AMY GAHRAN: The Right Conversation

Accounting for Community: Thoughts for the BlogHer Business Summit

                                               

Stig Nygaard, via Flickr (CC license)

"Toto, I don't think we're in Boulder anymore..."

I'm in New York right now, and on Friday afternoon I'll be on a panel at the BlogHer Business Summit that I'm really looking forward to. Here's the official blurb from the conference program:

An RFP for the Measurement Industry

Where is the blog measurement tool that could measure more than "eyeballs," more than "authority" via inbound links, and could begin to approach measuring influence and relevance? [The panelists will] scope out what is, is not and ought to be available.

The panel will also include Edelman PR's Elizabeth Lee and LiveWorld's Jenna Woodul. Jory Des Jardins, one of the BlogHer founders and a gifted blogger in her own right will be moderating.

Gee... No pressure...

Frankly, I've been stressing a bit about this session. For a long time I've felt I was missing something very obvious about this topic. I've been worrying that I'm going to get up in front of an audience of people I respect and look like an idiot. Perhaps I'm about to do just that.

Regardless, something just occurred to me. I'd like to hear what you think about it...

2000 Bloggers: Helpful, Harmless, or a Problem?

(UPDATE FEB. 6: Technorati took action to nullify the ranking effect of 2000 bloggers, and Tino Buntic decided -- wisely, I think -- to take the project down. Read more...)

Some of you may have already seen Tino Buntic's 2000 Bloggers meme currently making the rounds online. It's an interesting project, featuring a large photomontage of all the bloggers connected so far. (More on this project.) I was included on this list, which I take as a compliment.

Basically, this project is about making a diverse collection of bloggers (from the A-list to the unknown) more visible -- a laudable goal. And, undoubtedly, it's certainly raised the profile of Tino's blog -- and that's fine. I've got nothing against self-promotion.

However, I have to wonder whether there might be an unintended downside to this project...

How Do You Follow Your Industry?

Recently a reader of Ask Dave Taylor posed an intriguing question:  "What can [I] and my staff do to ensure we are constantly aware of changes in [our] marketplace and always on top of [our] ever-changing industry?"

My friend and colleague Dave Taylor (right) offered a thoughtful response. He wrote, "I believe that there are four main areas where you can learn what's going on in your industry: customers, news wire services, weblogs and traditional channels." Then he went on to explain how he uses each one.

This discussion forced me to consider how I really keep up with my industry -- not just the sources I believe I should consult, but the ones I actually use regularly. Not surprisingly, conversational media plays a leading role in all the fields I have to follow.

Here's how I responded to Dave...

Starting conversations online: What's different?

I'm starting to collect my thoughts, observations, and explorations in conversational media into a more coherent body of work. This will take several forms over time: a book, a wiki, and most likely a podcast series. But I believe in starting small and simply, so this is the first in a series of blog postings that I hope will yield considerable fodder for my larger effort.

In short: You can help me write this book. In fact, I can't do it without you. This is, after all, about conversational media -- so I need to have other folks involved.

The best place to begin, I suppose, is with how conversations start. So here's an open question:

What's different about how conversations begin online? Anywhere online -- blogs, forums, chat, e-mail, etc. -- as opposed to on the phone, print/broadcast, handwriting, via carrier pigeon, or in person?

...I'd love it if you'd share your thoughts either in a comment below, or in a posting to your own blog or forum. (Send me a link to it, of course.) Provide recent examples to illustrate your  points, if possible.

Here are my initial thoughts on this topic....