Both Chris Brogan and I are mentioned in the story. Here’s my quote:

“[Blogging] is an open conversation with customers,” said Bryan Person, a blog and other new-media consultant. “[Small business owners] can talk to their customers about what they’re doing and get instant feedback.”

So if you’re here from the Boston Herald site and/or you’re a small business owner, welcome! Here’s a little more about me. What I want you to know is that blogging is a powerful communication channel that helps you to understand your customers.

Technorati tags: Chris Brogan, Bryan Person, Boston, Boston Herald, business blogging.

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I can’t be the only rider of Boston’s public transportation system who doesn’t yet have a full grasp of some of of these pressing issues and questions:

• The proposed substantial fare increase in January 2007, only three years after the last hike
• The difference between the CharlieCard and CharlieTicket
• Why some stations now accept a token as payment for a ride but not the CharlieTicket, while others accept the CharlieTicket but not a token

When boarding the subway at a token-but-no-CharlieTicket Orangle Line station this morning, I asked a T (we locals much prefer the single letter to four) officer when the CharlieCard and CharlieTicket machines would be installed there.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Nobody tells me these things.”

And take a look at the MBTA website. You may eventually find answers to some of your questions, but you’ll have to work your way though a non-intuitive navigation to do so.

Information on the proposed fare hike? You need to check the “Hot Spots” menu. A list of the T’s public workshops/hearings to discuss these potential changes? Try “Latest News.” The difference between the CharlieTicket and CharlieCard? Visit the FAQs page.

This content is scattered all over the site, when one blog could house much of it in a single location.

Benefits of a T blog
Here’s how an MBTA blog could also help:

• It could open a transparent online dialogue between the organization and its riders, who have plenty of other questions and who want easy-to-understand answers
• It could provide summaries of the public workshops and hearings. An article in today’s Boston Globe noted that that the T sent some 20 officials to the first workshop, in Newton, last night. Identify a web-savvy person from that group to blog about those discussions the next day, and carry the conversation forward.
• It could quickly publish information on delays and schedule changes
• It could explain in a human voice how the T is arriving at its decisions on issues such as fare increases, service changes, station upgrades, etc., and demonstrate how customers’ needs and opinions are impacting the thought processes behind those decisions

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