Company Updates

A New Manifesto for Direct2Dell

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When I asked Gary Vaynerchuck this summer why he was revamping and putting new emphasis on his blog at a time so many are saying the blog is dead, he told me he felt it was important because it allows you to “tell your story.”

As Dell enters a new era in our history as “the world’s largest startup,” there’s no better time for us to take a fresh look at our corporate blog and the story it can tell.

That’s a challenge I jumped at the chance to take on, and today I’m happy to officially assume the role of Chief Blogger for Direct2Dell.  I owe a great debt to Lionel Menchaca for the heavy lifting he did as Dell’s first Chief Blogger, and I will continue his focus on putting the customer/reader first.

So, I’d like to share with you our new manifesto for Direct2Dell and ask you for assistance in completing it by RESPONDING TO A 10-QUESTION SURVEY.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

“Over the past 16 years, the blog format has evolved, had social grafted onto it, and mutated into Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and those new species have now taken over,” according to Jason Kottke in his recent <ahem> blog post for Neiman Journalism Lab. But, rather than being overtaken, I think he hit much closer to the truth when he said “all media on the web and in mobile apps has blog DNA in it and will continue to for a long while.”

Yes, new species of social media have evolved that encourage more sharing than blogs do, but there would be less to share if blogs ceased to create content. And if you step back to the original purpose of blogs – what veteran blogger and innovator Om Malik recently termed “to share a point of view” – there is still a place for them to foster conversation. That was our original goal for Direct2Dell and as our company gets back to its entrepreneurial roots, it absolutely remains a great goal.

I do think there is a need re-invigorate, though. I won’t claim today to have the perfect answer for how to do that. And, I don’t anticipate it will happen overnight. I do hope you’ll come along with us for the ride!

You can do that by TAKING THE READER SURVEY (yes, I know I’m shouting that again, but it’s just because I don’t want you to miss it) and by leaving your thoughts in comments below.

Thank you for taking us into the new year and a new era!

About the Author: Laura Pevehouse

Laura Pevehouse was profiled as one of five “social media mavens” in the March 2009 issue of Austin Woman Magazine and named an AdWeek’s TweetFreak Five to Follow. She has been part of the Dell organization for more than 15 years in various corporate communications, employee communications, public relations, community affairs, marketing, branding, social media and online communication roles. From 2014-2018, Laura was Chief Blogger/Editor-in-Chief for Direct2DellEMC and Direct2Dell, Dell’s official corporate blog that she help launch in 2007. She is now a member of the Dell Technologies Chairman Communications team. Earlier in her Dell career she focused on Global Commercial Channels and US Small and Medium Business public relations as part of the Global Communications team. Prior to that, she was responsible for global strategy in social media and community management, as well as marcom landing pages, as a member of Dell’s Global SMB Marketing, Brand and Creative team. When she was part of Dell’s Global Online group, Laura provided internal consulting that integrated online and social media opportunities with a focus on Corporate Communications and Investor Relations. She managed the home page of Dell.com, one of the top 500 global web sites in Alexa traffic rank, and first brought web feeds and podcasts to the ecommerce site. In her spare time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island in the virtual world Second Life. Laura has earned the designation of Accredited Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Louisiana State University. Before joining Dell Financial Services in 2000, she worked at the Texas Workforce Commission and PepsiCo Food Systems Worldwide.