From the editor.I still don't quite get the whole blog thing, as evidenced by a recent humbling experience. Asked to make an entry in the IABC IABC International Association of Business Communicators IABC Indo-Americans for Better Community chairman's blog (http://blogs.iabc.com/chair), I did what comes naturally to me. I examined the question and answered it with the support of relevant data. So, that sounds OK, you say? Oh no, wrong. Soon after I posted my response, I was rebuked by regular bloggers because I had not provided a short, pithy pith·y adj. pith·i·er, pith·i·est 1. Precisely meaningful; forceful and brief: a pithy comment. 2. Consisting of or resembling pith. answer without extraneous ex·tra·ne·ous adj. 1. Not constituting a vital element or part. 2. Inessential or unrelated to the topic or matter at hand; irrelevant. See Synonyms at irrelevant. 3. details--in this case, facts. I don't think I'll ever see the value of sarcastic sar·cas·tic adj. 1. Expressing or marked by sarcasm. 2. Given to using sarcasm. [sarc(asm) + -astic, as in enthusiastic. retorts over thoughtful responses, but this exchange got me thinking. Many blogs run more like conversations than formal exchanges of knowledge. These stream-of-consciousness dialogues sometimes seem like half-baked thoughts put out there for the world to read. I can't help wondering who has time to write all of these entries and do other things, like hold down a full-time job, have a family, exercise, etc. You get my point. Similarly, who has enough time and interest to read someone else's personal diary of daily thoughts? But then I realized something that did make sense--the entertainment value. Some blogs amuse a·muse tr.v. a·mused, a·mus·ing, a·mus·es 1. To occupy in an agreeable, pleasing, or entertaining fashion. 2. while also conveying important messages. Steve Crescenzo's blog (www.ragan.com/stevesblog), for example, is worth reading for the pure entertainment value. Now I'm a busy person with a demanding job, three kids, two dogs and 20 minutes a day of downtime if I'm lucky. But I make time to read Steve's blog because it's really funny. As I'm laughing so hard that it hurts, I realize that I'm learning some important things that will help me in my job and will provide me with a new perspective on life in general. What amazes me most is that the head honchos at Ragan, the host of Steve's blog, allow him the freedom to write whatever he wants. Steve is a master of entertaining while informing. That's why I invited him to serve as a columnist for Communication World. I'm happy to say that he agreed and you'll find the debut of "Editor's Angle" in this issue. Also in this issue, you'll find the results of a measurement survey collaboration between IABC and Benchpoint, perspectives from Mark Weiner on the changing landscape of marketing public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most and ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). and insights from Julie Woods on the influence, power and future of blogs. And just maybe I'll get this blogging thing right next time. NATASHA SPRING Executive Editor |
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