresh content. When an issue arises, there is somebody already blogging who is likely to be able to address it based on his or her area of expertise. If the blog is determined to be the best channel for a message from the president or CEO, the channel already exists even if the senior executive hasn’t made much use of it. GM’s Rick Wagoner has blogged on GM’s group blog; Gary Kelly at Southwest has done the same. The most important advantage of a group blog, though, is that it reveals some of the real people in the organization to the public. The blogs listed above have demonstrated the good that comes from letting customer interact directly with employees. There’s also a financial advantage: Define an organization as you will, but without people, it’s nothing. The quality of an organization’s employees will have much to do with the company’s success or failure. Smart people communicating intelligently, candidly, and publicly about their jobs, the company, and the industry can only serve to inspire confidence in investors. There’s no single right answer, of course; the choice between an individual and a group blog depends on what your company is trying to achieve with an official corporate blog. Weigh your options and choose what’s best for your company, but don’t automatically assume one approach is intrinsically better than the other. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Glenn Reynolds reports that Clifford Shoemaker, the Virginia trial lawyer who subpoenaed blogging librarian Kathy Seidel, got spanked by the judge for his efforts . Here's background on the case. Seidel wrote her own motion to quash the subpoena and won - and now a judge has sanctioned the lawyer as well. As I wrote back in April, her motion was a brilliantly written defense of her First Amendment rights. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Carnival of Education is in full swing at An Aspiring Educator’s Blog. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Part 5: Comments. They're what keep you up at night. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Part 3: Impact of Social Media on Customer Care Customers are engaging with social media. So are many companies. For example, nearly 12 percent of the US Fortune 500 companies have a blog of some kind. The benefits that accrue for both individuals and companies include deeper relationships with peers and customers, increased awareness of the brand, whether personal, professional or corporate, broader and deeper professional networks, improved search engine rankings and increased traffic to the website.But what about the specific impact on customer care? How has the social media explosion changed the playing field for customer service and consumer affairs professionals?As noted earlier, postings on customer care experiences influence purchase decisions. In the SNCR study, 74% reported that they choose companies and brands based on others’ customer care experiences shared online. . Source: Society for New Communications Research, Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in the Age of Social MediaThe SNCR study also reveals an opportunity. While consumers feel that one person can influence many about a bad customer care experience, only 30% of the respondents thought that businesses take customer opinions seriously. And that’s the opportunity – to start listening and acting on what customers may be saying online. Source: Society for New Communications Research, Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in the Age of Social Media This is a scary idea for many -- indeed most – companies, mostly because we tend to focus on the negative. And there is negative, no question. There aren’t many people in business who don’t know the story of Dell Hell, and how one prominent blogger’s negative postings about Dell customer service exploded into a serious PR problem for the computer maker in 2005.However, it’s not all bad. Customers leave unsolicited positive comments about the products and services they love every day on blogs, review sites and discussion forums. And for the most part, companies are just as silent. But not Dell. The company launched its Direct2Dell blog in July 2006 to engage directly and publicly with customers about problems. Though the blog had a rocky start, Dell succeeded in showing even its most severe critics that it was both paying attention and acting on customer feedback. The company monitors consumer sentiment in the blogosphere and has seen its negative rating decline from 49 percent negative in August 2006 to 21 percent negative in January 2008 (Source: Presentation at New Comm Forum 08 by Richard Binhammer, Dell)There are two very important lessons from the Dell experience. First, top management support is absolutely essential. Customer feedback must be actionable. Dell had that support from Michael Dell. Second, your best customer is often the formerly unhappy customer. Jeff Jarvis, the blogger who launched Dell Hell in 2005, wrote a positive piece about the company’s efforts for BusinessWeek in October 2007 and commented on his own blog Buzz Machine: “After giving Dell hell two years ago, I may well be accused of throwing them a wet kiss now. It’s a positive piece. But it’s hard not to praise them when they ended up doing everything I was pushing in my open letter to Michael Dell. I’m not saying that I caused that, just that we ended up agreeing and they ended up seeing the value in listening to and ceding control to customers. They reached out to bloggers; they blogged; they found ways to listen to and follow the advice of their customers. They joined the conversation. That’s all we asked.” (October 18, 2007) --- In part 4, we'll discuss what customer service should do about and with ... [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The good pitch/bad pitch series is going on a brief hiatus. Not because I don't have enough material, heavens no. I have plenty. Especially bad. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article is based on a workshop I delivered at the SOCAP International Symposium in April. Part 1- Defining Social Media: Blogs & Microblogs [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Of all the questions I’m asked about social media, its applicability in business-to-business companies is probably the most common. Come to think of it, it’s not always posed in the form of a question. Just as often, it’s a statement: “There’s no role for social media in B-to-B.” Social media actually makes more sense in B-to-B companies than business-to-consumer firms. A lot of B-to-B companies evidently agree. In a 2007 report by Forrester, researcher Laura Ramos found that, as of the end of 2006, nearly 40% of B2B marketers surveyed used blogs, social networks, or user-generated content in their efforts. The benefits of social media to B-to-B companies is simple: It’s all about relationships. B-to-C companies nearly always need to get their messages to large, amorphous groups of people; the companies have no relationship with the vast majority of those people. In most B-to-B environments, companies know exactly who their customers and prospective customers are. Social media provides B-to-B companies with a channel to have conversations that you’d like to have one-on-one with every customer and prospect, but just can’t. Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA) , a social media poster child, gets this. (Most people don’t think about it, but Sun is primarily a B-to-B company; you’re not likely to find a rackmount server at Best Buy and the average customer isn’t likely to download and install Solaris.) Commenting about the value of having his employees blogging about their work, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz said… I don’t have the advertising budget to get our message to, for instance, Java developers working on handset applications for the medical industry. But one of our developers, just be taking time to write a blog, can do a great job getting our message out to a fanatic readership. Hat tip to Phil Gomes for that quote, by the way. During an interview for my upcoming book (Tactical Transparency, co-authored by John C. Havens), Schwartz offered additional insight into the value of engaging B-to-B customers through social media: I don't just sell to my customers, I love my customers. I embrace my customers and ask them to embrace me, . I ask them for their insights and input. As a result, the products we build become assets of those communities. Somebody who feels part of a community is going to be a much more aggressive evangelist for our products than someone who just paid $29.95 for it at a big-box retailer. Those customers become “aggressive evangelists” because Sun—using social media as a channel for transparency—shares with customers “what's next for a product, how we are going to manage our relationship with them, how we are going to treat them.” That’s exactly the kind of insight that can be shared on a B-to-B blog, along with other carefully-chosen social media tools. Is there really a reason to worry about the competition? Some worry that such open, transparent communication can give too much away to the competition. I view this worry from two angles. First, if it really is something the competition shouldn’t see, don’t communicate it—not on a blog, not in a press release, not in any venue that can result in unintended disclosure. But I do have to wonder how much of this concern targets information from which competitors couldn’t really benefit. After all, if you’re already talking about it, how quickly could a competitor catch up with you? (I once read a quote about excessive focus on the competition that stuck with me: ... [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If you read any blogs at all, you've probably heard about the AP copyright kerfuffle . First, the AP went after the left-wing blog Drudge Retort for posting excerpts (33 to 79 words) from AP stories. Now, they want you to pay for permission to post excerpts, and the fee schedule starts at 5-25 words ($12.50). Apparently, the concept of fair use is utterly unknown to them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]