Canada Moms Blog

The Changing Face of Media

Being what is labeled a 'mommy blogger' means I am part of the blogging world that gets all sorts of press...mostly negative from the the mainstream media and am also fully aware of any of the so called mommy wars that erupt from time to time all over the internet, from Twitter to Facebook to personal blogs.

I have also noticed that as my Page Rank slowly creeps up and people notice that I do indeed do the odd review and or giveaway, that I get more and more notice from Public Relations and Marketing types.

Twitter, I am sure has helped this along.   It does get you noticed.

Marketers and Moms: Talk with us, not just about us

Finally, a Canadian conference about Marketing to Moms Online! I've been wondering for years when this was going to happen, and it's such a relief that there's going to be a forum where online Moms can really talk to Marketers and have an honest, open conversation. We're bursting with things to say, things about who we are and what we do and how we can truly work together for mutual benefit. There's so much misconception about "moms online" and what we do and how we behave and think.  It's wonderful to take advantage of the power in having a direct conversation, rather than having marketers just talk to other marketers about us instead of actually talking with us, or having some man present a study about "Meeting the 21st Century Mom".

Except, that direct conversation? is exactly what this conference is not doing.

I saw the link to the OpenDialogue Marketing to Digital Moms conference  from MomCentral Canada on Twitter. And when I saw the link, I was initially delighted. Thinking it was equivalent to Mom 2.0 or BlogHer Business - places where marketers who so covet the Mom market, who are dying to figure out ways to get under our skin, can actually talk to us - I thought, what a great opportunity.  A chance to talk to Canadian marketers!  And to tell them that we don't just surf. We write. We talk to each other. We find our niches. We rally around causes. We speak out against injustice, against misconception, against cruelty, against fools. We brand ourselves, and when we don't have big business budgets for branding, we figure it out for ourselves, or we turn to each other and give each other small business opportunities. We get together and start things, fun things, cool things, things that mock those that mock us (because, trust me, we're mocked a lot) and turn their arguments in to nothing more than bitter ash.

You Are a What? What's a Blog?

I had a post about telephones ready to go, but then Twitter went all 'OH NO SHE DIDN'T' all over an article in The NY Times with the snarky title 'Honey, Don't Bother Mommy.  I'm Too Busy Building My Brand," and I had to stop and read all the furor and posts in response and so on.

I am not going to respond to the NY post, far better writers have done that...read Mom 101's response to the article or Kelby Carr's piece where she sums up nicely why the main stream media treats bloggers who happen to be mothers this way:

"We get marginalized for a few reasons, including:

• We are women who are, perhaps for one of the first times, far better at something than men in many cases and far better in an industry that is making a major impact. I should explain that I know many, many men who are talented, brilliant bloggers, but that isn’t surprising. For women to stand out in an industry that major corporations are clamoring to get involved with just sits wrong with some people.
• We are excelling in the media landscape, which doesn’t sit well with traditional media.
• We are turning our backs on the mold that has been created for us.
• We are threatening to traditional publishers, mostly old white men who couldn’t write a blog or use Twitter if you put a gun to their heads.
• Newspaper circulation keeps declining, while blog readership and authorship keeps growing.
• Writing snarky articles about mom bloggers encourages mom bloggers to share links and drive readers to the newspaper’s web site. (Here’s a hint, New York Times… we would share positive coverage just as much, if not more).

We are trying to make a living by creating content, and for that we get demeaned, criticized, talked down to, made fun of, and stereotyped as unethical money and swag grabbing whores.

I know of a few other organizations that make their money creating content. Namely, mainstream media."

Something Beautiful

My childrens' school is collecting money for Haiti - milk dimes, errant quarters, toonies and loonies and paper money shaken from piggy banks and caged in return for chores. It's a lovely thing that our kids are so concerned for other children so far away.

It's hard to know what is just-enough-and-not-too-much to tell my young'uns so that they'll grasp the situation and yet not be horrified into bad dreams. We've talked about how the people that were struck hardest by this disaster were the ones who really didn't have anything to begin with, how we, who have so much, can help these people that we'll never meet by sending a little money so they'll have things like fresh water. Or something to eat. Or maybe a pillow and a blanket.

My daughter's class is young and confused by how someone's house could just disappear. They've been drawing pictures to send to children in Haiti, full of rainbows and smiling faces and birds holding hands. So, she explained, they'll have something beautiful until this is all fixed. Until this all goes away.

Why I Blog

Tap tap tap. Is this thing on? Hi. World. Canada. Universe. Mythical Creatures. Random person. Neighbour. Rival. Mom. Friend. Enemy.

If I left anyone out, I'm sorry -- I'll make sure they include you in the press release....

WHY?

Why do I BLOG? Or, how 'bout we phrase it in my favourite way (I get this all the time): "I could NEVER blog, Haley. How do you DO it? Doesn't it make you uncomfortable that the whole world knows what you're thinking and what's going on in your life?"

Here's another favourite of mine: "My husband would NEVER let me blog. What does yours think of it?"

Or how 'bout this one: "What you wrote today, like, about eating disorders? That was, like, really intense. I could NEVER. Eek."

Cheesed

Like most people who read blogs, I have a sizable blogroll. Certain themes have trended in through time - I had a lot of baby blogs when my daughter was a little, and when I went to work at the local hospital, blogs written by doctors, nurses and paramedics stacked up in number.

There are always blogs to follow about almost any profession, hobby, craft, whim. Even things you never thought you'd be interested in. But we're eating at home a LOT more these days, and in between the 100 mile diet and trying to show my children that with a little ingenuity, we can do almost anything, I've found myself reading all sorts of new and incredible stuff - and then trying it out.

For example, I adore cheese. Even the stinky stuff most people won't touch. Did you know you can make a lot of cheeses in your kitchen? Seriously. Like ricotta. Known around here as the glurp-glunch-YUMMY lasagna cheese. Or paneer, an incredibly basic but delicious Indian cheese that squeaks between your teeth if fried lightly in ghee. Even semi-hard and hard cheeses can be made at home.

What does Social Media mean to you?

My husband and I own and run a software company in Vancouver. We specialize in social media solutions for clients who want to find new or better ways to connect and interact with their clients. One of the things about being in social media is that you need to consume it to understand it.

I didn’t agree with, or perhaps I should say I didn’t understand, this statement as much when I was a teacher. It seemed that David was always in front of his computer, laptop or attached to his phone. The day he bought a Blackberry was bittersweet. Sweet technology, but it was, literally, a crackberry for him. What I failed to appreciate at the time was that the device let him do a lot more with me out of the office than what he might have been able to do 10 years earlier while running two start up companies. And upon my insistence, he did make the effort to put the phone away more when we were out.

You Say WAHM, I Say WOHM -- Let's Call the Whole Thing Off!

I'm not one to get involved in internet drama. For the most part, I like to stay away from controversy, especially at Canada Moms Blog -- ahem. But the current debate swirling around the momosphere has me ready to pop with so much to say.

The most recent debate, it seems, all started with the Momversation video, "Are You a Stressed Working Mom?" As various well-respected Work-At-Office Mom (WOHM) bloggers -- such as Kim (MissZoot) and Canada Moms Blog's very own Samantha -- argued in their blogs, this video hurtfully missed the mark by focusing on freelance-writing Work-At-Home Moms (WAHMs) and neglecting to represent the WOHMs and all their unique challenges and sacrifices. In their blog posts and readers' comments, a Who-Has-It-Harder debate ensued, which involved a lot of angry words directed at the video, the bloggers themselves, their commenters, and at WAHMs, WOHMs, and Stay-At-Home Moms (SAHMs), in general. Pro-WAHM posts began to spring up in retort, as well -- most notably, Lindsay Ferrier's, as well as Canada Moms blogger Sherry Osborne's.

Now that we're all caught up, I'll tell you where I stand on the subject. As far as I'm concerned (and, really this is not an original opinion, as much as I'm building it up to be) these WAHM, WOHM, SAHM categories themselves are the problem. These mom-made categories, as valid as they are in the sense that they do represent real feelings and challenges, aren't doing us any favours. Indeed, as this blog debate has demonstrated, they are seriously damaging to the mom community.

You Know You Love Us. Wanna Party?

So we've been kicking it beta-style around here at Canada Moms Blog for almost two months now - getting our feet wet, splashing around, getting the feel of the water - and now it's time to start diving in and, you know, swimming. Which basically just means, really launching this baby off the diving board and into the pool YEE-HAW CANNONBALL!

Which itself just means, really, taking that little beta-disclaimer off the top of this page and announcing ourselves a little more formally and - oh yeah - maybe throwing a party or two. Which is what we're up to this month (and a little beyond that if we can swing it) (you know how you always asked your parents if you could extend your birthday longer than a day? A week, maybe? Well, we're the parents now. And we say this party lasts as long as we want it!)

Where was I? Right. PARTY/

Our first official Canada Moms Blog Getting Ready To Launch Party is going to be this coming Mothers' Day Weekend in Toronto. (Simmer down, Rest Of Canada; you'll get your turn.) This Saturday - May 9, the day before Mothers' Day - from 2 - 5 we'll be joining the Bunch gang at their annual pre-Moms' Day bash and they'll help us kick-off Canada Moms Blog all glam-like. And we would love it love it love it if you would join us. Bring the kiddies! Get tattooed! Raise a glass to Canada Moms Blog and, you know, moms!

(Dads also welcome. Also, grandparents. And aunts and uncles. And friends. Basically, anybody who travels with kids who like to party and who loves moms. And mom-blogs. And Canada Moms Blog.)

(That would be you.)