Greetings all and welcome to the Conversations: Enhancing 2-Way Communications blog!  The idea for this blog came from work of the SE District Program Leadership Team.  In identifying program training needs in their district, they discovered some issues that, well, didn’t really relate directly to programming but nonetheless are important and need to be addressed (for example, work/life balance and office/field time balance.).  So we (State Staff) developed this blog to promote two-way communications to talk about these issues.

We will be posting periodically and encourage you to comment (just click on Leave a reply) on the bottom of the post.  You may comment anonymously, but we would encourage you to tell us who you are.  You can also suggest additional topics either in your comments or by emailing Mike Lambur (lamburmt@vt.edu).

What is a blog and how do we make it work?

A blog is basically an online journal that is updated frequently.  An update, or post, is typically a short entry on an engaging topic.  Readers of the blog are then encouraged to respond, or comment, on the original entry.  In this way the blog is like a conversation between the individual who posts the entry and the people who read it and then comment.  So a blog is not simply a web site for posting information, but a very interactive means to conduct robust online conversations about different topics.

Here are some useful tips on making a blog successful:

• As a blogger, or one who writes the initial post, remember that this is a conversation starter.  So pick a topic that will interest your readers and then try and write as you would speak, like talking to a colleague.  Also invite comments by posing questions.
• As one who reads the blog, post comments using the Leave a reply link under the original post.  This will also allow you to read comments from other people.  Remember, a conversation is a two-way thing.
• As a blogger, respond to comments.  This is an opportunity to connect directly with people who are reading the blog.  Not all comments need a response, but be sure to respond to ones that do.  And sometimes it is worth just popping on and posting “Thanks for your comment.”

The bottom line is that a blog is not a static one-way posting of information.  It is an online interactive conversation, from which we can share, learn, and benefit.  So it is up to all of us to engage in this new digital mechanism to make it successful!

Check out these resources for more information on blogging:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/writing-a-good-blog.html

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-12-dos-and-donts-of-writing-a-blog