ChasNote

Marc Farley, a Dell blogger at Inside IT blog, shows the rest of us how it’s done. Dell is tapping the Techdirt Insight Community to foster a conversation among IT pros on storage, and what storage vendors like Dell need to be developing. (Here’s the site, The Future of Storage.)

EMC’s Chuck Hollis blogs his discontent about the project, namely that Dell’s role in the project isn’t disclosed clearly enough. That’s good feedback and always worth listening to. It’s Dell’s intention to be transparent; if certain visitors are confused, fix it.

Farley, a storage expert and Dell employee, admitted that he could relate:

“I didn’t understand myself for several days, including the whole posting process and was wondering what the %$#% was going on. In fact, I put up a completely wayward, post — wondered why it wasn’t being posted, then found out it was way off base. FWIW, there is a blog post that is pretty critical of Techdirt for the way the initial entries (insights) are handled. Mike Masnick’s reply to that review is good enough for me that they are working on improving things. But I don’t want to throw out the baby here, I think Mike is really onto something that is very, very good and that could fundamentally change the analyst business — something that Chuck would probably be very interested in also.”

That alone is refreshing — a representative of the brand (Dell) who publicly voices criticism of the brand or marketing practices. Then he goes on to articulate the project’s intent:

“So here’s how it’s working: Dell opened an Insight (request for blog entries) with Techdirt and they invited members of their community to contribute. These entries were screened by Techdirt editors for suitability (no Dell influence in this process) and then published on a Dell sponsored site called the Future of Storage, as a way to expand the discussion. We now have some of that going on and people can contribute there. Just keep in mind that the entries are moderated by Techdirt and it takes a little time for them to be published. I think if you look for the usual wolf in sheep’s clothing ads here, you won’t find any (at least that’s the goal). The point is not to pimp our stuff but to establish dialogue –- and this differs in a very major way from most blogs, including Chuck’s and mine.”

Techdirt’s Mike Masnick adds a comment to Farley’s post:

“On the issue of independent analysis, we actually think the Insight Community model works even *better* because you’re getting multiple viewpoints from multiple independent parties — and given how we recruit people, you can rest assured that there are always a varied set of opinions. The folks in the community are *passionate* and don’t back down. That’s what we like, and that’s why the Community generates such interesting output. As I’ve said before, the Insight Community model is designed to make you find out what you *need* to hear, rather than what you *want* to hear.”

An unusual conversation is underway: Editors, sponsors and their business partners are engaged in an open and professional argument over the important issues in digital media, and learning from each other. My hat is off to Dell, Farley, Hollis and Masnick.