More than 16 million.

That’s the number of moms who actively participate in the blogosphere each week as either content providers or readers, according to a recent MediaPost Engage:Moms article. And with 67 percent of moms online looking for help in making purchasing decisions, it’s no wonder that marketers and PR professionals are paying more and more attention to this influential community.

At 360i, we believe what links bloggers and brands can (and should) be a transparent and reciprocal value exchange that benefits blogger, marketer and reader. Our team of digital publicists abides to its own Code of Ethics for Blogger & Online Relations, which you can read here (PDF).

But for some of today’s online writers, the lines between blogger and journalist are blurring. The tension regarding this topic has reached fever pitch, with the Federal Trade Commission taking steps to compose a new set of guidelines that seek to make sense of what should count as advertising in the blogosphere. Compound that with the army of bloggers declaring their recent state of “bloggy burnout,” and you’ve got yourself a certifiable hot-button issue.

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David cites the 140 Characters panel with Rick Sanchez and Ann Curry as one of the best. In this column he’s got six ways to improve industry conferences (image by David via Flickr).

In May and June, I participated in 13 events as a moderator (six), panelist (four), and featured or keynote presenter (three). They weren’t evenly dispersed; May brought a stretch of four events in two and a half days, while June had a span of three events in three cities within 48 hours. It was both thrilling and tiring, and I’m glad I get to return to the day job for a while.

Along the way, I came up with a few thoughts on what can make events even better for all participants going forward. Some organizers have a real knack for this; Jeff Pulver in particular deserves a lot of credit for his thoughtful considerations that he incorporated into his 140 Characters Conference. Ultimately, participating in so many events spanning a range of topics mostly around social media topics gives me a way to cross-pollinate some of the best of what I’ve seen.

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At the Business Development Institute’s NYC event today Social Communications: The Case Studies, The Coca-Cola Company’s Director of Heritage Communications Philip Mooney shared a presentation on Coca-Cola Conversations – Connecting an Iconic Brand to its Fans.

He focused on his experience in the first year of blogging at Conversations. The About section of the blog is telling for a number of reasons. Here it is in full:

“My name is Phil Mooney, and I’ve served as the historian/archivist for Coca-Cola for the last 30 years. Welcome to my blog! I’ll share information on a wide variety of topics, ranging from our role in pop culture to brand history to Coke collectibles. However, the blog only works if there is a two-way dialogue. I look forward to chatting with you!”

A few things stand out:

• It’s his blog. It’s not Coca-Cola’s. He doubles down on personality. Score one for authenticity.

• It expresses authority. This isn’t some intern who knows how to use blogging tools. It’s a guy who knows the subject material.

• It’s really about conversations and not meant to be a one-way publishing tool

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