Are we on to something?
4th February 2007 by Michael Zimet
The American Society of Association Executives has posted a really nice commentary about the Advocacy Commons.
Although advocacy initiatives are nothing new, they view this blog differently, saying (in part), “What a smart thing to do!”
We certainly won’t object to their kind words. But is this blog really so unique?
From the outset, we knew we were going to reach out to you, our members and colleagues, for your feedback and ideas, and this blog seemed the most logical way to do it. (Special thanks to Chris Hall and his staff for making it all happen so smoothly.)
Could it be that no one else has used this approach to engage their people for this kind of an initiative? I doubt it, because many communicators are already adapting social technology for all sorts of new applications. But even if we’re not exactly “pioneers,” I’m pleased that we’re off to a good start and that so many of you are already visiting and posting your own comments.
I look forward to a spirited dialogue that will lead to bigger and better things for you, IABC and our profession.
Thanks to the ASAE for their encouragement — and to you for participating!
February 5th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Dell is one very visible example of engaging the audience:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/01/31/5481.aspx#comments
Clearly, they allow unfavorable comments. My look through it found more than one reference to “Dell Hell.” Interesting though I had to search for the blog on Google. I may have missed it, but there didn’t seem to be an easy way to get there from http://www.dell.com.
CW tech columnist Angelo Fernando and I were just talking about companies connecting blogs with the customer experience. We both think that the value of using blogs as a forum for connecting with customers is still relatively undiscovered.
For that matter, many customers have not discovered the power and value of using a blog to give their input. I’d be very interested in hearing about companies that are at the forefront of this type of communication.
Natasha
February 19th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I think some of the new marketing or business communications organizations are using blogs. WOMMA comes to mind, but my own association, the American Marketing Association does not use blogs to connect with members at the moment. Though a number of chapters do. Are you reaching out and commenting on other blogs, or just giving your opinion on this blog? If you are only commenting here, you miss out on most of the conversation.