Yesterday, I gave a presentation to the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals (FACP) on "Web 2.0 and Social Media for Chambers of Commerce."  I was a bit surprised at the number of chambers of commerce who stated they didn't want to have a blog because someone could leave negative comments.   I would guess that many member-based organizations have similar fears about using this social media. Having worked at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce for eight years, I’ve certainly seen negative press and can understand this sentiment.  However, “the times, they are a changin’”

Consider some stats on blogs from March 2008:

· There were 184 million blogs worldwide

· 77% of all Internet users read blogs

· Over half of all businesses in North America don’t have a blog. That means that just under half of all businesses do. I would guess that far more than half the chambers in North America do not have a blog. If you don’t, who’s talking to the businesses in your community?

· Blogs are known to increase awareness of new products and services. That means 1 out of 2 companies and a much higher percentage of chambers are missing out on helping their own cause.

(Source: State of the Blogosphere Report 2008 from Technorati )

You probably thinking, “OK, we get that we should blog, but what about the negative comments?”  First consider that your members and the young professionals you want to attract as members are already using blogs.  And they are probably expecting you to engage them with blogs and other new media.  Get in the conversation!  Chambers of commerce are social (and business) organizations, after all.

You can moderate the comments on your blog, of course.  People leaving comments don’t get to lie or call you names or say inflammatory things – you can delete those.  But, you should allow them to state their position and create a dialog – even if it makes you mad.   Remember, you get to continue restating and reinforcing your position too.  What could be better than to have an entire community discussion the issue that you brought to their attention?  And during the discussion your chamber is continually mentioned and helping to drive it. 

Also remember that you can post replies on other business blogs or online newspaper articles from your community.  You can take the conversation to them and link back to info on your blog as well.

Seth Godin has two ebooks that have some good insight here.  Flipping the Funnel talks about giving your fans the power to speak up.  Page 10 in particular talks about allowing comments on your blog.   Who’s There is Seth’s incomplete guide to blogs and the new web.

With all the competition from for your members’ attention from industry associations, networking group and internet resources, if you’re not talking to/with them, someone else will.