The close of a year can inevitably lead to reflection. Late last year, and perhaps due to my insistence, we entered the world of blogging. Corporate blogging at that. I deliberately differentiate and add the word “corporate”, because in the online world, if you fake your blog, you’ll be found out and there can be consequences. It’s not a place to push press releases or corporate announcements — any “media room” section on a company website serves that function.

Did the initial reaction of a blog go over well? I know a number of my colleagues were definitely intrigued by the idea … but at the same time, were probably cautious about what role the blog would play.

Did it mean we were going to give away secrets and broadcast to the world everything we were doing and how we were doing it? Was proprietary information and intelligence something to be concerned about?

For any corporate blog, the “proprietary/competitive information discussion” does need to happen, guidelines need to be set out in advance. But in the end, if that discussion distracts you to the point of inertia, well, you might as well pack up and go home because there will always be “another guy” waiting in the wings.

Participate, be sincere, be honest, make meaning, show leadership — and to borrow from Seth Godin, be passionate and the passionate will find you.

I’ve always maintained that this blog, and some of my other online efforts, is a way to reach out to a community — be it domestic or international — who is as passionate as we are about the Canadian experience … about Canadian publishing … marketing and advertising within the context of Canadian multiculturalism … to enable and inspire conversations, to participate, to make meaning, and learn. Yes, learn. There’s no point in pushing out content just because you can. One-way conversations just don’t work out here.

Personally, it’s been an incredible year for me. The breadth and depth of knowledge, online resources and content that I continue to discover and learn from is astounding. My personal highlights and ongoing inspirations are many … the continued support of my colleagues and our partner publisher network; having our blog being accepted into the alltop ‘fold’; Guy Kawasaki’s “make meaning“, the ever-thoughtful and definitive Mitch Joel and Steve Outing, the brevity of Seth Godin, discovering Cindy King (and all of those I follow on Twitter), becoming a patron of Hugh MacLeod/gapingvoid, the generosity of Flickr members who allow their images to be used free of charge through Creative Commons licensing ….

In closing, one of my first posts, almost a year ago, was the video clip below. I think it’s worth posting it again. It’s a poem commissioned by the Canadian Tourist Commission, featuring Slam poet Shane Koyczan and I think it’s a nice way to anticipate the coming year.

I hope in the coming year all of you will continue to make more, and make meaning. Happy New Year.