China Blogging Tour

Riding China's expat roller coaster: two days vs. two weeks vs. two years

I've been here in China (my first visit) for exactly one week. The roller coaster phenomenon goes something like this...

1. Scarcely 48 hours after arriving in Beijing I shared what I considered to be my GREAT revelation with an audience at Amcham Beijing: with 137 million Internet users [make that 172 million] and an estimated 30 million bloggers, China's use of social media is MUCH BIGGER than in the U.S. Wow.

The corollary... this is an amazing opportunity for companies - Chinese or multinational. Tap into this online crowd with a corporate or CEO blog and your company can reap the benefits. OK, hmmm... maybe.

2. Two days later, I was back to square one; not sure I understood anything about China and China's use of the Internet as a marketing channel. Censorship is a gray area and quite nuanced. It's confusing.

Note: I had a great lunch with Jeremy Goldkorn, founder and publisher of Danwei.org, who explained some of the nuances. Did a video interview with him which I'll post to YouTube when I get back to the U.S. (YouTube continues to be blocked here in China.)

3. It's now eight days since I've arrived and I'm where I should be... I understand much more than when I left the U.S. on Oct. 13, 2007. But I realize it would take years (perhaps a lifetime) to really understand Chinese consumer and business culture.

Having said that, I'm looking forward enormously to sharing a panel tomorrow on CEO blogging (21st Century PR: Executives and Their Blogs) at Amcham Shanghai with China's word of mouth marketing expert Sam Flemming and China PR / tech guru Will Moss (aka Imagethief).

Useful Links

China's Online Internet Explosion (What It May Mean for the Internet Globally... and for U.S. Users) by Deborah Fallows, Pew Internet - July 2007 (download PDF report)

Social Media Flourishes in China (Jennifer Jones' interview with Sam Flemming on Podtech)

Chinese Bloggers: "Everybody Is Somebody" by Rebecca MacKinnon (Nov. 7, 2005)

Oct. 14 - 26, 2007: dates are set for the China Blogging Tour

Finally, I've nailed down dates for the China Blogging Tour, to promote the Mandarin Chinese edition of The Corporate Blogging Book, now available on amazon.cn.

I will also be on a panel at Ad-Tech Beijing on Wednesday Oct. 17th.

Overdue update: Guanxi: The China Letter and our tentative tour dates

I'm delighted to report that Guanxi: The China Letter (a newsletter published by Karen Christensen's Berkshire Publishing Group) is informally sponsoring the upcoming China Blogging Tour.

Apologies for the long absence in posting. Philippe and I have been busy with other stuff. But we realize that October will be upon us soon so we're starting to actively plan our trip.

tentative Dates are Oct. 14 - Oct. 26, 2007. (We'll both be on a panel at Ad-Tech Beijing on Wednesday Oct. 17th at 4.25 PM: How to Develop a Corporate Social Media Platform.)

Pros & Cons of Corporate Blogging, Social Media, RSS, etc.

If you know of a company, group or business school in Beijing or Shanghai that would be interested in a presentation by Philippe and me during those dates, please contact one or both of us immediately.

Reach Debbie at wordbiz AT gmail DOT com or debbie.weil AT gmail DOT com.

Reach Philippe at philippe.borremans AT gmail DOT com.

Edelman is partnering with the China Blogging Tour

Hey, this is cool news. Edelman PR is partnering with us to sponsor the China Blogging Tour. Philippe and I look forward to a fast learning curve as we tap into Edelman's knowledge of social media and blogging in the PRC. (See Edelman's Corporate Guide to the Corporate Blogosphere.)

A special thanks to Edelman's Asia-Pacific chief Alan Vandermolen for his enthusiasm about our tour. Lots of details to be worked out but we're off to a great start.

The Corporate Blogging Tour of China is coming!

Updated Oct. 12, 2007: alas, plans changed and Philippe isn't able to make it. But Phil is plenty busy with social media training workshops in Europe and beyond. He's also keeping an eye on social media and politics, social media and the protests in Burma.

It's the "Debbie and Philippe Show" and it's headed to China!

Belgium-based Philippe Borremans of Conversationblog and Washington D.C.-based Debbie Weil of BlogWriteForCEOs are setting off on a blogging tour of China. Our tentative dates are May /June October 2007 to coincide with the publication of Debbie's The Corporate Blogging Book in Chinese.

Stay tuned for more...

Download Chapter 1 in Chinese.