Next up in the series of Three Question Interviews is Stowe Boyd, President and COO of Corante, as well as a regular blogger at Corante's Get Real. Stowe and Hylton Jolliffe, the CEO and Founder of Corante, were recently named to the AO/Technorati Open Media 100. (I'm a little skeptical of lists like this, but Stowe, Hylton and their colleagues at Corante deserve the honor--there's something worth reading there every day, and they're launching new blogs all the time.)
1) Corante is described as "the world's first blog media company." As everyone else in the media world is rushing into the blogosphere, is this a sustainable means of differentiation for you, or will your corporate identity have to evolve?
I guess I have already shifted my description of Corante -- 'a social media company focused on thought leadership in high tech and science and their impact on business and society -- so, yes, we will have to push onto other differentiation.
2) In addition to your work managing and writing for Corante, you also consult to organizations interested in starting blogs. What's the biggest mistake you see organizations making in this process?
Starting the writing without first reading. We need to start on 'the good foot' -- connection to a community of interested participants in the ongoing conversation about whatever topic. It could take months to get fully 'read in' on that discussion, and most companies aren't willing to wait, to get into the mix. So, they start writing, and are amazed that they have no readers, no connection.
3) You've maintained the personal blog that used to serve as home base for your consulting work. What role does that blog fulfill for you now?
A Working Model is my personal blog, now, where i write about stuff that doesn't fit at Get Real, like politics, popular culture, and karate.
Bonus Personal Question: You just earned your provisional black belt in Shito Ryu Karate. What got you involved in karate in the first place?
I decided that it was dumb to bring my kids to the class and sit there reading a book, so I signed up. My kids dropped out (although my older son, Keenan, is back, now) but I kept with it. Its a great physical discipline, and good for the head: very different from what I do for a living. Its also very social, since you are learning with and through the actions of many folks in the class. I recently won a push up contest with some teenagers, and I am 52 in September, so the benefits are really obvious.
