The VP of Marketing For Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Randy Baseler, has started a so-called blog, Randy's Blog, but at present it's essentially a corporate web page masquerading as a blog.

I say this for three reasons.

First, as of today, there are still no permalinks, a standard feature which allows other bloggers to cite and link to a specific item in a blog, rather than just the top of the front page/most recent entry. If you truly want to interface with the blogosphere, Randy, you need permalinks (often contained in the time/date stamp at the end of each post), so other bloggers can really spread your archived bon mots and thoughts around the blogosphere.

Two, if you truly want to interface with your "blog" readers, you need comments. I know this can be a tricky area for corporations. But if General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz can allow reader comments on his kickin' FastLane blog, so can you. Surely, at Boeing, of all places, you can find someone to watchdog the comment strings on your posts, Randy.

The need for a comments capability is illustrated by Baseler's Jan. 20 post about the new Airbus superjumbo jet, the A380, titled "After The Unveiling." He writes:

Boeing believes the future will continue to follow the trend of more point-to-point, non-stop flights with more frequencies and more choices for passengers. Airbus believes in the superjumbo and a future dominated by more hub-to-hub traffic with more connecting flights for passengers.

The debate will continue, and the verdict will be decided in the years to come. The judges will be the airlines and all of us, the flying public.

So how do you want to fly?

Great question. But (as of today) there's no pathway given on the post, or elsewhere on the blog, to answer him. No comments capability, no e-mail address given, either. Not that merely adding an e-mail address is sufficient, as it keeps the conversation a closed loop, hidden from the broader reading public. Certainly Boeing engages in all kinds of passenger focus groups and surveys. Good. But if you're going to ask questions like "How do you want to fly?" on the blog (and you should), there needs to be a response mechanism.

Repeat after me, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group: your blog readers represent intellectual capital. That's surely something we've learned here at Sound Politics (well, in most instances, anyway).

Third, so far there are no links to news stories in the Boeing blog. When a blog is conceived of as part of corporate Web site "suite" of pages, there are understandably worries about driving readers "away" from the site, with links to outside news and commentary sources, and worries about losing "control" of the message. Yet Randy's Blog would enhance its credibility and impact by selectively linking to and commenting on industry news and analysis - for instance, regarding the deepening financial woes of the airlines.

Taken together, the lack of permalinks and comment capabilities on Boeing's blog, and the absence of news links, accent isolation and aloofness rather than interaction and engagement. Wrong message from a site calling itself a blog, and from a great American company that is still (to many) the pride of Washington state.

Baseler does write: "..in the weeks ahead as we figure out more about blogging technology, we'll be adding more features, so it can be an additional good source of information on BCA and the industry."

Consider this post some friendly advice. Pro bono.