Wigley and Associates

Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith has a new web site with a weblog.

USA Today: Blogging and business moving mainstream

In a sign blogs are moving mainstream, major technology companies including Microsoft and IBM came together at a recent conference to discuss the profit potential of the Web publishing format. The growth in the number of blogs, and those who read them, continues to attract attention from business leaders, including Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates, as a means of enhancing companies’ communication more directly with employees, partners and customers.

Dan Brown, owner of the Trials Training Center (a recent weblog client) and a Professor of Engineering at Auburn University, has a new website with a weblog for his new company, Dan Brown and Associates.

Steve Clift, of Minneapolis-based Publicus.net, is hosting e-democracy officials from the U.K. this week and after meeting with edemocracy projects in the Twin Cities, they’ll be spending some time in Northfield learning about Northfield Citizens Online and Northfield.org, the community portal that I volunteer for. 

Visitors include Dylan Jeffrey and Julian Bowrey from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Isobel Harding from North Lincolnshire Council and the Local e-Democracy National Project.

Joining us:

1) Eden Prairie City Manager (and blogger) Scott Neal, former Northfield City Administrator and frequent participant in NCO’s time-limted, online community forums from 1996-2003;

2) Eden Prairie Police Chief (and blogger) Dan Carlson.

3) MN State Representative (and blogger) Ray Cox, former Northfield School Board member and frequent participant in NCO’s time-limted, online community forums.

Blogger announced new features for its editing tools yesterday.

See the All about Blogger’s post editor page for details.

So far, I like what I’ve seen, especially the Composing window and the new features in it such as:

1. Different fonts
2. Different size fonts
3. Colored text
4. Bulleted lists
5. etc!

Jim and Joan Spaulding will soon be posting to their weblog on their new web site, James Gang Coffeehouse & Eatery.

Dean Kjerland’s Archeopaleo website is taking shape. He’s opted to not have his weblog on his homepage.

Kurt and Karin Larson will soon be posting to their new weblog on their revamped web site, Larson’s Printing.

The Trials Training Center in Sequatchie, Tennessee now has a weblog on their site. Owner Dan Brown should be blogging any day now. I met Dan at the World Round USA in Duluth last month.

MarketingProfs contributor B.L. Ochman has a June 29 article titled What Could Your Company Do With a Blog?

And another contributor, Debbie Weil, has a June 22 article titled Three Reasons to Publish an E-Newsletter AND a Blog.