Bloggin’ and Moanin’
President Andrew Shepherd: Is the view pretty good from the cheap seats, A.J.? It occurs to me that in 25 years I’ve never seen YOUR name on a ballot. Now why is that? Why are you always one step behind ME?
There, I’ve saved you the trouble of quoting the movie “The American President” to me when I — a decidedly blog-less journalist — gripe a little about blogs.
What has kept me from starting an FS blog? Easy … I don’t want to fall into the quantity-over-quality mindset that seems to permeate the blogosphere these days. Maybe bloggers commit to daily or thrice-weekly (or whatever frequency they have in mind when they start) schedules and then feel obligated to meet those schedules, even if they really don’t have a whole lot of anything new or compelling to say. There’s the argument that consistency is key to blogging success, but I maintain that saying something every day is not the same as having something useful to say every day.
Bloggers increasingly are using their space to point readers to other blogs rather than to voice their own fresh ideas. There is a place for that, since there’s so much great stuff being written. But as rule, we — and I include myself because I sometimes succumb to this with the FS Advisor — need to offer at least some degree of analysis when we refer to other people’s posts. Otherwise, the fundraising blogosphere is just another incestuous little cocktail party.
Eventually, I’ll start a blog. God willing, my observations from the cheap seats won’t come back and bite me in the butt. If they do, feel free to call me on it.
Please don’t miss this
This month’s installment of Jeff Brooks’ Easier Said Than Done column, “Dignity vs. Humanity,” easily is the most powerful and eloquent piece of writing ever to appear in this magazine. Check it out on here.
Thank you … and you
Last month, I had the honor of presenting the keynote speech at the third annual WEDU Be More Awards in Tampa, Fla., and taping “WEDU Interview:Up Close” with Cathy Unruh. I want to thank everyone at WEDU who made it such a warm and lovely experience — despite the remarkable case of the jitters I brought with me from Philadelphia.
The awards program, honoring excellence among nonprofits in west-central Florida and the brainchild of WEDU Director of Communications Laura Turner, is such a great idea that PBS will begin instituting it nationally in 2008. Congratulations, Laura (and team) … and thank you again!
Finally … thank you, Barton Cotton, for the fresh, full-sized chocolate bars at the DMA Nonprofit Conference in D.C. last month. Maybe my priorities are askew, but you guys sure know how to stuff a tote bag!
Margaret Battistelli
Editor-in-Chief
mbattistelli@napco.com
