Ideas of March

I'm not sure if you've heard about this "Ideas of March" thing; it's a sort of "blogging revival" idea that Chris Shiflett came up with to inspire bloggers to write and share their ideas more. All you have to do is write a post and follow the conversation on twitter via #ideasofmarch. (I've said this before too: if you are PM and are not on Twitter, you should get on it. There are conversations to follow and ideas shared daily.) This post is inspired by the topic, and I hope it will inspire me to continue writing…beyond this month.

Why do I blog?

I love blogs. People who blog are just posting their ideas for anyone to read; they don't make me feel like an outsider. For the most part, there are no expectations on audience or preconceptions about why someone might read an article. Sure, I write about project management here, but my hope is that non-project managers will read and share their ideas with me.

I could write anything here. My ideas can be (and often are) informal ideas that are my own opinion. I'm not edited by anyone, which means that if I have an idea I can write about it and publish at my own will. This also means I am not edited for grammar and tone, but that's okay. I'm taking a risk by sharing my own ideas in my own way and putting them out there for you to embrace or reject. If you want to read my broken sentences and quips, you are welcome to it. If you want to pass them on, great. If you want to criticize, great. I like to see how people react to what I write--good or bad.

Some people, myself included, use their blogs as a place to write about things they might not ever have an outlet to write about. Yes, my blog is "professional" but I tend to write things that might not be published elsewhere. Sometimes I do have to opportunity to take my ideas to other websites, but here…here things are my own and not affected by an editor who doesn't know me. Special.

Get on it, Harned!

I haven't blogged much recently. I could rattle off a ton of reasons why, but you wouldn't care. The point is: I've created this thing and haven't kept it NEW. It's pretty hypocritical; we tell clients all the time that they must keep their sites "fresh" or users won't return. Why can't I do it myself? Honestly, I often feel like my "articles" need to be more thought out and long, and I go through this awful cycle of editing and just drop it.

It's not a lack of ideas. On a flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, about five months ago, I made a list of topics to write about. It takes up three pages in my notebook.

It's time. I need to make time to do this, because it's totally worth my time. And when you guys comment on posts, it makes it even more worth it for me. I love the open dialogue. And I love that I've made a few contacts in the industry through my blog. That is very cool and inspiring.

Ok, I think I know what #ideasofmarch is all about now. It's to get people writing to inspire them. It totally worked for me. Do you blog? Try it out. Here are the ground rules:

What Can You Do?

If you'd like to participate, here's how:

• Write a post called Ideas of March.
• Write about why you like blogs.
• If you don't already blog regularly, pledge to blog more the rest of the month.
• Share your thoughts on Twitter with the #ideasofmarch hashtag.