• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

90 Days As A Blogger

When you begin your employment with a company, it's customary to get a 90-day review. As I approach the three-month mark as a community blogger with GazetteXtra, I thought it would be a good time to share some insights about what I've learned and experienced in this new position.

A point of clarification, first. Although I referred to this in employment terms, I am not an employee of the Janesville Gazette, nor are the other community bloggers. I do this simply because I like writing; no more, no less.

Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of the first three months:

Getting Off On The Wrong Foot - My first “official” blog after my introductory posting was regarding a 'teaser' billboard on the edge of Milton that simply stated “Why Leave Milton?” I had been receiving numerous questions about what it meant and thought it was worth addressing because it was being talked about in Milton. I knew what it meant, of course, because my day job is at Lamar Outdoor Advertising. Readers accused me of a “shameless plug” and asked “Can I get a blog spot on this site to advertise my own ajenda (sic)?” Well, honestly, I should have seen that coming. This lesson was not lost on my son Rob. After I posted a recent blog about Don Sanford's book detailing Milton's Baptist influence, Rob said to me, “Aren't people going to think you're just trying to sell his book?” Yes, that thought did cross my mind, so I carefully dodged that question when it came up in the comments section.

Bad Timing - To try to immediately correct the damage caused by the billboard blog, I activated another blog entry that I had previously saved as a draft on the Gazette web server. My plan was to post it during my vacation up north, thus keeping fresh content on the blog even though I was away. Unfortunately, it backdated to the date I originally saved it, so most people never saw it listed. It's just as well, since I had cheated and re-printed the last column I wrote for the Janesville Messenger before moving over to GazetteXtra.

Stirring the Pot - A couple of postings in August deprived me of my blog innocence. First, I made an offhand comment about Milton's former high school name of Redmen. Well, after the mascot fiasco of a few years ago, I should know better than to stir up adults who still believe their life revolves around their high school identity. Of course, now I'm doing it again. Well, this time I might as well get my money's worth, so here goes: The name stunk, Smokin' Joe was ugly, both needed to go, and your pathetic school board recall attempt failed.

There, now that was worth it.

But the one that really got me was my article on the new ordinance legalizing open carry of firearms in Milton. I tried to be straightforward on the issue rather than taking any kind of position. I felt that it was an appropriate approach, because as I stated in the blog, I didn't expect the revised ordinance to have much effect on the city, and up to this point, it really hasn't. Again, I wasn't thinking about what people with specific agendas would read into it. If you're writing about guns and your opinion is anything less than a glowing endorsement of arming every human over 5 years old, you're going to get slammed as a liberal socialist pinko who hates America.

Ironically, when I recently wrote about the United Ethanol plant and defended my vote to allow them to operate in Milton, I didn't get much response. I was ready for a major crucifixion on that one, and it never really arrived. I guess people aren't as worried about breathing VOCs as they are about their high school Indian mascot toting a gun in public.

It's All Perspective - Another reaction that totally caught me off guard was to my article about how gym class has changed in Milton. My final paragraph inadvertently offended the current Milton High School gym teachers, and resulted in a four-page letter from the MHS principal. After re-reading the offending passage from their perspective, I had to admit that I could see where they were coming from. It certainly wasn't my intent to denigrate the current phys ed staff. My only purpose was to reminisce about the old days of gender-segregated gym class and state my opinion that it should still be that way.

Bad Timing Part Deux - I was taught a long time ago in communications class that the best time to release bad news was on a Friday, ideally on a Friday afternoon, because more people than usual will miss it. Ignoring my training, I posted my last blog entry about Milton's homecoming week on a Friday, and indeed, it was barely noticed. It generated only one comment, and that was from a Gazette staffer. I guess those college professors knew what they were talking about.

But even with a few minor bumps in the road, doing this blog has been a fulfilling and worthwhile experience. I truly appreciate the support of everyone at Bliss Communications, as well as the folks who have taken the time to read it. And by the way, I am always open to suggestion on things to write about. If you have any Milton-related topics you think might be interesting for me to tackle, please let me know. Thanks and keep reading...