I was really happy to be able to go to BlogOrlando this weekend. Josh Hallett once again put on an amazing event (I say “once again” even though this was my first time going; but based on reports I’ve heard from people who went the previous two years, I feel justified in saying that!) and it was a great success.
I was nervous but also excited about my session. It ended up going really well - although I was very upset with myself because I forgot to bring the recorder, so I couldn’t record it for a podcast!! The room was full and we had a great discussion. I easily fell right back into “teacher mode” from when I used to be a TA in grad school; and you know, I really do like doing stuff like that!
The one thing that came out of my session was (as I predicted) we don’t have a clear definition of what is meant by the word “professional” when talking about blogs and social media. Everyone has their own conception of what that word means. To illustrate, here’s a photo of the whiteboard from my session; I started with an exercise where I had people shout out words/phrases that characterize a professional blog, and then words/phrases that characterize an unprofessional blog.
You’ll notice that some of the things in these lists contradict each other, and that’s exactly the point. One that I found very interesting was ‘lots of pictures’ under the Unprofessional heading; my response to the person who said it was something like, “That really depends on the type of blog we’re talking about, right? For a photography blog, lots of pictures would be appropriate, expected, and professional.”
After deconstructing what some of these words mean - e.g., it’s not okay to just use “credibility” as a qualifier for professional, because that’s another word that doesn’t have a common, accepted definition, so we need to define it, too! - I started presenting some examples. I mentioned a small business owner who wrote a post about her thoughts on the election, and asked what people thought of that. Two very interesting responses were shouted out at the same time. One person said it’s okay to write about her political views if she articulates what she means well. Another said it’s okay as long as it’s nothing too radical.
(Of course, you can imagine where I went with that: what is “too radical?” That’s subjective too.)
The two opinions diverged on what really mattered.
Later in the day, Nik Wilets and I were discussing how this was all very interesting because, we both agreed, to us professional/unprofessional has more to do with conduct - e.g., are you consistently late for meetings with clients, are you unprepared for meetings, etc.
Take-away: “Professional” is one of those words where someone says it and ten different people hear ten different things.
Other buzzwords:
- Credibility
- Monetization
- Non-starter
- Thought leader
- Personal brand - this term really creeps me out
Also:
And then in the afternoon, there was the Online Identity session… but I really don’t feel like writing about that right now. (Read the liveblog to get the gist of why; also, Dacia joined in the chat, which made it more bearable.) Maybe later. :\
READ ME: Disclaimer
7 Responses to "BlogOrlando wrap-up (part 1?)"
Do three shots if you hear “tastemaker”
That just makes me think of Mentos.
What is/was M.F?
That was supposed to represent: not saying ‘motherfucker’ all the time on your blog.
That’s funny because when I read MF, I immediately thought of motherfuckin’.
I’m obviously not professional.
[...] Amber Rhea [...]
[...] intersect online is a fascinating and relevant topic.” The dynamic during and feedback from my BlogOrlando session shows that presenting this topic as more than just the superficial clichés of [...]
Leave a comment