Presentations

I was asked the question, "How is a blog different from a discussion forum or message board?" My thoughts:

Very different — and I think it’s pretty plain to anyone who’s actually read both blogs and message boards. (This individual admitted to having never read a blog before.) Message boards (even if they are limited access or members-only) allow anyone to post a new thread or ask a question in a subject area. Other people can then add to the threads. A forum lacks an individual personality (though individual posters may become well-known in a board for their own personalities) and encourages specificity of topics (as opposed to conversation).

A blog takes on a specific personality over time — the personality of the author(s) (real or assumed). There’s more of a sense of a conversation (including the quirky subject changes and mind-leaps that take place in conversation), whether there are comments on or not. And yes, there’s more control in a blog than in a message forum — the blog author(s) steers the discussion by choosing his topics and writing his posts.

There’s a place for forums (though I’ve personally never cared for them and have so far opted not to make one available on our organization’s website). There’s a place for blogs. Two different animals.

Just got back to my room — the session went well, and there were lots of great questions throughout. I’m going to go back through my notes and see how many of them I can cover here in some future posts. (And feel free to post any other questions you might have in comments.)

Now, off to the reception and dinner at Epcot…

I’m talking to the folks who were hardy enough to gather here at 4pm to talk about blogs in Orlando. Personally, I’d rather be outside enjoying the weather. But I wanted to take a minute to show them how easy this is.

Just sat through an interesting session on "Redefining Association Value" and am now enjoying some incredible weather at lunch.

During the session, we conducted some roleplaying around a case study of an organization facing some slight changes in its membership base. The responses were interesting. How quickly some people jump ahead to drastic measures! And how quickly others assume you can’t do anything without three years of research and planning!

There has to be an in-between there somewhere.

(Bonus points to anyone who can tell me where this post’s title is from.)

Arrived in Orlando this afternoon after having one of those travel days where things seem to go wrong. Then, it took some wrestling and several phone calls to get the in-room high speed Internet access to work properly.

But, no matter — it’s all working fine now and it’s a beautiful day here in Disney World.

Not much time to enjoy it right now, as I need to spend the next couple of hours finalizing my points for tomorrow’s presentation (it’s going to be pretty casual, but I’m very dependent on outlines because I have a brain like a sieve), plus lots of deadlines crashing around on other things.

One bloggy note: this weekend, we were able to finally launch a new blog at ACCA devoted to our 2005 annual conference. You can see it here.