Friday, September 24, 2010

Social Media

How do you get a blogger's attention?  Appeal to their ego.

The email in my Inbox said:
...The Social Media Club is hosting an event on Social Media + Family on Thursday 9/23 in St. Louis and I've been put in charge of reaching out to the prominent moms and dads who blog about parenting in your area. 
Me?  Prominent? (Who knew?)

Even though I was pretty sure this message was sent to a lot of bloggers, I was flattered.  I checked out the event and the people who were already signed up. It looked like many of them made their living in promotions, marketing, or writing.  I wasn't sure how I'd fit in, but it's been a long time since I've challenged myself by doing a "new" thing.  I didn't have anything on the calendar for Thursday night, and they promised appetizers and drinks, so after giving it some thought I signed up.

What to wear?  Given the event's start time and the fact that many of the attendees were probably coming from work, I figured I should find something other than my normal work clothes of t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. I dug around in my closet and found something that looked acceptable.  As it turned out, most of the people were dressed in business casual, but there were also people in jeans.

The event was held in a downtown office building.  I parked in the building's garage and took the elevator to the lobby, where there were people waiting to direct me.  I checked in, got a drink, and headed towards the conference room. It's been a long time since I've entered a room not knowing anyone, but I introduced myself to some nice people and chit-chatted about blogs, blogreaders, and Facebook until the event started.

Chris Heuer, the founder of Social Media Club and the night's moderator, talked about the club's mission and purpose, then introduced the panel's four parent bloggers-two women and two men. Three of them had infants, toddlers, or elementary aged children, and one had grown children and grandchildren. Chris asked a series of questions, and allowed each of the people to answer. The panel was streamed live, and some of the questions came via Chris' phone from people listening in.  Because of the ages of the panelists' children, a lot of the discussion was about young kids, which doesn't apply to me, but the discussion was interesting and thought-provoking.

After the panel discussion ended, there was more time for mingling.  I was able to talk to some more nice people before I left.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Kathy,

    So glad you were a part of this, and even more glad that you had a great time! Thanks so much for this great write-up. Of course you fit. It's the blogger with a unique voice and message that's relevant, not the money they bring in :)

    Have a wonderful weekend!
    Keane

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  2. It was both fun and a cool opportunity to shine for me.

    Loved being on the panel but equally as much meeting more St. Louis folks in person.

    Good we can into each other.

    Thanks for the comment on the blog.

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  3. Sounds interesting. I like your attitude about doing something different. Often we pass on things that require us to go alone. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

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  4. sounds like a nice, informative evening out, Kathy, good for you! It's interesting how the times are changing...livestreaming, facebook, blogging. Hard to keep up with all the new stuff sometimes.

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  5. How cool! Good for you in taking a chance and going to this. Sometimes just some intellecutal conversation (plus food and drinks of course) can turn an okay event into a fabulous one! You're always so great at finding new, interesting things to do. Keep it up. You never know what wonderful things will come your way from it.

    and p.s. - you should definitely try a corn maze, and a corn cannon someday! Lots of fun! :-)

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