Association Marketing Springboard

First, a thanks to all the participants of this year's Bloggercon at ASAE's annual meeting. Great ideas all around, and I'll be posting more about it soon. But, first things first.

Jason Della Rocca made an acute observation during our discussion--if we want a more diverse audience to read and comment on blogs we're setting up for our associations, in some instances it's better to leave out the word "blog."

What's in the word blog?
The word blog has many connotations. From people I've spoken to about blogging, I get a range of responses. Experienced bloggers sometimes resent the term for it's over-simplified definition and overuse. Non-bloggers can be intimidated by stereotypes of blogging--that blogs have unreliable information, that bloggers are unwelcoming to newbies, that blogs take too much time to follow, and even that blogs are only for tech-savvy 20-somethings.

Call it what it is.
It makes sense, then, that doing away with the word "blog" in the branding of our own online communities will help potential users get past the technology and focus on the actual purpose of the communications channel. For example, I created this website as a springboard for future articles, presentations and professional development. I used the word "blog" in the title, because at the time, that was the noun I identified with what I'm doing. Today, I've realized it's a springboard, not a blog...and from now on, that's how I'll identify this site. Here are some other ideas for nouns to replace the word blog...

• Brainstorm
• Community
• Genius (i considered this one ;-)
• Hotspot
• Braintrust (thx Jason!)
• Dialogue
• Aggregate
• Personalities
  

Don't forget about search.
Make sure the noun you use is something that people might search or identify with. I don't think many people are going to be searching for springboards, yet, so I've made sure the title of this springboard includes what people will find here...ideas, tools, articles, resources and links. What if someone's searching specifically for a blog? Search knows this is a blog because the URL says so, but if you're concerned, use the keyword blog in the description of your site.

What word or words do you think will replace "blog" in the future?