Jalopnik: fastlane

Blogging The Auto Bloggers: With Wiley Gone Like A Coyote, What Will Become Of GM's Blog Empire?

Ray Wert — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:46:06 EDT

All the attention from the quote on blogging in the Detroit News yesterday must have gotten to Mike Wiley, GM's Director of New Media — word is, he's departing the General, mommy-blogging wifey and kids in tow, and leaving the wilds of Toledo, Ohio to work for big-time PR firm Edelman in Chicago. So that's interesting — where does that leave the General's two misbegotten blog step-children, the FYI and FastLane blogs?

Well, we've heard that...

...Troy and Ann Arbor-based PR firm Hass MS&L staff, who've already been doing the majority of the work on the two sites will be continuing in that capacity — but as for who they'll be reporting to, we hear for the time being it's Bill Betts, the General's communications web services manager. Long-term, we've no clue — and we're guessing the General doesn't know either. But we're hoping it'll be someone who can beat the rather anemic performance of the Fastlane so far — "daily readership of 4,000 to 5,000 per day" - please...in GM's wet dreams!

Secondly, we've always kind of been concerned about the General's strategy in the blogosphere — starting with the creation of the FastLane and then a blog all about Chevy small-block heritage (what?), then the cancellation of the small-block blog and most recently the creation of the FYI blog. WTF! Can we get some kind of an explanation of what the strategy is here? We're starting to feel like GM can't get their shit together in the new media space because they're all too busy arguing with each other in the back rooms of the RenCen.

Which is why whoever next has Wiley's job has to not only talk adventurous about the interwebs, as we hear Wiley was all about, but be adventurous on the interwebs (to snag the traffic, baby). And that means content and it means speed (as one of the area's top PR pros said earlier today, "they succeed or fail based on their ability to get information faster than the big guys"). But that's not the only thing. While they're doing all that, at the same time they've got to be working out some kind of long-term strategy that doesn't involve creating a new site every other day and saying to hell with posting for weeks on end because one guy takes a vacation.

Blogger nation [Detroit News]

GM's FastLane Blog, We Knew You Well?

Ray Wert — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:27:02 EDT

Has anyone been over to GM's FastLane blog recently? Yeah, we haven't either. So we took a quick little jog over there today and lo' an' behold — it looks like Maximum Bob Lutz hasn't been either — the last posts were podcasts from June 27th and 28th . So that's 15 days since the last post, and there was a nine day gap since the ones before that. We feel like they're like kids on MySpace, and just losing interest in their blog. Anyone know what Maximum Bob's been up to recently? Just as importantly — what's going on in the FastLane?

Fastlane Blog [GM]

Related:
More on life in the FastLane [internal]

FYI: GM's Expansive Blog Empire

Ray Wert — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 09:03:34 EDT

GM's added a new site to their growing blog-empire. The new site, FYI, joins the Fastlane blog and the now-defunct Smallblock blog. Rather than do it ourselves, we'll let Mike Wiley, GM's Director of New Media, describe why this new entry into the blogosphere is necessary — then just for fun, find out how we've translated his "PR-speak" after the jump:

"Welcome to our new blog! For those of you familiar with the FastLane Blog, the FYI Blog is a slight departure. While we are certainly happy with the conversation that the FastLane has created, for the most part, it has been the exclusive domain of some of our most senior executives, particularly Bob Lutz (most of us even call it Bob's Blog). Over the last few months...

...we decided that we could add another blog to our portfolio; and that it could be even more grassroots, providing an opportunity for all GM employees to contribute in one way or another.Our hope is that this will be an effective way to spread the conversation about GM; that we can continue to get better at listening and maintaining the dialogue, and ultimately, create products and services that not only meet your needs but are truly the best.
The FYI Blog will highlight the positive developments that occur at GM on a daily basis, though we won't shy away from controversy. Things that most of us would otherwise never hear about. Whereas the FastLane Blog usually gets new entries once or twice a week, the FYI blog aspires to be much more active. Expect to see at least a daily post, written by people throughout the organization. Here are the categories of information that the blog will feature:

* Cool Stuff - Stories about innovations; product, technology, facilities and manufacturing
* Our People - Profiles of GM employees and their unique jobs, careers, etc.
* News - Good News stories, including items that you may otherwise never hear about
* Opinions - GM op/ed pieces intended to shed light on issues in the news
* Guest Voices - Blog entries written by third parties who are not GM employees

We hope you enjoy participating in this new blog and we look forward to hearing from you."

Our Translation:

"Can't...shut...Lutz...up. Need...new...alt...media...outlet..."

For Your Information [FYI Blog]