ASAE: Bloggercon followup
There already are some great posts about the Bloggercon on Sunday at ASAE and The Center’s annual meeting in Chicago here,
here, and here, for example. So I won’t go into it much here.
I did want to clarify something that I didn’t get to say during our session, though. At the end, we went around the room and gave one tip we had found useful in our blogging. Being totally unprepared, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, which was to post frequently. I got a fair amount of pushback on that one from the “quality is better than quantity” folks, but I stand by it when it comes to certain types of blogs.
Yes, if you’re posting deep, thoughtful, long posts of original material, you’re not going to do it every day (unless you don’t have a day job, that is!). But there are many different types of blogs, and not all of them are like that. And I think that’s OK—probably because, as you’ve probably noticed, face2face ain’t one of them!
I absolutely see the value of educational blogs with entries that are more like small journal articles, and I agree that you can’t throw that sort of thing up on your blog too frequently without burning out your readers (and yourself). But I also see the value of blogs like this one, where I scour the Web for things I think meeting planning and hospitality folks might like to know, but don’t want to spend the time I do searching through all the dreck to find it.
For more news-aggregating blogs like this one, I maintain frequency is key, as is putting in lots of links to more on what’s going on, which may not be as big a deal for other types of blogs. And, I would maintain, that a news-aggregating blog is just as appropriate for an association as the educational type, because it would help members stay on top of the latest news in their industry without having to read 120 online sources to find it every day.
OK, I feel better having been able to finally say that.
asae2007
August 16th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
That actually relates to the tip I would have given if I hadn’t had to leave the bloggercon right at noon: I think it’s important to be true to your own personal blogging style. Some folks are going to enjoy doing a blog like yours, with frequent shorter posts (and some longer ones too). Some people will prefer to write those “small journal article” kinds of posts. And that’s OK. Blogging is a big commitment, and if you try to write in a way you’re not happy and comfortable with, you’re going to hate it in short order. And I think readers can tell whether a blogger is enjoying himself/herself or not …
August 17th, 2007 at 7:43 am
First, it was great to meet yet another blogger that I read pretty regularly. I have said it a few times already but the actual act of connecting an actual person to their thoughts gives you a better insight and understanding of who they are.
Admittedly, I am one of the proponents of quality over quantity but it’s more about what works for me. As you said: “if youâre posting deep, thoughtful, long posts of original material, youâre not going to do it every day…you canât throw that sort of thing up on your blog too frequently without burning out your readers (and yourself)”. I think it really comes down to what works for you, what your readers want (or need) and what purpose you are trying to serve with your blog.
You may have “blurted” out what you said but after having read your explanation I think your statement was pretty insightful. You know yourself, your audience and what works for you and them. There are some unique instances where quantity is as important as quality and this blog is one instance of that. It just goes to prove that there is no “right way” of doing things especially in this rapidly changing medium. I love reading something that challenges conventional thinking and also causes me to rethink my own position, you did just that and that affirms/reaffirms the value of associating yourself with a lot of different people who have different values and perspectives.
I had a hard time knowing how to categorize your blog because I didn’t consider the work I do part of the meeting business. However, as I think through it, we are all part of the business either as producers or consumers of meetings and what you are doing is a huge service. Thanks for helping me add a new dimension to my perspective.
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