Marketing Roadmaps

Blogging

Blog withdrawal and Back up your Blog!!!

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So TypePad had some more problems over the weekend. Since I don’t tend to blog over the weekend, I didn’t even notice, except my Mom asked me about two disappearing posts…

Apparently I was in the minority, as quite a storm ensued in the blogosphere. Many folks experienced severe withdrawal and high anxiety at not being able to blog and lost posts. Lots of criticism of Six Apart (constructive and otherwise).

While I agree that there really is no good excuse for so many problems in such a short period of time, and hope that Six Apart gets its act together, it occurs to me that folks need to remember three basic things about computing.

  1. We have choices. We can switch platforms — blogging, browser, whatever — if we don’t like what we’ve got. May not be easy but so it goes.
  2. When a system goes down, and they do, just go do something else for awhile. There is a world beyond blogging 🙂 
  3. Back up your blog. It’s that simple. Then it won’t matter so much if/when your blog service has a problem.

Backchannels at conferences. Huh? Why?

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A little behind in my schedule for the year end blog posts, but the promised trade shows post should be tomorrow. The puppies ARE really cute!

In the meantime, my thoughts about official backchannels at conferences.

I would not want to be a speaker at a conference that broadcasts an official "backchannel" behind the speakers. When I speak in public, I want the audience to be paying attention to me. I work very hard to create a memorable, interesting, usually interactive session so they will. If someone in the audience is bored, I’d prefer it if they just left. If more than one person in the audience is bored, they can leave together. And if everyone is bored, well then, I haven’t really done my job, have I? And I won’t get a lot of speaking invites.

I know this "backchannel" is the "in thing" these days, but why go to the conference if all you are going to do is chat with your friends? You can do that at home for a LOT LESS money. Unless of course the point of going to the conference isn’t to learn something or share something, but rather to be seen…..MMMM?

I realize that even without a sponsored, official chat, people at a tech conference will be emailing, chatting, using their crackberries etc. Bad enough, in my opinion. I don’t even like to hand out copies of my presentations in advance because I hate it when people read ahead.   

And I suppose since we know people are going to be doing it anyway, better to have a sponsored chat room so all attendees are included rather than private little cliquey things of just the "in" people. I know, you are flabbergasted that cliques can develop in an industry. 🙂

But broadcasting the backchannel chat behind the speaker. Nope, not for me. Can’t think of a single good reason to do it.

Check out Elisa Camahort’s post Backchannel Smackdown. She makes a number of excellent points about backchannels, and has links to most of the relevant blogs involved in the Trott/Metcalfe les blogs incident — if you aren’t already bored with it, that is 🙂

Probably will write more on backchannels when I write about trade shows. And please, if there is a good reason to broadcast the backchannel behind the speaker, I’d love to hear it.  Have one if you must, but don’t force it on the speaker and those in the audience who came to hear what the speaker has to say.

Round-Up

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Just a last few, somewhat random things.

Further on Web 2.0 hype from Hypocritical, Web 2.0 Design Checklist.  ROTFLMAO — and if you don’t know what that acronym means, please refer to your Web 1.0 manual 🙂

From Marketing Tom, Santa’s blog and a pointer to a Harvard Business School article on corporate blogging. 

Two items from NevOn: Global Internet Stats, and The importance of continuity of personal presence. And a reminder to listen to Neville’s twice weekly podcast with Shel Holz, For Immediate Release.

On to new content tomorrow and Monday!!

The “Best Of” Post

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At the end/beginning of a year, some bloggers like to publish a "Best Of" post of the favorite/most popular posts from the previous year.

I am not going to do that.

Sure, it’s an easy post to write, and probably something of an ego-boost, that you can have a "Top Ten" list. But something of a cop-out too, Ithink. If you have past material that you’d like to revisit, by all means do so, but add something new to the conversation as you do. Don’t just give us a list.

Instead, my year end posts are going to touch on some areas of the marketing plan that I haven’t written much about in the past year. Advertising, trade shows, discounts, channel marketing. I’m sure I’ll touch on my fave topics of PR, direct mail, integrating sales & marketing and blogging as well, but I thought it’d be a nice change of pace.  Expect the first posts early next week.

In the meantime, later today I’ll be wrapping up a few other random bits from the past month’s accumulated bloglines.

Random acts of blogging

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I have a series of posts in mind to wrap up the year, which I will probably start over the weekend.

For today, I have a whole bunch of interesting stuff to comment on that has accumulated over the past month or so, while I was feverishly working so I could take two weeks off, followed by the mostly off-line vacation. 

In no particular order.

Blog comment spam: I increasingly find myself the victim of blog comment spam. I usually just delete it and move on.  Here are two takes on the issue: from Blog Business World, some ideas for how to manage it and from Jeremy Pepper, some words about blogs that do not allow comments for fear of spam.

One thing I am thinking about: I have noticed that the comment spam always seems to be on the same old posts, leading me to suspect a script of some sort. I AM considering turning off comments on these older posts, with a note explaining why comments have been turned off for any legit folks who want to comment on the topics.

Web 2.0. Okay, I am trying, really, to understand why we need to define a Web 2.0. Sexist though it may be, I’m wondering, is this kind of a "guy thing" — the need to define and box up things? How does any of this help customers and who really cares? Why do we have to put it in a box? Because as Elisa Camahort says in her post, a version number implies something finished and definable,and that ain’t the web that I know.

Seriously, please, can someone explain to me what Web 2.0 is all about, other than a way for companies to promote their offerings ("Web 2.0 compatible, whatever that is), and for consultants and analysts to make money explaining it to everyone. Simple words please. I’m just wondering, "where’s the beef?"

Here are a number of other posts about Web 2.0. I’ve read ’em all, and I am still confused….

I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the call to action by Steve Rubel for PR agencies to figure out this new media thing. Huh?!  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, actually you are very lucky — it is a tempest in a very small teapot, a major ego-fest and I am 100% with David Parmet: YAWN!! He has the link in his post to the memeorandum thread if you have the inclination.

Those who are doing things will just keep on doing. If you want to posture, position and pontificate, go for it, help yourself to happiness. I’d rather just get on with it. Some other interesting commentary on same: 

Character blogs. As many of my readers know, I have strong opinions about character blogs –I believe they are a valid blog form, albeit hard to do well. About a year ago, this debate took off flying. A year later, here are a couple of anniversary commentaries:

That’s it for random acts of blogging. This weekend I will start my end of year series…..