30 May 2007

could you use "blog" in a sentence, please?

One of the fun things about traveling to DC for work is the stuff you see at hotels. Yesterday I noticed that there were far more families at the hotel than usual for a weekday. I thought school is out in most places, but even so, there are far fewer business travelers and a LOT more sixth-graders running around than I'm used to seeing in a hotel. Then I noticed the sign in front of the hotel ballroom: The 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee. How cool is that?

Most people who have watched a spelling bee have seen the contestant get a super-hard word and then the kid asks for the word in a sentence, and the country of origin. I know those things are useful, but sometimes I think they're just trying to get comfortable with the task, spending some time thinking of the word, engaging slowly, gaining confidence.

That's what many companies are doing right now with social media. They're trying to understand its origins. Trying to place social media in its proper context. I'm working with a lot of companies right now, introducing them to blogs for the first time. I have to establish a comfort level. find the right fit. help the company understand the value of building new relationships with new community leaders. I'm leaning a lot on the relationships with bloggers I've already built, to help the company feel more comfortable.

So many people in this social media world are wondering aloud when blogs will be a requirement for the fortune 500 crowd. they don't know why people haven't embraced all the new social media tools. I think it would help if we just explained where the word "blog" comes from.

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