Yesterday, at the American Cancer Society's Innovation Summit, Liz Lawley gave a great talk on blogging (it's amazing what you can do in 12, er, 17 minutes). She made the case that her professional career has been enormously benefited by blogging: it has personalized her to her students, it has opened her up to serendipitous interactions with other researchers, and it has led to a great deal of world-wide acclaim. As just one example, she used the ego surfing example of typing in "Liz" on Google: she is number 3, after Liz Claiborne and Liz Phair. Wow. That's brand recognition.

I was afraid to see, but I tried it today. I am number 7 on Google for "stowe" -- and none of the preceding hits are people (Stowe ski area, Stowe school, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, etc.). So I am the number 1 "Stowe" now! I even beat out actress Madeline Stowe (number 11), which was a big surprise.