FAQ
1. Why did you start this group?
Big companies have unique issues when blogging. There isn't really any other forum that focuses on the needs of this group.
2. What is your purpose?
We will be exploring best practices, model policies, and issues specific to major companies' blogs. We provide a community for corporate bloggers to meet each other, share ideas, and learn from each other.
We will also serve as a voice for corporate blogging. Companies will be blogging, but we will do it differently than personal or small business blogs. There is no one "right way" to blog.
3. Who are the members?
Members are 1) large corporations that 2) have significant blogs.
We don't represent vendors, agencies or individual/small business blogs. We also don't represent big businesses that aren't blogging yet.
4. What issues will you address?
Every member of the Blog Council is already openly involved and active in the blogging community. They also face a very specific set of challenges unique to large companies. The Blog Council affords them a chance to talk with each other, share ideas, and learn how others have fared in similar situations. Ultimately, it’s less about privacy and more about staying focused.
6. Will the Blog Council be blogging?
Not much. Our job is to provide a community for corporate bloggers. We're not a publisher and we're not promoting a specific point of view. Our members are the ones leading the conversation; our job is to support it. It's less about the Blog Council's voice than helping our members have a stronger voice.
7. Is this an ethics organization?
Our purpose is to help our members develop effective policies and learn from each other. Teaching ethical best practices will be a core part of our program. The Blog Council is a community, not a trade association, so we don't set or enforce policies.
8. Are you trying to 'regulate' or 'police' the blogosphere?
Absolutely not. The Blog Council is a peer community where we learn from each other. We have no intention of creating policy or regulating anyone. The opposite is actually the case ... we help companies learn to work with the existing standards of blog ethics set by the free and open blogosphere.
9. Who manages the Blog Council?
Big companies have unique issues when blogging. There isn't really any other forum that focuses on the needs of this group.
2. What is your purpose?
We will be exploring best practices, model policies, and issues specific to major companies' blogs. We provide a community for corporate bloggers to meet each other, share ideas, and learn from each other.
We will also serve as a voice for corporate blogging. Companies will be blogging, but we will do it differently than personal or small business blogs. There is no one "right way" to blog.
3. Who are the members?
Members are 1) large corporations that 2) have significant blogs.
We don't represent vendors, agencies or individual/small business blogs. We also don't represent big businesses that aren't blogging yet.
4. What issues will you address?
- How do global brands manage blogs in more than one language?
- What do you do when hundreds or thousands of your employees have personal blogs?
- What is the role of the corporate brand in a media landscape increasingly geared toward consumer-generated media?
- What is the correct way to engage and respond to bloggers who write about your company?
- How do you use a blog during a crisis?
- How do you build buy-in for corporate blogging?
- What is the appropriate way to respond to external posts?
- What do you do when you provide product samples for review?
- … and more.
Every member of the Blog Council is already openly involved and active in the blogging community. They also face a very specific set of challenges unique to large companies. The Blog Council affords them a chance to talk with each other, share ideas, and learn how others have fared in similar situations. Ultimately, it’s less about privacy and more about staying focused.
6. Will the Blog Council be blogging?
Not much. Our job is to provide a community for corporate bloggers. We're not a publisher and we're not promoting a specific point of view. Our members are the ones leading the conversation; our job is to support it. It's less about the Blog Council's voice than helping our members have a stronger voice.
7. Is this an ethics organization?
Our purpose is to help our members develop effective policies and learn from each other. Teaching ethical best practices will be a core part of our program. The Blog Council is a community, not a trade association, so we don't set or enforce policies.
8. Are you trying to 'regulate' or 'police' the blogosphere?
Absolutely not. The Blog Council is a peer community where we learn from each other. We have no intention of creating policy or regulating anyone. The opposite is actually the case ... we help companies learn to work with the existing standards of blog ethics set by the free and open blogosphere.
9. Who manages the Blog Council?
The
Blog Council is managed by GasPedal, which is run by Andy Sernovitz,
founder of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. It is not a
non-profit organization or a trade association. It is similar to
business councils run by Forrester, Gartner, and the Conference Board.