Blog Conversation Coordinators

Marc Canter blogs that Marqui, a content management solutions provider, just hired a a "conversation coordinator":

"We've hired a "conversation coordinator" to make sure that they reply to and listen to what people are blogging about them - and they've even opened up a 'dabble mode' version of the product - so people can play with it."

Marc goes on with dissapointment about conversations that Marqui has been generating in the blogosphere by now:

"In the case of this Marqui program - the company missed the notion that we were setting up a pipeline - explicitely for the purpose of getting compelling stories and usage sceanrios out into our bloggers blogs."

With a piepline established - not only the corporate message - but success stories and on-going updates could be fed to our paid bloggers - utilzing their intellect and feedback to spread the Marqui meme.

But instead the entire program - up until now - has been filled with "talking about talking" - internal retrospective kind of blabber - which is typcial blogosphere filler - but not what we were hoping for.

But you can't blame our bloggers. They haven't really had anything to write about. That pisses me off. I'm bummed that Marqui hasn't come through with more compelling stories for our bloggers to blog about."

The first thing that this post proves is that companies really need to start thinking of hiring "conversation coordinators" or "dialog facilitators" to keep tabs on blog (and RSS) conversations going on about them in the blogosphere ... and to further facilitate them.

I can certainly join Marc's frustrations with my own experience with the dialogs we are trying to facilitate for "Unleash". Yes, they are happening, but not to the extent I'd like them to.

This just goes to show that good conversations can rarely be orchestrated, but actually need to be fueled by spontaneous content people want to talk about.

But regardless of Marc's feelings about "the conversations", Marqui did succeed in generating huge publicity with their controversial move to hire bloggers to review their solution and blog about it. It is of course important to add that the reviewers are actually reviewing as reporters should, and not singing praise to Marqui.

They might have received some negative feedback, but the idea itself generated much interest in what would otherwise probably remain "just one of the CMSs", so kudos to them.