Les Blogs

Once more I am in Paris both to enjoy a break in this wonderful city and also because I have kindly been invited by my friend Loic from Six Apart (the company behind the TypePad blogging service that we use) to speak about Treonauts at one of the biggest blog conferences organised in Europe to date that is amusingly but fittingly called 'Les Blogs' and which both Wired and Business Week recently wrote about.

To get started, one of my first 'views' in the city was that of fleet of white Peugeot taxis sporting a banner on their side advertising our Treo 650 (motion blurred picture below taken with my Treo).  The ad loudly shouts "Attention! Risk of missing your emails." with the Treo 650 as a perfect solution for this.  I couldn't have asked for a nicer welcoming sign...

On to the conference story...  I am not a corporate blogger of any sorts (since I am an entrepreneur and not employed by palmOne or any other company) but I was nevertheless asked to take part in the "Corporate Blogging & External Communications" session principally because my friend Loic is of the view that all consumer brands should be inspired to either create or at the very least actively support a community such as Treonauts for their own products or services.

With this in mind I decided to have two themes for the conference.  The first is "Corporate Blogging without the Corporation" which addresses the product and its community.  The second is a quote by Winston Churchill that has provided me with much inspiration: "We make a living by what we get but make a life by what we give" and which addresses my own personal motivation as a 'blogger'.

There is no doubt in my mind that blogs, bloggers and blog readers are indeed at the forefront of a 'revolution' of sorts and while this is beginning to be more widely discussed in the press (for example Business Week's cover story) I believe that the phenomenon is still widely misunderstood.  This is perhaps why, in an effort to promote awareness, share experiences and increase blogs' exposure, that we (a group of about 30 worldwide blog and social software entrepreneurs) have kindly been invited to hold this event at the French Senate (below) under the patronage of its President.

No doubt both the event and venue promise to be interesting ones.  I understand from speaking with an architect friend (I studied architecture) that this is among one of the most spectacular buildings in the city and I am naturally greatly looking forward to seeing it tomorrow Monday when the conference opens.  Another friend also let me know that (coincidentally?) a great many Senators are Treonauts and so I'll look forward to sharing an experience or two on this front as well.  

Treonauts are leading the revolution...