Joe Thornley writes up Shel Israel talk in Toronto

Update: this is a repost to correct a Technorati tag. Sorry.

Joe Thornley writes about the ThirdTuesday meetup in Toronto. Shel Israel and journalist Mark Evans were the panelists, while the attendees were the Who's Who in Toronto Social Media.

Joe was the unofficial blogger of the IABC conference in Vancouver, and is a saint for doing these sorts of write-ups.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:51pm in Bloggers | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1)

Joe Thornley writes up Shel Israel talk in Toronto

Joe Thornley writes about the ThirdTuesday meetup in Toronto. Shel Israel and journalist Mark Evans were the panelists, while the attendees were the Who's Who in Toronto Social Media.

Joe was the unofficial blogger of the IABC conference in Vancouver, and is a saint for doing these sorts of write-ups.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:51pm in Bloggers | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0)

Such fun! Copenhagen meetup with Eric Schwartzman

Last night, some of the local social media crowd got to chow down with Eric Schwartzman, PR guy, podcaster and blogger. Eric was in town with his client Andre Lawless after a hectic few days working in the Danish countryside. It was a festive, fun, loud evening and -- and this is the cool thing about social media meetups -- we were old friends within minutes, even though none of us had met more than three or four of the others.

Trine-Maria Kristensen has posted some photos. The other faces are Karin Høgh, Jette Harthimmer, Jan Lund Thomsen, Christine Duus and Asya Partan. And me, of course.

Eric interviewed us all, despite the noisy venue, so you may soon be able to experience Copenhagen vicariously on Eric's 'cast.

I've tagged only the people present with discoverable blogs or podcasts, but I can add others. Just let me know.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:41pm in Bloggers, Denmark, Expatriate Life, Podcasting | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

Communitelligence has feeds after all (mea culpa)

Weelll... I sure stepped in it.

Yesterday, I wrote about Communitelligence, the pretty cool communication portal set up by John Gerstner.

Readers will remember that I had some nitpicking to do about the blogs: smart writers, but no RSS feeds.

John quickly pointed out that they do all have RSS feeds & there's a subscribe button at the bottom of each blog.

Ooops. I don't know what happened there, since I looked once, twice, thrice and sure didn't see it the first time around. After John's note, I spotted it right away.

He also takes pains to stress that Communitelligence is not a "for pay" site. That was a bad choice of wording on my part; you don't have to pay to go there and read. However, it is a commercial enterprise.

At any rate: it's a smart stable of communicator/bloggers over there. Well worth a visit.

Technorati Tags: Communitelligence

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:53pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Communication, Mea Culpas & Outright Retractions | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0)

Communitelligence: smart people, but no RSS

What do you do when smart people write blogs, but don't provide RSS feeds? Well, if you're me, that special effort to go read them can be hard to make.

Today, I wandered over to Communitelligence, a "for pay" communication portal run by John Gerstner, a prominent IABC'er.

To my great surprise, I found any number of IABC friends and colleagues blogging at the site: Robert Holland, Ayelet Baron, John Gerstner, Michael Rudnick, Barbara Puffer...

These are some of the smartest IABC communicators working, and normally their joining us would be of great interest to the rest of us. Perhaps the news got out while I was looking the other way, but I think I would have heard something out there.

Here's what I think has gone wrong:

• Very few of them comment on other people's blogs. Robert Holland does once in a while, but I've never seen a comment anywhere by the others.
• Incredibly few links.
• Highly polished writing: these are, for the most part, carefully crafted, entirely neutral -- and -- given how spirited I know these people to be in person -- a bit bland.
• Infrequent posts.
• No comments allowed on their blogs.
• No trackbacks allowed to them, no trackbacks offered from them
• No RSS feed, guaranteeing only the most voracious of readers will visit often.

In short, while these look "like" blogs, they are anything but. What John has put together is a nice little Web magazine on communication, in format similar to a blog.

Let's hope it becomes much more than that.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 05:28pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Communication | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

Suzanne Salvo, IABC award-winning photographer, launches blog

One of the pleasant outcomes of the recent DRC+Ragan diplomatic problem was running across Suzanne Salvo, a former colleague from the IABC International Executive Board, and a Gold Quill award winner (several times, I believe). Suzanne blogs now -- with photos the rest of us would take if we had the right eye and the right lenses --- and it's a pleasure to read.

Technorati Tags: suzanne salvo, iabc

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:41pm in Bloggers, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

Avian Flu Pandemic: Blogging from the Front Lines (Repost)

10 birds have been found dead of avian flu here in Denmark in the last week.  The Avian Flu story has been around so long, that I suspect many of us have started to tune it out. I know I have.

But that's exactly what we mustn't do if we are to make sure our governments are prepared if the flu mutates so that is easily transmitted to humans.

Below is a repost of a blog entry I made May 28, 2005.

May 28, 2005

Avian Flu Pandemic: Blogging From the Front Lines

"President George Bush has just addressed the press in the East Room of the White House. Here's the transcript: "At this hour, the World Health Organization has declared a full-scale pandemic influenza alert, with person-to-person spread lasting more than two weeks in Cambodia and Vietnam. During previous influenza pandemics in the United States, large numbers of people were ill, sought medical care, were hospitalized and died. On my orders, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have today implemented the nation's draft Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan. It will serve as our road map, on how we as a nation, and as a member of the global health community, respond to the pandemic. We are ready. Thank you, and may God bless America."

So begins the first entry of a fictional blog in this week's issue of Nature. This is the first instance I've seen of using blog format to tell a story (though the estimable Samuel Pepys Diary Blog is a variation), but surely not the last. In fact, I suspect it will become a cliché within months.

Other examples, anyone?

Update: A discussion of if it was anti-American to start with the Bush quote over at Lanuage Log.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:09am in Bloggers, Denmark, Fiction, Healthcare | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

Lee Hopkins survives a year in the blogosphere

Lee Hopkins, of Better Communication Results, passed the 1-year-of-blogging mark this week.

Newsworthy? You tell me. Plenty of bloggers slog through their first year. But Lee has treated us to year of sparkling posts  that jab, entreat, encourage,  and empathize and commiserate with every communicator who reads him. And he does it with humor, insight and aplomb.

Now, careful readers will know that I granted Lee, months ago, the Honorary Futon of Antipodean Communication here at Desirable Roasted Coffee. I could claim deep prescience. The truth is -- and let's not dwell on it  -- Lee got it for taking care of a little outstanding vice rap I had going in Australia (Oh, Lee, before I forget... I didn't know they'd send up to Block J... my bad).

But... guess what?  I'm reappointing Lee to the Futon. This time for the real thing. For communication thinking that's worth getting out of bed for.

Hat's off to Lee Hopkins -- if you are a communicator, you ought to be reading him.  Every day.

(Karen, here's my draft for that Hopkins 1-year post. But don't post it until his check clears. And I mean check; don't be falling for that "frozen kangaroo steaks" thing again.)

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:28pm in Bizarre but Expected, Bloggers, Communication | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

Copenhagen bloggers gather for brunch; end up shouting

Update: Neville writes about us and publishes photos.
Update: Jacob and Jon publish photos.
Update: Henriette posts.

You get a bunch of opinionated bloggers together, and there's going to be words. Loud words.

Friend Neville Hobson was in town this weekend, & while Copenhagen is reeling under the worst snow/ice storm in a couple of years, missing a chance to trade ideas with Neville is pretty much unthinkable. A big chunk of the serious Danish blogosphere thought the same -- Froda & Bindslev, Jacob Bøtter, Trine-Maria Kristensen, and Henriette Weber were also there  -- so we spent Saturday afternoon at brunch together.

Loud, opinionated, shouted (in enthusiasm) idea-rich conversation plus scrambled eggs and coffee? That's a sweet deal.

Neville pulled out a sinister little recording device and made us each cough out some sort of contribution to For Immediate Release. But we all did our part to boost Shel and Neville's ratings.

Some of the others brought cameras, and Neville had a mike. I'll post the links when they are published.

Good to have seen you all!

Technorati Tags: copenhagen geeks

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 02:19am in Bloggers, Copenhagen, Denmark, Desirable Roasted Coffee | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5)

Weber Shandwick blogger will do fine after he learns playground etiquette

Weber Shandwick employee Robert J. Ricci has joined the PR blogosphere, welcomed by über-blogger Steve.

I'm sure he' ll do well, once he adds RSS (so that people will actually read him) and once he learns the rules of the game, one of which is "avoid every appearance of lifting ideas from other PR bloggers without credit":

Robert J. Ricci on November 19 in a post about Google Analytics:

According to EU law, Web site owners who set cookies must not only alert their visitors to the fact, but also explain how they're being used and how they can be disabled.

Swedish PR blogger Fredrik Wackå on the same topic the day before:

According to Swedish and European Union law, it's illegal to set cookies without telling people on the site that you do, what they're used for and how they can be avoided.

Come on... it's not a direct quote-lift, but the two are separated at birth. And Fredrik is the only PR blogger who had addressed the issue.

It's an increasingly common phenomenon, and one that's getting a lot of discussion in private conversations around the PR blogosphere: One or two or three bloggers will post on a subject, and build a conversation. A few days later, a doyen or doyenne  or wannabe will post on the same subject, with no credit, as if the idea struck him out the blue justlikethat.

Maybe clients are fooled into believing you are brilliantly insightful, and maybe that's the point: but the rest of us aren't, so let's just stop it. Give credit when credit is due.

Technorati Tags: son of a pitch, weber shandwick, pr, public relations, ethics, google analytics

Update: Ricci has now credited Wackå (see comments below). The "you" in the last paragraph of my post describes everyone lifting ideas and reworking them with no credit -- it does not refer to Ricci specifically.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 10:10am in Bloggers, Ethics, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (12) | TrackBack (1)

Steve Rubel's Skin Cancer Blog is up

Steve Rubel, PR blogger at Micropersuasion, was diagnosed yesterday with basal cell carcinoma, the least dangerous, but still serious, kind of skin cancer.

I am, frankly, unsure what I would do in the first hours after a cancer diagnosis. What Steve did was a) proceed with a planned business trip, b)  plan a Skin Cancer Blog , and c)  less than 24 hours later, launch the blog.

Respect!

Technorati tags:
Skin Cancer

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:15pm in Bloggers, Healthcare | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Arla Foods, Europe's biggest dairy, launches 3 blogs

UPDATE: 31 October. A couple of comments to this post have led me to make a new post today.

Arla Foods, Europe's largest dairy, has set up three blogs. All in Danish.

I have to come clean: I can't stand Arla [though... I have to admire their efforts to communicate (added 31 October 2005)]. Their tactics towards farmers who don't "go along to get along" are in the Danish press almost weekly. What's worse, Arla isn't a monolithic corporation stepping on small farmers, it's a farmers' cooperative stepping on farmers too  eccentric or who take too much pride in their work.

That said, their products are pretty good and they've got a fine organic line. They've got a virtual monopoly on Danish supermarket shelves, which I dislike, but I can't complain about the quality of the goods when I am forced to buy them.

But, and here's the rub, I've never met anyone who actually "likes" Arla (or MD Foods, the Danish root). Major image problem.

So maybe that's why Arla has launched three blogs.

One is by Inge and Michael Mikael, a couple of farmers who are shareholders in Arla  (note to Arla: did you just get lucky, or did you have to search the country for the most photogenic couple of farmers in the country?). So far, Inge and Michael Mikael have written that farming isn't about manure and cruel animal transport.  They're reported on some dairy robots that got delivered (the bovine point of view, however, was unreported), and Michael  Mikael is going to a course to learn how to use the Internet.

Funny, that, since he's a blogger.

The second blog is by Maja and Louis. They work for Arla; Maja is the head of Arla's Fact and Consumer Center, and Louis is the chief PR guy (they call their blog, by the way, "Natural Thoughts").

The cynical reader will have already realized that this blog toes the Party line, and she wouldn't be wrong. The last article is a long complaint about this week's EU decision that "feta" cheese is... as we all know ... Greek. That sends Arla around the bend, because they've been feeding the world with salty white cheese for years, calling it feta.

Maja's lament? "All white cheese packed in salt water is "feta""

No, honey, it's not.

Arla's blogging attempt is brave, imaginative and... falls to earth on the second glance. That they've tried it bodes well for Arla, but if they fail to get it right.... another PR disaster for a cooperative that, at the end of the day, makes pretty good milk.

They allow comments, but no trackbacks.

Technorati tags: Arla FoodsArla

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 02:56pm in Bloggers, Corporate Communication, Denmark, Food and Drink, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5) | TrackBack (0)

Copenhagen Geek Dinner: tomorrow night

Copenhagen Geek Dinner tomorrow night... about 30 of us: journalists, programmers, designers -- but mostly polymaths with a great touch of geek.

"If truth-in-advertising laws were enforced, "sushi" would be called "cold dead fish".

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 01:08pm in Bloggers, Copenhagen, Expatriate Life, Food | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Lee Hopkins: Now Also Blogging IT

Professor Lee Hopkins  has a new place to wreak havoc: The IT Toolbox stable of blogs, aimed at IT professionals. Now, you'd think they'd be making him pay rent, what with his attitude, but you know what? They're paying the man!

His first post: Want to communicate better with non-techies? Try this.... is a fine start.

I'll just whet your appetite with his opening lines:

"You probably know this already, but there are generally held to be four main personality types, which I call: Extrovert, Amiable, Analytical and Pragmatic.

"Let's take a moment to consider each of them in the workplace."

If you know Lee, you are already chuckling in anticipation. If you don't, go over and read it.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:35pm in Bloggers, IABC, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Copenhagen Geek Dinner

Via Hugh "gapingvoid" McLeod comes news of a Copenhagen Geek Dinner on October 28.  Did I say news? I meant excellent news. The only cloud on the horizon? I suspect we won't be trying Stormhoek.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 05:56pm in Bloggers, Copenhagen, Denmark, Desirable Roasted Coffee | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (0)

Desirable Roasted Coffee is not Tripe...

On Monday afternoon the first in a series of three debates hosted by the European Parliament on the implications of the information society highlighted a number of issues in the use of so-called weblogs. Major concerns were the accountability of "bloggers" and the protection of privacy - or rather the lack of both.

I enjoy living in Europe, my home for over 20 years. Since I get back to the American South fairly often, I'm able to feed my desires for the best of that region, without being overly irritated by the things that prompted me to leave.

If I could ever be prompted to leave Europe, it would probably from a fit of pique sparked by the distrust European officialdom has always shown innovations in media.

Example: 15 years ago, it was illegal to have a satellite dish in Denmark. Why? People might watch who knows what all! And while that "what all" might be as innocent as a Turkish soap opera, it wouldn't be Danish.

Example: 7 years ago, I was on an IFPMA panel discussing the intersection of health care and the Internet. I was seated next to a  functionary of the Belgian health ministry, who sputtered so vehemently that all online discussion of pharmaceuticals and treatments should be illegal, even jailable, that my notes today are even wet with his spittle.

I naively thought we were past that.

But now the European Parliament is holding hearings about blogging. And... they are getting pretty poor advice from the usual suspects: journalists frightened to death, who are willing to drag in any red herring rotting behind the fishmongers.

Here's a quote from the "debate".

"As Karlin Lillington, a technology journalist of the Irish Times pointed out, "journalists face libel laws, whereas some bloggers behave as if they're in the Wild West. Bloggers will state things without saying where they got them from. And increasingly, blogs are used to promote products without making this clear"."

This is fairly easy to parse. Wild West (or cowboy, or John Wayne) is a code-phrase for the US. Americans roar with laughter when I tell them this, but that's just how it is. So what Lillington is really saying is "[European] journalists face libel laws, whereas some [European] bloggers behave as if they're in [the United States]".

Well, that's bullshit. Libel laws apply to everyone. To the extent that those laws  and court precedents differentiate between two classes, it's journalists, not "private" citizens who get the better break.

And bloggers are suspect because they promote products? Well, Desirable Roasted Coffee doesn't and doesn't intend to. But what if I did? What business is it of the European Parliament or the Irish Times? Not much.

We bloggers had at least one ally:

Thomas Burg, of BlogTalk.net, saw things very differently, saying "weblogs are not about content but about sharing, learning and connecting with other people". Blogs should thus be seen as free conversations between people who do not need to adhere to specific rules, rather than as news postings on the Internet.

But he was quickly shot out of the saddle (obligatory cowboy metaphor) by Aidan White, General Secretary (note to Aidan: Socialism is dead... get a new title) of the International Federation of Journalists:

"a democratic society sets certain norms and standards which should not be thrown out of the window. He deplored the lack of a global legal framework to combat child pornography and libellous or hateful weblogs on the Internet."

Note, students of rhetoric, how deftly Aidan White connects your unregulated blog to abhorrent crime, libel, hate, the discarding of democratic norms. You'd look positively anti-social... even criminal... if you object now to having some "norms" and "regulations" put on your blog.

And Karlin Lillington is also quick to question your values, your morals, your stand-upness for the law if you happen to be a citizen journalist:

"As regards privacy, Lillington acknowledged that weblogs after last December's tsunami were a useful source of information and that pictures taken by passers-by after the bomb attacks on the London underground were posted on the Internet quicker than by any established news organisation, but she also stressed that these did somehow damage privacy. However, she added, "these are not new crimes, there are just new tools to commit them"."

Well, Karlin Lillington, that makes it clear. Now I know exactly the difference between a paid Irish Times journalist and a blogger who both witness....  no, hang on... I'll get it right in a minute! Bear with me...

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:55pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Citizen Journalism, Civil Liberty, Communication, Expatriate Life, Journalism, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

On Your Mark (Part 1): Garrison Keillor Sues Blogger Over Parody T-Shirt

Today's category at Desirable Roasted Coffee is going to be Trademarks and their (mis)uses, apparently whether I like it or not.

First up is American humorist Garrison Keillor, best known as the host of A Prairie Home Companion, a radio show, and as the author of several bestsellers, including Lake Wobegon Days. For those unfamiliar with his work, let's just say it centers on his droll musings about small-town life in Minnesota.

Now, Garrison is one of the nicest, most laid-back people you are ever going to meet (he used to live here in Copenhagen and would occasionally drop by our local  Marching, Chowder & Writing Society). And I would reckon he has as little use for lawyers as any of us.

So it was with great amusement that I read that Garrison is suing MNSpeak.com, a blog, for producing Prairie Ho Companion tee-shirts.

Why on earth?

First, the shirt is sort of funny, though I suppose it doesn't exactly square with solid Midwestern values (and, while we are on it, why is it that only the Midwest has solid values? You never hear solid Southern values... why not?).

Second, as Claire Suddath points out, Garrison should be pleased kids half his age know his stuff well enough to make parody about it. He'd be a lot worse off if they didn't get the joke.

Third, he could throw it back at them in his inimitible manner:

"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. Clarence Bunsen had a corn removed, which had been bothering him. And Ralph got a shipment of Prairie Ho fashionwear. It's not selling that well, though, although Myrtle Krebsbach thinks the Prairie Ho camisole might be the thing to get Florian back into the bedroom..."

Or again, maybe not.

Hat tip to Claire Suddath at Pith in the Wind--Nashville Scene Weblog.
Technorati tags: keillor prairiehomecompanion midwest

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:46am in Bloggers, Intellectual Property, Writers | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

"You're the Boss and You Can Use the Blog for Whatever Damn Thing You Like"

From our Blogging Politicians Who May Not Be Getting It office comes the strange and wonderful news that Washington, DC mayor Anthony "Tony" Williams is blogging.

Tony is getting off to a slow start. He made his first post on August 15th then went silent for a few days. Comments -- 44 -- piled up.  Most were friendly. Some were  pointed, though not barbed.

Williams never responded.

You have ask yourself, what sort of blogging advice is this man getting? Of course, we saw the same thing at the IABC Chairman's Blog last winter, so it's probably unfair to hang Williams out when professional communicators don't immediately get it.

Williams reappeared on the 22nd with a snappy little post that -- and I may just be imagining this -- showed a twitch of irritation (and, as you read, remember that he's up for re-election next year):

"...the blog is not a service request line. Then again, I’m a public servant and you’re the boss and you can use blog for whatever damn thing you like. And you can expect me to refer service requests to the proper agencies for disposition. I’ll also give you a comment on the policy implications of your request. You say jump and I’ll ask how high.

"But it would be really helpful if you would call 727-1000, or write dc.gov. Get a tracking number. And if the service isn’t helpful, let me know by sharing with me your tracking number. Giving me information on what, where, why and how is helpful. Making an expressive but not very helpful comment on ignorant public officials or employees isn’t.

"I’ve got to run to a reception. Chew on this and fire back with righteous indignation or comforting, supportive comments and I’ll be back later with more. And…answers to some of your comments."

Heh, heh... Well, one thing's for sure: no hack or handler is writing the Mayor's blog.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:34pm in Bloggers, Communication, People of Note, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Conversation Clouds vs. Blog Rankings & Page Rank

PubSub recently finished tearing up and replanting its LinkRanks service; I, for one, like the new look & the results presentation. And while I don't understand how the rankings are calculated, a few test runs on the bloggers I know indicate to me that the rankings are pretty valid.

At about the same time, the Feedster 500 was launched. Another ranking service (congratulations, Neville and Shel).

I don't want to be provocative:  But how much should rank matter?

I know the Blogging For Benjamins crowd is intensely interested, because more rank could mean more "reports" sold. The well-known political bloggers of the left and right are also intensely interested because, ironically, it gets them more coverage on MSM.

But who else cares what your PubSub rank is? If you care, should you? Should I? What does my rank have to do with standing, reputation, place in the community? Everyone in every steel town in America once knew who Andrew Carnegie was, but who had the highest standing in their community? Probably the corner grocer, who helped you at church or building a house (And, lest anyone go astray, Shel and Neville are where they are on these ranks because they help the PR  community).

Dina Mehta -- and I wish I discovered her blog long before Reboot 7.0 -- discusses in her easy, inclusive way why the idea of rankings is flawed. In her post, she's commenting on another post by Adina Levin, that argues for the idea of Conversation Clouds as a better way of understanding relative influence.

As Adina tells it:

The cloud is built from a data set over a time period; the user should be able to scale the time (conversation over a week, a month, six months) The conversation cloud would need to provide ways to navigate through conversation space. If you click on a blog, perhaps you re-center around that blog's conversations. If you click on a tag or topic, you search based on that. You'd need to experiment with several ways of allowing browsing out from the first cloud.

This type of picture would not measure rank. Instead, it would illustrate the connections within subcommunities.

Cloud-browsing represents a pattern of blogsurfing. A reader might start with

Mary Hodder's post on blog metrics, and then traverse to Dina Mehta, danah boyd, Stowe Boyd, Ross Mayfield. 

The cloud would show in graphical form what a Technorati or Blogpulse search would -- who linked to the post. And it would also illustrate the repeated links and cross-links as people reply. If you zoomed out the time horizon, you'd see some relationships become more obviously dense, with repeated patterns of links and counterlinks.

I think this sort of presentation would get more of what we're looking for -- a picture of the relationships in a community that reveals participants, both loud and quiet. The ability to browse the conversation.

And as Dina comments:

I think this would very nicely integrate values that I hold important in blog conversations - relevance, integrity and credibility, interest and empathy generated, stretch in teasing boundaries, intimacy with my audience, respect and amicability - rather than blog rankings and ratings.  Making 'invisible' conversations and clusters and communities of interest visible as a result.  I'd love to see comments at posts integrated into these clouds in some way too, as many who comment donot necessarily blog, and often the comments enrich the thought in a post much more.

I'll certainly follow this conversation. Might (don't we wish) kill the A-list meme. And describe what we know to be true: our "cloud" is far more influential than any "top-100" list.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:45pm in Bloggers, Blogging for Benjamins, Communication, Online Media, Public Relations, Social Tools, Society, Taxonomy of Cyberspace | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (1)

Lee Hopkins Revamps his Better Communication Results Blog

Lee Hopkins (Australian communication thought-leader, blogger, podcaster (he also contributes to For Immediate Release), and IABC member) has redesigned his blog.

To great effect!

Lee's using photos with his blog posts; images that effectively reinforce his messages. I'll make a note of that, Lee. Because it works.

Most, if not all, of the PR blogging community, have nary an image on their blogs. I don't think it's conscious; it's just because we are naturally word people when we produce.

But Lee knows we are all, at some level, visual people when our attention is for rent. And makes nice use of it.

When I redesigned Desirable Roasted Coffee, Lee threatened to "tell Matron" on me. I got two words for you, Hopkins: Headmaster's Office. Right now.

Update: But, Lee.... choose those images with care. You don't want me to get Cheesy after your butt.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:54pm in Bloggers, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0)

Burningbird Introduces ThoughtCast

Shelley Powers' Burningbird is always a thought-provoking read: I approach her blog with care because she usually hands me a long, thoughtful post that will occupy my frontal lobes the rest of the day, no matter what deadline I might face.

One of her latest posts introduces a new blog: Jenny Attiyeh's ThoughtCast, launched this week. Always looking for mind-stretching reading and listening, I'm already excited about this blog:

"Jenny’s first podcast is an interview with Ilan Stavans Latino and Latin-America literature critic and author of “Spanglish”. Coming up will be interviews with the Cambridge author Carol Bundy, who wrote a biography of Charles Russell Lowell, Jr; and poet David Ferry and Virgil Scholar Richard Thomas examination of Virgil’s Georgics."

Shelley describes how she designed Jenny's blog: a tight case-study on blog design.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:15pm in Bloggers, Podcasting, Writing I Enjoy | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Politicians Deal With Newcomer, The Blog

An interesting twist on the "bloggers are/are not journalists" is buried in yesterday's Washington Post article Politicians Deal With Newcomer, The Blog.

The short story: an anonymous commenter on the Not Larry Sabato political blog speculated on the political ambitions of Shayna Englin, spouse of Northern Virginia politician David Englin:

"First came this posting on the site virginia2005.blogspot.com: "David isn't the only Englin with designs on public office. . . . There's going to be an Englin running for Congress in 2006, but not the one you think. I know for a fact that Shayna has already been getting pledges for money for her race."

"Then a slightly more disturbing note appeared on the same Web site: "Driving home tonight, guess what I saw on the Englins' front lawn??? Democrat Greg Werkheiser. I walked back to try to listen into the conversation but couldn't hear much without being obvious."

This, perhaps not surprisingly, outraged Shayna Englin:

Shayna Englin... said ... she was "chilled" to learn that people were spying on her home and posting what they saw on the Internet.

"It's creepy. That somebody would spread rumors on Jim Moran's seat, that's not all that surprising. The fact that somebody is keeping tabs on who we have over to dinner, that's more problematic," she said. "The whole thing about being anonymous is that there's no accountability. They can literally post anything."

But the Not Larry Sabato blogger -- who is anonymous -- says he doesn't care: he's not mainstream media and doesn't have to live up to MSM standards:

The blogger said he did not know whether the postings about Shayna Englin, which were e-mailed to the site anonymously, were true. The group did not call her for a response. The goal is to rush information into the public domain. Otherwise, he said, "it would give her a chance to delay or deny that rumor."

"We don't have the same standards as [the mainstream media]," he said. "If someone makes a defamatory statement, that has nothing to do with us. We are not responsible for what other people are saying on our blog. It's kind of like a hotel pool. There's no lifeguard. You are responsible for yourself."

The problem with this approach (especially when directed against politicians) is that once these politicians get elected, they may turn their guns on bloggers.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:27pm in Bloggers, Citizen Journalism, Journalism, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

More Reboot 7.0 Notes: Loïc Le Meur on the European Blogosphere

I know, I know, Reboot 7.0 has been over for three days, and few notes from me.

On Day 2, Loïc Le Meur, the European guy for SixApart (makers of my fine blogging platform), gave us a run-through on the state of the European Blogosphere.

Or, rather, tried to. Loïc is one of these super-enthused speakers who, in the flurry of thinking faster than he can speak, tends to start down one fascinating trail, only to abrubtly choose another. Five trails followed to completion would be great content; 10 trails started and abandoned is like going to a tapas bar and not being allowed to eat.

Further, he was using his wiki as both the presentation to us and speaker notes for himself, which always means a lot of cursors flying around the screen, three-four pages in quick clicking succession, only to have the wrong page show up. Followed by furious back-clicking and re-clicking. I don't know about the rest of the room, but by the end, I was a twitching bundle of nerve.

But... he had some cool notes to impart.

The best way to get at them is to visit his European Blogosphere Wiki, where you can, of course, make corrections and additions.

A few notes:

• Note the differences in the number of bloggers in different countries: 3 million in France, 600,000 in the Netherlands, and 5,000 in Denmark. He may be right (after all, he sells blog platforms), but the numbers seem hinky to me. Accepting his arguments about France, for now, it's still hard to imagine there are 120 times more bloggers in the Netherlands (or 120 times fewer in Denmark): the countries are somewhat similar in population, cultural attributes, and adaptation of technology.
• He argues France is heavy in bloggers largely because of French culture and tradition of debate. Well, I don't know if you've been in an Irish pub lately, but if tradition of debate were a criterion, Ireland should be thick with bloggers. Mystery to me.

Le Meur gave us several case studies. The one that caught my eye was that of La Fraise, the brainchild of Patrice Cassard.

Cassard likes tee-shirts. Likes odd tee-shirts. He started showing his best ones on his site... and people started asking where they could buy them. A problem, since they were custom-made.

Now, most people would rapidly come up with the idea of starting an online tee-shirt store. But Cassard goes further: he lets readers come up with designs, and lets readers vote on the ones they like best. Cassard creates the winners in limited, and pricy, editions (and a few lucky voters get theirs for free).

And who generates the buzz? The lucky tee-shirt wearers who now have begun sending Cassard photos of them in their shirts.

How quirky is that?

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 03:57pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Blogging for Benjamins, Blogging for the Sheer Hell of It, Citizen Journalism, Reboot 7.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (0)

Reboot: We Don't Have the Tools is OUT as an Excuse

Yesterday and today were given over to the Reboot, a European meet-up of the mash-up of society and communication and technology (with a fairly strong tilt to technology). Two days of bang bang bang sessions punctuated networking, getting acquainted and getting to grips (sort of) with where micromedia is leading us.

I didn't blog directly, but many others did (not all results will be about the conference but pick around). I do better waiting for the serendipity to happen.

I'll post highlights as I get my head around them. Here's the first in a series:

We don't have the tools is OUT as an excuse

Dina Mehta's presentation used as its case example the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog Dina helped organize. Incredible. The team used free (or nearly so) collaborative tools (Skype, IM, IRC) to put together a blog that attracted 1 million visits in the first week. And as the contributions and comments to the blog began (quickly) to become unwieldy, they created sub-blogs, and then a wiki to categorize the information.

The team was flat, without titles, with immense passion and, apparently little recourse to sleep. What's key here is that drive and brains and a willingness to collaborate, not expensive tools and committees, created this site.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:05pm in Bloggers, Blogging, Blogging for Benjamins, Blogging for the Sheer Hell of It, Citizen Journalism, Communication, Copenhagen, Reboot 7.0, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (2)

Avian Flu Pandemic: Blogging From the Front Lines

"President George Bush has just addressed the press in the East Room of the White House. Here's the transcript: "At this hour, the World Health Organization has declared a full-scale pandemic influenza alert, with person-to-person spread lasting more than two weeks in Cambodia and Vietnam. During previous influenza pandemics in the United States, large numbers of people were ill, sought medical care, were hospitalized and died. On my orders, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have today implemented the nation's draft Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan. It will serve as our road map, on how we as a nation, and as a member of the global health community, respond to the pandemic. We are ready. Thank you, and may God bless America."

So begins the first entry of a fictional blog in this week's issue of Nature. This is the first instance I've seen of using blog format to tell a story (though the estimable Samuel Pepys Diary Blog is a variation), but surely not the last. In fact, I suspect it will become a cliché within months.

Other examples, anyone?

Update: A discussion of if it was anti-American to start with the Bush quote over at Lanuage Log.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:49am in Bloggers, Fiction, Healthcare | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Danish Epilepsy Association Blog Goes Live

One of my clients, the Danish Epilepsy Association, launched their blog today, just in time for their national conference tomorrow.

The association already has a frequently-updated website and and active member discussion forum. Blogging -- a team blog of patients, families, doctors, and association leaders --  was a natural next step.

It's one of the first patient association blogs in the world and will, I hope, demonstrate the possibilities team-blogging brings to groups and associations.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 10:45pm in Bloggers, Desirable Roasted Coffee, Healthcare | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Blogs May Not Be as Influential as Some Think

Back on (US) Election Night, I noted that bloggers failed to deliver. And they did fail... mainstream media was way ahead of the blogosphere in reporting just about every race (because MSM can deploy more troops to report.

Now Personal Democracy Forum reports that bloggers were not all that influential -- or as influential as blogosphere myth would make it -- before the election:

"Bloggers are often touted as influential instigators, feeding buzz-worthy topics to the mainstream media they so disdain, and even guiding discussion in other communication channels. Not so, says a new study analyzing the impact of political blogs on the national conversation leading up to the 2004 presidential election. Indeed, Buzz, Blogs, and Beyond: The Internet and the National Discourse in the Fall of 2004 concludes that, while a force to be reckoned with, blogs are merely cogs in the meme machine."

Link: Blogs May Not Be as Influential as Some Think | Personal Democracy Forum.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:05pm in Bloggers, Citizen Journalism, Politics | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Why Bloggers Shouldn't Fear FEC Regs

Forbes' Steve McGookin (in Blogging Through the Tulips) puts his finger on the problems facing the US Federal Elections Commission when it tries to answer "should political blogs be regulated?"

"Ordinarily, the U.S. Federal Elections Commission is preparing to hire some extra mailroom staff about now. But since the overwhelming majority of responses to the current invitation to public comment are likely to arrive electronically, there probably won't be many mail sacks to heave up to the boardroom.

"At issue is the question of political blogs, or Web logs. Should they be regulated, and how? Above all, should they be subject to the spending caps inherent in campaign finance legislation?"

I blog, and do so freely as a US citizen. My blog is not a political blog, though back in November, I let my sentiments be known. But n