Guest lecture by Kurt Hochenauer

Doc Hoc spoke to my Blogging for Journalists class recently. I had the pleasure of interviewing Hochenauer before this class for a story I worked on about the state of college tenure in Oklahoma. He seems like a decent fellow to me.

Hochenauer runs the liberal Oklahoma blog "Okie Funk." I was able to learn a lot from the short time he spoke with us.

The first thing I learned was not to be worried about "text-heavy" posts. I think this piece of advice particularly applies to my blog, which is entirely focused around my writings. Sure, my stuff may not be read by everyone -- but if they're not willing to take the time to read me now, do I really want them to read at all? Also, there's always a chance they could come back whenever they do have the time or the interest.

Another thing I learned was not to be overly concerned with traffic. For me, this blog is less about generating as many viewers as possible and more about putting my work out there for anyone who might be interested. In other words, I'm going for 'quality' views and not 'quantity' views.

Overall, I'm hoping for more guest speakers in this course as we progress toward the end of the semester. Personally, I feel the best way to learn is from someone who is a professional in something or an avid practitioner. Find out what works in the real world, and not just what makes sense on the pages of a text book.