The adoption of blogging as one of the latest tools for relationship building, communications and content creation is beginning to capture the attention of some people and agencies who are involved in social marketing programs. I haven't seen too many examples on line yet (OK, virtually none), but as the public sector begins to weigh the pros and cons of testing the waters, here are two recent posts to consider.
The first concerns the increasing corporate practice of having CEOs blog. One might imagine the CEO of large nonprofits - or even community-based ones - blogging on some regular basis. I'm not convinced how practical it would be in the public sector given some of the concerns addressed by Blogging for Business: Should Executives Blog?.
If company policy requires statements to be approved before being made public, perhaps by several layers of bureaucracy, the immediacy and relevance of a blog and its chances of success can be severely compromised.
Not impossible, but something to factor into how you go about crafting and positioning a blog. A great example of a corporate CEO blog that takes a "high road" and avoids some of the more obvious pitfalls is Richard Edelman's, CEO of Edelman Public Relations.
Steve Rubel addresses the issue of launching a blog from the perspective of the individual employee (think of a public relations counselor whose observations or critiques might offend current or propsective clients; someone who works in a public health agency and doesn't share the same outlook or philosophy as his/her colleagues, supervisors or constituents). Maintaining an interesting blog and tip-toeing around future potential conflicts of interest might lie at opposite sides of the spectrum.
I (and I'm sure other readers of this blog) would like to hear from people who are considering or are managing a blog in either voluntary or public sector agencies. What made you decide to take the plunge, what were the key challenges you faced in making it happen, and what has been (or is anticipated to be) the benefits to your organization and key audiences or stakeholders?
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