Category: My 15 minutes

Monetizing Mommyhood – coming this weekend to a radio near you

When I was in Toronto for the Blissdom Canada conference, I had the chance to speak to CBC’s Ira Basen about mom blogs, sponsorships, advertising and working with brands. It was an interesting conversation, especially as I tried to mentally juggle my relationship with Fisher-Price and Mom Central Canada (the sponsors who brought me to Blissdom Canada) and my own strongly held opinions on the matter. You can tune in this Sunday to CBC Radio’s The Sunday Edition to see how it all turned out. Here’s the aperçue from the Sunday Edition web site:

There are four million mommy bloggers in North America, women sharing with other women the trials and tribulations of bringing up babies and making more and more money at the same time.

In the past decade, social media for mommies has gone from a nurturing, supportive, chat-across-the-back-fence virtual village to a massive marketing vehicle for everyone from toy companies to the makers of minivans.

On the site you can also hear a quick promo of the show, featuring one of my biggest bloggy crushes and the woman I coincidentally befriended on the shuttle ride from the airport to Blissdom, Bonnie Stewart. Thanks to Judy Gombita on Google+, here’s a list of some of the others featured in the documentary:

PhD In Parenting – Annie Urban http://www.phdinparenting.com/
5 Minutes for Mom – Janice Croze http://www.5minutesformom.com/
Common Cents Mom – Hollie Pollard http://commoncentsmom.com/
Crib Chronicles – Bonnie Stewart http://cribchronicles.com/
Mom Central Canada – Cora Brady http://www.momcentralcanada.com/
Fisher Price play panel http://www.fisherpriceplay.ca/moms/
Child’s Play Communications –Stephanie Azzarone http://childsplaypr.com/

Judy also quotes Ira Basen’s summary of the 27-minute documentary:

“It is basically about the pros and cons commercialization of the social media space, and mommy blogs are the best example of that. On the one hand, the bloggers who have chosen to monetize their blogs by hooking up with brands via sponsorships, sponsored posts, compensation etc., are being rewarded for the work they do and are providing a service that many readers must find valuable. On the other hand, as one person (Bonnie Stewart of PEI) says in the piece…

‘There are people now who are perceiving that social media is a great way to build platforms so that you can get a corporate job being a brand spokesperson for Kraft Foods, but they are not necessarily as interested, and possibly not even as aware of the creator/consumer model on which original social media was based. I’m not sure that the “I’m here as a consumer of opportunity, in a space that’s crowded with marketers” is social media. I have a feeling that that might just be an interactive way of getting eyeballs and shilling for traditional corporate interests. And if enough people allow that to become the norm, then I think a lot of the power and potential of social media goes away.’

Heh, you can totally tell why I have a blog crush on Bonnie after reading that, eh?

I’d almost forgotten about this and was pleased to hear that it wasn’t relegated to the cutting room floor. If you’re curious, tune in this Sunday to CBC Radio One. It’s currently scheduled to run at 9:13 am, barring interference from pesky world events and breaking current affairs. You can stream it from CBC Radio, too, or catch the full-length podcast after the fact.

Seven days of free family fun in Ottawa!

This week, CBC Ottawa has been doing a series on savvy spenders, featuring ways to save on your groceries and on your clothing budget. And today, they’ll be airing a segment on free activities for families in Ottawa — featuring me and the whole family! It’s been about three years since I wrote what was to become one of my most popular posts: 40 (mostly) free family fun ideas, the post that caught CBC’s eye. I’ve updated it a few times, but I thought it would suit the theme of the CBC segment to repackage it as the story was originally pitched: seven ideas for seven days of free family fun in Ottawa.

Day 1: Be a tourist in your own town

When’s the last time you went up the Peace Tower? Walked around the paths between the Ottawa river and Parliament Hill? Said hello to the feral cat colony near the West Block? Visited Maman the Spider? (And now there’s a brand new Haida totem pole right across the street from Maman.) Not too long now and you can bring your skates for a trip down our very own UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Canal.

298:365 Peace Tower

Day 2: Visit the RCMP Stables

We still haven’t gotten around to this one, but it’s definitely on my list! At the RCMP Stables and Musical Ride Centre, you can meet the majestic horses and be charmed by their beauty and friendly temperaments, tour the stables where the training begins, stop by the Riding School, visit the farrier station and see the stately carriages used in royal escorts of Her Majesty the Queen.

Day 3: Enjoy free City of Ottawa programs

Did you know the city of Ottawa offers 247 (!) free outdoor skating rinks — or at least they will if this absurdly warm fall ever gives way to winter. And there are dozens of free splash pads and wading pools for free family fun in the summertime.

Day 4: Find freebies galore at the Ottawa Public Library

Everybody knows you can get books for free at the library, and most people know you can now borrow music on CD and movies on DVD. But did you know you can also borrow Wii, Playstation and Xbox games? After all those video games, you might also want to borrow a pedometer! Or how about museum passes for family admission to the National Gallery, Museum of Science and Technology or the Museum of Nature or even a three-in-one pass for the War Museum, the Museum of Civilization and the Canadian Children’s Museum? And that’s not even mentioning all the cool stuff you can download for your handheld devices! Phew!

Day 5: Go for a nature walk

Ottawa is criss-crossed and surrounded by gorgeous open spaces with easy walking paths perfect for families and even easily negotiated with strollers. Stop at the Bulk Barn and invest 35 cents for a big bag of bird seed, then head out to Mer Bleu Bog in the east, Hog’s Back trail in the middle of town, the Stony Swamp in the west and spend some time feeding the chickadees. Simply put a little seed in your hand and the chickadees will land on your fingers to feed — I’ve yet to meet a kid or adult who wasn’t charmed by this one!

278:365 My little chickadee

Day 6: Take advantage of free museum days

Starting in December through the winter months, the animal barns at the Agriculture Museum (aka the Experimental Farm) are open on a pay-what-you-can basis. And the fabulous Children’s Museum at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Gallery are both free on Thursdays after 5 pm.

Day 7: Visit free local attractions

Did you know that Watson’s Mill in Manotick is haunted by the bride of the first owner, killed tragically just days after the Mill opened in 1851? Or that there is a free Currency Museum in the heart of downtown Ottawa? Other free local attractions include the Nepean Museum, Pinhey’s Point (admission by donation), the Goulbourn Museum, the Osgoode Township Historical Society and Museum, and Vanier’s Museopark.

14:365 The Haunted Mill

Isn’t that amazing? So entertaining the family doesn’t have to break the bank! If you’re looking for more ideas for free or inexpensive family fun in Ottawa, try these posts for some ideas. And please do feel free to share your ideas for frugal family fun in Ottawa in the comment box!

42 is my new lucky number

Clearly, I have done something to please the Universe, because this has been a month full of wonderful news and awesome surprises – and it’s barely begun. Do you mind if I take a quick moment to share my joy?

Last time I was talking about good fortune, I mentioned that I had been offered a job (my former position!) working in social media for the Canada Revenue Agency. I was gathering the paperwork so they could prepare my letter of offer when I realized that (gah!) my French levels had expired, and so rather than the leisurely three weeks of vacation I had been planning, I spent at least an hour each day curled up in a heap of practice tests and grammar workbooks. Then there were more misadventures when one of my two prescribed tests was delayed when the building’s air conditioning system failed. I tell you, I never manage to find the easy road! And speaking of easy, the reading test was not. At all. In fact, I was so sure that I’d missed the required grade that I was sick about it all weekend.

To my surprise and delight, I found out Monday morning that I passed with exactly the levels I required for my new position at the CRA. My letter of offer is now signed, and I start my new/old job at the end of the month. Yay!!

While I was tapping the refresh key and hoping for an early peek at my results late last week, I got an e-mail from my friends at Mom Central Canada and Fisher-Price. It turns out the PlayPanel program has been so successful that they’re extending it and even expanding it. More details will be announced at this year’s Blissdom Canada conference — and the whole PlayPanel team has been invited to attend. I was heartbroken last year when I had to sell my Blissdom 2010 ticket because the conference coincided with the closing date on the new house, and ticked off at myself for totally missing the wafer-thin window of ticket sales this year, so you can imagine how excited I am to be actually going this fall after all! (Speaking of Fisher-Price, don’t forget to sign up for their Celebrating Milestones program, where you can win a $200 prize pack of Fisher-Price toys AND a $200 spa gift card for you! /plug)

And! As if that weren’t enough excitement… I was on my way to one of the infernal French exams when I happened to catch a tweet from Andrea: “Hey @DaniGirl – I just opened up my copy of @Canadian_Living and noticed that you are ‘blog of the month’ Congrats!”

To which I said, “Whaaaaa?” I had no idea! And it took about a week before I was able to track down a copy of the September issue of Canadian Living (sadly, my subscription lapsed last fall, but I am definitely going to remember to renew it now!) And lookit that, she was right! Postcards from the Mothership is Canadian Living’s blog of the month!

Canadian Living's blog of the month!

Wow. What a month! I’ll tell you this much — 42 is turning out to be a very lucky number indeed!

Ottawa social media scene heats up this July!

Are you interested in Ottawa’s social media scene? If you are, you’re going to want to clear your calendar for the month of July! There are at least two don’t-miss events happening, and they’re both promising to be fantastic experiences.

First, we have the perennial and amazingly fun Blog Out Loud Ottawa (BOLO) on July 7:


Blog Out Loud - July 7, 2011

BOLO is one of my favourite social events of the year! Would you like to be one of the 20 bloggers who takes the stage to read a favourite blog post from the past year? Here are the deets from the official BOLO blog:

Here’s the basic idea:

* There’s a due date for declaring you want to read – Friday, June 10. If you’d like to read, I need to know the exact blog post you have in mind – please don’t send me an email saying you want to read, but you don’t know what. It should be something from the past year (or so) and should be able to be read aloud in less than five minutes. Pick something you really love, that represents who you are and what your blog is about – and that will be sure to come across when you’re standing at the microphone.

* All entries received by June 10 will be read and enjoyed by me and a panel of bloggers (who are not submitting a post for reading). Our favourite 10 entries will be selected for reading at BOLO.

* All other entries will go into a random-draw pot and the final 11 readers will be picked at random.

If we have 21 people or fewer interested by June 10, then you’re all in, and that would be fantastic. I’ll definitely announce it when all the spots are gone, so if it’s after June 10 and you haven’t heard anything, and you’d still like to read, we probably have spots left.

If you are interested in being on my judging panel, please let me know. Note that if you are on the jury, you can’t submit a post for reading.

I’ve thrown my hat into the ring, although I’m not sure I could top last year when I exposed my innermost soul and my favourite bra to a packed and sweaty house. 😉

And!! As if that weren’t enough excitement for the Ottawa social media scene, there is a fantastic new social media “learnathon” that will be the other don’t-miss event of the summer: the Social Capital conference, taking place on Saturday July 23:

If you consider yourself a social media ‘buff’, then Social Capital will be the place to be in Ottawa on Saturday July 23rd! Social Capital is your opportunity to learn from and network with Ottawa’s most connected and knowledgeable people! When it comes to social media, this is the conference you won’t want to miss.

Ottawa has an active and passionate social media community. A community that is craving opportunities to learn, continue to grow and to share knowledge. Social Capital is a one-day conference that will fill this need.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and network with like-minded social media enthusiasts. A combination of panels, roundtables, and single-leader sessions will cover topics of interest for newbie and experts alike.

I really like how they’ve devised three potential streams of sessions, one for fundamentals, one for more experienced users, and one for business. Whether you’re a social media noob or an old hand, whether you’re a dabbler or a business owner, I think you’ll find something useful in the proposed lineup!

I think the organizers have done an amazing job of making this an accessible, affordable event jam-packed with interesting presentations and speakers. And I don’t say that simply because I’ll be one of them! 😉 Come on out to hear me, Lara Wellman and Vivian Cheng talk about choosing the right social media tools for your business.

That’s a lot of excitement to pack into one month. July is going to rock Ottawa’s social media scene!

Suggestions for photo opportunities in Vancouver?

I‘m very excited! On Monday, I’ll be hopping on a plane and heading for the left coast to speak at this social media in government conference. What fun, eh? This is similar to the conferences I’ve spoken at here in Ottawa last June and September, and I got a really great reception (and reviews!) both previous times.

This is my abstract:

Social Media Is Not One-Size-Fits-All: How To Choose The Right Tools For Your Audience, Your Message, And Your Organization’s Goals

Many government departments and agencies are considering launching their own YouTube channel or Facebook fan page. But how do you choose which tools are the right ones for your organization?

The Army News team in the Department of National Defence has posted nearly 2,000 videos to YouTube over the last three years and those videos have been viewed more than 1.6 million times. Their channel is currently ranked within the top 75 YouTube channels for Canadian news and reporting. They’re also using Twitter, iTunes, Flickr and Facebook to share information and engage Army stakeholders.

Social media is not one-size-fits-all. Not every tool is appropriate for every situation. In this session, you will learn how to choose the right tools for your audience, your message and your organization’s goals. You’ll also review some common issues to consider when using social media tools in a government environment, including:

* Tweeting in both official languages
* Managing comments – and responding when necessary
* Giving your organization an authentic “voice” and personality through social media
* Developing content that is relevant, interesting and timely
* Matching your policies to your tools
* Analyzing your audience and evaluating your tools to ensure they’re working for you and not the other way around

Danielle Donders, Web Manager, Army Multimedia

I love the topic and I love the interaction during the seminars. I’m so looking forward to it!

Of course, the other thing I’m looking forward to is the ginourmous photo opportunity that is Vancouver. I’ve been before, twice on the way to Victoria and one other time on business — but there was no down time for exploring.

Any suggestions on treks I may want to take with my camera? I’m staying right downtown on Burrard, not far from Robson Square. I don’t think I’ll bother with a car as I only really have the one day free and a couple of evenings, and it seems like there’s plenty of interesting stuff nearby. Granville Island is to the west and Gastown is to the east of where I’ll be staying; any thoughts on which one might be a better destination? I definitely want to check out the waterfront. Also not far away is Stanley Park, but a 15 km hike to cram them all in might be a little bit too much to cram in, especially since the current forecast is calling for — surprise! — rain on Monday. Any indoor suggestions are welcome, too!

All in all, I think just about anywhere you can point your camera in Vancouver, you’re going to come away with a good shot or two!

The real challenge is how I’ll manage with no laptop to process the pix as I go, as Beloved thinks his pesky work is more important than my obsessive photo habits. I know, the nerve, eh? Especially when I’m so considerately leaving all three boys here with him to keep him company!

You think I’m funny? You think I’m FUNNY! *squeee*

Beloved will tell you, there is no living with me right now. Not since I found out that Postcards from the Mothership was shortlisted as one of the five finalists in the Humour category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

2010 Canadian Weblog Awards

Did you catch that? The HUMOUR category.

*swoon*

Humour! I mean, I was so honoured to be nominated in the Best Written category. I love to write, and yes, I think I can string a few words together with occasional panache. And well, my raison d’être is pretty much Family and Parenting, so of course I was honoured to be nominated in that category. But to be nominated in, and then shortlisted in, the Humour category? Funny is something I aspire to, something I am never quite sure I have managed. Something I am genuinely delighted to be acknowledged for.

I’ve written before about how much I admire Schmutzie‘s efforts in putting together the Canadian Weblog Awards. She’s done a fantastic job reinventing blog awards to make them relevant, and more than just a clicky popularity contest. (Did you get that clever play on words? Clicky, like the keyboard, but cliquey, like the social thing? Cuz apparently I’m FUNNY!)(See? No living with me. Poor Beloved.)

If you haven’t had a chance, click on over and check out the finalist shortlist in all the categories. It reads like a who’s who of the Canadian blogosphere, all the blogs you should be reading if you aren’t already. I’m so happy to see blogs and bloggers I adore like Kids in the Capital and Julie and Amy and Andrea and Tanya and Annie and Kimusan and tonyphoto/drool and XUP and Thordora and Cheaty and Kate and Emma and Laura and … and ALL of them. Holy cats, there’s a lot of bloggy goodness representing here!

But wait, there’s more!

First of all, you’ll be delighted to hear that I am not about to recruit you into a clickfest of voting for me. Because there is no voting with the Canadian Weblog Awards. Isn’t that awesome? The whole thing is juried. I love that! There are so many contests I bypass on the Interwebs, because I truly hate the “vote for me” things. I know, I know, I’ve schmoozed you into doing it for me many times over the years, but I’ve always felt vaguely icky about it. So I’m doubly honoured to be shortlisted based on merit, however subjective and ethereal that might be, rather than by how many votes I can mobilize.

So now there’s a second round of juried review, and the first, second and third place finalists will be revealed on January 1. Um, wait a minute. Does that mean I have to be funny for the entire month of December? The insane month of December, rife as it is with school concerts, holiday parties and mould remediation? Yikes. That may just be the stress that tips me over into the abyss.

Then again, humour has always been my coping mechanism of choice. As long as the Universe keeps up with its antics, there should be plenty of “might as well laugh as weep” moments in the coming weeks!

Saving the best for last: Photography Q&A at Canadian Family

I was a little stumped as to how to wrap up my week of guest posts over at the Family Jewels blog on Canadian Family’s site. I’d managed on each of the previous four posts to stay more or less on theme with a particular facet of photography, but had so much left to say that I was overwhelmed as to how to sum it all up coherently. Then, inspiration struck.

You had been feeding me some excellent questions and ideas throughout the week, so I turned to the comment box and found my Muse. Thanks to Joy, Melissa, Shannon, Dawn and Carrie for your excellent questions, which I addressed in my final guest post at Canadian Family, called Photography Q&A.

Phew, that was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too! I had started a Family Photographer category here last year, but it kind of petered out on me. Obviously, I need to take Rebecca’s suggestion and pick up the thread again here. 🙂

And now for the freebies — everybody loves the freebies, right? Congratulations to today’s winner of a one-year subscription to Canadian Family magazine: Johanne!

I really enjoyed reading all of your comments about which photos you love and why. Photography is so personal, and whenever I’m invited into someone’s personal space (office, home, even blog or social media account) I’m always fascinated by which pictures they prominently feature. Thank you for that, and for your support and encouragement throughout the Family Photographer series.

Finally, here’s the last subscription giveaway. If you have already entered your name for the giveaway this week, you’re already entered for today’s draw. If you entered four times, you’ve already got four ballots. You can get one more by leaving a comment either here or on today’s post on the Family Jewels blog (or two if you do both!). You can comment on any topic you choose — offer some constructive criticism, give me some feedback for the next post on Family Photography (cuz you know there’s going to be more now!), tell me what you had for lunch, or just leave a little happy face. It’s up to you!

One last time, here’s the fine print:

  1. Today’s giveaway is for one one-year subscription to Canadian Family magazine.
  2. To enter, leave a comment on this post.
  3. To earn a second entry, leave a comment on the Photography Q&A post on the Family Jewels blog.
  4. Any previous entries you have submitted for giveaways this week will also count as additional entries into today’s giveaway. Previous winners are not eligible.
  5. I may need to take off my socks and shoes to tally up all the ballots for this draw.
  6. Entries must be received by 8 pm on Saturday 17 July 2010.
  7. Winners will be chosen using the random number generator at random.org from eligible entries on Sunday 18 July 2010.
  8. You must leave a valid e-mail address and allow me to share your contact information with Canadian Family magazine to arrange for the subscription delivery.
  9. The winner will be contacted via e-mail and posted here.

Thank you to Megan and the staff at Canadian Family, and thank you to all of you. This has been a busy but fun week, and I’m all charged up and heading off into three weeks of vacation (yay!!!) ready to take a million pictures and spam you with every one of them!

Breaking news: *Another* guest post and *another* Canadian Family giveaway!

I really like today’s guest post over at Canadian Family’s Family Jewels blog. It’s more relaxed and less technical than my “elements of composition” posts and has tips and tricks on practical things like how to get a good group picture at a family gathering and how to get your kids to smile without looking like they just swallowed a cold chicken gizzard.

You know what else I like? Giving stuff away! Congratulations to Krista, yesterday’s winner of the Canadian Family magazine subscription. Yay!

I still have two subscriptions to give away, one for today and one for tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’m going to re-enter everyone who has been eligible for the giveaways so far this week, so you’ve still got a fresh chance even if you didn’t win so far!

If you would like an entry into today’s draw for a subscription to Canadian Family, leave me a comment describing a photograph that’s meaningful to you and why. Did you take it? Is it of you or someone you know? Why is it meaningful? I think this is important because we can get really wrapped up in details like white balance and saturation and megapixels and forget the real reason we value photographs — because of how they make us feel and because they help us capture a fleeting moment in time.

Once again, here’s the fine print:

  1. Today’s giveaway is for one one-year subscription to Canadian Family magazine.
  2. To enter, leave a comment on this post describing a photograph that is meaningful to you.
  3. Entries must be received by 3 pm on Friday 16 July 2010.
  4. Winners will be chosen using the random number generator at random.org from eligible entries on Thursday 16 July 2010.
  5. You must leave a valid e-mail address and allow me to share your contact information with Canadian Family magazine to arrange for the subscription delivery.
  6. The winner will be contacted via e-mail and posted here.

I’m looking forward to reading your answers to this one! (And, now I know why I don’t have more than one blog. As much fun as this has been, getting two blog posts out every day has been a bit of a challenge!!)

Wheeee! Another winner, another guest post and another Canadian Family subscription to give away!

It’s day three of my week of guest posts at Canadian Family, and today I put up the most technical post of my Family Photographer series over on the Family Jewels blog: 10 key elements of composition.

And yay, we have another winner of a subscription to Canadian Family magazine! Congratulations to AnnBac9!

Would you like to win a subscription to Canadian Family magazine? Here’s the deal for today. Click over to my guest post on Canadian Family, then leave me a comment below naming one of the ten elements of composition that I described. (Ha! Found a way to make you read them! *wink*) And!! Get a bonus entry if you leave a comment of any sort (even “Hi, DaniGirl sent me!”) on my post on the Family Jewels blog.

Here’s the fine print:

  1. Today’s giveaway is for one one-year subscription to Canadian Family magazine.
  2. To enter, visit my guest blog post on the Family Jewels blog, then come back here and leave a comment naming one of the ten elements of composition I described.
  3. Earn a bonus entry by leaving a comment on the Family Jewels blog post itself!
  4. Entries must be received by 3 pm on Thursday 15 July 2010.
  5. Winners will be chosen using the random number generator at random.org from eligible entries on Thursday 15 July 2010.
  6. You must leave a valid e-mail address and allow me to share your contact information with Canadian Family magazine to arrange for the subscription delivery.
  7. The winner will be contacted via e-mail and posted here.

Thanks again to everyone who is playing along, and especially to the great peeps at Canadian Family!

Another guest post at Canadian Family, and another subscription to give away!

Congratulations to Judy of Mother, Wife and More who won the first of five subscriptions to Canadian Family magazine that I have to give away this week. I really love what she wrote in her comment, too:

The best tip anyone can get for photography is to remember not every photo will turn out, and not to get discouraged. Best thing my husband first taught me. Find something you like in each photo and learn to fine tune it. With kids it is guaranteed each photo won’t turn out!

So true! In fact, I’d say more than half of the pictures I take don’t turn out like I expected, and only a small percentage of those are worth sharing. The other thing I’d add to Judy’s thought, though, is to not be too quick to delete a photo. Sometimes the outtakes are as much fun as the keepers!

I’ve got another post up on Family Jewels, the Canadian Family magazine blog. Today’s subject is composition, filled with ideas on how to go from “taking” a photography (by simply clicking the shutter as soon as you put the camera to your eye) to *making* a photograph that tells its own story.

And I’ve still got four subscriptions to Canadian Family left to give away! I’m going to shake things up — to enter the draw for today, you’ll have to share this post on Twitter, Facebook, your own blog, or some other social networking site.

Here’s the fine print:

  1. Today’s giveaway is for one one-year subscription to Canadian Family magazine.
  2. To enter, tweet a link to this blog post or link to it on Facebook or promote it on your own blog or some other social networking site before noon EDT on Wednesday July 14. IMPORTANT: You’ll have to come back and leave a comment to let me know you did.
  3. Winners will be chosen using the random number generator at random.org from eligible entries on Wednesday 14 July 2010.
  4. You must leave a valid e-mail address and allow me to share your contact information with Canadian Family magazine to arrange for the subscription delivery.
  5. The winner will be contacted via e-mail and posted here.

Thanks, and be sure to come back tomorrow for more photo and freebie goodness!