I didn’t want to speak out of school when IABC staffer Chris Grossgart told me IABC was working with 2004-05 chairman David Kistle to start a blog. Neville Hobson just notified me by e-mail that the blog is online, even though it hasn’t been launched officially yet. (Neville has a post about the blog at his own blog, along with a screen shot.)

Still, IABC hasn’t taken any great pains to hide the blog—it’s not temporarily password-protected, for instance, which means it’s easy enough to find. Based on the first post, it looks good. Kistle is a senior practitioner with Padilla, Spears & Beardsley in Minneapolis, a longtime IABC leader, and a most articulate representative for the profession. In his first blog, he reiterates his three priorities—growth, transition and visibility (or advocacy).

He wraps up the post with this: “Of course, I want to be sure to talk about things you want to talk about? so now it?s your turn. Give me some feedback ? good and bad ? about how we?re doing and what?s important to you. I look forward to matching wits with more experienced bloggers and giving all of you a chance to tell me what?s on your mind.”

In its pre-launch stage, you can’t actually leave any comments. (I tried, but it didn’t work. Only afterward did I learn it wasn’t yet ready for public viewing.) When the blog opens officially, I hope to see a lively discussion. In the meantime, I can only hope there’s more in store from IABC, of which I have been a member for (gulp) 27 years. A collaborative blog for chapter leaders would be a great next step, along with a listing of communication-oriented blogs on the association’s Web site.