ABOUT THE TOPIC: CEO blogs are the, topic du jour these days with Sun Microsystems' CEO Jonathan Schwartz, the first Fortune 500 CEO blogger, evangelizing the benefits of this powerful new communications channel. Dozens of CEOs in the U.S. and other countries, heads of both public and private companies, are starting their own blogs. Here's a list of CEO and senior executive bloggers.
But there are lots of questions:
Can a CEO or senior executive write openly enough to make his or her blog compelling and not just a PR stunt? What if the CEO isn't a good writer? Is ghostblogging a CEO blog OK? Does a CEO have time to blog? What should the topic of a CEO blog be? Why should a CEO give away insights on a blog when he or she could charge for them in a speech? How do you quantify the benefits or ROB (Return on Blogging) for a CEO? Is a blog really the new must have accessory for a CEO, as Jonathan Schwartz says it is?
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION LEADER: Debbie Weil is a corporate and CEO blogging consultant and author of the recently-published The Corporate Blogging Book (Penguin Portfolio 2006). She shows the big dogs how to use blogs as a next-generation marketing and communications strategy. She also writes BlogWriteForCEOs, considered one of the most influential blogs about business blogging. She invites you to download Chapter 1 of her new book. And of course to order your copy on Amazon! (It's also available at Borders and Barnes & Noble and other major bookstores.)
Debbie has a unique background as a veteran journalist with an MBA and corporate marketing experience. She has worked as an Internet marketing consultant with startups as well as Fortune 500 companies for over a decade. She's the publisher of award-winning WordBiz Report, an e-newsletter read by close to 20,000 subscribers in 87 countries.
She has been quoted on the topic of corporate and CEO blogging in Fortune Magazine, The New York Times and numerous other publications. A graduate of Harvard with a degree in English, she has an MBA from Georgetown University and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin. She is based in Washington DC.