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January 17, 2006

Business Travel

Careful What You Say

Posted by Carole Matthews at 11:18 AM

Search for "business travel" in your favorite blog search tool and the number of blogs that comes up will be disappointing. Why? According to a recent New York Times article, business travelers are reluctant to blog, and not just because of their busy schedules, but also because of more "revealing" reasons.

One business travel blogger noted that after her colleagues began reading her posts about being homeless after Hurricane Katrina, she felt she lost her anonymity. Her quote: "When your boss is reading your blog, you say to yourself, 'Well, maybe I shouldn't be writing about staying at the Ritz-Carlton.'" Another reason business travelers should be wary to blog: competitive intelligence. A blogging specialist in the article noted that business travelers who mention cities they're staying in or about to visit could reveal "enough information for a competitor to surmise what's going on."

The article goes on to note some business travelers' blogs, how the number is increasing, and how the blogs help others navigate the "hazards and opportunities of the road," but in my mind it served as a good reminder to bloggers, especially those who write business-related blogs. While you might want to "bare it all," you really do need to be careful about what you say. Information that seems entertaining, or even mundane, to you could be misconstrued by colleagues and employers -- and even become useful little tidbits for your competitors.

3 Comments

Posted by: Dee Rambeau at January 17, 2006 6:50 PM

As a frequent blogger and way-too-frequent business traveler, I rarely write about my "road warrior" adventures. Why not? Because they're usually moments involving some pain or incovenience and who wants to read my whining anyway? It's not that interesting. Business travel used to be fun, romantic at times, even to be looked forward to. 9/11, the airlines and TSA ended that...now it pretty much sucks...and no one wants to hear about that.

Posted by: Becky McCray at January 18, 2006 1:04 PM

As a new blogger, I want thank you for a thought-proking post. I needed to consider these issues, not just about travel, but about business at large.

Posted by: Matt Breckon at January 21, 2006 11:55 AM

It's a really good point.

If you are going to write about your travels it's probably worth posting it several months later especially if it going to reveal information to your competitors.

That way you can talk about the interesting aspects of travelling without giving too much away. As long as the material is interesting in the first place it shouldn't matter being delayed.

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