Earthlink's Earthling blog caught some nice buzz when it launched back in December. This week, some PR bloggers have been invited to preview a new blogging effort by Dan Greenfield, Earthlink's vp of corp comms.I am hoping Dan steps up to do some interesting things with his blog. Earthlink is a big company and if Dan thinks big, it wouldn't be hard for him to get some good Googlejuice flowing his way.
I'd like to hear about Dan's day. Maybe see a bunch of photos of Earthlink execs in their offices, at the coffee machine, in the Boardroom. Behind the scenes stuff. (He's a photo buff, after all.)
I'd like Dan to address Earthlink's own blog software futures. Will there be an Earthlink blogging platform? Why or why not?
I'd like to see Dan call in to Earthlink tech support as a "typical customer" and report back on the experience - how he felt as a user, and subsequently as an exec. (I used to be an Earthlink customer, and - sorry Dan - the customer service sucked.) I wonder if Dan considers customer service to even be a PR issue? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Can he make an impact?
Of course, I'd also love to see Dan blog about his interactions with the press and his internal PR staff and external agencies. It would be very interesting to hear Dan's thoughts about the competition.
Notice that few of these issues raise SOX issues. I am sensitive to the need of an exec within a public company to tread carefully. My point to Dan, and to any would-be FORTUNE-level blogger, is to add unique value to the blogosphere. What can Dan teach us that a typical PR agency blogmeister would never know? What can Dan teach other execs within other big companies about how to manage their perceptions, and even how to manage their agencies?
Re-reading this post, it sounds snarky to me. It's not meant that way. Honestly, I am rooting for this latest entrant to the blogosphere. It's a good & important sign when a Big Company exec takes this plunge. Good luck!
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