Blog writers are a slow-growing breed in the plastics and manufacturing arenas.
A blog is an outgrowth of a personal log or diary, but it is placed on a Web site so that others can read and post responses.
Writing a blog, according to Len Czuba, is just another way for the Society of Plastics Engineers to provide information for its members.
``A blog as I see it: I post whatever is on my mind and I use it to tell members about what is going on,'' said Czuba, president of Brookfield, Conn.-based SPE.
Czuba said he started the SPE blog Sept. 6 and does one every few weeks. Since he spends a great deal of time on the road visiting with the constituency, Czuba said it is a way to pass on what he sees.
A look at the blog finds few responses, but Gregory Grudzinski, SPE senior manager of marketing and development, said interest is growing.
``We see pretty strong growth. It was a soft launch. We created the blog and it is evolving. As Len visits different places, he talks it up,'' Grudzinski said.
The effort marks SPE's second venture into blogging; the first was after Hurricane Katrina hit and SPE offered a blog site to try to help Gulf Coast companies. Czuba said many people posted help offers, but he's not sure of the results. However, he said that even if it helped one company, the site would have to be termed a success.
As for his new blog venture, Czuba said more than 4,000 page views in the first month show that the material is being read.
He also said he has been getting compliments about the site: ``They like what they are reading and we haven't really promoted it.''
Pat Cleary, senior vice president of communications for the National Association of Manufacturers, said low response to specific blogs does not indicate a lack of interest. A better gauge, he said, is the number of page hits.
Cleary said traffic at the Washington-based group's site has been growing significantly each month since he's been doing the blogs after hours. He didn't release numbers, but called the blog a good part of the communications effort.
``It's a small universe and we're hoping to be on the cutting edge. It's really a way to direct our message,'' Cleary said.
He said he spends a few hours in the evening surfing the net for ideas for his blogs so that he can post two to three blogs each day. Cleary pointed to blogs as another medium, like radio or television, to reach readers.
He sees a big future for blogs and hopes they evolve to spur readers to take action - such as writing or calling elected officials on important issues.
So, beware: Blogs are the newest craze. They might even become the talk radio of the Internet, Cleary said.
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Lowdown on industry blogs
Here is a list of plastics industry blogs. They are rated from 1-5: 1=poor, 5=good.
URL: blog.nam.org
Name: Manufacturers' Daily Blog
Sponsor: National Association of Manufacturers
Notes: Search by keyword
Rating: 1
Critique: Not much on plastics
Frequency: Daily
Author: Pat Cleary, NAM senior vice president of communications
URL: blog.phthalates.org
Name: Phthalate Information Center
Sponsor: American Chemistry Council Inc.
Notes: Links to articles, personal comments
Rating: 1
Critique: Just a few items
Frequency: Occasional
Author: Marian Stanley, MBA in chemical/pharmaceutical studies
URL: blogs.plastics.com
Name: plastics.com blogs
Sponsor: National Plastics Center
Notes: Contributors
Rating: 3
Critique: Plastics related
Frequency: Occasional
Author: Greg Koski, founder/CEO, WorldWide Web Labs Inc.
URL: custom-injection-molding.blogspot.com
Name: blogspot - Blogger by Google
Sponsor: AB Plastech Inc.
Notes: Links to articles, personal comments
Rating: 1
Critique: Injection molding, business related
Frequency: Occasional
Author: Unknown
URL: www.packagingblog.blogspot.com
Name: blogspot - Blogger by Google
Sponsor: Unknown
Notes: All packaging covered
Rating: 3
Critique: News stories, not links
Frequency: Last posting Oct. 9
Author: Unknown
URL: www.4spe.org/blog
Name: Chat with Czuba
Sponsor: Society of Plastics Engineers
Notes: An open discussion with SPE President Len Czuba
Rating: 2
Critique: Len Czuba's interests
Frequency: Occasional
Author: Len Czuba
URL: www.4spe.org/katrinablog
Name: Hurricane Katrina Relief Blog
Sponsor: Society of Plastics Engineers
Notes: Katrina-related posts
Rating: 2
Critique: No recent postings
Frequency: See above
Author: Susan Oderwald
URL: www.core77.com/materials
Name: Industrial Design Supersite
Sponsor: Core77 Inc.
Notes: Design articles may include plastics
Rating: 2
Critique: Interesting articles
Frequency: Frequently
Author: Mixed
URL: www.injection-molds.blogspot.com
Name: blogspot - Blogger by Google
Sponsor: Solinc Solutions Inc. (Seoul, South Korea)
Notes: Personal comments, links to stories
Rating: 1
Critique: Solinc marketing tool
Frequency: Occasional
Author: ``Steve''
URL: www.injectionmoldingcentral.info
Name: Injection Molding Central
Sponsor: Google/RSS
Notes: Injection molding news and advertising links
Rating: 2
Critique: Interesting news bits
Frequency: Daily
Author: Unknown
URL: www.packagingbusiness.com/discussion.asp
Name: Welcome to Packaging Business Discussion Groups
Sponsor: Polysort
Notes: Classified ad postings with discussion threads
Rating: 1
Critique: Mainly ads
Frequency: Occasional
Author: Mixed
URL: www.plasticblog.com
Name: Plastic Blog
Sponsor: Douglas M. Bryce and Texas Plastic Technologies
Notes: Opinion pieces
Rating: 1
Critique: Marketing for www.plastictroubleshooter.com
Frequency: Not dated
Author: Douglas M. Bryce, Texplas founder
URL: www.plasticpipe.com.cn/blog/blogger.html
Name: Blogger by Google
Sponsor: Sure Union International Ltd.
Notes: Pipe-related discussions
Rating: 2
Critique: Pipe 101
Frequency: Rarely, with last posting in June
Author: Screen name: ``Caspar'' (of Guangdong, China)
URL: www.scienceblog.com
Name: Science Blog
Sponsor: Science Blog
Notes: Search feature yields articles, no blogs
Rating: 2
Critique: Keyword searches yield variety of articles
Frequency: Daily
Author: Ben Sullivan and a team of science editors, writers and enthusiasts
Here are some industry publications that have their own bloglike forum sites:
Injection Molding Magazine
URL: www.immnet.com
Click on: Networking Forum
Notes: Discussion threads
Rating: 4
Frequency: Very active
AutoWeek
URL: forums.autoweek.com/index.jspa
Click on: Combustion Chamber Forum
Notes: Discussion threads, various topics
Rating: 1
Critique: You have to hunt for plastics
Moldmaking Technology Online:
URL: www.moldmakingtechnology.com/forums
Click on: Industry Forum
Notes: Various questions posted, some responses
Rating: 2
Critique: You have to hunt for plastics
Polysort
URL: www.polysort.com/forum
Click on: Member Forum (membership required)
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Blog Basics
Below are some basics terms used in the world of blogging:
Blog (Weblog): An online journal or Web diary, as well as a content management system or an online publishing platform.
Blogger: A person who owns or writes for a Weblog.
Blogosphere: The totality of blogs; blogs as a community; blogs as a social network.
Edu-blog: An education-oriented blog.
Journal blog: A personal, diarylike blog. Personal-journal blogs are by far the most common type of blog.
Thread: A series of remarks posted by people in a public comment section of a blog that follow a conversational and topic-related sequence.
Troll for hits: To post a provocative entry to generate angry responses.
