http://www.theroasterie.com/adventure.asp

check view archive link. My favorite thing about it is how great it is to imagine what’s going on there, and it illustrates passion for the business.

That’s a great point. I completely agree. And the motivations are entirely complementary. As the public works engineer you contribute to a city-sponsored blog which continues uninterrupted when you leave and somebody else assumes the job. Meanwhile if you wish to add to what’s said there, you can point to the city blog from a personal blog. Your online resume, years later, points to both of those sources, and others too.

Hmm, there are alternative techies, I suppose. I am thinking of some great photography bloggers – not just Thomas Hawk but Strobist and another guy who is into lighting. For these folk, Flickr and related services, and blogs are a key to business. I did a lighting seminar recently with the Strobist author. He’s on leave from the Baltimore Sun to see if he can do this sort of thing full time. You and David should be acquainted on general principles. Let me see:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/ (His name is David Hobby, hard to find on his blog)

http://lightingmods.blogspot.com/ (Rui Leal puts great material on Flickr, is conflicted about the IP aspects but “friends” everybody, posts terrific DIY tips.)

Then there’s the editor of my home-town Newspaper, Mark Briggs. This is a young, tech-savvy guy but he may be more professional or different-professional than you have in mind (maybe more of a Naked Conversations aspect). I love what he is doing: http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/online/

I promised my buddy Bill Anderson I’d learn to use del.icio.us, so I guess I should really switch over to that for any more of these gleanings.

This example may not fit your desire to explore the use of blogs representing professional identity, and heaven-forbid the concept of professional politicians, but the promoting of blogs by institutions/organizations to corral civic debate or collaborate is very interesting to me. The benefits of this approach haven’t totally been embraced by all the candidates. Some have been quite critical, going as far as to say that it is nothing more than a more sophisticated way to spread rumors. I see it as yet another tool in the communications tool bag, and in this specific case, a “higher stump” from which politicians can exercise their opinion and readers can make an informed decision. Those critical to participating in this concept tell me more about their position than they know.

http://www.fayobserver.com/blog

In the case of the public works engineer or teacher who takes it upon himself to share what he knows, this is admirable. However, think how much better it might be if a city council or “society of public works engineers or teachers” raised the principle that sharing knowledge with and providing visibility to the public should be an obligation, a condition of employment. The individual initiatives to promote professional identity are indeed admirable, but sometimes there has to be an institutional catalyst to reach the critical mass needed to benefit the greatest number of people.

A question I often have is… What examples are out there of organizations that demonstrate the leadership and vision and motivation to drive people to use blogs (and other collaborative tools) to leverage what they know?

All of the techbloggers you cite are of course examples (yourself included), but I find it’s hard to get non-techies to extrapolate from those examples. So I guess I’m looking for non-techie professional blogs.

And yes, the “artist whose blog represents her identity as an artist and as a human being” — i.e. my wife Luann — is a great example!

No ‘but’ required — that’s precisely the kind of example I’m seeking.

I knew about the tailor, but the lawyer is a good find!

Her husband’s blog probably counts as a professional blog too, but there’s something very different about the aliveness in the artist’s blog. I bet you read her too.

Another potter and teacher who has just started blogging is in China (as part of work on an adult-learner MFA degree), but I don’t quite know how to tag it the way you mean. It is at http://smokieclennell.blogspot.com/

Hmm, I must come out of the dark ages and learn how to use del.icio.us. (At least I am remember where the first “.” goes now.)

Oh, you’ve got Rebecca, so I would at Kaliya Hamlin (Identity Woman), http://www.identitywoman.net/

and danah boyd,
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/

and dorothea,
http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/

and Charles,
http://www.charlespetzold.com/

and that has me think of Ed Bott, Rick Segal and then Mark Andreeson, and I guess I need to learn how to tag blogs easily or otherwise add to your list. I know a jazz musician who has a web site but no blog — I should mention that to him — and that reminds me that Ottmar Liebert blogs very nicely, especially when on the road (not at the moment):
http://www.ottmarliebert.com/diary/

Maybe I’m not sure what the cut is for your professionalblog category. Not sure how I would fit, for example.