Michael Urlocker, a former journalist who became a well-respected telecom analyst before opening his own consulting shop recently, has been grappling with the evolution of the media as blogs, podcasts, etc. become more popular. He asked me to do a guest post on how the traditional media and journalists must change their stripes, while the Globe & Mail's Mathew Ingram did a Q&A on newspapers on what newspapers need to do to survive in the face of declining circulation and advertising revenue.

The blogosphere is abuzz with Robert Scoble's departure from Microsoft to PodTech.net, a podcasting start-up that recently attracted $5.5-million in private equity. For why he left, check out his blog while countless others riff on what it means, etc. To me, perhaps the most interesting angle is connecting Scoble's decision to Tara Hunt's recent decision to leave Riya.com so she could leverage her "brand" and follow own entrepreneurial route. Both Scoble and Hunt are blogging stars, although admittedly Scoble is Bono-like and commands much more street cred. In many ways, Scoble and Hunt became celebrities who established strong personal brands that started to knock up against their day-time jobs. While Scoble did yeoman's work evangelizing Microsoft around the world, he also became a rock-star on the conference circuit and attracted a large personal following. I wonder if blogging has become the new speakers bureau with its ability to create celebrities who can "cash" in on their popularity? Can we expect other high-profile bloggers to be snapped up as companies work to position themselves within Web 2.0? Will some of these bloggers decide it's time to test their popularity by breaking out on their own? Scoble and Hunt may be a sign of things to come.
Update: My friend, Mathew Ingram, believes Microsoft should have coughed up some more dough-re-me to keep Scoble. Why Scoble left probably has as much to do with him trying to part of building something (and reaping the financial and personal rewards) more than just slogging along trying to make a goliath seem human. At some point, every gig gets tired and, if you're lucky, something comes along so exciting it's easy to jump ship - even if you're going from the Titantic to the S.S. Minnow.