It's hurricane season here in Houston, and the weather weenie in me recently made a fascinating Web discovery. Then the marketing wonk in me started wondering... what could this cool find teach me (and maybe you) about creating a blog that "the locals" buzz about loud enough to draw readers from a surprisingly widespread population?


Our major newspaper The Houston Chronicle has had blogger Eric Berger as the SciGuy on its website for about three years. He blogs about all kinds of geeky stuff, like nanotechnology, space shuttle missions, climate change, and avian influenza. But it seems he has captured the most attention with his no-nonsense thoughts on hurricanes.
After a couple of short weeks following the SciGuy blog, here's what I've observed:

• It's worth talking about. A friend told me about this blog, and comments other readers have left lead me to believe that word-of-mouth/mouse has brought most folks here the same way. I've already recommended it to four or five people, and lookie here! I'm telling YOU about it, too.



• It's an insider's take on a somewhat mysterious subject. Turn on the TV and you'll hear meteorologists and newscasters sensationalizing the most horrific storm scenarios, practically salivating to get themselves into that beachside camera shot wearing a Land's End windbreaker. Eric, on the other hand, writes rational opinions on what is likely to happen, explains his thought process, and cites many different sources of data. He even takes the time to tell us which predictive models can be more trusted than others. Love that.



• It's updated frequently. During the week-long speculation of where Gustav (and now, Ike) would make landfall, Eric posted his interpretation of data from the National Hurricane Center and other experts as soon as it was available. We're talking every four to six hours, y'all, day and night. Does this guy sleep? Not when his readers are awake, trying to decide whether to evacuate.



• It's a true conversation. Not only does Eric regularly respond to comments on the SciGuy blog, he also schedules a daily live chat session when a Gulf Coast hurricane looks imminent. He handled it remarkably well as over 1,900 questions rained down in one hour during Monday's chat. It's not just Q&A, either — the chat sessions are sprinkled with clever polls throughout the hour. And the transcripts stay on the blog for casual review.



• It's a serious topic, but alive with humor. Eric somehow manages to handle even the dumbest questions in a way that makes me laugh, without belittling the asker. Case in point: "When will we know the exact path of Ike?" His answer: "After landfall."