The great thing about having a blog is that I am able to facilitate a true discussion with my readers. This blog may largely feature my voice, but the ensuing conversation that happens in the comment area is equally valuable. That’s why I do what I can to thank those commentators. That’s why I recognize the top thinkers (almost) every month.

The names on the list for April 2010 are going to be familiar to frequent readers of this blog. Not all of them make the top five every month, but I know that they’re around to visit my small place on the Internet. For that continued support and their continued contributions, I thank them. Let’s see what they’re writing about on their respective sites.

Ray Ebersole, who manages to post an average of nearly one comment a day on this blog, has decided to make a blogging switch. He is exporting his way back to his free account at edutechation.wordpress.com. Update your bookmarks accordingly!

Betshopboy must be pretty busy these days, because he hasn’t been able to keep up with updates on his personal blog. Going back to March, he highlighted a guerrilla marketing campaign from Heineken, featuring over 1,000 AC Milan fans who were “swindled” into missing an important UEFA Champions League soccer game.

Dcr takes the third spot for comments in April. He responded to my recent food-related post to suggest that I don’t have it quite right. Close, but not quite. Instead, Dan says that bacon and chocolate are the two things that make everything better. He may be onto something there.

Derek Semmler is my current hockey rival, because our respective teams are locked up in a very exciting playoff series, but he’s still a great blogging buddy. He recently wrote on guest posts, reminding everyone to submit original content if you’re trying to get your article published on someone else’s site. For the record, I accept guest posts here too, but they have to be unique.

Raul is a very busy guy. Maybe that’s why he’s known as Hummingbird 604, quickly moving from one task to the next. Raul discusses retweeting contests and how the ease of entry seems to be hurting active engagement with the audience. How do you feel about social media etiquette in this regard? How would you encourage conversation on Twitter?