Denise Howell, Reed Smith and the Blawg Effect

Robert Ambrogi at Inside Opinions: Legal Blogs raises many of the questions I've been thinking about over the last few days after learning about the separation of Denise Howell from Reed Smith. I first learned about the separation after reading the Aussie version of Blawg Review #66 (evidence that news travels quickly these days).

Prompted by Craig William's post, "Neo, Did you see that ripple in the Internet?," and other posts about the departure of Denise Howell from Reed Smith, I thought it would be interesting to provide some statistics (see below). Kevin O'Keefe at LexBlog reports that Reed Smith internet discussion is up 50%. Time will tell as to the overall impact (positive or negative) of the decisions made by Reed Smith and Denise. Do the stats below tell us anything? The stats reflect the first wave of interest in the news. It doesn't show us the lasting effect or the overall impact. It's also interesting to look at the stats over a longer period -- the Technorati charts below only show 30 days. Looking at the stats over a longer period of time makes this incident appear as more of a "blip."

My followup post from last week to Adam Smith Esq. post, "Are you making your times, or are they making you?" is more relevant now as we look at the decisions made by the parties. I would place Denise in the same category. She is a person who "makes the time" rather than being created by the time. Having a feeling of connection to both Denise and Greg Jordan I wish both Denise and Reed Smith success in the future.

Like no time ever before, the blogosphere (blawgoshere or bobbersphere) and electronic social networking allow for the quick sharing and discussion of opinions on a global scale. It simply amazes me everyday. The action taken by both parties and the resulting online dialogue in this case is but one example.

Update: A followup post by Kevin O'Keefe at LexBlog mentioning an article from the UK's Lawyer, "Reed Smith launches women's career forum and sacks female blogger."

Technorati stats:

Posts that contain "Reed Smith" per day for the last 30 days.

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Posts that contain "Denise Howell" per day for the last 30 days.

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Posts that contain "Denise Howell" And "Reed Smith" per day for the last 30 days.

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Posts that contain "Denise Howell" Fired "Reed Smith" per day for the last 30 days.

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Google statistics as of 7/19/2006:

Search of "Reed Smith" law 1,220,00 hits.

Search of "Denise Howell" 490,000 hits.

Search of "Denise Howell" and "Reed Smith" 690 hits.

Search of "Denise Howell" fired "Reed Smith" 154 hits.