Mastery of craft can create the anatomy of a blog post. But taking a blog post beyond craft to art?  That takes...

"The Art of the Blog Post" is the title of the workshop I'll be leading at the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference at Hollins University, Virginia, January 22 - 23, 2010.  "The Art of the Blog Post" is scheduled for 10:00 AM, on Saturday, January 23.  I'm honored to be one of two dozen presenters at the third year of this event founded by Dan Smith, editor of Valley Business FRONT.  The evening and day of talking and learning writing is only $50 and registration is available online.

And it's an honor to work with Dan Smith.  He was kind enough to give me a position with Valley Business FRONT as a workplace advice columnist. Getting a Grip appears monthly in Valley Business FRONT.

Congratulations are in order, too, for Dan Smith.  From a press release from Valley Business FRONT:

Valley Business FRONT founding editor Dan Smith has been named to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in Richmond. He will be inducted April 1, 2010 at a black-tie event in Virginia's capital. "The significance here is the induction date," quips Smith, who has been in journalism for 45 years. "Seriously, though, I am touched and honored to be included on a list of communicators as distinguished as this one. It is not something I expected or even deserve, but I'll sure take it."

The Hall of Fame includes such Virginia communications luminaries as Douglas Southall Freeman, Roger Mudd, Tom Wolfe, Ann Compton, James J. Kilpatrick, Russell Baker, Paul Duke, Virginius Dabney, Carter Lawance, Frank Batten, Guy Friddell, J. Stewart Bryan, Earl Hamner, Willard Scott, Max Robinson, Lloyd Dobbins and David Baldacci. Smith will be the sixth entry from the Roanoke Valley. The others are Herm Reavis (radio), John Harkrader (WDBJ7), Ann Compton (WDBJ7, ABC News, Hollins University), Buster Carico and Frosty Landon (Roanoke Times). The Hall has 112 members and was founded in 1986.

The HoF, founded by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Mass Communications, "recognizes individuals who have shown [over a long period] exceptional achievement in the fields of print, broadcast, public relations, advertising and interactive media, including cable and the Internet," according to its statement of purpose.

Smith has been an award-winning communicator in several disciplines. He has won press association awards for writing (news, sports, features, opinion), photography and design; radio, for opinion; and was named the Virginia Business Journalist of the Year in 2005. He won the 1974 Marshall Johnson/AP Career Sports Writing Award as a 26-year-old. He recently won the Arts Council of the Blue Ridge's first Perry F. Kendig Award for Literary Arts (FRONT partner Tom Field was also honored), his second Kendig. In addition, he has won awards for ethics and environmental education and is a five-time nominee as the region's Business Advocate of the Year. He has taught writing and is the founder of the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference and the Arts Council's Writers Workshop Series.