A Blogger's Challenge

I was pleased last week to find this on Twitter last week:

Looking to update my "fraud and investigation blogs to follow" post from 2012. Looking for some tips on some blogs, publications, etc. that you follow and enjoy. I've already got a few on my list including @ManageRisks @rdavisnewhope @marcyphelps @eajaeb https://dilgnt.gr/2Vuwfd0

That’s me @ManageRisks. The post came from Brian Willingham (@b_willingham), the doyenne of investigative blogging. Brian is a researcher’s researcher. His writing speaks directly to the art of search; what we really do. He avoids the crutch of complexity or an air of misguided mystery. He does not cloud things up with talk of dark webs and deep webs. On the other hand, he is well aware that there are those trafficking in black cubes and dodgy dossiers. In my own blogging, I’ve very much tried to emulate the way that Brian speaks both to researchers and those who need research. It reminds me of old Bugs Bunny or Bullwinkle cartoons where there are various items sprinkled in for the parents stuck watching (sirloin of beef comes to mind). It’s one thing to meet the challenge to be more like Bugs. There’s another challenge here too.

Now that I’ve been called out, I want to step up the content. Once upon a time, when I was a food blogger, I aimed to put up a post a day. 800 words while I drank my morning coffee. Writing about the tribulations of leading a locavore life lent itself to daily blogging. Investigative research, not so. The people who read this blog, clients, potential clients, and my fellow dirt diggers, they don’t need to see something everyday. It’s hard, as we all know, to keep up with the flow of information. That is why, of course, that Twitter keeps us to 280 characters. Still, Brian’s recent call-out is inspiring me. I’m challenging myself to write ten blog posts in ten days—that’s ten business days, Monday through Friday, and I’m counting this as post number one. Number two, I have a post in my mind from a recent diligence assignment where the litigation searches had some interesting results. Then, I want to conclude my trilogy of finding names associated with companies. That leads to seven more posts. Any ideas?

Two of the other investigator-bloggers Brian names, Marcy Phelps (@marcyphelps) and Rachel Davis (@rdavisnewhope) I follow closely. I wonder if they will feel likewise challenged. Maybe they will give me things to post about. Otherwise, the challenge will be mostly to come up with things to post. The real challenge though, remains, to be like Brian, make the kids laugh while keeping mom and dad nodding approvingly.