Blogging for Business With Robert Scoble

The following post has absolutely nothing to do with coffee.  Geek alert from Rich ahead...

The third (some might say second) most famous person at Microsoft is in town for a couple of days to talk about blogs.  Robert Scoble, whose blog is often credited for 'humanizing' Microsoft, was the guest of honor at the Pittsburgh Bloggers Blogfest last night at Finnegan's Wake and will be a featured panelist tonight at a seminar organized by TiE on blogs and podcasts (which is already sold out).

I mention this for a couple of reasons.  One, we've been cited a few times as some sort of innovator in the area for being a small business that uses a blog as our website.  It works for us.  It might not for you, but if you're interested in learning more about the power of blogs, Robert Scoble and co-author Shel Israel have just launched a book from their popular blog called "Naked Conversations" (and Venky pointed out to me last night that my name is in the acknowledgements, which is pretty cool).  There are numerous examples of how blogs can be used to build business and connect with customers.  If you're interested in starting one for your business, this book is a great place to start.

Second is that Venky, bless his heart, managed to corral Mr. Scoble and eight others and convince them to make the trip from the North Side down to Mt. Lebanon to visit the shop for some late night coffee and cocoa (and thanks to Therese for agreeing to stay on past closing).

Mike Madison and Mike Woycheck were among the group that came over.  What followed was a hugely entertaining and informative mix of tech and legal talk on such things as the internet in China, intellectual property, and how Bill Gates conducts staff meetings (sort of like six minute dating it seems).

I didn't have a camera with, but luckily Mike Woycheck took some shots that he'll email later which we'll post.  I was too embarrased to ask Robert to use his brand new camera phone for the task.

We believe Robert liked his cocoa with marshmallows and seemed impressed we had HDTV (although the Pitt/Rutgers game wasn't on!).  Now if we can only get a gratuitous mention in his blog and the 20,000+ that read it daily...