Kirkpatrick announced to the world that corporations had better become aware of the power of blogs. They are rapidly and fundamentally changing marketing and advertising.

He gave an example of how Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) were forced to make an immediate recall of one of their locks when a blogger published the way the so-called "perfect" lock could be picked by a ball-point pen, and within a couple days there were something over a million hits on that blog.

So power to the people. Social equity is on its way.

Kirkpatrick said there used to be an old saw in publishing that you never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the ton, but bloggers basically have a new writing tool that is free, which is self-empowering.

He also said that blogs are self-checking and democratizing in that if the blogger does not stick to facts, or is uninteresting, their audience disappears.

Kudos to Kirkpatrick.

BCara@BillCara.com