Bloggers Get the Scoop

It's hard for the press to compete with bloggers. There are so many of them. They report on each and everything. Sometimes it's trivia (what I ate for breakfast), sometimes it's borderline news (Lynn Allen attends SolidWorks World), but it can be the real choice stuff (enhancements shown for SolidWorks 2009).

Never was this quite as apparent as during January's SolidWorks World, where bloggers were invited and welcomed.

My own epiphany came during the presentation of the next release of SolidWorks software -- the single most anticipated main stage presentation during the annual user conference. Normally, I make an attempt to note the most important new features of the next release. But all around me were hard core SolidWorks users and many of them were doing the same thing for their blogs. What chance did I have, being a very infrequent SolidWorks user, knowing what was really important and be able to explain it properly?

In the audience were the real experts. I spotted and introduced myself to Matt Lombard, the man who wrote the book (the SolidWorks Bible), and also had the pleasure to meet the prolific Mike Puckett, who may have beat all in the number of blog entries during the conference, and Josh Mings, loved in the SolidWorks blogosphere for his off-the-wall humor. I met Ben Eadie but he was very busy filming every bit of the proceedings. Previously, I had met Ricky Jordan, a blog veteran. There were more, but judging from the ones I met, the bloggers collectively form a voracious and eager group whose product IQ is on another scale.

Maybe its not a fair competition. The press coverage will come later. Or, maybe serve as background for articles they are writing. Unlike the blogger, the press will not bang out a post in between the last class of the day and the first beer. No, they will write articles, thoughtful, considered, insightful pieces that will be on subject and mechanically correct. That is the theory, anyway.

But judging from the comments on this series, who cares? Bloggers are users. They read each others blogs not just because they are brothers, but because they can learn something from other users, something that will help them do their jobs easier or better. I have to presume that like them, users are also reading blogs -- instead of articles by the traditional press.

If that is indeed the case, who is traditional press writing for?

Comments

[Josh]

Some highlight from SolidWorks World and what it means:

-Buying a magazine I love to read
-Meeting some cool people in the Press I still talk with.
-Disagreeing with some press guys when they told me I would have to change my writing style.

Print still works. Additionally, you can double and mix your audience by using your print articles with web content. Popular Science is great at this. (Roland, paid subscription is dying if not already dead, e.g. new your times)

We're not jocks and punks, at least professionally. It's ok for press people to talk with bloggers. Bloggers talk with the people making comments on their site. I never talked with the press when I was just a person without a blog. that's the biggest difference I see in this whole thing.

Writing style is what makes an article. It doesn't have to be a legal document to be 'well-written'. If you can sense the writer's emotion and take away some facts you've got effective media whether its print or digital.

[Randall Newton]

The comment about "the swarm" is meant to be complimentary. I've been re-reading the work of Kevin Kelly lately, one of the inspirations for "The Matrix." His book "Out of Control" explains the swarm concept, as does his later work "New Rules for the New Economy." As for the typos, well, I don't have the ability to go back into a comment on someone else's blog as I do my own work. Newton's First Law of Editing says, "Everyone needs an editor, especially when the writer is also an editor."

[Jimmy Bergmark - JTB World]

When I was CAD Manager I used to read some CAD Magazines to see what happened outside my daily world, to get a wider perspective and to get new ideas. I do agree with Randall on his comment. I think the traditional press and bloggers does complement each other.

[Matt Lombard]

Randall Newton wrote:

"Bloggers are a wonderful edition to the media landscape ;there is great power in the swarm."

"...writing IS my living."

I'm supposing you meant to write "addition" rather than "edition", and the space comes after the semi-colon, not before. Maybe it's just a typo. That's what happens when one is all opposable thumbs.

It sounds like it is difficult for Randall to contain the disdain in his voice for bloggers, first comparing us to monkeys, and now to a swarm of even less evolved creatures. "The Swarm" of bloggers is a group much smaller than the rest of the CAD press. We are generally well educated, although not in writing necessarily, and you will eventually come to respect us for the content and timeliness of what we have to say, as well as the candid opinions.

Blogging is just a way for end users to share content expertise, and this is something traditional press will never be able to touch.

It's fine to write for a captive audience like CADCAMNET. I was able to get a complimentary subscription, and I find that I still don't read anything there all the way through.

I'm glad Roopinder raised the question about "who is traditional press writing for". I've been wondering that for some time.

[C]

Is the traditional press not writing for a general audience? I know when I read magazines that talk about CAD software, I glaze over the article, look at the pretty picture, and then move on to the more important articles (about the new tech innovations, or new ways software is being used). I never even bother to read the nitty-gritty articles, because I just assume they will be fluff.

On the other hand, I glaze over what bloggers write about the new techy stuff, and click on their links to read the articles written by real journalists. Their articles are often much more in depth about the company that is working on the substructure for the next-generation solar panel. Or similarly, on the company that is using CAD software to analyze the front end on a racecar. Bloggers will probably never go in-depth by interviewing all the appropriate people.

So, I guess my view is that bloggers are often experts in their field, writting tech articles, and journalists do a much better job on "featured articles"...

[Ben]

Roopinder

I really apologize for being not available to chat as I was "busy filming every bit of the proceedings". I truly would have liked to have sat down with you.

Now to the point. The way I see things journalists still have a big part in all of this, much like when TV came out and they started the evening and morning news, newspapers were going out... When the VCR/Beta/Disk players came in it was the demise of the theater... etc etc...Now bloggers have their own style of media but still the world needs your work, and we as bloggers could use people like you for your help and knowledge to write better and learn to convey our ideas better. Just like you can use us to help you understand the inner workings of the content...

So you done corret mine bad structure sentance and spleing. And help us with more effective ways to convey our message and we will do our best to help you stay technically advanced. Deal?

Ben

I think we should all work together to get a JournalBlog type system that would work to better serve all our audiences. I know I have been consulting with other media outlets in helping them get into the technical stuff.

[Dana Probert]

who is the press anyway? who, that is actually paid to write, is going to give a flip about civil 3d? its a niche within a niche, and until bloggers came around, nobody wrote about it. if they did, it missed the point and was lame. while we may not follow true journalistic guidelines, we report what matters (at least to us and people like us)

[Randall Newton]

You ask, "Who is the traditional press writing for?" As the EIC of a subscription-based online-only newsletter (CADCAMNet), I know exactly who my readers are. They are all either in engineering management, IT management or senior management of engineering-driven manufacturing and AEC firms, or they work for the various vendors of CAD/CAM/CAE products. Very few of them are non-managerial engineers, architects, or designers.
My readers want to know about new products and upgrades,but they want to understand these product changes in an industry context. My readers also want to know about the financial health of the companies I cover -- our quarterly financial reports are some of our most-read articles, and we include custom charts to help readers understand the key data at a glance. Bloggers are a wonderful edition to the media landscape ;there is great power in the swarm. But information needs vary. SolidWorks bloggers go to SolidWorks World. I go to such meetings from every vendor, plus many events only for press and analysts,
We are continually analyzing our coverage to make sure we stay relevant and essential to our readers. Bloggers also have to work for a living; my writing IS my living.

[Mike Puckett]

Roopinder,

Ok, so 27 posts in four days might have been a bit much, but most importantly I had fun just being there. I have been asked why I made it a point to convey so much information, and the answer is simple: to provide an avenue for those not able to attend, to feel almost like they were there. Solidworks was nice enough to pay for my conference fee, and then put me up in a nice hotel for five nights, so I felt like I owed it to them to cover it as in depth as I did. You mentioned how the bloggers learn from each other, and I will say that is true. I can't tell you how many little tidbits of info I have been able to pick up from the 20 or so blog feeds I'm subscribed too.