Need proof that blogs are going mainstream? Look no further than Cardinal Seán of Boston, who created a blog to chronicle his trip to Rome. He says that if the blog is a success, he will continue to use it after his return to stay in touch with his Archdiocese. In his words, takes from his sidebar:

“I want to share with you, Catholics of Boston, my experiences as I return to Rome as a Cardinal and more importantly, I want to share with you a sense of what it is that Boston’s Archbishop does on business in Rome representing the people of the Archdiocese.”
– Cardinal Seán

Smart guy. He’s already posted an extensive photographic tour from “behind the walls” of the Vatican, and even allowed a fellow Bostonian pastor to guest blog about living and working at the Vatican.

But the red-robed Cardinal isn’t the only blogger to start a new online journal and go straight to the “A-list.” Here in Canada, the role of the Governor General has come into question over the years, especially the cost and purpose of travel, etc. In the spirit of transparency and accountability (I presume) Our current GG Michaelle Jean has also created a new blog, as well as an online forum. Link via Kate Trgovac of MyNameisKate.ca, who shares her opinion on what works and what doesn’t about this idea.

Lastly, in a sure sign that blogging and RSS feeds are just one step away from being a household staple, I point you to an article entitled: How to Explain RSS the Oprah Way. Although I think that Stephanie, the author of the post, is using “Oprah” in her headline as a way of generating even more traffic, I have to agree that her explaination is suprisingly lucid and helpful to any newbies out there who still haven’t wrapped their heads around the idea of feeds. In particular, her illustration made a somewhat complex concept seem simple:

(Click image to view larger version)

If Oprah fans, Catholic Cardinals and political appointees are finding blogs and RSS useful, what’s stopping you?

I was asked to answer “1.5 Questions” on the One Degree site recently by Ken Schafer. The post went live today, so visit this link to read my answer to the question:

One Degree: “Jordan, can you tell us about your .sig file and what the pros and cons of your approach are?”

Also, CaseCamp last night was a success, by the accounts on the feedback page thus far. I presented the 30 Days project as a “case study in progress,” and although I couldn’t seem to stick to my notes, I think it went pretty well. John Ounpuu told me to pass along to my Dad that he should toughen up and ride the rest of the way without his ginch, to stay true to the title of the book, and Dane from Workspace said his dad rode the same route many years ago, and he’s always wanted to retrace the route himself one day.

Slides of all of the presentations should be made available on the wiki shortly. I’ll update.

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I’ve had rather bothersome connectivity issues in the past few days (seems like weeks now, in fact).  Let’s just say I’m not thrilled with my D-Link router, and leave it at that.

The news of the day is that I am presenting tonight at CaseCamp, a BarCamp-esque mini conference strictly for marketers.

I’m going to use the 30 Days With No Underwear site as an example of how blogs are better than press releases, and could ultimately deem the latter completely obsolete, in time.  I’m of the opinion that we still use press releases because we’re resistent to change, but I think that company blogging initiatives will replace the old methods eventually.

For now though, I still write press releases, too.  That’s what people expect, both clients and media. I could go on for days about why I think that should change, but I’ve got to build some slides for my presentation tonight, so I have to run.