Got a nice e-note yesterday from my friend and former colleague Gordon Smith. No, not that Gordon Smith, the other Gordon Smith. (Man, I've beaten that line to a pulp over the years. Sorry, Gordons.)

Anyway, it was a blog-related note as much as anything. He was writing to remind me of something that I had just noticed over the holiday break -- that his blog, formerly known as Venturpreneur, had morphed into something called Conglomerate. I had been remiss in changing my link to the new site -- there are a few things over on my sidebar that, ahem, need attention at the moment -- and he was asking that I update it, which I am hereby doing.

I'm sure he's been asked about the "the" issue. The URL address for the site is http://www.theconglomerate.org/weblogs, but the banner just says "Conglomerate." Is it o.k. to call it "the Conglomerate"? This is a burning question that many rock groups face. I can picture a scene in the '60s, with someone asking Pete Townsend "Is it 'the Who' or just 'Who'?"

Gordon also pointed out that he had "decided to try the group blog route to cut back on my time commitment to the blog." He's got a co-author now (another law professor from the Great State of Wisconsin), and they hope to add more soon. Sounds good to me. Their mission statement (at least at the moment) is "a quirky mix of entries about business, law, Wisconsin, legal education, and whatever else strikes our fancy (including, of course, cheese for Gordon)." Heading over to the blog, I see there's some neat stuff going on now. For example, here's a good question and accompanying post by Gordon's co-blogger, Christine Hurt.

I keep looking at that phrase in Gordon's e-mail, though: "time commitment to the blog." Now, there is a concept as to which I am in complete and total denial.