I had a few conversations last week with very interesting folks about the upcoming True Voice (The Business of Blogging) seminars. That, along with a low-grade flu and lack of sleep, led to a couple of really cool ideas that go a long way toward making becoming involved much more than a one-time day-long event.

First off, while Suw Charman (of Strange Attractor and Chocolate and Vodka), Greg Narain (of Get Real and Social Twister), and I have a lot of experience and interesting notions about the business of blogging, we are part of a much larger network of smart people, who have a myriad of views on the subject. [I was struck by the "Why Do I Blog" meme last week, thanks to Frank Paynter, which led to this idea.] So I am going to ask a few dozen colleagues to get involved in a short project over the next few weeks: 20 Questions related to the Business of Blogging. I invite anyone who would like to offer a question to do -- but no answers yet. I will be launching a new blog with the 20 questions later this week, and then will be soliciting answers from our extended network of talented bloggers.

The second thing that we are doing with the seminars is community-oriented: as soon as you register you will become part of a community of other attendees. We will be outfitting every registrant with access to the ongoing discussion about the seminar content, as well as access to the 20 questions project. This membership will extend through the end of 2005. We intend to collate the outcome of the 20 Questions project into some book-like form, and distribute to attendees, as well.

The third thing we are doing with the seminars is really different. We know that a lot of the people who are thinking about business blogging are looking to get more than a powerpoint deck and a few hours of hand-waving. In particular,

• we believe that companies are likely to send a representative or two to the seminar in order to get a plan of action in place for internal or external blogging.
  
• Groups or organizations may come to the seminar to learn how blogging can support their social activism or non-profit activities.
  
• Individuals may be coming to learn how to gain influence, or build a larger readership, or drive ad sales, and thereby create a sustainable business as a consultant, writer, or analyst.

One of the key elements of True Voice is an on-going six week virtual workshop, after each seminar, where the True Voice team will work with seminar attendees on their blogging plans and content. We will be providing a free blog account for those without (courtesy of Silkroad) for three months following the seminar. But perhaps most interesting: we will review the results of all seminar attendees' workshop participation -- whether corporate, group, or individual -- and at the end of six weeks we are planning to select one of the attendees for some higher level of support:

1. If we select a worthy corporate attendee, we will provide a no-charge day of advisory services to help them create an action plan for rolling forward with what has thus far been prototyped in the six weeks of virtual workshop.
   
2. If we select a non-commercial group or organization, we will work with them as the producer of their blog: we will host it, perhaps help them find sponsors, and promote it through the Corante blog network.
   
3. Lastly, if we select an individual blogger, we will offer the opportunity to become a Corante Contributor, either in a wholly new blog (such as our new city blog series), or as a contributor to an existing Corante blog.

Our interest isn't to just have a seminar, but to structure meetings that matter; to create a context around those meetings that is highly engaging and enduring. While we are charging $295 for the seminar, its really much, much more than a few hours of involvement. It includes a six week virtual workshop, and the opportunity to be selected out of the 30 or so attendees to have an even deeper and more strategic interaction with the True Voice team.

In a spirit of disclosure, let me say that, yes, Corante is constantly on the search for new talent, interesting projects, and corporations looking for advice. This is not all altruistic. But at the same time we want to help those just starting out or trying to get more serious and structured in blogging.

Please contact me with any questions, either of the 20 Questions variety or for clarification.