How off topic is off topic?

Out on my bike for the first time in 2007 and I love it - time to think and come up with ideas and thoughts. I should make my rides longer but also take a pen and paper. An interview with Ewan McGregor in this months Esquire got me thinking about this. He's about to take on another epic journey folliwing Long Way Round - he talks about being alone on his bike and just thinking about stuff. He also mentioned he didn't necessarily do anything with those thoughts and I agree. Sometimes you just need to create space in the brain for a few new thoughts maybe? What did i think about?

• shifting my work to be in perpetual beta rather than seeking perfection
• focusing my blog a little more on how the UK should be doing more in the new world of Web 2.0
• wondering how long I'll be at Microsoft - 9 years now
• pruning my feed list - added some today (Steven Levy, Steve Rubel) and removed a few (not telling)
• can my blog continue to integrate a wild mix of business, personal and just plain weird topics without someone at Microsoft complaining?

This last one came up in an internal podcast I did last week (not sure how successful that will be) but it's been on my mind a lot lately.

How Off Topic Is Off Topic for my Microsoft blog?

My blog started out on the wrong URL anyway (should have been on Technet rather than MSDN) and initially it was a pretty poor blog as it was way too corporate (thanks Terry/Katie). Now it's munged in to being somewhere between a Microsoft blog focused on technology and partners and a personal blog on (largely) technology but also Microsoft's place in the world, citizenship, cartoons, wine, and much more. Personally I think it's much the better for this odd mix but I do get concerned every now and then that someone is gonna say "hey Clayton, you're too off topic man...take you mumbling's off somewhere else". Maybe I'm just paranoid but I think this is the beauty of blogs - they're an insight in to people and their perspective on things. It's why I don't think "team blogs" work as people like to form a relationship with an individual, not a group. A group doesn't have a personality and a consistent set of views. It's why I think many of the popular blogs are such a success - like Hugh, Kathy Sierra, Steve Rubel, Seth Godin, Scoble and more. Sure there are exceptions but many fall in to the "great aggregators of fast moving technology" like Engadget but I prefer the individuals (Engadget just came of my feed list). The other reason I tend to blog this mix of stuff is it's part of why I think all companies should blog - so you can see the real people who work there and their views. If you want the vanilla view, that's what Microsoft Presspass is for and it's very good at it.

Anyway, the upshot of thinking about this whilst being out on my bike today and from chatting to friends is this:

• I'm sticking to the random mix of stuff for now - until they kick me out, laughing and whining.

I know what you're thinking. I hope it rains next sunday and he doesn't go out on his bike....sorry, I have a new waterproof and windproof jacket :)

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  Hey Steve, for sure you should keep the mix. We want to know the man behind the blog and we can only do that if we know what interests you. Why do we want to know the man behind the blog? Simple, only then can we make a judgement on your technical content. A good mix is how I blog and I've never had any complaints. But if I did, I'd say I produce RSS feeds for all my categories, if you are only interested when I talk techie, then only subscribe to that feed and ignore the rest. However, as I said before, how will you trust that content if you don't know me as a person; and how will you know me as a person if you don't follow all the content. So, keep up the good work! :-)

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  thanks Gary - appreciate the support. Maybe I should prune my categories and add one for "techie". I've avoided off topic as a category though for that very reason...what defines off topic ;)

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  Right on Steve, carry on as you have done! Yours is one of the few individual blogs I subscribe to because of your topic diversity :) SL

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  thanks Scott - appreciate the kind words!

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  Keep up the good work and don't change your style.  Your's is one of the few blogs I have kept on my feed list as it gives me something interesting to read everyday. Sparky

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  I agree with all the above. Your blog is pure entertainment so don't change it. If it wasn't on MSDN most of us wouldn't have found it. I worry that you might be thinking to much on your bike mate. Concentrate on the traffic a bit more and stay a live!

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  I enjoy your blog for its mix of topics Steve, keep it up and happy riding. Phil

• Anonymous
  January 14, 2007
  Paul - thanks for the concern old chap. I'm still on my stabilizers though so should be fine. When we meeting up????