Before launching a new blog we had meetings to figure out if a blog was appropriate and how they could best use one. There is no one right way to run a successful blog in fact the definition of success varies so much even inside a single organization that it is really imporant to listen to your authors and be flexible.
In theory it is easy to convince an organization to blog. After we started using the New Media blog we could show departments our stats and explain that blogging was a successful vehicle for building an audience. In practice however if you want a motivated group of bloggers someone has to address potential problems and potential benefits.
I start by explaining blogging is a simple publishing environment and I work with the authors to help figure out how often to post, who does the writing and what topics to write about. So far that has taken on average 3 meetings per blog to figure out. Since the publishing strategies of the Walker departments were so different we decided to operate different blogs to support everyone's goals.
New Media Blog
In the New Media department we approached our blog as an extension of research we were already doing. For example if I were researching podcasting i would do all my research, take my notes and at the end summarize my findings into a post on the blog. In this way the blog became a chronologically ordered notebook for us to share with our team at the Walker and our collegues at other organizations. We had previously been posting notes on an internal wiki, so for us the blog already fit into an established work flow. Other departments found it harder to incorporate blogging into their workflow.
Performing Arts Blog
Performing Arts was a natural fit for blogging. They started using their blog to announce new events weeks before it got picked up by any other Walker publication. As they got more comfortable with the medium Performing Arts expanded their blog offering to include Re:View-Overnight. This ongoing series they asks guest critics to blog their reaction to show immediately after they seeing it. The next morning anyone interested can see how the performance went and respond. Overnight reviews benefit the Walker because most of our performing arts events are limited to runs of a few nights. That kind of fast turn around on reviews was a niche that not being addressed by print newspapers or other sites.
Visual Arts
Our Visual Arts department started blogging later and less frequently than our other programming departments. After realizing blogs could be a successful way to reach new audiences they started blogging in earnest. They felt like the blog could be an outlet for scholarly writing and didn't feel comfortable making their blog about "What's new and cool" in visual arts. To that end they wanted time to research, fact check and review every post. After discussing their goals they decided to keep a regular schedule of posting once every two weeks. They rotate the posting duties within the department so a new person posts every two weeks.
In response to Performing Art's success with "Guest Bloggers" Visual Arts has just started a similar program. Frank Gaard a local visual artist wrote a review of the Kiki Smith show and was additionally moved to write about the expanded Walker's architecture.
Film Video
The Film Video Blog chose a different strategy than the other programming departments. They discuss upcoming events, in more detail and on shorter notice than a print publication allows just like the other departments, but they also spend a good deal of time writing about what's "new and good" in the film scene. This even includes reports from film festivals and even reviews of films not shown at the Walker.
Education
Our Education and Community Programs department was immediately attracted to the informality encouraged by blogging. They chose to document events and often provide reviews, to give behind the scenes accounts of programming and discuss ideas for the future. In many ways the blog acted as a rebirth and expansion of "Dear Art Squad" a program that had been discontinued about 2 years ago.
Off Center
After creating all the above blogs we realized there were a lot of interested writers on staff who would not be posting on them. We made a common area for any Walker staffer to post about any type of art. For example, this is where a New Media Designer can go to discuss film or someone working in the store can go to post about design. It is a catch all blog with a goal of posting often about interesting current information. What kind of information was left wide open.
Currently we are experimenting with our first set of "Guest Bloggers" on Off Center. Bruce Sterling and Xeni Jardin have been posting and commenting for about a week.