It's Been A Bloggy Year ...

So, I happened to notice that I've been blogging here for about a year.

Happy blogoversery, as they say. My, how time flies.

Just for the records -- that's 157 long-ish posts (of varying quality) and about 500-1500 hits per day.

Not entirely bad for a corporate blogger, I'd offer.

So, here's what I've noticed so far.

There's A Role In The Blogosphere For A Decent Corporate Blogger

One look at my site and there's no mistake that I represent EMC on my blog.  And, no surprise, most of my writings reflect an EMC-centric viewpoint.

One of the central tenets of blogging is openness and transparency.  Well, that's who I am.  I'm not being manipulative or scheming here, I write what I believe -- warts, biases and all.  In that regard, I don't think I'm that different from any of the other bazillion bloggers out there.

I try to make it interesting and a bit thought provoking.  Sometimes I succeed, often I think I just end up boring people.  But I try.

There are some powerful themes and ideas that weave through EMC.  When I find them, I write about them.

I get to talk to all sorts of customers and partners.  When they teach me something, I try to share it here.

I can't resist a bit of snide commentary on the rest of the industry.  There are some pretty smart cookies out there, but -- unfortunately -- they seem to be occasionally in the minority.

You Have To Be Able To Handle Rejection

I don't think the "industry pundits" like me or my blog.  That's OK with me.  I would offer that they're watching the game from the sidelines; they're not on the field like some of us.  There's an audience and a role for them.

I think that the other "corporate bloggers" from some of our competitors do not particularly appreciate what I'm doing either. 

Trust me, I'm really OK with that. 

Some of them try to make nice, and I occasionally try to make nice back, but it's barely masking our collective hyper-competitiveness.

And, oh my, the comments!

Some are very thoughtful questions and discussion points.  I like those.  I always appreciate a thoughtful debate.

Some are earnest questions.  Some I can answer, but there's a bunch I can't even attempt to cover.  Sorry, folks.

And others are -- well -- using the internet as kind of an online therapist. 

I don't know any other way to describe it. 

And, just like therapy in the real world, perhaps it's best that we leave that sort of thing behind closed doors, so to speak.

Trust me, I don't take any of the personal attacks personally. 

I hope you find happiness in life.

But There's Benefits As Well

I read a lot of stuff.  Occasionally I'll see an idea/concept/thought I've espoused show up somewhere else.  Sometimes it's a coincidence, but maybe not.  Occasionally, it looks like a cut-and-paste without attribution, but that's life in the Web 2.0 world.  All good.  And I get my fair share of people quoting and linking to me.

I get to meet customers and partners who've read the blog, and want to talk about a particular point I've made or thought I was exploring.  It's some of the richest interaction I've had outside of EMC.  Very, very good stuff.

But my most loyal audience has turned out to be people who either work for EMC, or partner with EMC closely.  They tell me they like the blog because it's like looking at an x-ray of EMC's thinking on a variety of topics. 

Now, I am not the Authoritative Source for what EMC is thinking or doing.  But I seem to be a complimentary source.  And people tell me that I can make complex ideas relatively simple, which -- in our industry -- is not a bad thing at all.

And I know that there are many "lurkers" all over the world who read regularly - I get to see how you get to the blog from the stats panel -- but I have no idea who you are, what you do, or why you're reading my stuff. 

But I'm glad that you are reading, and I hope I'm doing something interesting for you.

And There Have Been Some Interesting Consequences

We now have many more people at EMC who blog -- some officially, others on a more personal note.  I'd like to think I helped that process along a bit.  All good on several levels, I think.

And EMC has now started to take this whole social media thing very, very seriously on multiple levels.  And, because of the blog, I somehow ended up at ground zero for that whole discussion.  Big fun!

But Let's Be Clear Here

I'm not writing this blog because it's my job, or I get paid more to do it, or it's my MBO, or it's part of a grand marketing scheme, or anything else like that.

No one tells me what to write about, and no one previews my work before it goes up on this site.

I'm writing this blog for one reason and one reason only -- because I want to.

And that's the only reason anyone should contemplate doing something like this.

If you're considering a corporate blog for your company, I'd offer up my experience as an experiment that worked out pretty well, all things considered.

Some suggestions: writing a good blog is a creative and personal process.  You can't assign it to anyone, you can't ghostwrite it, you can't manage it, etc. 

Find someone with a voice, and encourage them to do it.

Any thoughts?

Comments

[Jesse Wilkins]

Hi Chuck,

Been a loyal reader for a while. I do think that your blog and the other EMC blogs I have in my reader and blogrolled are excellent examples of how you can both blog and be "the company guy" - and do both well.

So here's my thought. Where do I find the rest of the ECM bloggers? I have yours, Mark Lewis', Andrew Cohen's; where are the rest of those bloggers? The official, the personal - I'd like at least a look at any of them that are public and judge them against your three examples (as well as some of the other blogs in the industry).

Cheers, and here's to the next year and 157-ish posts!

[Chuck Hollis]

Thanks for the note. I should do better on this site in providing a portal to other blogs that I like (EMC and otherwise), but have just not found the time for that little project.

In the meantime, The Storage Anarchist has a useful portal with search right here:

http://thestorageanarchist.typepad.com/weblog/2007/08/0028-new-site-t.html

[Mark Kraemer]

Happy anniversary, Chuck. I've appreciated the candor and prolific content. Where do you find the time?

Here's to the next successful year!

[Tony Pearson]

Happy Blogoversary, Chuck!