More Blogging Thoughts
Some responses to things so far:
1) I use 2 browsers so I can see the whole thing (as a public person would) and edit. Chrome, Firefox and alt-tab make it pretty easy.
2) We still need to get clear about the internal vs. external aspects. Stuff like we're talking about here doesn't really belong in the public blog, in my opinion. So, how do we distinguish them?
3) Re: Are all blog entries going to be done via the drupal editing window, 'menu settings' options and all? Seems like that's the way it's done.
4) Re: Are we thinking of adding a new 'blog' tab next to the 'forum' tab? How are we making it accessible? Good question. One thing to keep in mind: without doing a significant re-design, we can't add more tabs, as they won't fit. However, seems like we are talking about doing away with the Demo tab, so we could re-use that. What to call it? Something concise (so it fits) that means "Communications", "Resources", "Community Resources" or something. I don't think we want it to be single-purpose ("Blog"), as we're likely to need other things in there. Should probably include the Forum, too.
-Tom
Yay for blog!
As far as the tone of the blog, I think it should definitely lean towards informal. Of course entries should be at least a little bit relavent, but I think moderately personal posts will make us seem more accessable to customers. For instance, I think an entry about Tom's dentist appointment would be appropriate; it's personal, but still still relevant because it caused Tom to be out of the office for part of the day. Stuff like that.
We should start compiling a list of the other blogs we want to follow. Also, since keeping updated with other blogs will be an ongoing task, someone should probably be responsible for doing that as part of their regular weekly duties. I'd be glad to take that on, as it seems to be a logical extension of my job title as a technical writer anyway. Let's talk about it!
So here' s a few questions about how the blog will work:
Are all blog entries going to be done via the drupal editing window, 'menu settings' options and all?
Are we thinking of adding a new 'blog' tab next to the 'forum' tab? How are we making it accessible?
-Jon
What shall we do in this blog?
What shall we do in this blog? I'm wondering if there should be an internal blog, for company eyes only, and a "public blog" for each of the two divisions of the company. In the Rosemark blog, the focus will be anything related to Rosemark, Home Care, office technology, etc. In TechA2's blog, the touch on all things tech. The blogs could even link to each other as needed. Seems obvious how Rosemark's will refer to TechA2's, for reference to technology; not sure how it would go the other way, but we'll see.
Then there's the whole question of tone. Some kind of balance between formal and casual, professional and personal. They say that it's better to have frequent content changes than to have each entry perfect: remind me of that every day! I will tend to want to create little masterpieces, but I will try to put things in even if they aren't fully polished.
We should also be reading blogs that relate to our business, and link to them as needed. Angil has a blog (
angiltarachrn.blogspot.com/) and it seems there must be others out there.
This is an exciting new chapter! Let's have at it...
-Tom
