When it comes to new technology such as blogs, some communicators are wringing their hands over how to use it, when to use it, and whether or not they will ever get approval to use it.
Other communicators are just doing it.
Teala Kail, a communicator at PNM Resources, an Albuquerque, N.M.-based utility, is one of the latter.
A year ago – before most communicators even knew what a blog was – Kail was blogging daily from Florida, where she was with the company’s utility crews helping to restore power in the aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne.
“Employees found the blog useful and engaging,” says Kail. “That got us thinking. We wanted to try and really get our heads around other ways a blog could bring value to the organization. We didn’t want to do one just because we could.”
Kail and her colleague Larry Smith eventually turned their thoughts to PNM’s CEO Jeff Sterba. “We wanted to see if he could blog in a manner that would be valuable to our employees,” she says. “And we got a chance to test what our employees thought of a CEO blog when he was invited to travel with the New Mexico governor to North Korea for diplomatic discussions.”
The idea: Have Sterba provide employees with a running commentary from North Korea, mixing his personal insights with news on the discussions. A good idea, but of course, you have to get the CEO on board, first. And surprisingly, that wasn’t a problem.
Via Corporate Engagement.
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