First Asian Corporate Blogging Conference

I’ll be attending the first Asian Corporate Blogging conference today. Guest stars: The author of Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies, and the President of the Professional Bloggers Association (no, it isn’t Jason Kottke but Paul Chaney). Participants will get a free signed copy of the Dummies book, hurrah!
I’m glad my organisation is open-minded enough to send me to this conference. Of course we’ll still have to assess whether blogging is applicable to our programmes or corporate profile. We won’t blog for the sake of blogging, just as we shouldn’t use technology just for the sake of using it. We think blogs will work better with certain target groups such as children, teenagers and young adults.
But I feel corporate blogs need to break away from being just a mouthpiece, reporting press releases and company ‘propaganda’. It has to be real, personal, spontaneous and friendly. If posting a new entry requires prior approval by a committee, for instance, that would hamper the free nature of blogging. In this aspect, I feel there is some conflict between the words ‘corporate’ and ‘blogging’. But it also depends on the personality of the organisation. Some software companies have blogs that are easy to follow, advertising their latest products in an appealing manner. Netnewswire’s blog informs readers of related news and products. Sixapart, makers of my favourite weblogging software, MovableType, has Mena’s Corner.
And speaking of ‘genuine’, I also think the NTUC Income chief’s doing a good job on his blog. He speaks his mind on issues outside of his work, and this creates a more personal feel that is usually lacking when you think of other CEOs in big companies. Most of them seem distant, inaccessible, and so politically correct you don’t really get to know who they really are and what they stand for. Not so much in this blog.
Anyway, I’ll be at the conference for the first day. We’ll see how it goes!
[Update: I just got back from the conference and it was great. Tell you more about it later … ]