Valeria Maltoni is social media's Conversation Agent and #4 on the October 2007 M20 list. She is currently the Director of Marketing Communications at SunGard Availability Services and blogs about "how talk can change our lives."
Here's more on Valeria.
*How long have you been blogging?
Since September 2006 -- yes, it's been over one year now. I think in blog experience it's already a long time and maybe I was sort of blogging before. For 7+ years I moderated an online listserv for the business group of Fast Company magazine readers.
* How did you first hear about blogs?
Because of my strong association with Fast Company, I've been reading Tom Peters' and Seth Godin's blogs since their inception. I followed outbound links from there and here I am today, reading about 100+ blogs on a regular basis and connecting with a larger number weekly.
* Why did you decide to start blogging?
As a result of developing a network (above) to 500+ professionals and running almost 100 events in the last 7 years, I accumulated a lot of knowledge and learning from experience I was eager to test in other media. And I've always enjoyed writing as a way to communicate with others -- the conversation is a space I've inhabited ever since I can remember.
* What process, if any, did you work through from a corporate perspective?
I started when I was still working in a more conservative industry and in a company that did not make use of online marketing at all with the exception of banner ads (you may call them traditional today) on the web versions of trade publications. It did not make sense to speak about my blog at work and my intention was always to keep it separate. When I transitioned to my current company in the IT infrastructure and services business and throughout the interview process with other companies, I listed my blog URL on my resume. In fact, I can say it has been a strategic component of my career growth.
When my boss made the internal announcement, he insisted on listing my experience as blogger and community recognitions, including the M20 in it. Many of my colleagues read what I write there. We have a corporate policy on blogging, which I had the chance to review recently in case I wanted to comment (part of my responsibilities cover internal communications), and I adhere to it.
Recently I wrote a story about Dell, which in some areas may compete with us, I disclosed my affiliation with the folks at Dell and my working on the story at my company -- transparency and respect play a large role in how this works.
* What are your most and least favorite aspects of blogging?
Writing for publication has introduced a whole new level of discipline to my thinking in an organized and organic fashion and gives me the ability to listen to feedback and learn all at the same time. I know of no other medium that would provide all of this with absolute freedom and personal accountability wrapped around it. Do you?
The least favorite aspect is that with some sort of fame, you may also have envy and the occasional person who tries to ride on your coattails for traffic and popularity.
* What would you change with 20/20 hindsight?
I would have figured out how to map my domain name to the TypePad URL completely sooner. I spent the good part of 8 and a half months with split links and online identities. Funny, I was reading what Todd Watson wrote in response to this question and got distracted for a moment -- on some level my company competes with IBM; I on the other hand, consider bloggers first for the shared experience of publishing in this medium, then for what they do at work.
I could say I should have started sooner, I was probably ready for a long time -- I used to talk back to the TV. Conversation is who I am about, it's in my DNA, and this medium is the best to afford the proper balance of content, discussion, and connections among things and people.
* What three blogs have you gained the most insight from in the past month?
This is really hard, I read a lot of them. If I had to pick, I would pick on the basis of how they have helped me gain focus on my new responsibilities at work -- Brand Autopsy by John Moore who also happens to be an incredibly nice person with a great sense of humor, Servant of Chaos by Gavin Heaton who in many ways thinks the way I do and has a strong poetic vein, Logic+Emotion by David Armano because his visuals are true designs of conversation and have inspired more than one of my work plans so far.
* Anything else?
Yes, I would encourage all the marketers on the corporate side to think of what their organizations put out as we would rate a blog post -- would it be worth commenting on? That's how I think our communications need to change -- more story, more compelling on the benefit scale, less dinosaur speak that puts your stuff in a sea of sameness and more of the language and tone that can inspire a comment, an action, a connection.
I know it is not always possible to control all the pieces and get everywhere, I've worked my whole career in corporate America. We can inform, teach and inspire by example though. It's worth trying. Having said all that, I am working in that direction at my company. Just remember that at this stage I am two months old.
[If you're a client-side marketer and would like to be profiled - even if you're not in the top 20 - send in your story! See this post for details.]
Nice write-up of one of my favorite people. I love this money quote:
"Conversation is who I am about, it's in my DNA, and this medium is the best to afford the proper balance of content, discussion, and connections among things and people."
Really good observation about why many people really connect with blogging.
Posted by: Ann Handley | October 16, 2007 at 10:26 AM
Ann:
Now I feel guilty I haven't sent a post your way at the Daily Fix ;-) I might come up with something this weekend. The week was quite unreal, even for superachievers like me. I had the chance to be in geek heaven, though.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | October 19, 2007 at 07:07 PM