Liveblogging is not a new phenomenon, but with the Presidential debates over the past few weeks, it’s come into the limelight. There are a few benefits to liveblogging, and a couple different methods of doing it.

(Photo Credit: MEGATONik)

Benefits of Liveblogging

Liveblogging is beneficial for a variety of reasons.

• It provides quick and easy content for your blog, Twitter stream, etc.
• It gives people who are not at the event an opportunity to view the content and respond, in real time or after the fact.
• It provides an interactive platform and generates conversation for attendees of the event (and those following remotely) to discuss what was said, or a place to reflect after the fact.
• It gives a point of reference to go back to and make commentary on key points after the event is over.

Ways to Liveblog

There are a few methods to approaching liveblogging. Some methods can be combined to give a more comprehensive view.

• Provide short “play-by-plays” with time-stamped updates. Consider using an embedded system designed specifically for this, such as CoveritLive.
• Provide a general overview of the event. Summarize what was said and provide your own commentary and insight. Paraphrase what the speaker is saying.
• Provide content from the event with as much verbatim as possible. For example, if you are attending a conference panel session, include all Powerpoint slide content (if applicable), and try to write as much detail and exact phrases as possible from the speaker.
• Provide alternative methods of getting information, other than through your blog. Mix it up by using Twitter, uStream, Utterli (formerly Utterz), or like services. Many people also bring their flipcams to events and simply upload the entire video to their blog and social networks.

When choosing a method, think about factors such as your organization’s (or personal) goals for liveblogging, your blog audience, attendees of the event, and content of the speaker. Think about whether or not you are liveblogging to increase traffic to your site, or to provide valuable information to the public. Consider your audience and how they absorb information. Liveblogging using short updates (think Twitter) may make more sense for a Web 2.0 audience, while more general overviews of content with commentary may work well for an IT crowd.

(Picture Credit: Flickr)

It’s also important to consider the content you are sharing. Make sure it’s valuable to your audience.

A good example of how to do a “play-by-play” comes from Mashable:

This doesn’t mean “Speaker X walks up to the podium, clears throat and opens with quip about your mom,” but more like, “Speaker X says trust is the most important factor in determining marketing success. Jack from Company Y challenges this.”

Keep in mind that your content is openly available to the public, and can be reused in a variety of ways that you may not be aware of. Take Doug Haslam’s experience for example.

Boy was I surprised to hear my snarky Tweets about this week’s Vice-Presidential debate ended up on Current TV’s broadcast of the debate.

What other reasons can you think of to liveblog? Are there other ways to approach liveblogging?

At almost every event or discussion on social media, there’s a naysayer that only millenials, those under 30 consume social media. They dismiss this conversational form as something that their target market doesn’t use. Ironically, they are missing the boat as older generations are using social media.

Perhaps the best example of this is who is creating content. Technorati released the first part of its State of the Blogosphere report yesterday. It’s so funny to see their statistics, which prominently feature the millenial stats. Yet, when you delve into the numbers you can see some interesting breakdowns favoring Gen X and Baby Boomers.

Consider that 50% of bloggers are 35 and older, and 42% are between the ages of 35-54. Those are some pretty strong statistics demonstrating that millenial bloggers are getting outpaced by older generations.

In the U.S., 34% of bloggers are 25-34, and 37% are 35-49. So the older trend is even more pervasive in the United States.

The Technorati report is just the harbinger of a growing trend that usage statistics and surveys will continue confirming. Generation X and increasingly Baby Boomers are online. Communicators who dismiss these powerful media consumers as traditional media only do so at their own peril.

This weekend at BlogWorld Expo, on behalf of Network Solutions I got to interview many leading bloggers (Diva Marketing Blog Author Toby Bloomberg pictured above). One common characteristic that all of these voices had was passion. Passion to write about their subject matter. Heart and soul makes their fingers twitch with metaphorical fire on the keyboard every week and month over the years.

(Co-founder of Alltop and How to Change the World Blogger Guy Kawasaki)

We talk about social media being a game of conversational approach and tones, authenticity, frequency and personality. But even with those attributes, you cannot replace that fire that all of these great bloggers seem to possess.

(Myself, ace eCommerce Get Elastic blogger Linda Bustos, and original Livingston influencer Ad Rants Author Steve Hall)

That fire sits in their eyes as they talk about their subject matter. They care. And that passion powers them through slumps, writer’s block, business failure, life’s daily occurrences (large and small), and even hurricanes.

(Zappos CEO and Twitter Microblogger Tony Hsieh and Network Solutions Social Media Swami Shashi Bellamkonda)

Perhaps that’s the real key to success, the raw resource that drives success, and creates a willingness to hone their craft to near-perfection. Because when all else fails that internal passion will carry the blogger back to the keyboard one more time. For the ace blogger, there is no other choice.

Problogger Darren Rowse flew in from Australia.

Though the acquisition is off, we’re still planning on some changes to the Buzz Bin.  Namely, the blog and the readers would be better served if we split the content into two blogs. We feel like we’ve got a lot of great content, some strategic and some tactical.

First would be the Buzz Bin, which would continue with 2-3 Livingston posts a week, Qui Diaz on social media for social good, and interviews of leading voices. We anticipate adding a third strategy oriented voice to the blog in the next month or two. The leaner and meaner Buzz Bin would begin in its third major retooling on September 8.

Second, Livingston Communications would start a new blog, which would focus more on tactical execution. Larissa Fair would be the lead voice, and she will be accompanied by our weekly columns from Marinel Mones and Mike Nelson, Buzz Meter and Blogs of Fire, respectively.  The second blog would launch in mid-October.

As the Buzz Bin is as much yours as ours, we definitely want to know if these changes work for you, or if you prefer to keep the blog as is. Let us know.

When Chris Brogran stops the press to summon good deeds, people sit up and take notice. Beth Kanter (with prerequisite trust in spades) raised $3,000 in one hour at Gnomedex to send her sponsored Cambodian student back to college for another semester. The game changing Social Actions widget (below) makes it possible for any plugged in individual to highlight campaigns on a blog or profile. We Buzz Binners are committed to a better place.

The ChangeBlogging meme has arrived. On a meta level - not just the three question blog-a-long at the end of this post. Eyes are shifting from the internal “me” meme to a season of “we” and “us.” The winds of change are welcome - and overdue.

A year ago there were about 15 notable nonprofit and philanthropy bloggers. Today dozens of voices regularly discuss community and global change, often in relation to the role of the social Web. (Check out the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give & Take blog roll for a solid starter list.)

The unofficial and growing network of Changebloggers is another testament to the trend toward good. Changebloggers, as defined by Britt Bravo, are “people who are using their blog, podcast or vlog to raise awareness, build community, and/or facilitate readers/listeners/viewers’ taking action to make the world a better place.” These actions occur across nonprofits, government, corporations and the general civic sector.

Here’s the great news: Social media platforms give anyone with a little reach and commitment the ability to influence, if not outright persuade. You needn’t be solely focused on societal impact to afford changeblogger tendencies. It’s a question of what are you influencing and to what end?

DC: Setting the Stage for ChangeBlogging Results

One of the iDistrict’s most remarkable qualities is its focus on community change. As one example, marketing, PR, Web and social media gurus gather each month at NetSquared’s Pimp My Nonprofit event. We listen first, then offer digitally-derived insight and ideas, one nonprofit at a time. A meeting of the minds plus a way to contribute locally.

This fall, DC will be one of 35 cities visited by NetSquared’s Alex Steed. He’s touring the U.S., meeting with millennial activists about “the future of organizing.” We won’t be letting him out of here that easily, however. Alexandra Rampy (a.k.a. SocialButterfly) is rallying local changebloggers to meet with Steed. Our goal is to unite interested parties around something good (TBD). From there, we can do just about anything.

That’s setting the bar pretty high for Valley and NY folk.

If you were here with me, I’d make a toast. Instead - to help formally launch a new wave of social activism - a new meme. Three questions (with my answers):

• What is one change - big or small, local or global - you want to see in your lifetime? I’ll kick off with a big one. Poverty has to end. There is plenty of plenty to go around. The U.N. Millennium Development Goals are here to motivate.
• Who is already working this issue that you think others should support? Microfinance groups, like Kiva but beyond. Opportunity International, Grameen Foundation, Global Giving’s microcredit programs, and small micro-enterprise initiatives happening here in the U.S. and abroad - to name a few. Social capitalism at its best.
• How are you going to use your Web/tech/marcom skills to further this cause? (Or, what are you already doing that works?)
  I have badges on my personal blog for several of the above groups, and support a few of them too. That’s  not enough! I hope to get more involved with NEST, a local group that provides microcredit loans to women artisans in developing countries, and brings their wares to market in the U.S. They’ve already dipped their toes into PR and social media but could use some additional support.

Tagged in this meme (we’re all changebloggers in some way!): Minjae Ormes, Ike Pigott, Alex Rampy, Holly Ross, Jake Brewer, Josh Chambers, Colin Delaney, Maddie Grant, Andre Blackman, Mark Drapeau, Sarah Marchetti, Ryan Moede, Christian DE NEEF and Kenneth Yeung.

Peace.

The controversial Sarah Lacy spoke at Gnomedex. Yours truly argued with Lacy and Robert Scoble about business blogging, in what became a very public discussion (see extensive CNET coverage, image from said article). The usual, beaten to death PR Sucks meme arose (snore), but our specific argument arose over the feasibility of Lacy’s claims that bloggers can really monetize their business.

I believe most content generators a) don’t create for business/marketing purposes and b) won’t ever be in a position to successfully become superstars to the extent that the content itself will create enough opportunities to be self supporting. The era of turning on a blog and it being “special” ended last year (per last week’s Content Creation post).

CNET got my point right on the nose:

Lacy, Charlene Li [who is absolutely brilliant], Scoble and others, were “people who already have influential positions… Why should the average Joe Metroblogger care,” Livingston asked.

Both Lacy and Li came out of positions where their professional day jobs — BusinessWeek and Forrester — afforded them a much quicker ride to success. In the case of Scoble, he had to scrap his way to the top, but still had some special sauce as one of the first major corporate bloggers vis a vis Microsoft.

To really make it without these advantages, you need an unusual combination of skills to rise to prominence. You must be a natural. Scrapping your way to success through content creation today requires these four elements:

Not as simple as the wave of a hand from a former BusinessWeek reporter who had a easier path to prominence. By the way, Lacy’s journalistic past was something she needed to remind Gnomedexers of more than a dozen times. Most Gnomedexers seemed to feel Lacy’s laurels had worn thin, as demonstrated by the worst speaker rating of the event.

Breaking It Down

(Robert Redford starred as the Natural in 1984)

This discussion, while interesting to Lacy et al, is not a new discussion, but relevant in that so many individuals and businesses are trying to create blogs for business purposes. Technically “blogging” is not the right term; it should be content creation. A blog is a publishing mechanism for a variety of content from the printed word and podcasts to photos and video. Anyway…

Can an individual — and to some extent a new business effort — successfully leverage content for leading edge value? Yes, in our own business consider Valeria Maltoni’s rise to prominence last year, and this year’s Jason Falls success story. A rise to the top for business purposes can be done. Business value usually comes in the form of intangibles like more web site transactions through integrated marketing calls to action, personal or corporate branding, speaking opps, networking contacts, etc.

But let’s examine content creators by type:

1) The Naturals - Folks who would blog if they were stuck in Alaska, alone with no hopes for any commerce.
2) Business people and entrepreneurs - From consultant to corporation, these folks are seeking to achieve financial reward.

The two are not exclusive. But most bloggers fall under the category of one, naturally creative. Doubt me? Check out DC Blogs, a list of thousands upon thousands of local bloggers who create for the sake fulfilling their inner Picasso. Most have no aspiration for monetization.

Also, consider how many people create content versus those that simply listen or comment. The actual blogger is a rare person, one in 20 to 25, depending on your source.

In the case, of business types who do blog, unless they are also naturally creative, they rarely post with the necessary frequency, long-term tenacity and substance to succeed. If an entrepreneur’s natural creativity cannot be brought to bear in this sense, it’s going to be very hard for them. A corporation can better weather this deficiency by deploying several voices guided by an editorial mission and calendar.

In addition to creative fire to achieve success, you must have something to say. You have to have subject matter expertise. Creativity and subject matter expertise do not mutually co-exist. Further, is there enough of both, to deliver targeted content excellence over a sustained Stakeholders must find the content relevant consistently or they will stop following a creator.

Last, but not least comes, community networking skills. This represents more than half of the battle. Content is not king of much>Unless you already have notoriety, generating a community network becomes an organic process. Developing enough Groundswell to successfully compel communities to generate word of mouth and propel content, requires strong networking skills - a skill set completely different from content creation.

Networking requires a sustained participatory commitment from the individual on top of content creation. Much of Now Is Gone focuses on participation within communities, and that’s because it is the community that drives adoption, not publishing or even subject matter expertise. Those are pre-requisites. Instead, the community adapts, and they only do so when they believe you are credible, and there is clear value for them.

Applied to the Gnomedex Conversation

The Lacys, Lis, and Scobles of the world have an unfair advantage compared to the average blogger. Their credibility with the community — in the form of BusinessWeek, Forrester and Microsoft — was already established. Their communities were much more willing to embrace them than the average unknown.

To their credit, Li and Scoble are clearly positioned for long term success. In addition to their notoriety, they network, create content, and deliver substance over time. I am far from ready to don Lacy a champion due to perceived weaknesses in her thought leadership and community skills. That being said, she is undoubtably a Natural. Journalists and authors have to be content creators in their heart. But how much longer will the BusinessWeek cache carry her?

Those of us who have had to earn or are trying to develop business success through content creation know the road is not easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it. Much like publishing a book (according to Li there are only 50,000 published authors in the United States), for “the unfamous” the dream requires an incredible amount of perseverance and dedication. Trust me, I know. Because I’ve walked this talk from ground zero.

Some of you may have been following the PR Week Blog Competition. In a nasty twist of fate, the Buzz Bin got pitted against friend and PR Prodigy Todd Defren and his PR Squared blog.

Well, I can tell you we are not too thrilled at this pairing! Upon reflection, we decided to pull a classic Washingtonian PR move and endorse Todd to win the PR Week Blog Competition. Here’s why:

And by the way, you can do more than just vote. You can support Todd with your own “In Todd We Trust” apparel! Visit the Todd store here!

Original Todd Image by David Alston. If someone actually buys something, we’ll give him all of the profits.

August. It’s upon us (image by jurvetson)… The dead of summer, often known as the “Dog Days.”

Business slows down. Campaigns are put on hold. The world seems to take a deep breath, resting before the mad rush of business from Labor Day through Thanksgiving.

August can deliver more than that.

The word august finds its roots in the word augustus (you know, that emperor that followed Julius?), a word that means sacred or grand. In that vein, august means venerable or eminent.

Similarly, companies and bloggers that choose to ignore the smaller audiences during the August vacation period, and decide to proactively market have an opportunity to generate unusual traction. They can become august in their positioning by exploiting an unusual lack of marketplace noise.

Last summer many bloggers took a break. Other newer, hungrier bloggers like Valeria Maltoni and myself kept blogging through it. While traffic remained flat in August, if you consider the amount of people on vacation, it was actually increasing… And RSS subscribership proved it.

In other facets of marketing, similar results can be achieved. Influencer relations campaigns can leverage the relative lack of stories. In some cases, the stories may not reach full impact until September by the time the media finishes coverage. I’ve had several campaigns that were waged in August with outstanding coverage results in September.

Slow is a mindset, and while there may be vacations, there are also opportunities. So what’s it going to be: August or august?

Where do the children go,
Between the bright night and darkest day?
Where do the children go?
And who’s that deadly piper who leads them away?

- Where Do the Children Go, The Hooters

Some of you may have seen CommonSense PR Eric Eggertson’s post this Saturday. He has decided to go on hiatus from CommonSense PR. This continues a trend where many established business bloggers stop for a while (Leo Bottary is back!), for good, or migrate to Twitter or another social network.

Eric states:

I’m tired. I want to not have a public opinion about everything I see. And if you aren’t absolutely driven to blog, you shouldn’t be doing it.

You have to respect Eric’s desire to move on. After years and months of blogging, isn’t burn-out inevitable? There comes a time when new media and paths must be explored in a person’s journey. Which brings up an interesting issue for corporate blogs: Artistic creativity or business? Can content be created on demand, or is great professional blogging a result of creative fire?

Business is business, so in many cases good blogging is a marketing function, an editorial production. We have found that editorial schedules and missions work well to drive content. Multiple authors allay the taxing nature of blogging time and creativity resources. In one case, our client StackSafe’s blog was cited by Forrester Research as part of an integrated marketing mix that offered compelling content to the IT mix.

For me, blogging and content creation lies in what seems to be an unrelenting fount of creativity. As soon as I push the publish button, a sense of relief occurs, but within hours the next post(s) starts brewing in my head. Further, even when I am stymied, I can still write on demand, a result of being the fifth journalist, and third published author in my family. I have always been possessed by the writing bug, and suspect I always will be (below image by desiitaly).

But there have been times where I burned out on the marketing, social media and PR schtick. This caused me to abandon my second social media blog, Now Is Gone (in support of the book) in favor of personal “fun” blogging. It also caused me to explore video, a media form I enjoy because of it’s extremely daunting canvas.

Yet I forged through burn-out on the Buzz Bin. Because it’s business, and there’s always some new idea or take on developments to offer insights to the marketplace. We publish on the Buzz Bin religiously because we see the blog as a core business offering, essential to the firm’s well-being. This will only continue as we integrate with Social Media Group.

It bears to mind an old Frederick Douglass quote (paraphrased): “Good writers write when they want to. Great writers write when they have to.”

When it’s a business — as opposed to an individual’s blog — you write. Artists be damned. And if a writer burns out, then it’s time to replace them with a new cog in the wheel. Well engineered business blogs should survive the comings and goings of personalities. Thus is the nature of business blogging.

Note: Kami Huyse stuck this idea of creative force vs. business in my head a couple weeks ago. She should get some credit for the idea.

It’s not much, but it wasn’t meant to be. BlogPotomac profits totaled $491 and change. And as promised we donated them to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Here’s a little schtick from EFF on their mission:

EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people’s radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.

BlogPotomac was meant to be a not for profit event, and as such charge only the cost of the event. Any ancillary monies have been donated on behalf of the attendees. Again, thank you to everyone who made BlogPotomac a success.  We look forward to June 12, 2009!