A couple of days ago I got a call from a reporter who was writing an article about, among other things, blogging. She asked, as reporters do, how I started blogging. I answered as I usually do.
I started blogging, I told her, at the behest of my dear friend and erst-while partner, Tore Claesson. I was out of work and Tore suggested that keeping a blog and writing on it everyday, or nearly so, would allow me to keep my "name" in front of people who could potentially hire me. I couldn't call and nudge people everyday, but I could put something out there that they might want to read.
Second, my blog impelled me to write everyday. It gave me cause, purpose and deadlines. All of which I need for my sustenance.
The final reason, I think, is most important.
Ever since I was young in the business, I would get to work early in the morning fairly brimming with things that excited me, intrigued me, annoyed me or, most often, all three. When thing were going right for me, I would share these observations with my partner.
Later, when I started moving up the agency ladder, I still arrived at work early. But now, too often, I worked alone. Either as an ECD, without a partner, or as head of a creative department, also without a partner. Nevertheless, most days a couple of fellow early-ers would show up in my office and I would rant. One group of guys who often plopped down in my office used to call it "George's Breakfast Club."
Today, it seems we don't have the time or the intimacy to have a "breakfast club." What's more, there are sites that let you, simply, write down your thoughts and publish them to the world.
So, in short, I'm doing what I've always done. Now, I'm just doing it online
