It appears that the feline escaped from its container a little sooner than he intended, but now that it’s public - way public - we’re jumping into the conversation “with both feet,” to quote the man himself.
Where the blogosphere is concerned, it seems almost inevitable that big news like this will leak out before the optimal time. What’s more, with a controversial company like Microsoft and a controversial blogger like Scoble, the news is going to be riddled with ugly speculation and innuendo. Scoble himself says that his hide is “chapped” by some of the ideas being bandied about in the blogosphere.
Given that companies and professionals no longer command and control the flow of information on these issues, the need for a contingency plan becomes clear. How will your company respond when your big news finds its way to TechMeme before you’re ready to talk about it?
Obviously, Robert knows what he’s doing. He’s come out in his usual forthright manner to clarify what his professional departure from Microsoft means. He’s got the expertise and the captive audience necessary to combat the negative buzz with relative alacrity and ease. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy for businesses and business bloggers with less drawing power than Scoble to accomplish the same thing.
Accordingly, your team will need to ask some questions and figure out how to answer them in advance of a blogosphere rumor mill incident. What kinds of rumors can you foresee and how will you combat them? Which bloggers will you engage with to set the story straight? How will you employ traditional business communications methodology with your efforts in the blogosphere?
As recent business-to-blogosphere communications debacles have shown, the business community as a whole has a ways to go in learning how to handle a wide variety of blogosphere situations. If you’re interested in learning more, stay tuned to this RSS feed. We’ll be announcing our next event soon.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
v[a^P,,e-r$ Th' )+G_r"@te 06.12.06 at 12:07 pm
blogs are for ethical, enthusiastic, altruistic companies only.
arrogant, misanthropic, miserly, deceptive businesses have no interest in beginning a dialogue with consumers. why should they have to commit their callous lies and greed in writing on the web? they are not that stupid. no blog, thanks anyway.
but tech evangelism and neo-PR have been proven to be killer apps for blogs, as Robert Scoble and Shel Israel have proved.
Ken Lay should delete his pathetic personal page.
Blogs and blogoid web objects are for those who wish to have a candid, spontaneous textual interaction with unknown others. Those who can handle flames, trolls, abuse, questions, suggestion, opposing opinions, and critique.
Only corporations and businesses, plus whoever else, who want a volatile communication exchange with the external web world need worry about blogs, RSS/Atom, podcasts, etc.
Teresa Valdez Klein 06.12.06 at 4:02 pm
Vaspers: I vehemently disagree. All businesses need to worry about blogs, because all businesses are being talked about (or will be talked about) in the blogs. Customers are paying attention, whether or not a business is. Just look at what Toshiba is doing in Japan.
Yes, “ethical, enthusiastic, altruistic companies” will fare better in the blogosphere. As Rich Karlgaard wrote:
And the businesses that aren’t ethical, enthusiastic or altruistic? They won’t fare as well. If they don’t pay attention to the blogosphere eventually, they may even go extinct. This, combined with the slow but steady movement of the business community towards sustainability will eventually create a more ethical business world.
Can you tell I’m an idealist?