Chicago Moms Blog updates!

Check out my latest Chicago Moms Blog post, inspired by Parent Ed night at Z's Montessori school.

And speaking of the Chicago Moms Blog, I drugged myself up with Zyrtec, Sudafed, Nasonex and some antibiotic eye drops and hit the Brands and Bloggers party at the Hard Rock Hotel yesterday. There was an interesting roundtable discussion of the future of marketer-mom blogger relationships (also the subject of my presentation next month) and a cool mixer afterwards.

I got to hang out with some of my favorite bloggers, Carrie the Frugalista (my ride), Caitlin from A Hen and Three Chicks, Kim from Hormone-Colored Days, Shari of Two Times the Fun, Lisa from Hannemaniacs, Farrah of Baby Love Slings, Cynthia the Nap Warden, Self Made Mom and slow-blogger Sara, and newcomer/fellow OPT-member (she recognized Z from the tots class years ago) Emily from West of the Loop.

I also got to meet with brand representatives and take home bags of valuable swag and coupons (you'll hear more about it later as I try stuff out). It was a good day to be a mommyblogger. (Just not such a good day to have a sinus infection.)

I'm speaking at the Youth and Family Marketing Mega Event

Once again, my professional experience as a marketer and my (increasingly less) unique perspective as a mom blogger have converged and won me a speaking engagement. This time I'm talking about "The Love Affair between Marketers and Mom Bloggers: From Romance to Reality" at the Youth & Family Marketing Mega Event, which will be at the Hotel Sax in Chicago May 10-12.

How exactly am I supposed to prepare a presentation on a subject that's evolving every minute? Well, I'm going to start by providing the audience of khaki-pants-wearing brand managers with a brief history of the sometimes graceful (Leapfrog and Graco jump to mind) and more often awkward (Nestle, Motrin) middle school dance between mom bloggers and brands.

I want to get people thinking about who's leading us across this crowded dance floor. Is it the global corporations, who can wine and dine a stay-at-home mom, getting her to pimp their product in exchange for a box of frozen meals? Or is it the influential mommyblogger, who can bring an appliance manufacturer to its knees over a couple of angry tweets? How do the new FTC regulations come into play? Is the FTC an effective chaperone, or it it just moving the hanky-panky from the wide-open blogosphere to late night Twitter parties?

What does the future of marketing to and with mom bloggers hold? Will there be a retreat from blogger retreats? Could contests and giveaways go away? Will the stream of poorly-targeted "Dear Blogger" spam-pitches ever abate?

Can we look forward to an era when marketers and mom bloggers can work together in a way that both fosters connections among a community of moms and helps marketers deliver solutions that moms want to buy? Will more marketers hire moms to bringing their authentic voice to brand sites? Will the moms who jumped on the blogging bandwagon for free stuff abandon their sites when the freebie train leaves town, or will they focus their blogs on their passions and build an audience of fellow moms of toddlers, crafters, Crock-Potters or working mothers?

I've got a lot to share, but I have so much more yet to learn. Please, please drop me a line if you've got a case study or tidbit you'd like to share. I'll be sure to thank and link to all. Also, if you'd like to attend this conference or the concurrent Life Stage Marketing Summit, you can save 20% using these codes: FAMILY2010AK and LIFESTAGE2010AK.

My CBS News interview: a preview

Last night local CBS News reporter Dorothy Tucker came over to interview me about my thoughts on blogging and the controversy-that-shouldn't-be-a-controversy over transparency and authenticity in the momosphere. She was supposed to arrive at 6:30pm, but got stuck in traffic for an hour.

So at 7:30, when Ms. Tucker and her photographer arrived, A was in bed and Z was tired but determined to be on TV.

So imagine, if you will, this scene. The window A/C unit has been turned off. Bright lights have been set up. I'm positioned at my dining room table, iBook open. Z's on the floor behind the reporter. Ms. Tucker asks me a tough question. I start to answer, trying to be diplomatic but not wishy-washy. Mid-sentence, Z comes over to ask why the camera's not trained on her.

We try again. And again. Each time I try to deliver one of my talking points, my daughter jumps into the picture with an inane request or turns on a loud toy. Then, frustrated that I keep sending her away and asking her to quiet down, she throws a royal temper tantrum.

I pull off my mic and try to comfort her, but she's had a big, long day that included a day camp trip to the zoo, a visit to the pool and two playdates. It's past her bedtime and she's fried. Finally, with my hair frizzing and my lipstick melting off, I deliver her to Dad.

The interview resumes. Honestly, I don't know how I did. I know the soundbites I'd practiced went out the window. I talked a lot, but I felt like I was saying the same thing over and over again. No, I don't begrudge anyone the opportunity to make money off her blog. Yes, I've done the occasional product review myself. No, I don't accept money for posts or positive product reviews. No, I really haven't made any money at all; that's not why I do this. Yes, I feel transparency is crucial. Yes, I support FTC oversight as it will encourage mom bloggers to disclose.

I also spoke about how, as a marketer, I've encouraged companies to embrace mom bloggers. They are a powerful, influential source of word-of-mouth. What worries me is mom bloggers selling out their blog--their own brand if you will--to the highest bidder. I think they're doing a disservice to their readership and themselves.

When Ms. Tucker asked if I trusted any product review blogs, I responded with shout-outs to ZRecommends and Cool Mom Picks, two review blogs that hold themselves to very high standards. Both sites distinguish editorial from advertising and ZRecommends' "keep no stuff" policy is particularly admirable.

The CBS story is scheduled to run on the 10 o'clock news on August 10th.

You know you're a D-list Mom Blogger if...

We're running on Internet time. This D-List thing has evolved from a comment I made on Self-Made Mom early last week to a post I wrote last Thursday to a full-fledged blog Sara designed over the weekend.

Click on over to see if you qualify for our underachievers club.