BlogHer: Mostly Awesome

Okay. It's been over a month since BlogHer and I have been incredibly slow in getting anything written about it. It was kind of a blur this year, with a zillion parties to run to and so many people I wanted to see. My time-management skills were definitely tested and I probably would have missed even more stuff if I didn't have the bestest roommate in the world, Kathleen. (I wrote about our swanky digs at The Buckingham a few days ago.) By far my favorite take-away from BlogHer was spending time with her, including hitting Madison Square Garden to see Spoon open for Arcade Fire, walking endless city blocks and sitting in the hotel room watching TV. She is a good egg, that one!

We dove headlong into the madness with a bus tour sponsored by Kodak. They had provided a bunch of bloggers with their new Easyshare M580 digital camera and wanted to give us a good opportunity to try them out. Imagine two double-decker busloads of bloggers, snapping away. It was a blast!

Collective Bias on the top of the bus: Kathleen, Katja, Kim, Zippy and Sandy.

Snap-happy bloggers!

Kodak's chief blogger, Jenny Cisney, shows us the jumbotron.

Roomies.

Empire.

Other highlights from my BlogHer experience:  The offsite parties were crazy and plentiful this year. SocialLuxe was a spectacular shindig (featuring gigantic swag bags with amazing stuff from Avery, Ghiradelli, Cambria Cove and more), Getting Gorgeous was a one-stop shop for glam (I absolutely love my Lia Sophia necklace, Remington wet 2 straight flatiron and my PowerMat) and the MomSelect suite next door had plenty of great stuff for kids (Webkinz, ZhuZhu Pets, Hexbug Nanos). The Hallmark party was on the rooftop of the Buckingham, where we were staying, which was nice. It was probably the most low-key and beautiful party we went to, with enough room to move around and actually have a conversation. Martha Stewart Blogger's Night Out was also a major treat. The Omnimedia offices are as impressive and gorgeous as one would expect but I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and genuinely interested the staffers were. (Seriously, I had a lengthy conversation with two senior editors about naked ping pong and the best way to eat oreos!) Sadly, Martha had left just before we showed up.

I made Martha's Flickrstream with Kevin Sharkey! 

(That's the ginormous, very bright SocialLuxe swag bag.)

I am still sifting through all the stuff I brought back from BlogHer. I'm not sure why but the last month has been crazy hectic with a road trip to SoCal for my cousin's wedding and getting Roo back to school. I'm sure I'm forgetting something major. (Like the super excellent goody bags that Eden Fantasys handed out after the sex blogger panel. That was some seriously buzzy swag!) That's kind of how BlogHer was for me this year: a bit overwhelming and crazy. I kept feeling like I was missing something and didn't get to hang out with half the people I wanted to. Hopefully it will be a more laid-back vibe next year in San Diego.

Disclosure: I received a Kodak Easyshare M580 digital camera to participate in the Bus Tour,  The Buckingham provided our lodging and all parties and accompanying swag were free of charge. No one asked me to write about any of it but rest assured that all opinions are my own, anyway.

NCFL 2010 Recap Video

I was lucky enough to attend the National Conference on Family Literacy last Spring and had an amazing experience. I shared my thoughts with the crew documenting the event and was surprised to be included in their recap video:

2010 National Conference on Family Literacy from NCFL on Vimeo.

I hope to be invited again this year and I promise to work on being more telegenic. Yikes.

Evo '10 - A Look Back

Yes, I realize that Evo was nearly a month ago and I haven't really blogged much since then. Family issues, summer doldrums, running behind. You know the drill. Anyway, it's hard to express just how great Evo was, both as a social event and as an inspirational, learning experience. I was lucky enough to win a paid registration via Clever Girls Collective and shared a room with pals old and new from Collective Bias, which made it a more affordable (and fun!) trip.

"The connection that can only happen when we let go of who we think we're supposed to be and embrace who we are."

This slide was part of the closing talk with Karen Walrond and Brené Brown. They spoke about living authentically, online and off, and I really think that it summed up the whole conference beautifully. I wanted them to speak for much, much longer. What I took away from their talk: be who you are, appreciate yourself and those around you, enjoy what you do and it comes back to you. The Lisa Leonard necklaces that were at our place settings at the opening keynote are stamped with a flower and the words "dream●grow●evolve" which made an apt motto for the whole conference. Never have I been surrounded by so many women with such an overflowing sense of positivity. Seriously, I did not witness one instance of drama for the whole long weekend. It was breathtaking, as were the lovely mountains of Park City.




I got to spend a lot of time with my Collective Bias friends, as I mentioned, but I didn't end up taking many pictures. Thankfully, everyone else seemed to be toting impressive cameras! Sandy Jenney managed to be everywhere during the conference AND still post her pics and videos instantly, proving that she does indeed have mad organizational skills. We were the early birds, arriving on Wednesday morning, so we got to take the cabriolet down the mountain to the Farmer's Market.



Here's the video Sandy created for the Hershey's Summer Celebrations party:



It was great to spend time with old friends and meet so many new friends in person, way too many to list here. I wish I'd taken more photos of everyone. (As a sidenote, Karen Walrond has made me vow to be less camera shy. I hate being photographed but I am trying to squelch the urge to run and hide whenever I see a camera. Yes, you are welcome to hold me to that at BlogHer next month.) It felt good to be around such a diverse and vibrant group of women. And the handful of men who braved the estrogen fest!





There was some celebrity spotting, too. Danny Masterson a.k.a. DJ Mom Jeans played at the local bar he owns (photo courtesy of the indefatigable Kadi Prescott) and the adorable and talented UKOne Eskimo performed acoustically and plugged in at Evo.




If you look closely, you can see me snapping the picture in the reflection, wearing the YummieTummie undercover tube top that Zippy won and gifted to me. Of course, I was too shy to wear it solo so I had a lace top over it. Wuss. You can also see Esther's gorgeous curls, which were apparently created with a spiral iron. I am so going to have to get one…

This last picture was taken at the closing party at Park City Mountain Resort after I rode the alpine coaster. It was an amazing experience but I felt like I was cheating on my kids, seeing all the locals with their kiddos, taking advantage of the zipline and slide. It was unfathomably gorgeous. Next year, I hope to bring the whole family to Evo '11 so they can share in the experience.

Evo '10

I'm in unbelievably gorgeous Park City, Utah for Evo '10, a conference about The Evolution of Women in Social Media. A bit too busy to write much about it right now but you can search #evoconf on Whrrl (or The Canyons) or Twitter to get an idea of what's going on. It's a lot of awesome women, all in the same place at the same time. Pretty good stuff thus far.

I am sure to have more to tell you about when I get back home to the flatness that is Kansas. (p.s. mountains are pretty)

Free State Social

I had an amazing time at the very first Free State Social in nearby (well, two+ hours nearby) Lawrence, although you probably wouldn't guess that by the number of pictures I took. Three. Is that even possible? I totally suck, I know. Here's the thing, though. I was more into hanging out with people and talking to them than in taking photos. Yes, I was actually being social at a social media conference– imagine that.

The speakers were all really great. We all knew the out-of-towners would be fantastic: Chris Brogan, Sarah Evans, Jeremiah Owyang, Shawna Coronado, Ellyn Angelotti, Scott Raymond. Each had a great way of relating their personal stories about social media and took time to answer questions from the audience at length. (I am fairly sure that Jeremiah made the audience's collective head explode.) Insightful and inspiring. The local panel was great, too, although honestly they could have gone on for a lot longer. Zena Weist and Ramsey Mohsen, Tony Botello and Shea Sylvia talked a lot about the importance of community, integrity and the value of blogging.

Chris Brogan, Briana Saunders, Shea Sylvia, Jeremiah Owyang

The Lawrence community TweetUp was a highlight after the first day although I must admit I only made it to two of the destinations. I am told that we got the first swarm badge in Kansas at The Sandbar, which many folks were thrilled about. Also Fail Whale shots and the pretty blue drink you see below.



Ramsey is a KU grad and heartily endorsed the "shark attack" at The Sandbar. It comes with a grenadine-filled shark that you upend, swirling like blood into the azure sea… so cool!



Of course, Ramsey is also the one who coerced the lovely Zena Weist and myself to climb onto the bar for a local tradition known as "the hurricane." Thankfully, he is a merciful videographer and captured brief moments of what ensued.




Now, if you've ever wanted to see Chris Brogan, Sarah Evans and Shawna Coronado dance on a bar for an uncomfortably long time (just call me leadfinger), well, here you go:



I had a couple of hours to reflect upon Free State Social while I drove home. It was very Kansas- big and wide and open for possibilities. A bunch of us Wichitans are planning to get a social media breakfast group together this week and see what happens. Keep the momentum going. Ease on down the road, so to speak.








And the cherry on top? I was quoted about the conference in the Lawrence Journal-World and not only didn't sound totally ignorant but my headshot didn't make me look like a criminal. Phew!

What I Learned at the NCFL

There was a lot of information to absorb at the National Conference on Family Literacy, which might be why it's taken me so long to process it all and write down my thoughts. I've been home for a little over a week and mulled over the messages I heard from educators from across the country and from the excellent speakers.* One consistent theme emerged: parents are a child's first and most important teachers. They need to be reminded of that and given the tools to help them become more engaged in that role.



I truly believe that is why the NCFL invited me to experience their annual event: parents need to realize that they are teachers. It's a simple message and perhaps obvious to some of us, who were lucky enough to grow up in families that cherished books and school and the concept of lifetime learning. It's easy to take that for granted but many don't have that background. Some parents may have struggled in school and don't think they have anything to teach their child in the realm of academia. Other parents might speak English as a second language and feel insecure about their contributions in American schools. Many children don't have parents in their lives and their caregivers are uncertain of their place in the classroom. The NCFL works with families to raise the collective bar of achievement. By empowering parents and caregivers to become active participants in the community of learning, the children are given a better opportunity to succeed. It's a win-win situation. Confident, engaged parents make for happier, more engaged kids and also stronger, more educated communities. The concept of family literacy is explained on the NCFL website:

What is family literacy? Essentially, it’s a practical solution that addresses the root of devastating social problems: low literacy rates and poverty.

The family literacy approach offers whole families educational opportunities so that every member is able to improve literacy and life skills. It is based upon the simple, but powerful premise that parents and children learn best when learning together. The benefits span generations: both parents and their children build essential skills to learn and compete in today’s economy.

Breaking it down, literacy is the catalyst that inspires families and communities to raise the achievement bar. Families act as the conduit for long lasting, meaningful change. By intertwining these two concepts, NCFL has developed a winning strategy to work with families, communities and dedicated partners that brings about change to ensure that parents and children achieve their goals for success.

Time and again, family literacy proves to break down other barriers to success, such as poverty, unemployment, poor health and inadequate housing. When parents struggle with literacy and basic life skills, their children have fewer chances for success. Family literacy reverses this destructive cycle by giving families the tools they need to thrive today, and most importantly, by helping them educate generations of tomorrow.

In addition to their many community projects and initiatives, NCFL hopes to reach out to individual families in their own homes. They are a major resource for the Thinkfinity.org website, which offers a wealth of educational and literacy resources for students, parents and after-school programs including lesson plans for K-12 as well as interactive tools and reference materials. I love that they have harnessed the power of the internet to bring resources such as the Smithsonian archives to younger kids and make it fun. One example is using the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to make word art. I was tickled to see a demo of this at the NCFL conference and surprised at how many audience members had not used Wordle before! Obviously, we have to get the word out about online literacy resources.

I was so honored and excited to be given this chance to learn more about the NCFL and hope to work with them more in the future. Hopefully more parent bloggers will be in attendance at next year's conference to learn more and spread the word about family literacy.


*I mentioned many of the speakers in my NCFL recap post but the final day's speakers were fabulous, too. Sir Ken Robinson was erudite and drily hilarious in a way that only British people seem to be. He spoke about the perceived rift between intelligence and creativity and the importance of realizing that they have a symbiotic relationship. Monica Holloway managed to simultaneously elicit giggles and tears with the story of her son's diagnosis of autism and the puppy who helped change his life. I was sorry to have to leave for the airport before her book signing.



Disclosure: My travel, lodging and conference expenses were provided. I am grateful to Collective Bias and the National Center for Family Literacy for this opportunity to keep learning.

NCFL Update

I'm taking a break between sessions at the National Conference on Family Literacy. Midway through the second day and I am already exhausted! There is such a wealth of knowledge and experience and a sense of communal purpose. Most of the attendees are teachers or community educators. Because my own limited experience with literacy programs has focused on children, I imagined much of the content would be related to early childhood initiatives but the broader goal of the National Center for Family Literacy is to reach entire families.

Many of the speakers have come from disadvantaged backgrounds, with English as a second language, and the effect that adult literacy programs have had on their lives, and the lives of their families is truly inspiring. Kay Brown, the 2010 Toyota Teacher of the Year Award winner runs the Union Parish Family Literacy Center in Monroe, LA underscored the need for parents' confidence to be built up so they can share their new skills with their children. Education empowers parents to help their own children to succeed and set higher goals for themselves. Everyone wants to be heard and to be acknowledged and it is important to give parents the tools to work with. These might look like ordinary schoolteachers lining up for a fajita bar, but they are absolutely extraordinary for their ability to empower people through literacy!



Yesterday's keynote speakers were Sean and Collins Tuohy, the adoptive father and daughter portrayed in The Blind Side. Their message was powerful, even though they kept the audience laughing with a light tone and familial banter. They emphasized the importance of what they refer to as "cheerful giving" and reflected on ways family involvement and simply understanding and acknowledging the need for different avenues of learning can aid in a child's education.




Today, Byron Pitts talked about overcoming being diagnosed as functionally illiterate as a child in East Baltimore. He spoke about how the courage and compassion of family literacy educators helped him beat the odds to become an award-winning journalist and correspondent on 60 Minutes. He also discussed his recent travels to Afghanistan, where 50% of adult men and 90% of adult women are illiterate and how the US must put "books before bullets" by combatting illiteracy before training Afghans as soldiers. "How can you expect a population to embrace democracy when they can't even spell the word?" he asked. Pitts also underscored the importance of reaching out to others in need whenever possible and shared personal stories from his own life to further his message. He also signed copies of his book, Step Out on Nothing, for four hours… I went to two other sessions after his and he was still there, talking to fans about his life! (FYI: If you purchase the book from NCFL partner Better World Books, 100% of proceeds will be donated to literacy funding.)



I attended a remarkable presentation by Partners in Development, about their Ka Pa'alana Traveling Preschool and Homeless Outreach program that serves houseless families along the Leeward Coast of O‘ahu. I was saddened to learn how much the homeless epidemic has grown in Hawaii since I was growing up on the Windward side twenty years ago. Their program has been going on for three years now and it seems like they have made great strides, building yurts as classrooms and providing much-needed outreach and peer mentoring to older kids, too. I was also impressed (but not surprised!) that the Hawaiians brought food for their audience. (Right on!)



There was also a really enlightening (seriously!) panel discussion about the newly-revamped Electric Company. I remember the old series fondly from my childhood and got a real kick out of hearing how it's been tailored for a contemporary kid viewership. Three of the performers from the show were on the panel, plus the website coordinator and producers and all of them had great things to say about motivating kids to want to learn to read and to love words and music.





And if that wasn't enough, I got to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog. How cool is that?!

National Conference on Family Literacy- I'm Going!

One of the best things about blogging has been learning about charitable initiatives and volunteerism opportunities. I am active in my local Junior League and many of the projects I have volunteered with in the past have been literacy-based. The project I am currently working on, Critter Campus, is a joint project between JLW and the Kansas Humane Society. We have created and established the Read to Rover program, which helps beginning and struggling readers gain confidence by reading to trained therapy dogs in a non-judgmental setting. Here is Roo reading to Chance during our pilot session:



I am a firm believer in the concept that reading is the cornerstone of all learning, the foundation on which a child's education is built upon. One of the ways we tried to be proactive in helping our kids to learn was by participating in our school district's Parents as Teachers program, which reinforces their eponymous concept from pregnancy through school age. Unfortunately, in our area PAT only has funding to spend three years with each family- meaning that Jasper stopped getting the home visits when he was about a year old since Roo had them one to three. We still keep in touch with our parent educators and believe strongly in the program. In many communities, there are early childhood programs, such as California's First 5 initiative. Definitely ask around and see what is available in your area.



I was trying to give you an impression about how strongly literacy ties into my personal volunteer efforts and our family life in order to give you some background on why I will be attending the National Conference on Family Literacy, which starts tomorrow in San Antonio. Collective Bias has asked me to attend the conference to give the National Center for Family Literacy some perspective on outreach to non-educators. They are hoping to use the power of social media to bring their message of collaborative and ongoing family learning into our homes directly, so that their powerful literacy tools can be accessed without being dependent on funding from grants and sponsorships. As parents, one of your most important roles is as your child's first educator, and that is something that is unfortunately overlooked too often. Teachers are not the only ones who teach! It's a simple enough idea but one that cannot be overemphasized.

I am so excited to attend this conference! This will be the 19th annual National Conference on Family Literacy and the lineup of speakers is stellar. Michael Oher and Collins Tuohy, the real life inspiration behind the Academy Award winning film The Blind Side (he is the central character and she is his adoptive sister), will be speaking about the power of family support in learning.



Byron Pitts, author of Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges, will discuss growing up with a debilitating stutter and overcoming functional illiteracy to become a CBS news correspondent and Emmy award-winning journalist.



Monica Holloway is the author of Cowboy and Wills, the story of how adopting a puppy changed her autistic son's life and learning style.



As a blogger, I am perhaps most excited to hear Sir Ken Robinson, PhD literacy advocate and author of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, speak about working with families to meet 21st century education needs and technology’s role in doing so. He is a well known speaker on creativity and innovation and I am sure his lecture will be thought provoking and the start of many conversations.



I will try to recap what I learn each day at the National Conference on Family Literacy and pass the knowledge along. If you want to join in the conversation in real time, please use hashtag #famliteracy on Twitter.

Disclosure: My travel, lodging and conference expenses are being provided but no additional compensation. I am grateful to Collective Bias and the National Center for Family Literacy for this opportunity to keep learning.

We're Going to Disneyworld!

I haven't been to Disneyworld since well before Roo was born, which is semi-tragic since I used to go to Disneyland a couple of times a year as a kid while visiting my grandparents in SoCal. I feel like a pretty negligent mommy, not introducing the kids to the Magic Kingdom before they started school… Since I am a stay-at-home mom and Bob is a self-employed artist (in a crummy economy, if you hadn't noticed), we didn't think we would be able to afford such a big trip anytime soon. And then I heard about the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, a blog conference sponsored by 5 Minutes for Mom, Resourceful Mommy Media, Mom Bloggers Club , Mom Select and Walt Disney World. For $350, a blogger and three family members get to spend three luxurious nights in a room at Disney's Polynesian Resort. The bloggers network among peers during conference sessions for a few hours daily while the rest of the family enjoys the parks, and then they can all meet up for some fun using the included 4-day Park Hopper Passes. All we had to pay for was airfare. I hemmed and hawed about it, but it turned out Roo's kindergarten is off on those days and even the following Monday… Obviously, we couldn't pass this one up, so next month we will all be heading to Disneyworld!



On the downside, this unexpected vacation means there's pretty much no way I can justify attending Blissdom or Mom 2.0.