Jennifer Leggio’s post asks where Microsoft accessible without Bill Gates? and I found it a fascinating read with some intriguing comments from Scoble and others. Robert says
“Microsoft employees have always been encouraged to get out and talk to customers,” he said. “When blogging came along the smartest thing Bill did was not get in the way. The only rule he really had was to ‘be smart’ and consider how you and the company were being perceived.”
I totally agree with that and the post goes on to explore to what extend Microsoft should be pushing bloggers further forward – even using Twitter. Well imagine that? :)
Lets’s be clear though - there’s no way any (or all) of the many thousands of Microsoft’s bloggers and fill the void that Bill leaves. What they can do, in my view, is continue to change perceptions. As Dan Schawbel, social media specialist for EMC says
“Even though Bill Gates was the chief personal brand behind Microsoft, the other 89,000+ employees’ personal brands each have the opportunity to have an impact on the company’s future, leveraging the power of social media.”
We need to continue to make the most of this fabulous asset that has organically built up within the company. I was in a meeting today to discuss exactly this – how do we get our UK bloggers out there more. For my part, expect me to start highlighting some of the other great UK bloggers as Redmond doesn’t have a monopoly on that front :)
The question I have is why Bill Gates never started blogging? Wouldn't that have been the really smart thing to do?
Bill who? ;)
on the face of it i agree it'd be a great idea but given his schedule i just don't know if he could have lived up to people's exepctations of it. that's a real challenge for folks like Bill who would attract so much interest and commentary it's almost impossible to live up to it via a blog.
just my view though so maybe absolute nonsense!