Hi Sarah – thanks for your vote of confidence in my mad consulting skillz. I’ve talked with you about my online brand and some ideas for where to take it… still undecided on the direction or timing, but I certainly appreciate your input.

Hi Tom – I’m glad you liked it. It was your post that triggered my need to write up a trip report, and sure enough, write it and they will come. I’m pleased with the response and discussion. And I will certainly look to you for a review of particular chapters and analysis of examples of conversation and community especially social media tools for accomplishing writing goals.

I’m having to laugh a bit – nearly all the pingbacks/trackbacks tended to excerpt the part where I’m being brutally honest about my shortcomings in the business aspect of convincing others of our value. Sounds like I’m in good company.

I think attending and presenting at back-to-back conferences (Doc Train and the Summit) is a little too much for me. I’d rather pick just one. But anytime someone invites me to present, it’s always an honor, because I’m still fairly new to the tech comm world. I’ve only been in it since 2004, when I returned from a university teaching job in Egypt. I’ve been in the field of writing for much longer, but not tech writing. Perhaps this is why I still like the term “writer” and don’t think it’s derogatory.

Awesome to hear that you’re writing a book. I’d love to see excerpts.

Interesting article.

First, it was great to see you and I enjoyed our collaboration on the collaboration panel (!).

Second, it’s interesting that you and Tom are both wrestling with the question of how much to invest in your public persona as a non-consultant. I would point out that a) in the future, you might decide to become a consultant and building the network ahead of time is a really good idea (in fact, I’d be very surprised if you do NOT move into consulting at some point in the future) and b) having public visibility and a great network is extremely helpful if (when) you need a new job for whatever reason.

My only exposure for many years was through mailing lists like TechWR, and recently that exposure has been largely negative.

However reading what you and Tom have to say puts a different spin on things completely.

It’s telling that you are communicating in an open, and honest medium, and I wonder if the mindset of those of us that blog about our profession is as different, as I perceive, as that of the mailing list lurkees.

Perhaps the anonymousness (is that a word?) of a mailing list slowly encourages a different point of view/attitude? Hmmmmm.