We've discussed the power of knowledge sharing on this site
previously and it is a topic that I think we'll continue to write more
about as the industry tries to harness its power and internalize it.
As I did research on this topic recently and how the company I work
for could create some type of forum for our senior employees and junior
employees to interact and exchange knowledge, I stumbled upon CommuNitelligence, a site created for PR and marketing professionals to exchange their insights, experiences and wisdom.
The site hasn't developed the type of community that would lfully
end itself to rich interaction between communications professionals
yet, but John Gerstner who is leading the undertaking, has set up a
couple of great forums to spurn such interaction. I was most impressed
with the Discussion and Wisdom sections of the site which allow for
professionals to share and learn based on industry topics. You'll need
a membership to access the Wisdom content.
The problem that this and perhaps other industry knowledge sharing
sites are having comes partly because of the college class rank
mentality we all possess. College students are hesitant to share any
golden nuggets of wisdom they've found on a certain class topic which
might give them a competitive advantage on tests. Similarly, we are
very concerned about sharing "trade secrets" with an open community for
fear that we'll lose a competitve edge. Are these fears valid? Perhaps,
but certainly debatable.
While I think a site such as CommuNitelligence will eventually find
their place in the industry, internal sites can flourish right now
giving the NextGen of PR pros a source of rich knowledge.
As we near the end of the year, where predictions run rampant, The Big Blog Company poined out this gem of a quote:
“Dissemination of information is great, but how much of it is
trustworthy? [Blogs] are an interesting phenomenon, but I don’t think
they will be as talked about in a year’s time.”
-Mike Smartt, editor of BBC News Online, 25 March, 2003
Nearly two years later, the BBC News Online is not only
calling out "blog" as the word of the year, but they're also
blogging. Blogs are just about the most talked about item
on the tech scene. So much so that TIME Magazine highly considered bloggers for their People of the Year. They're here to stay--like it or not.