Another Year, Another Blogoversary

It's that time of year when I feel obligated to reflect on my blogging experiences.

It's been about three years, 500+ posts, around 600K+ page views, and over two thousand comments.  Whew!

What have I learned?

Blogging As A Vendor Can Be Hard

That is, unless you just want to recycle press releases :-)

Yes, I work for EMC.  Yes, I talk a lot about EMC offerings, perspectives and strategies. 

People assume I'm paid to do this.  I'm not. 

Or that I've got a team of people writing this stuff.  No, that's not the case either. 

Or that some faceless corporate overseer controls what I say.  Sorry, not true.

I blog because I want to -- nothing more, nothing less.  I only blog about topics I personally care about.  No blogging-for-hire here.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle I've got is overcoming the natural skepticism that arises simply because I'm so visibly affiliated with EMC.

I try to compensate in different ways -- occasionally stepping outside my vendor world, talking about customers and industry trends, or other non-specific EMC topics.

Thankfully, my biases are clearly visible, and I make no effort to pretend I'm something that I"m not. 

Authenticity matters in the blogosphere, and I'm nothing else if not authentic.  If you've ever spent time with me, you'll probably agree that the blog is a pretty accurate reflection of who I am.

The upside of blogging while working at a company like EMC is that you've got loads of material at hand to write about.

I am never, ever stumped for a topic, just the time to write about it. 

That's cool.

Of Blogging Style

I am often criticized by some for being verbose (read: long-winded) and somewhat assertive in my style.  These are fair observations.  Not much I can do about it.

My world is all about themes, trends and making connections.  I find it hard to do these topics justice while sticking to 400 words -- or 140 characters!

Others criticize me for venturing into topics where I don't have deep expertise.  That's a fair criticism as well.  I do think, though, that sometimes the outsider perspective is a useful one, and I try to leverage this as much as possible.

Many of these disciplines have powerful ideas that apply outside the cloistered inner sanctums where they're discussed and debated -- I think these ideas and concepts benefit from being liberated and shared more widely.

Of Comments And Commenters

I lightly screen comments before posting to avoid the inevitable inappropriate spam that shows up as comments.  That's my personal choice -- there is no EMC policy on this.

Occasionally, I'll see someone post a comment that may damage their career or reputation in a serious way, so I usually try and be a nice guy and give them a choice to reflect on their impulsive choice of words. 

Hint: alcohol and commenting don't mix.

Some might call this censorship, I just see it as trying to be helpful.

My favorite comments are the ones that challenge my assumptions, present an alternative view, have a thoughtful question, or add a level to the discussion I hadn't thought about.

For those of you who take the time to share these thoughtful comments, I personally thank each and every one of you -- you know who you are.

Conversely, many people feel it's fair game to attack EMC, EMC's products, or me personally.  More often than not, they've got a competitive axe to grind.  Perfectly understandable.

I feel sorry for these people, as they don't seem to have anything intelligent to add to the discussion, just the ability to throw rocks.  Unfortunate.

But, as you plainly can see, their comments (warts and all) go up on the blog for the world to read.  Freedom of speech is a sword that cuts both ways.

Ours is a competitive industry with many passionate people who can end up disagreeing.  The trick is to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.

The one commenting behavior that really irks me is "astroturfing" -- pretending you're something that you're not. 

On more than one occasion, employees of certain companies have thought it childishly clever to pretend they're a customer, and complain bitterly.

C'mon guys, grow up already.  It's extremely unethical, and extremely obvious.

Choice Of Topics

Out of curiousity, I went back and scanned my posts over the last few years.  From my perspective, there's been a clear and gradual progression towards bigger topics, and deeper discussions.

I tend to range a bit, and I don't think I fit neatly into accepted labels, like "storage blogger" et. al.

This may not be everyone's cup of tea.  Some people like technical tips, or condensed summaries of other people's material, or other forms of blogging.  That's fine as well.

I think this topical progression is a reflection of how the IT industry is changing, how EMC is changing, and how I am personally growing and evolving. 

I don't try and limit it.

When I felt my interests going in another direction (e.g. corporate social media proficiency), I started an entirely new blog on the topic, since closed.  That one was good for about ~50,000 page views, and is still viewed actively to this day.

When there's big news (such as an EMC acquisition), I try and go beyond the obvious, and shine a little light on the underlying thinking.  I'd like to think that some people appreciate that deeper perspective.

Adding To The Industry Discussion

I can point to several posts along the way that kicked off very interesting industry discussions -- some friendly, some less so.

I guess I'm proudest of those posts. 

Anything I can do to get people engaged and talking about real issues that affect us all in the industry is a good thing -- whether you agree with me or not.

I don't feel I'm limited by my affiliation with EMC as to the topics I can or can't address.  Including topics that may not put EMC in an entirely flattering light.

Blogging Can Be A Lot Of Work

Like most of us at EMC blogging is something that we try to fit in with our day jobs.  That means that I'm not always able to post frequently, or cover industry happenings in real-time, or even respond to all the comments I'd like to.

In case you're interested, I use a MacBook Air to type out the posts, often when I'm on an airplane, or in a hotel room, or can't sleep due to timezone issues.  It's a rare day indeed when I can blog during normal working hours. 

For example, this particular post is being written from the center seat of flight to Houston for a few customer meetings.  I'm down to 20% battery power, so I better wrap things up soon, no?

Fortunately, writing seems to come relatively easily for me.  Of course, there are those who would suggest that a few writing lessons might be in order :-)

Could I blog full-time?  Certainly -- there's plenty of material, and there seems to be a certain appetite out there for what I write about.

But I think that blogging is best done as an adjunct to your day job -- it's a public lens on your world, and not a substitute for it.

The Rewards Of Blogging

Some people treat this blogging thing as some sort of a contest, which I believe is entirely the wrong motivation. 

My reward comes when someone says "hey, I was reading your blog the other day ..." or "you had a really interesting thought on ...". 

For me, that's what it's all about.

I was one of the earlier bloggers at EMC.  From the beginning, I encouraged others to blog as well, with the result being we have a nice roster of EMC bloggers who cover an incredibly wide range of topics -- each from their own perspective.

If you go visit some of these EMCer blogs, you'll notice that there's no "corporate standard" like some companies enforce.  Each blog has its own look, style and tone that reflect the individual, and not the company.  Corporate clones, these are not.

I think there's a key difference between blogs written for a company, and blogs written by individuals who work at that company.

I prefer the latter, and not the former.

What's Next?

I can tell you the themes that are front-and-center in my mind these days.

First and foremost is the radical transition in the IT industry that's upon us.  It'll end up dramatically affecting all of us -- vendors, customers, and everyone in-between. 

Here you'll find a rich mix of private clouds, virtualization, next-generation service providers, new business models and IT organizational transition topics.

Second, there's a longer-term theme of how we're learning to think of information more like money, and less like 1s and 0s sitting on a disk. 

Whether it's personal information management, or corporate information governance, our societal views around information -- and who owns it -- is starting to shift significantly.

Third, there's always the innovation stuff -- new products and technologies from the industry that change the way we think about problems.  For me, it's less about the specific technology or company, and more about the Big Idea that the innovation brings to the table. 

Plenty of that going on at EMC these days.

I have to tell you, I'm losing interest in starting squabbles with traditional competitors.  It's too easy, and it's no fun anymore.  They are who they are.  If nothing else, they can be very entertaining, e.g. "You May Have Won $1 Million !!!". 

Thankfully, I believe the upcoming industry transition will establish an entirely new pecking order, and -- well -- an entirely new set of competitors to go fret about.

Thank You, All!

For all of you who've found something useful or entertaining in this blog, I'm glad I was able to add a little bit of value to your world.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting!

Comments

[Stephen Foskett]

You keep on writing and I'll keep on reading. We may not agree, Chuck, but you've always got something thought-provoking to say.

I have to agree about the astroturf. I refuse to engage in a discussion with anyone I can't identify. I don't need to know your real name, employer, and position, but I'd like to know at least two of the three. I believe folks can represent themselves, their employers, or both. But no matter, I'd like to know where you're coming from.

We always know where you are coming from, and that's refreshing!

[blogstu.wordpress.com]

Chuck,
Thanks for trailblazing for us. You don't shy away from a spirited discussion and unlike "corporate blogs", your posts are never dull. While at times it may be tough to find time to keep up when you go on a frenetic posting spree, it's nice to be able to dig into pieces that require some reflection.