What can I say?

I set this blog up thinking I had lots to say and contribute, but find myself very wary of saying anything that makes people I know or my employer recognisable.

Werner Vogels really hits the nail on the head with this post . No, I'm not important in the grand scheme of things nor do I work for a company that comes anywhere near Microsoft or Google. Nothing I say will end up anywhere near the Wall Street Journal.

But still I find myself wondering whether I should write about a re-org, a project, our website or even a dumb management decision. OK, so no trade secrets, personal details/attacks or information on competitive advantages are going to be given away (I'm not that stupid), but I'm still not sure that I would be safe to relate this blog in any way to the company I work for.

Do I need official sanction? When does personal and professional cross over? Is this talking to the media?

There are good things I'd like to say about the company. When a new product launches that I think is great, I want to mention it. But what if we launch something not so great and a comment on here asks about it? Do I have to move into PR mode and say things like "the R&D folks are doing a great job"? Do I just ignore it? Would I just end up having to play it safe and defeat the whole purpose of a blog?

I'm in no-way the first person to ask this question and I expect there are currently thousands of people out there wondering the same thing.

As various commentators have mentioned: Companies - Get yourself a blogging policy!!!

Guess I'll be playing it safe for a while...