Microsoft's Steve Clayton has been voted top blogger in the
ComputerWeekly.com
IT Blog Awards 2008. Clayton's
geek in
disguise blog won the Company blog award and the Best of the
Best blog award.
Inspired by Robert Scobal's
Naked Conversations, which looks at how blogging is changing
the way companies communicate with their customers, Clayton said he
wanted to do something similar in the UK. He wanted to change
people's perception of Microsoft. "I wanted to put a personal face
on the company," he said.
Blogging is widely used at the software giant, which he said
regards blogging as beneficial. There are 5,000 bloggers among the
80,000 staff at Microsoft. "Customers can find product manager
blogs. This creates a level of transparency throughout the
company." It has also helped the company gain publicity in unlikely
places. For instance, the
Blue Monster cartoon drawn by Hugh Macleod was printed on a
wine bottle and in the Financial Times, Clayton said.
Clayton has
posted a top 10 tips guide for budding company bloggers, He
recommended that authors who wanted to improve their blogging
should try to be authentic, honest, blog frequently, respond to
comments and above all, "Have a sense of humour".