So, thanks to Twitter, I found out that a bunch of big companies started the Blog Council, this week. As background, some of the people I follow on Twitter work for or are linked by relationship to SAP, and SAP is one of the member companies of the Council.
As noted previously on this blog, mostly in comments, SAP has a blogger program that reaches out to the SAP and enterprise applications blogging community. Several of the bloggers we invited to OpenWorld also attend SAP events as part of this program.
So, I wasn’t surprised to see SAP on the list. I also wasn’t surprised to see that Oracle was not on the list, but not for the reasons you might expect. Inviting bloggers to OpenWorld was a step on the path, not a shortcut to the finish line. Many bloggers, of which Vinnie may be the most vocal, think Oracle has a long way to go. I figured Justin would have mentioned it if Oracle were on this council, since he runs the Ora-blog-o-sphere.
So, the members are: AccuQuote, Cisco, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell, Gemstar-TV Guide, General Motors, Kaiser Permanent, Microsoft, Nokia, SAP, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and Wells Fargo.
Dude, where is Sun? Everyone points to Sun as an example of a successful big company that uses blogs well. Lou Springer told us everyone at Sun has a blog (paraphrasing, of course). Oh yeah, and I think their CEO sometimes blogs. Boeing should be on that list too for Randy’s Journal.
From the mission statement, here are the goals:
- Best Practices: Promoting corporate blogging excellence through best practices, standards, and training.
- Community: Providing networking and partnering opportunities for leaders of the corporate blogging movement.
- ROI: Developing metrics programs that help deliver measurable ROI from blog activities.
- Advocacy: Blog Council has a united voice to provide the corporate perspective in the blogosphere.
I don’t like the sound of “standards”, “training”, and “measurable ROI from blog activities”. Methinks 90% of my posts would be censored in that environment. Maybe it’s a good thing Oracle didn’t get invited.
Changing the thought processes within a big company is often challenging, and having case studies and best practices to point to would be a plus. However, the execution seems a bid moribund and old school, and I am not alone in that opinion.
I do like the idea behind the council. This is why Paul is starting The Working Group, more on that in a bit.
Potentially Similar Posts
- More on the Blog Council
- Welcome Two (Now Four) More Bloggers
- A Can of Worms
- Bloggers at OpenWorld
- Seriously, We Want Bloggers at OpenWorld
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12 January 2008 at 8:32 pm
[...] This wasn’t even the first time this blog has drawn comments from a company I discussed. Remember my post ...