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At what price?

March 26, 2007

I’ve always been amazed at the generosity of bloggers. Let’s face it, the average blogger invests an incredible amount of their time and talents to share their expertise — all for free.

Over time, a sense of community develops and the blogger, readers, lurkers and commenters all begin to feel as though they know each other.  That familiarity breeds friendships, new collaborations and more sharing.

Hard to find the downside in that. Until today.

I figured there had to be some petty jealousies and personality conflicts within the blogging community.   I get it — many of the A-Listers are considered celebrities in their own right.  And people love to take pot shots at celebrities.

But it never occurred to me it could go to the extreme that one of the most famous and popular bloggers Kathy Sierra is now experiencing.  Without re-telling her story — she’s (at least for now) shutting her blog down and canceling speaking engagements because she’s getting death threats. (Beware…some pretty disturbing language and images are included in her post.)

Read her story.  Add your voice to the outrage.  Leave her a message of support. 

And then let’s double our efforts to keep building a community we can be proud of.

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Now I know I’ve made it!

March 4, 2007

When the porn guys want to trackback to you…boy oh boy, are you hot!

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Blogtipping — February ’07

February 1, 2007

I am joining with my fellow bloggers in celebrating some new blogs that I discovered this past month.  As is the blogtipping tradition, (created by Easton Ellsworth) I’ll offer a few reasons why I like the blog and one suggestion for improvement.

A Hero A Day is building a virtual quilt of courage through the deeds of those who chose to make a difference.

Things I love:

• The spirit of your efforts — "we are all one. Love is the only answer."

• You highlight an amazing array of leaders and heroes from every walk of life.

• The photos somehow capture the spirit of each person.

Suggestion: 

• Rather than just a quote — I really love the posts where you either tell us why this hero matters to you or tell us more of their story.

Be Yourself – Everyone Else is Taken is Chris Gribble’s view on life, learning and leadership.

Things I love:

• The randomness of the posts.

• Great conversational style.

• How much of Chris you put into the posts.  They’re not some 3rd party musing.  They’re very genuine and personal.

Suggestion:

• Graphics to illustrate your point would be a good addition to a good blog.

The Inner Entrepreneur is Douglas Eby’s look at leadership.

Things I love:

• Content/experts that provide lots of new points to ponder.

• Great book references. Lots of new suggestions for the reading list.

• There’s lots of meat in every post.

Suggestion:

• Tell us more about you — your background, your expertise.  And, a little nit picking, make the photos larger.

There you have it discerning readers…until next month’s blogtipping adventure!

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Tagged again (I’m a slow runner!)

January 14, 2007

I was caught early in the meme and offered up my five things.  Then, I wrote about how AdAge wrote about the game and how  it said something interesting about bloggers and their work.

Then Branding and Marketing’s Chris Brown got me in round two of the game.  So here we go.  I thought to make it interesting for you and in keeping with this blog’s theme — I would tell you about five of my favorite brands and the secret each brand reveals about me.

Disney:  I’m 44.  I own my own business.  I pay my bills on time.  I vote.   And…I am a 12 year old trapped in a man’s body.

Apple:  Despite my seriously Type-A personality, if I had to choose one over the other, I am pretty sure my heart would choose form over function.  I love Apple’s simplicity, clean design and attitude.  I don’t care that I have fewer applications to choose from.

Coke:  I’m a sentimental fool who loves traditions, Americana and  really would like  to teach the world to sing.

Dads & Daughters:  Being my daughter’s dad is my life’s greatest joy.

Mystery Writers of America:  There’s a mystery novel or three in me.  I just have to find time to get it out on paper!  I have most of the first one plotted out.  It’s about a newspaper columnist who gets a call and…

Thanks for the tag Chris!  I love to play! (see #1)

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