WASHINGTON, D.C.—I am part of an active team that provides “blogger relations” support to a client that generates a lot of interest among diverse audiences. It’s a challenge that mixes passion and flexibility with relationship building and diligent media monitoring.

What is blogger relations? In essence, it’s about creating mutually relevant and useful relationships with bloggers who have some connection to a client or organization. In its most successful form, it is an open channel for honest two-way dialogue.

We work in a challenging and sometimes contentious online media environment where messages and opinions don’t stop or sleep. If I don’t empty out my RSS reader regularly, I may have thousands of blog postings piling up in just a day or two.

For some, this uncontrollable, infinite content push might create hesitancy and fear. If we cannot stop or control bloggers, then why should we engage them?

The simple answer is because blogs have large, relevant audiences and, like traditional media, represent the same readers we try to reach every day.

But bloggers are not information gatekeepers like newspapers and TV stations. They are interpreters. The information is out there for everyone to see – the press releases, products, competitors and critics. It is the bloggers who create context around content, describing the world and a brand’s place in it as they see it. If we do not engage them in this process, we forfeit any role in the interpretation of our own identities.

Bloggers are independent types. They don’t like being told what to think or what to write. As PR people, our engagement must always be from a place of humble, honest dialogue. The most we can ask for is a fair shake, and chances are if we ask, we just might get it.

Evening falls on the 2009 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Jamie Carracher)

There was a celebration Saturday night on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as 20 teams of college students from around the world marked the end of the Solar Decathlon, an exciting and innovative contest where energy efficient houses are scored on everything from temperature control to entertaining.

For the second competition in a row, the German team from Technische Universität Darmstadt was proclaimed the winner. Their house, clad nearly entirely with solar panels, generated and stored impressive amounts of energy. And it looked pretty cool, too.

I arrived in late afternoon for my shift as a volunteer at the victory reception. The weather was miserable – persistent rain, dreary clouds and winter-like temperatures. Yet visitors in rain jackets with umbrellas waited patiently to go inside each house, led by the many volunteers who had signed up for multiple shifts throughout the two-week event. They knew almost as much about the houses as the students. And they wanted to know more.

At the reception, each team was called to a podium to be recognized for their work. As a PR person, I couldn’t help but see brilliant spokespeople of the future. Their message was passionate and authentic: The future will be great – if we just let it.

There was plenty to learn at this year’s decathlon. But perhaps the best lesson came from hearing from the students, volunteers, organizers, sponsors and, most importantly, visitors. I learned creating a sustainable future can be back-breaking; it can be heart-breaking; it can be exciting; it can be sleep-depriving; it can be eye-opening; it can be fun.

As a global community, we face a lot of tough talks in the coming months and years. The road ahead will be challenging, and as communicators we will be called upon to help build consensus for some changes that might be hard. As we develop our plans, messages and strategies, we should also remember the excitement and passion of those who walked the National Mall this October. This can be fun, too.