Blogging Live – What’s That All About?

Last fall we did a survey on the AllEars® newsletter and also asked a few questions about this website. We received a LOT of constructive feedback — thank you! We’ve been trying to address the issues, concerns and suggestions, making changes here and there where appropriate, and we are still, albeit slowly, sifting through your comments.

Here’s one comment we received that I want to share — below are my thoughts:

“This is not a comment on the newsletter, but rather one on the website. I think that it is unprofessional to promote blogs from a particular trip and then not blog daily — e.g., a guest blog I followed with anticipation, and then there would be days with no update. Also, the Deb and Steve cruise was very poorly put together (blogging-wise). Day One, update, fast-forward and it still is not updated and the Magic is in drydock now. I just think that if the site is going to promote ‘follow along with me’ type of blogs, then the bloggers should update daily.”

Let me begin by saying that whenever AllEars® has promoted “Live Blogging,” we have had every good intention of making sure that the blog was updated on a daily basis. We want to provide our readers with up-to-date information and “live blogging” is one of the ways we can do that. I promise it wasn’t a gimmick to get you to click on the links every day. We honestly felt it was something we could do; sadly, we have found it is not always going to happen.

Sometimes while on a trip the unexpected or unanticipated happens — bad weather, lack of connectivity, illness, or just plain exhaustion! We intend to post a blog, but life sometimes gets in the way.

Our guest bloggers have an especially hard time with this. They are excited, want to share particular aspects of their trip, but have no idea the amount of time it takes to do a blog. They may start out well, but find the task of submitting a blog at the end of a very long day a bit overwhelming.

I can do no more at this point than tell you I hear you loud and clear and offer an apology for not following through on our commitment at times.

To remedy this situation, we’ve run the last several multi-part blogs from guest bloggers after the fact, rather than “live.” Take the recent Animal Kingdom Lodge Concierge blog, for example. I waited until I had all the entries and all the photos before making the blog live online. I’ll continue to do that, most of the time, but we still may experiment with “live blogging” now and then.

One other point I would also like to mention is that we are all volunteers. No one is getting paid to blog. That said, we certainly do not mean to appear unprofessional in our presentation, not in the sense of being sloppy or careless. So the point of the remark is valid and has been given consideration.

Last but not least, I want to give KUDOS and a huge shout out to AllEars® team member Laura Gilbreath! Laura is really quite good at blogging each day (or darn close to it) when she commits to doing it! Thank you, Laura.

So, I thank you for this comment — and all of the feedback you all submitted on the survey and the emails you send us every day. We will make every effort to follow through on all of our commitments — not just when it comes to “live blogging,” but in all aspects of bringing you the AllEars.Net website and the weekly AllEars® newsletter!

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8 Replies to “Blogging Live – What’s That All About?”

  1. Hi, I also want to thank everyone involved with blogging and reporting for allearsnet!! This site is far beyond the official Disney site in my opinion. As many know, this site contains more than a ton of information than is given on the official site! I, too, would like to thank Laura Gilbreath for her blogs and her time sharing with us all! She is a very good writer and is very witty and detail oriented in her reporting of her trips! So, to all the allearsnet staff….”Thank you!!!”!

  2. Deb, I checked the blogs daily..they provide great insight!!! Don’t get discouraged, keep it up…Thank you..Tom

  3. Deb I do not agree with the person who made this complaint! The blogs that you provide are well done and for the most part consistent or updated when a lapse has occurred with a logical and appropriate reason. I can tell by the writing that these are a labor of love for the volunteers who do it and I understand that it is very time consuming to keep this site as up to date and well done as it is. I also would like to thank not only the principal writers of the blogs but their families who I am sure have had more than a little to say when you spend a quarter of your trip either confirming information to keep the site current or waiting while you type up the events of the day so as to not forget something. I think that sometimes you do such a good job at this site that some readers forget to appreciate the work and sacrifice people make to help others have all the resources available to make their vacations memorable.

  4. Deb,
    I really enjoy your site and visit daily. You have so much current information that I never even bother with the official website anymore. In fact, when people write in on Lou Mongello’s site, I often refer them to your site for planning and answers. As for the blogs, I enjoy them whether they are live or not. I know they are time consuming and appreciate everyone’s effort in bringing me a little Magic everyday. I especially enjoy when Anita writes in about her early experiences at the World. Love reading about Disney histroy from a personal perspective. Keep up the great work.

  5. I say Disneyrific to you and your staff. Just knowing that you love what your doing and doing it on your own time says enough for me. I am a daily reader and will continue to be however you word things. Thanks for the Pixie Dusting every day!!!!!

  6. I think the the person that made the comment has a good point and that if you are going to bill something as live, we expect to have actual updates more often than we’ve gotten.

    That being said, I commend you for answering this in such a public fashion and explaining your side of things. It takes a lot of courage to post criticism in a public forum such as this. The bottom line is we all come here every day because we like what we read and if anything, want more!

  7. I discovered your website in 2003 and am pretty sure that I have checked in with it on a daily basis since then! I appreciate all the effort that is put into providing accessible information in an easy to navigate format (sometimes that is not the case with the official Disney website). Since your site has started blogging, it has afforded a fun new way to obtain information. I look forward to checking the blogs daily and enjoy the information that is found. Thanks again for everything you guys do!

  8. Hi Deb,

    MANY KUDOS to all of you at All Ears. You ALL do a professional, and outstanding job of providing a wealth of information and informative articles. Every Mouse Nut should be appreciative of the effort put forth.
    There are not enough words of praise in the dictionary for your web site. We read it several times each day.
    I for one like constructive criticism, but all should stop and think. Would I give many hours of my free time to do what you do ?

    Vic Williams