Is this blog really necessary?

Today Alumni Blog begins with high hopes for starting a beneficial ongoing conversation with and among the 31,000+ (and counting) individuals who have earned one or more degrees from Bellevue College/University during the past 45 years.

It’s fair to ask whether this blog is needed, considering there already are an estimated 150 million to 180 million weblogs out there–approximately one for every two people in the U.S. There are blogs about pretty much everything—and pretty much nothing—including some created by doting pet owners with photos and You Tubes of guinea pigs fighting over cucumbers!

Big demand certainly wasn’t the motivation behind Alumni Blog, no flood of “Please blog me” emails from University graduates. It was more a drip, drip, dripping of feedback that finally couldn’t be ignored any longer … • A phone call from an International Security program graduate who was disappointed he missed a special 9/11 State of Heartlands Security presentation on the University campus in the fall, because he didn’t hear about it in advance • An emotional email from an alumnus having difficulty finding a job in a tough economy • A chatty message from an alumna in Michigan reporting that at age 72, she recently bagged her first deer–while driving her Prius • A hand-written note and photograph from the proud parents of a military serviceman who got recognition and a promotion

So yes, this blog is necessary, because their interests, experiences, successes, and thoughts, and yours, are important, and the weblog medium has the potential to get the word out over the miles to lots of people quickly.

If we do it right, Alumni Blog will provide an information bulletin board, a discussion round table, and a sounding board for your ideas, concerns, and suggested improvements. For our part as contributors on the University end, we will try to keep it simple, positive, informative, and beneficial to you, the alumni.

Your role is to let us know you’re out there and what you’re thinking. Feel free to post your comments about the blog itself, your life and career, the education you received here, what you liked best, how it could have been better. You can even talk about your guinea pig if you like!

Let the conversation begin.

(Subscribe to this blog to receive future posts automatically, or bookmark it on your browser.)