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I liveblogged BlogHer's first of five discussions at SXSW, starring Laina Dawes, Jory Des Jardins, Elaine Liner, Evelyn Rodriguez, Elisa Camahort. Good discussion included some important edge back from the audience, many of whom expressed surprise at Laina's and Elaine's surprise at losing their jobs over their blogs. I agree with Chris Carfi that Jory had a terrific point about how blogs are affecting business communications in general. And this exchange brought the house down:
Laina Dawes: "As a black woman, I blog because I have to. Unless you're Condoleezza Rice, no one cares what you have to say. [talks about being part of a transcultural adoption into a white family.] My parents do read my blog, so I try to keep the profanity down. Wrote a scathing article on Hurrricane Katrina. I had an uncle who felt I was calling my entire family white supremacists... I have to say, it's my life, it's my blog, and I do what I have to do. I cannot restrict what I have to say."
Elisa Camahort: "So you'll say white supremacists, but you won't say fucking white supremacists."
Laughter, as Elisa and Laina howl from the podium.
Here's the play-by-play - please note: I was both listening and typing, so please forgive any sentence rearrangements and/or losses in the threads. All additions/edits/improvements welcome below!
Elisa Camahort opened with the results of BlogHer's survey, "Sex and Money still taboo," of 185 people on whether bloggers feel comfortable outing one's personal life in the workplace. Net-net result: Despite the prevalent media image that bloggers--particularly personal bloggers--talk all about their sex lives, they do have boundaries. Among the results Elisa mentioned at the beginning of the panel were:
- 84 percent report never having gotten negative feedback.
- 49 percent say they blog to establish themselves as a thought leader
- 39 percent say they've gotten positive customer feedback
- 28 percent say their blog has lead to a writing /speaking engagement
Then she asked the crowd how many blog about sex (few hands go up). Then she asks if anyone talks about salary. One hand went up: Liz Henry's. Liz tells the world blogged her entire Social Security income. Why? asked Elisa. "Because it was funny. There were years of zeros." Laughter.
Elisa Camahort "If you worked for a corporation, do you think you would blog the way you do now?"
Evelyn Rodriguez says blogs have been the reason she has been hired, but notes that there's a risk - if they don't like you, then you're out. She doesn't have a way of knowing who has said yes v. no to her after seeing her blog because it's invisible to her. She thinks it works for her. She says it helps her find people "I really do want to work with, it's been a help because it's not a huge shock or surprise who I am."
Elisa: "Have you thought about reducing the amount you blog?"
Evelyn: "People who have written to me who really like the stuff I write, and I write a lot about spirituality too, tend to be venture capitalists and Ceos and attorneys who think oh, another million isn't necessarily going to make me happy. It's taking me in a new direction."
Elisa: "Has anyone ever made a business decision based on a preconceived notion from Googling people online?"
Todd Sattersten: "Yes, it eliminated some candidates. One was trashing their former employer. The odd thing is that the Web site was clearly mentioned on his resume."
Scott Allen. "I did and actually it was a very positive experience. I was writing a book on virtual business relationships. My co-author approached me through one of the Yahoo Groups. One of the first things I did was Google his name... (they ended up writing together)."
Jory Des Jardins: "There was always a dichotomy between my professional and personal lives. I actually was very frustrated with my career until I started combining the two. I was a very frustrated magazine writer in NYC for a couple of years, and ...then when I started blogging, I started hearing from people" who wanted her to write for them.
Laina Dawes: "At work I had to do the step-n-fetch-it routine. When I went home I would blog about race relations. What I made the mistake of doing is that I listed my personal blog site when I applied for an internal positions. ...One day, they turned me down for a raise. I went home and without listing the company' name,
