The Leaders section of our upcoming issue includes some of the top Communications and PR bloggers in Europe. Unfortunately due to time and space constraints we were not able to include all those who answered our questions, and even the profiles in the magazine are cropped depending on lengthly the bloggers answered the questions, so -sadly- in the print version we lost some great insight. Over the next few days I will be posting the answers in their entirety from every respondent beginning with those who we could not fit into the magazine:
Name of blog: Blacklineblog.com (and Conversationblog.com)
Author: Philippe Borremans
In 50 words or less: what is important to you about blogging, why do you
do it?
Blogging is my online presence. It is my publishing platform, my website, my image on the web as well as an important part of my online networking efforts.
I blog because I have ideas to share and things to say. My PR professor used to say; “freedom of the press is for those who have one..”, well I have a press and I am using it.
What specific topics does your blog usually focus on?
I focus on my profession, public relations, and how it is being impacted by the web and social media. I cover internal, external and crisis communications and follow developments in the media world as well.
What has been your most popular post?
In the last months my most popular blogpost is “Enterprise 2.0 – FAQ – One answer at the time”. It is the first of a series of posts where I answer one question at the time about implementing social media within the enterprise. The first question I answer is: “What if employees use their internal blogs to post hate speech or pornography, or to harass a co-worker?”
How long has your blog existed?
Blacklineblog was started beginning of this year but I am cross posting from Conversationblog.com which was started on August 8, 2003 and as my second blog at the time…
PS: I am proud to say that I am featured on the PR blogging Timeline as Nr: 21… See the list here: http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?pagename=Resources.PRBloggingTimeline
Were there previous manifestation of the blog (i.e. a previous blog or a website)?
Yes, I started out on Typepad (a blogging platform) in 2001 I think with a blog called “Phil’s Place”.
Then I moved to Squarespace (another blogging platform) in 2003 with Conversationblog and am now cross posting to both Blacklineblog & Conversationblog.
Number of hits/readers that your blog receives monthly?
Between Conversationblog and Blacklineblog I have an average of 11.000 unique visitors/month and have around 500 subscribers; people who subscribe to my blogposts by email or RSS.
Some 70 people regularly read my blog content by mobile phone…
What sources most often inspire the content on your blog? (i.e. your work environment, online news and information, or something else)?
Totally depends on the day… Sometimes it is a real life experience such as speaking at a conference and meeting other professionals, sometimes it are other blogposts, the news or things I really want to communicate with my audience.
What are the top 3 other blogs you read most often?
Difficult to say as I read the RSS feeds and sometimes do not know who wrote the content… However, there are a couple of top blogs for my business & interests;
http://webworkerdaily.com
http://www.masternewmedia.org
And then there is the Online Public Relations feed which collects all the top blogposts of my PR Blogger colleagues around the world.
You can find it here: http://groups.blogdigger.com/groups.jsp?id=85
Name of blog: Blogging PR
Author(s): Christian Bogh (editor), Rikke Halberg, Søren Højlund Carlsen
In 50 words or less: what is important to you about blogging, why do you do it?
The short answer is - because I can.
Furthermore it's important for me to blog because it's a way for me to communicate with fellow minded across the world.
I enjoy to be able to share my opinion and thoughts with others without the limitations of the traditional media.
What specific topics does your blog usually focus on?
Mostly communications topics and how social media affects the way of professional public relations.
What has been your most popular post?
In Danish it have been a post about a review of a new social media initiative of a major Danish Newspaper and a study of how and if Danish Public Relation agencies use blogs as a communication tool. In English it has been my coverage of the IBM breakdown in Denmark and their lack of communication.
How long has your blog existed? Since May 2006.
Were there previous manifestation of the blog (i.e. a previous blog or
a website)?
Not really - we have changed blogging platform from Blogger.com to WordPress.com - that's it.
Number of hits/readers that your blog receives monthly? Around 1.000-1.500 unique visitors. A bit more after we have begun writing in English also.
What sources most often inspire the content on your blog? (i.e. your
work environment, online news and information, or something else)?
It varies a lot. But mostly it's online news and information -
including my social media network, primarily Twitter.
What are the top 3 other blogs you read most often? The Blog Herald (www.blogherald.com), PR 2.0 (www.briansolis.com), THINKing (www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/) and then more than 60 blogs in my feed reader.
communicationdirector.wordpress.com 