Blog Health

Dinner and silent auction at Dodge Nature Center. 11/10/11

I spent the majority of last week at the National Association for Interpretation's annual fall conference. It was in St. Paul and I was very happy that I was able to attend. The hot topic was social media in the field of interpretation.

In case you're confused by the term interpretation. The field of environmental education is filled with park rangers, naturalists, science teachers, and interpreters. I know it's confusing and ask any naturalist (the preferred term of folks in my neck of the woods) they'll do their best to sort it out with you.

Back to social media... it was all over the conference! I attended a session titled WHY BLOG? Officially, I attended this session because I want to start a blog at work. Unofficially, I really enjoy the blog that the presenters author: The IBD Blog.

I learned a lot at this session. A blog needs to say something (preferably in a unique voice) and it should support a mission, vision or achieve some established goals. As a blogger I should know my audience and be consistent. Hmm...

I started my blog when I was a naturalist constantly on-the-move and wanted/needed a way to stay connected with family and friends. That was enough to carry this blog through the years. Once I settled and stopped moving my blog started to falter. (And the guilt started to set in, sorry Jena!)

So here I am. Ready to evaluate my blog:
Unique voice- the many hats I wear give me a unique perspective.
Mission- I don't have one... I'll have to work on that one!
Audience- Family and friends
Consistency- I'm embracing the planner in me and I think I've got this one covered...

So, I haven't been taking very good care of my blog, but let's see if I can nurse this baby back to health!