Category: How I love the Interwebs

Marketing to Mommy Bloggers

I need to pick your collective brains again.

I’ve been asked to speak next month at a monthly gathering of local communications and marketing folks who have a professional interest in the tools of social media from a business and government perspective. They’ve had some amazing speakers this year, from Paul Wells to Stephen Taylor to Mitch Joel (tonight!). How I fit in with speakers of this caliber is both perplexing and daunting, but the organizers have said they’re interested in the “marketing to mommy bloggers” angle, and I do certainly know a thing or two about that… both professionally and, erm, bloggily.

I think what intrigued the organizers is something I’ve noticed recently: when I wear my “social media professional” hat and go to these conferences and events, I’m still inclined to be almost apologetic for my mommy blogger roots… largely because the folks that attend these things tend to be dismissive of mommy bloggers as a whole. But when I start talking to them in terms that matter to them (Google Page Rank, Technorati status, number of visits, etc) they’re often surprised… and I’m certainly not even among the rock stars of the mommy blog scene. Don’t diss the mommy bloggers!

I’m not so much interested in the whole advertising / no-advertising debate here. I think it’s been done to death for one thing, and I think the PR and marketing pitches are a slightly different creature.

I have some pretty strong opinions of my own, and some experiences to share, but I’d like to hear from you, whether as a blogger who gets solicitations, a blogger who covets solicitations, or a reader of blogs that might occasionally feature a post resulting from a marketing pitch. Do you get any solicitations from marketers, offers of free stuff or special perks? Have you been approached by that very insistent woman who asks for your home address and phone number so she can send you some soup? (I’m not kidding.) Have there been pitches that made you cringe, made you roll your eyes, made you jump up and down with excitement (like, say, a free weekend in Smuggler’s Notch!)? What kind of offer would entice you, what kind of offer pisses you off? Do you have any ethical standards that would prevent you from accepting any sort of offer, or only certain types?

For me, it’s actually to the point now that I have the luxury of turning down many more offers than I accept. I’ve recently said no thanks to a free cell phone for my kids, some shoes for me, a teleconference with Nicholas Sparks, additional Nintendo games for the DS, a winter blanket for strollers and slings … not because I didn’t want them, but because I’m a little bit worried about (a) seeming greedy and snapping up every offer that comes by and (b) sacrificing some sort of editorial integrity that I don’t even know I have in the first place. Is there a tipping point where a blog moves into the realm of advertorial, and does that matter?

As you know, I also make an effort to include disclosure information whenever I’m writing a blog post that results from a direct solicitation… how important is that to you as a reader? Do you care? Does it make a blogger’s opinion any more or less relevant if they are up front about how a product came into their possession?

If you had the ear of the marketing machine, what would you say? Would you want them to back off from the mommy blog crowd, or could you offer them a few tips on how to REALLY get your attention? What would entice you more: an invitation to an exclusive event, a chance to meet a celebrity via teleconference, the inside track on information or gossip, free stuff? (I’ve been offered all of these at one time or another.) Maybe something else would float your boat?

What do you think of the proliferation of “review blogs” hosted by bloggers on the side because their ad contracts (I’m guessing BlogHer Ads, but I’m not sure) prohibit them from accepting other endorsements? (If you can shed some light on this, either in the comments or via e-mail, I’d be very grateful!) If your favourite blogger has a review blog on the side, do you read that, too? Or does the commerciality of it turn you off?

Have you seen any really offensive pitches to mothers on the blogosphere? (I’m thinking here particularly of the *choke* Canada’s Yummiest Mummy contest, but there are many, many more.) Or maybe you think this is a fabulous idea? Please tell me why!

What’s good, what’s bad, what’s ugly in the way marketers are approaching the momosphere*? I know, I asked about a million questions, but I’m fascinated by this topic and I’d love to hear your thoughts, either here or at danicanada (at) gmail (dot) com.

(* Of course, I’m interested in what the dads have to say, too. “Mommy blogger” is just an easy shorthand for the parenting blogs in general. And, speaking of which, why don’t they have a Canada’s Yummiest Daddy contest, anyway? I could think of a few worthy candidates.)

Linky love: the bloggy chain letter

Okay, if you want to play, just cut and paste the entire message below, including all the links, and publish it on your blog. Then invite people to play along by commenting, and just add their blogs and links to the list. This should be easy, right?

***

So here’s how it works:

  1. Cut and paste from this point on.
  2. If you want to play along and have your blog listed, just leave a comment with your URL and your blog title.
  3. I’ll add everybody’s links to this master list:

    Postcards from the Mothership
    Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go
    Drake Update
    Humpty Dumpty House
    Lou Lou’s Views
    Lee’s Things
    most / least
    Gliding through motherhood
    mean old mommy
    Kerith’s Korner of Momdum

  4. You copy the entire list, including instructions and the links, onto your blog. Invite your readers to comment and add their blogs to the list.
  5. Lather. Rinse. Propogate.

If you still want to play along, just let me know and I’ll add your blog to the list!

The mouse that roared

As seen at Chichimama’s place, a fun little bit of memery with a very slick presentation:

A mouse, eh? I was hoping for something a little more, um, dramatic maybe? A serpent, a lioness, maybe even a stallion. Maybe my self-assessment was off… I mean, modest and humble? Um, not so much. You can click through the image and refine my daemon by playing along or just go here and make yer own. (Edited to add: oh, I get it now, it changes as people add their feedback. Cool!)

So when does my Daemon become Matt?

Linky love train – a bloggy chain letter

I know I’m not supposed to care about stats and Technorati ranking and Google Page Rank and all that stuff. Really, my entire blogging experience might be quantifiably better if I could just stay away from that stuff. But for someone who had crushing self-esteem problems in her early teenage years, those silly links and stats are empirical proof that you like me, you really like me.

Silly, isn’t it? I know, I know.

So, when I moved blog over here and watched my Technorati rank crash into the basement, it was a humbling experience. I know you still like me, and frankly, now that I’m hardly getting any Google traffic at all, I know each person who has visited recently has done so intentionally, not just in passing looking for more information about “pineapple and IVF” or the “ikea dog weiner” incident.

Then I remembered something I’d seen over at some of the marketing and SEO blogs I read as part of my day job, the link train. It’s simple, really. We just make a list of blogs who would like to share some linky love, and then propogate it, letting anybody who wants to play along join in. So here’s how it works:

  1. Cut and paste from this point on.
  2. If you want to play along and have your blog listed, just leave a comment with your URL and your blog title.
  3. I’ll add everybody’s links to a master list and post it here.
  4. You copy the entire list, including instructions, onto your blog. Invite your readers to comment and add their blog to the list.
  5. Lather. Rinse. Propogate.

What do you think? Want to play along?

Best quiz result ever!

As seen at Expectant Waiting.


You’re Catch-22!
by Joseph Heller

Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of people.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Is that not the best quiz result ever? I read Catch 22 when I was a kid and loved it even then. I should crack it open again.

***

Speaking of books, it’s back to school time, and Andrea over in the Fishbowl has a great back-to-school photo contest. You can win an HP Photosmart C5280 printer/scanner! Click over to Andrea’s place for details and some good photography tips, too.

My Internet Legacy

I never get tired of playing in the referral logs, speculating on the search terms that bring people here. I see some search terms over and over again (gift ideas for two year olds is a perennial favourite, as is cavities in a three year old, and I’m mystified by the sheer number of people – sometimes 10 a day – looking for a variation on lactating or lactation blog.)

Some are a little more obscure. I’m sure I was no help to the guy who wondered “how do i know my piranha is pregnant.” Maybe we should get them together with the guy who asked “why is my sperm bigger.” Bigger than what, I couldn’t help but wonder. And, erm, how exactly did you know?

I’ll have to try a little harder to boost myself up the page on the search return for “canadian child care sucks“, but with the new nanny starting next week, my fingers are crossed for a good outcome at last.

My mother is endlessly tickled about my noteriety as the number one search return for “ottawa slut” but i’m just as happy to be first on a search for “Ottawa + Mommy Blogger.”

Myself, I’m absurdly pleased to be the number one google return for “strange internet places.” No doubt, the Web is full of strangeness, but I had little idea that this little blog was the strangest.

And now, since I’m obviously in danger of taking myself a bit too seriously today, is some more strangeness for you, courtesy of the Goddess of the Quirky Meme, Angry Pregnant Lawyer:

YOU ARE PAPER!

You Are Paper

Crafty and creative, you are able to adapt freely to almost any situation.
People tend to underestimate you, unless they’ve truly seen what you are capable of.
Deep down, you’re always scheming and thinking up new plans. Your mind is constantly active.

You are quite capable of anything you dream of. You can always figure out a way to get what you want.

You can wrap a rock person up in your sheet of trickery.

A scissor person can sneak up and cut you to pieces.

When you fight: No one can anticipate your next move

If someone makes you mad: You’ll attack them mercilessly when they’re unprepared.

A thank you note, a love letter, and a call to action

I’m so easy to please. In this case, I’m absolutely tickled to have been named as a “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” by JanB from Just a Mom; That’s more than enough.


Thanks, Jan! (You should go check out Jan’s blog. I don’t go over there often enough and she’s got some great stuff, including a gallery of her artwork. Very cool!)

So now I’m supposed to pass on this honour. Trouble is, I could give it to any of the great chicks in my blogroll – have you clicked on a new blog lately? And, I’m so far behind on my blog reading that I have no idea who has already been nominated by someone else.

But the more I thought about it, the more I knew who I wanted to nominate. So this is a nomination and a love letter and a call to action all rolled up into one long post.

I first “met” Cooper and Emily through their blog Been There in early 2005. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in the summer of 2005, Cooper and Emily set up a clearing house where people who wanted to help could connect with people in need, and I was in awe of the power of two mom bloggers to make a real and concrete difference in the lives of people in devastating circumstances.

In the subsequent years, Cooper and Emily have raised awareness about (and even serve on the executive committee of) Moms Rising.org, and have recently spearheaded the BlogHer’s Act, a “year-long initiative to harness the incredible power of women online.” And they’ve even inspired a Canadian version. You have until midnight on July 22 to vote on which issue you’d like to see BlogHers Act Canada support for the next year. It’s your chance to step up beside your sister (and brother) bloggers to make a concrete difference in the world. (I should have been blogging about this stuff long before now. Shame on me for not getting on the ball sooner, but it’s not too late – get over there and vote now, and then let’s support these movements through the next year. You don’t have to be a fan of BlogHer or be going to the conference – you just have to care enough to want to make your tiny corner of the world a better place. Cooper and Emily give a great quote by Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Get over there, inform yourself, vote, and do what you can. Because we’re all in this together!)

But back to Cooper and Emily, the stars of my show today. As if being in the centre of all this hasn’t been amazing and incredible and enough to exhaust an entire cabal of bloggers, there is more! After more than a year of hard work, they’ve just launched another pet project, “The MotherHood.”


What is The MotherHood? In Cooper and Emily’s own words: “We asked ourselves — what if we built a big, beautiful tent where mothers can find, share and talk about all the interesting, hilarious, intriguing, inspiring, mobilizing, good stuff on the web, and, more importantly, find each other? And, with that, the heart and soul of The MotherHood was born.” There are link lists, discussion groups, favourite blogs, and much more on the way. It’s a great concept, and I know with Cooper and Emily behind it, it will be a wonderful place to hang out online.

Not only do I love and admire Cooper and Emily, but I’m simply dazzled by them. And more importantly, I’m inspired by them. All modesty aside, even this simple little blog can be a tool for change, and I can start – in my own small ways – making a difference. So I offer them the simple token of the Rockin’ Girl Blogger award, my thanks and my pledge to do what I can.

High school, 20 years later

I saw this over on Andrea’s and Bub and Pie’s blogs, and though it would make a fun Friday brainless meme. I’ve been thinking about high school a bit lately, since I’ve been playing on Facebook. It’s amazing to me that so many people who have signed up to “I graduated CCH in the 1980s” group are complete strangers to me, but I suppose in a school that huge (when I went there, Catholic Central was one of only two Catholic high schools in the city of London and had an average population of 1700 students) it’s little surprise that I don’t really remember anyone except the ones I spent significant time with. And, high school in general was a painfully awkward time for me socially anyway so I’ve probably blocked out all but the very best and worst of it.

(This is long, even by my standards, so I’ve tucked it below the fold. Click the “more please” button below to keep reading. And please excuse the excess white space, but Blogger has decided to insert two hard returns between each paragraph no matter how many times I edit them out. Grrr!)


1 Who was your best friend?

In Grades 9 and 10, I was inseparable from Suzan Marchand. She was my first girly-girl friend, in the giggling, note-passing, boy-crazy, incredibly annoying way only 15 year old girls can be. By Grade 11, I’d started running with a different crowd and I suppose the person to whom I was closest would be the guy who eventually became my ‘practice husband’ James. He lived in Sudbury, though, so during this time, I was pretty much inseparable from the Fry brothers, and Todd and Yvonne and Rose and a large, revolving pack of oddballs and outcasts.

2 What sports did you play?

Sports? Guffaw. No thanks. I didn’t even take gym in high school, and didn’t discover that physical activity could actually be enjoyable until my mid-twenties.

3 What kind of car did you drive?

The first car I drove was one of those giant early 1980s Oldsmobile station wagons, the kind with the faux-wood paneling on the sides and the backwards-facing third-row seat that folded down. On my 17th birthday, my Mom bought a new 1986 Mustang coupe and we ‘shared’ that for the rest of my high school career. How cool is my mom?

4 It’s Friday night, where were you?

Again, that depends on whether it was early or late in my high school career. Early on, probably talking for hours on the phone to Suzan and watching Friday Night Videos together over the phone. Later on, probably at the Fry’s house, or standing in the parking lot of McDonalds with the rest of the crowd trying to decide on where to go.

5 Were you a party animal?

Um, no.

6 Were you considered a flirt?

Um, no. But not for lack of trying. And again, I think I got much better at this by Grade 12 or 13. Funy how I suddenly became that much more attractive to other boys once I had a steady (and conveniently out of town) boyfriend.

7 Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?

Oh yes. I played flute in the high school band for four years, and really wish I had taken my music lessons more seriously. With the band, we traveled to Orlando for a festival one year, and to Ottawa in my senior year, just a few short months before I planned to move up here with my boyfriend.

8 Were you a nerd?

Um… I don’t know. I was socially awkward, especially in the first couple of years. I think I was too desperate to be liked to be a true nerd, but I had definite nerdy tendencies.

9 Did you get suspended/expelled?

No. My most heinous rule violation was to frequently flaunt the school dress code, which required navy pants or skirt and a white or navy shirt with a collar. It was the collar part against which I often rebelled, and I played fast and loose with the definition of ‘navy’ blue.

10 Can you sing the fight song?

Uh, something about “fight Crusaders”… but, no.

11 Who was your favorite teacher?

I had Mrs Hammond for English twice, and in Grade 13 she told me she’d give me a final grade over 90% (I was already close) if I could get published by the end of the year. True to her word, she gave me a final mark of 93% when I got a letter to the editor published in the local paper – which, upon reflection, was about as difficult as getting my name in the phone book, but I was pretty stoked at the time. I also loved my Grade 13 world history professor, a crusty oblate priest named Father Bill Thompson. When James and I got married the year after I graduated (eep!), we asked Father Thompson to officiate and he did.

12 School mascot?

Rodney (the Crusader) from the B.C. comic strip.

13 Did you go to Prom?

Yes. It was at Wonderland Gardens, which burned down a couple of years ago, from what I understand. I barely remember any of it, not because I was drinking but simply because I don’t think it was a particularly memorable time. I do remember the dress, though, a sexy white number with a poofy skirt that fell above my knee (not unlike the ones that were in fashion last year) and a risqué lacy patch over my cleavage that my mother kept threatening to stick a hankerchief into.

14 If you could go back and do it over, would you?

Ugh. No. The good times were great, and I think being 17 was one of the best years of my life, but being 15 was excruciating. Once was more than enough, thanks.

15 What do you remember most about graduation?

At the time, Ontario had five years of high school. You could graduate in Grade 12 and go on to a trade school or community college, or do Grade 13 and go on to University. The only thing I remember about Grade 12 grad is that my parents couldn’t get in to the church because nobody bothered to check tickets at the door and it was overfull. Did we have a Grade 13 grad? I think it was just a mass. I do remember, though, that Father Thompson officiated our Grade 13 grad mass, and spoke about a book he was reading by Carl Sagan called Contact. A few months later, I remembered him talking about it and read it myself, and it has since become one of my all-time favourite books.

16 Where were you on senior skip day?

This must be an American thing? But speaking of skip, yes, I did like to do that. Once in a blue moon, of course. Like the day we decided to drive to Port Huron, Michigan for absolutely no reason.

17 Did you have a job your senior year?

I had a string of jobs all through high school, starting from when I was 14 and working at the tobacco/newstand/camera store of a family friend. I worked at Baskin Robbins, a movie rental place, doing telephone sales of magazines and freezer plans, and Canadian Tire. By senior year, I was working as a cashier at Zellers, a job I continued when I moved to Ottawa and for which I later quit university to do full time.

18 Where did you go most often for lunch?

For the first few months, I was so terrified of the rest of the student body that I ate my lunch alone beside a fountain in a tiny park half a block from my school. By the time I actually had friends, we mostly ate in one of the two cafeterias while we played euchre.

19 Have you gained weight since then?

*insert eyeball roll here*

20 What did you do after graduation?

The weekend after high school finished, I moved to Ottawa to live with James. (We had gotten engaged in May of that year. I still shudder to think of it, I was in Grade 13 and wearing an engagement ring. My poor mother.) I started at Carleton University in the fall, but had quit by the end of the Christmas break that year. James and I were married in the summer of the following year (1989), and divorced five years later. I went back to school part time in 1992 and eventually graduated from university in 1998.

21 When did you graduate?

June, 1988.

22 Who was your Senior prom date?

James.

23 Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion?

Our school was never big on reunions. If there was a ten-year reunion, I never heard about it. I wouldn’t go anyway. For the most part, the people I care about from high school are still around enough to be commenting here occasionally or at least a phone-call away. I met up with a few more online recently through Facebook. There’s only one guy, Colin Murray, of whom I’ve completely lost track and often think about – but he doesn’t strike me as a high school reunion type either.

24 Who was your home room teacher?

Oh good lord, I can’t remember the plot of a book I read four months ago and you want me to remember stuff like this? I do remember being late more than my fair share of times because Fryman and Rose and I, along with some combination of others, used to drive in together in Fryman’s beat-up shit-brown Volkswagon Rabbit, and we were easily distracted on the way to school. They had this promotion going on in my senior year called “Freebie Fridays” where you could get free French Toast Sticks at a participating Burger King, and we’d drive all over the city in search of free fast food. For reasons I can’t quite remember, some days we’d randomly do stuff like decide to donate blood, too, and though we’d get peculiar looks from the administration, we at least never got in trouble for that act of altruism.

25 Who will repost this after you?

??? But if you do play along, leave a comment so I can come and relive this most painful and awkward time of your life with you!

Eight things

James tagged me for this, and I’ve been sitting on it for quite a while. Part of it has been the interruption of the vacation and subsequent blogging, but part has been simply because I had a hard time coming up with a list of eight things you don’t already know about me.

The Rules:

I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

  1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

  2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

  3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

  4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Okay, so here’s what I came up with.

One: One of my favourite after-the-kids-are-in-bed treat is a homestyle oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with a glass of skim milk. And it’s only really worth eating if you microwave it for a few seconds to make the chocolate chips all melty. Twelve seconds is not quite long enough and fourteen seconds is a tiny bit too long, but I cannot bring myself to nuke it for 13 seconds.

Two: I’m entomophobic; that is to say, I’m afraid of bugs. Some more than others. I am wickedly freaked out by tent caterpillars, for instance, but not so much by bees and wasps. Earwigs and silverfish make my skin crawl, but I’m not afraid of ants. While I love to putter in my garden, I’m always vaguely revulsed by the critters that live in it. I’ve been trying very hard to not let the boys see how afraid of bugs I am, and have had to breath deeply to avoid shrieking when they have picked up random insects off the ground and brought them (with their HANDS!) to show them to me. *shudder*

Three: I love my barbecue. From early spring through first snowfall, I’ll use the grill three or four times per week. My favourites are (a) peppercorn steak kebabs with cherry tomatoes (is there anything more heavenly than grilled cherry tomatoes?), zucchini, onions and mushrooms; (b) chicken breasts that have been rubbed and left to sit in a sort of dry marinade made of commercial fajita mix and olive oil – makes for lovely spicy chicken fajitas with a cajuny flavour; and (c) plain old hamburgers, which brings me tidily to my next point:

Four: Even though I am the Queen of Convenience Foods, I am a snob about hamburger patties and will never buy the preformed ones. I make mine with extra lean ground beef, a bit of chopped up onion, bread crumbs or wheat germ when I have it, egg (yolk only) and a couple of shakes of worcestershire sauce. The trick is to handle the patties as little as possible, and to flip them only once or twice, not many times.

Five: I went to get some blood work done this week because this pregnancy is seriously knocking me on my ass. I’ve passed beyond chronically tired into barely functional (with a healthy does of apathetic on the side) and it’s far worse than it has been for any previous pregnancy. Does it strike anybody else as absurdly ironic that in testing you for anaemia they take SEVEN vials of blood from you?

Six: Speaking of pregnant, I’m coming up on 11 weeks and have moved once again into the realm of transitional pants. Except they won’t stay on my hips and keep wanting to slide off my ass. So in addition to debilitating fatigue and near-constant stomach upset, I plan to spend the next five or six weeks extremely cranky as I battle gravity for control of my pants.

Seven: My memory is getting worse, and my memories for plot details is abysmal. As I’ve said, I’m re-reading all the Harry Potter books in anticipation of the arrival of Deathly Hallows next week. Next! Week! I’m currently just finishing up Half-Blood Prince, which I consumed rather voraciously when it came out just two years ago, and yet it’s like reading it for the first time. I mean, I’m not overly surprised that some of the details of the books I first read back in 2000 have since escaped me, but it’s rather alarming how much of this reads like I’ve never read it before. And even worse, I’m already having trouble remembering the details of some of the books I just re-read a few short months ago. When Harry and Dumbledore talk about Harry destroying the Horcrux that was was Tom Riddle’s diary from Chamber of Secrets, I can only vaguely remember how Harry destroyed it. The good news is, it will save me a fortune in buying new books over the years; I’ll just start recycling the old ones every couple of years. (Speaking of Harry Potter, if you’re in the mood for some great speculation and a considered, intelligent review of the state of the series to date and the prevalent theories on where it’s all going, Macleans had a great feature last week.)

Eight: The boys are in swimming lessons right now. I lucked into the same time slot for each of them in a different level, so I sit on the pool deck and watch both of them with their respective teachers. It’s Tristan’s third session, but Simon’s first without a parent in the pool. They’re both doing extremely well, and I can’t help but beam proudly at them from my vantage point. Tristan never stops smiling the whole time he’s in the pool, and is so obviously eager to please his teacher that it breaks my heart. He’s just becoming able to dog paddle short distances without a noodle, and he pesters me endlessly through the week with a countdown of how many more sleeps until swim lessons. Simon also seems to be doing well, and I was pleased to see that the teacher knew his name from the very first day. Maybe it’s just me projecting, but she seems to favour him. Can’t say I blame her, he’s awfully cute bobbing around like he was born in the water.

So now, I’m supposed to tag eight other people. Hmmm, just about everyone has done this, and I’m so behind in my blog reading right now that I’m not sure who has and who has not been tagged. Having said that, how about:

1. Not so little sister
2. Sara
3. Liz
4. Suze
5. Alison
6. Barbara
7. Miche
8. You! (Leave a comment if you want to play along and I’ll link back to you.)

Bloggy navel-gazing

I started out writing this post thinking about a meme I saw over on Mad Hatter’s blog a while back. I thought it was a neat question, and I loved Mad’s answer. Mine isn’t so impressive as Mad’s, but I still thought it would make good blog fodder.

1. Go back to your first or early post. How would you describe your voice back in those early days? Who were you writing to? What was your sense of audience (if any) back then?

AND

2. Do you remember when you received your first comment? What was it like?

I started blogging in February of 2005, just after the end of my maternity leave with Simon. The boys were one and three (!) and I started on a whim. You want to know what really inspired me to blog? I was bored, and playing around with Google. (How bored do you have to be to be poking around on the Google page? REALLY bored!) Google had recently acquired Blogger, and on the Google main page there was a link to some other Google toys. I clicked through to the Blogger one and thought, “Oh yeah, blogs. Hmmm, I should have a blog.”

The first blog I’d read, before I even knew what blogs were, was the now-defunct Chez Miscarriage. Getupgrrl was a regular poster on the IVF Connections bulletin board, my online addiction of choice before blogging, and I loved her cynical and hilarious take on infertility. At the time I started blogging myself, I was sporadically reading Chez Miscarriage (though her graphic logo made me cringe every time it appeared on my computer at work), Mommy Needs Coffee, Dooce, and maybe two or three others.

So, back to the meme. I’ve been told that I have a very distinct bloggy “voice”, though I’m still not entirely sure what that means or how it comes across. When I read my first month of posts, I seem to be quite a bit more hyper than I am now – I guess I’m getting older! – and I was rather transparently trying very hard to be funny and clever. I think I’m a little less self-conscious now, and a whole lot more verbose. Can you believe sometimes I posted just a single paragraph? Oh for the good old days!

I was writing primarily for myself (I’ve always loved the sound of my own voice, Leo that I am) but even in that first month I can see the burgeoning awareness of my audience of close friends. I think I pulled a lot more content from the media back then, too. I really should get back to blogging more about the shiny bits that fascinate me from the mass media, from astronomy to Monty Python. Not everything has to be a treatise with a well-considered defense.

Now, I say that I was writing primarily for myself, but as early as the first week, I was raving about comments. I was beside myself with excitement to get three comments on a single post – which I promptly and accidentally erased when I installed Haloscan for the first time.

What I really like about those first three comments, though, is that two of them are from bloggers I adore to this day. Ann and I have become fast friends over the years, and she has nurtured my spirit as a mother and as a fledgling writer. And though we’ve never met in person, I’ve often wished Dean Dad lived in my neighbourhood so we could sit on the porch with our respective spouses and a bottle of wine or a couple of beers and watch our children gambol in the yard while we discuss matters of deep philosophical impact – like, say, whether SpongeBob has contributed more or less to kid culture than Sesame Street.

What I could have never imagined in those tentative early days was where blogging would lead me. Beyond the connection, the sharing, the growth of community and of myself that I attribute directly to this crazy little blog, there’s more. In just a couple of weeks, I’ll be switching to a new position at work, where I’ll spend the best part of a year dedicated solely to developing and implementing policies and projects relating to social media. I’ll be looking at the tools of social media – including blogs, wikis, podcasts and the like – as communication tools for the Government of Canada. It’s very exciting, and I couldn’t be more surprised or proud to pull together what I do for a living with something that inspires me – and confounds me! – so completely.