CEO blogs

I've previously covered the topic of CEO's that blog. However it turns out that there are far more interesting examples of this activity that I initially realised.
Obviously, working in and around the digital arena, I'm aware of top-dogs within my industry who are practicing what they preach. Notable examples are Clark Kokich of Avenue A Razorfish who makes time to post, as does Alastair Duncan of MRM.
However the CEO blogger is appearing in other verticals:

• Brad Feld, Managing Director of Mobius Venture Capital, has a very popular blog where he covers all sorts of topics. http://www.feld.com/blog/


• Glenn Kelman at Redfin brokerage has caused a stir in the real estate business by sharing his 'warts & all' stories in regular postings.

However, not all of this is done purely for altruism. The majority of companies surveyed in a recent report (76%) indicated that they have noticed an increase in media attention and/or website traffic as a result of their blog. Indeed Brad Field highlights his colleagues, promotes companies and his investments in his (and particularly in his alternative blog http://www.askthevc.com/) and following Glenn's blogging....

Kelman and his crew were closing several deals a day

Source: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/wired40_ceo.html

Collective endorsement

Alastair Duncan has recently used the term 'Collective Endosement' in his blog posting 'Communities are the future' and I think it is a very well chosen phrase. It sums up how specific groups bonded by a shared sentiment (and not necessarily geography) flock around a particular idea.

Alastair also poses the question:

"Will communities be the dictators of content in the future?"

and he asks if these communities could gatekeeper the outcome by this collective endorsement.

I'd like to take this idea a little further and state that I don't believe it will be entire communities that will control this sentiment all the time and that key influencers within these communities will often lead the collective embrace (or attack).

However, unlike the concept of The Tipping Point, where these are super-influencial social magnets.... these people could be normal, everyday people. The downside is that it therefore makes it far harder to understand the dynamics involved and plan your influencing strategy accordingly.