A Finextra member 20 March, 2007, 11:32 0 likes Why indeed? As Chris Skinner said "Sorry about the shameless plugs, but why else does one blog m'dears?" I was a little surprised by Tom's page views - they seemed a little on the low side.

Steve Ellis - Finextra Research - London 21 March, 2007, 23:11 0 likes

Oh come on, cut him some slack.

Tom Glocer's blog may not be as slick as Tom Peters! but its a lot more authentic. 

Most people cannot stand slick 'CEO' blogs that originate from inside corporate PR machines., so give Tom some credit for his own DIY approach.

It says to me that Tom 'gets it' which puts him in the minority among CEOs but may explain why Reuters is an increasingly interesting company to track in relation to social media related strategies.

Blog on, Tom.

Paul Penrose - Finextra - London 22 March, 2007, 11:00 0 likes I’ve rummaged around Tom’s blog and the most interesting post to date is this one, in which the Reuters’ CEO offers an explanation for the sale of the Factive and Instinet business units. The sales had been criticised internally and Tom used the blog format as an informal mechanism to rebut the critics and at the same time provide some genuine  insight into the corporate rationale.   

Reuters spent £77 million last year on its Core Plus investment strategy, which is designed to generate growth after year’s of cost-cutting. It’s a major strategic investment by the vendor, yet it barely rates a mention in Tom’s blogs. Likewise, where can we get Tom’s perspective on the changing nature of the market data industry, growth in credit and derivatives, consolidation among exchanges etc – and the implications of these marketplace upheavals for Reuters’ customers, prospects, shareholders and staff.

HSBC recently signed a global licence deal with Reuters that will enable it to use the vendor's data and information across its entire business. It’s a big deal and shows a new direction for off-floor data distribution, but Tom steers clear.  Sure, we don’t expect trade secrets, but it strikes me that Tom’s failure to address these issues head on and engage in a genuine debate with stakeholders through the interactive blog format is a missed opportunity.