Financial Times asks What Makes a Blog Work?

David Bowen observes that (subscription required)

In the last 12 months they (blogs) have gone from being an obscure and little understood fringe activity to something we all have to think about, and quite possibly indulge in.

He continues with a review of corporate blogs

Wouldn’t it be interesting if Top Bananas from all over the business world started publishing blogs — if I could read the real thoughts of, say, Lord Browne of BP or Jeff Immelt of GE, I (and very many analysts) would undoubtedly sign up.

and answers what makes them work, including praise for The Flight Test Journal

There is no interactivity here, but it paints a good picture of an intriguing job. The latest posting is about testing in Iceland while sleeping overnight in Ireland: Clint Eastwood was filming and all the Icelandic hotel rooms were taken. Jolly human stuff, with a celebrity thrown in for extra zest.

We talked about the zest at the Blog Business Summit San Francisco and will cover it more in our Blogging 101 Seminars. I’ll also continue the discussion Chris Brownrigg and I started in San Fran about how Boeing built their blogs and what to do when your executives decide they want to start blogging.