« Syndicate Conference: Sneak Preview of Microsoft's RSS Future | Main | Syndicate: Bloggers Blogging on Blogging »

December 15, 2005

Syndicate Update: HP's Scott Anderson on Corporate Blogging

As a smaller company, Silverpop employee or executive blogging is a relatively simply matter. My eyes were opened wide, however, by an enlightening presentation from Hewlett-Packard's Scott Anderson. Scott runs brand communications at HP, and is the person who set up the company's impressive employee blogging approach. My take-aways would fill several pages. So let me just hit the highlights:

- Blogging is like public speaking. You wouldn't put a legal person between an executive speaker and his or her audience at a conference, so don't do it to your bloggers. A company can survive employees speaking in public; it can survive bloggers as well.

- Qualify bloggers. Not everyone can blog under the corporate flag. They have to be approved.

- Standards of conduct must be applied. Read the rules and live them. No financials, product annoucements, etc.

- My own take: review/audit blogs. Keep re-qualifying bloggers by reading the things they post.

- The "Dialogue Age of Marketing." This is Scott's term for the new world of online marketing. Companies can't hold a dialogue with individual customers, only people can. Blogs create a two-way dialogue between company employees and customers.

- The act of writing publicly drives more powerful thinking. This was a big idea for me. My own experience is that it takes real effort to distill my thoughts into writing. The act of doing so really does add value to the quality and crispness of my thoughts. Nice upside, Scott.

- Authenticity. Many companies work hard to craft an image of power and infallibility. Blogging may not be a fit for them. However, in the Age of Dialogues, blogging puts a truly authentic, human face on companies. For a company like HP, this is pure upside.

- Allow comments. HP doesn't filter employee blog entries, nor does it filter comments. Its experience has shown that bloggers will say bad stuff regardless of which blog they do it on. So it may as well be somewhere that HP is sure to see it. Plus, this furthers HP's authenticity and trust as a brand.

Great job, Scott.

Posted by Bill Nussey at December 15, 2005 09:35 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.quietrevolutioninemail.com/mt-tb.cgi/58

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Syndicate Update: HP's Scott Anderson on Corporate Blogging:

» Tramadol hcl acetaminophin. from Tramadol hcl 50mg.
What is tramadol hcl 50mg. Tramadol hcl 50mg. Tramadol hcl. Tramadol hcl 93. [Read More]

Tracked on April 19, 2008 12:29 PM

» Fioricet information from drugs com. from Fioricet cod.
Info on fioricet abuse. Fioricet prescription. Generic fioricet low prices amp fast delivery. Fioricet. Fioricet online. Cheapest fioricet. [Read More]

Tracked on April 19, 2008 01:30 PM

Comments

Can you add any color to "qualifying bloggers?" Specifically what would you recommend? How important are command of the written word, ability to organize and communicate thoughts, etc. What other characteristics would you say make someone qualified to blog for a company?

Thanks,

Casey

Posted by: Casey Carey at December 20, 2005 05:41 PM

Casey,

I think HP's credo for bloggers is on the net somewhere. I know IBM makes theirs available.

The sense I got from Scott Anderson was that it was similar to approving people to speak at conferences or speak to the media. It wasn't so much about writing skill or level but more about demonstrating a clear ability to represent the company and the judgment about what can be said (and not said) by any representative of a public company.

Let me know if you have any additional questions on this.

Posted by: bill nussey at December 21, 2005 11:03 PM

Great read, Bill. I'd also recommend taking a peek at Toby Bloomberg's blog. She has been doing some research on corporate policies regarding bloggers.

http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/2005/03/thomas_nelson_p.html

Hope you're well!

Cheers.
Scott Burkett

Posted by: Scott Burkett at December 27, 2005 12:54 AM