Can a girl admit she’s WRONG? I was wrong. Wrong with a capital W. When I was busy signing up for parties I decided not to sign up for BowlHer.
I do not bowl. Rather I have tried to bowl and as of yet I’ve not quite got a handle on why no points are awarded for consistent getting the ball to head straight for the gutter on the right hand side of the lane. I even have a patented move which involves me getting in the squat position with my legs open wide and rolling the ball down the lane. Even the shoes are ugly. I just couldn’t imagine myself enjoying a party at a bowling alley. Did I mention I was WRONG?
My original plan was to go to the BlogHer cocktail party then head on over to the Shutter Sisters Pajama Party and end the evening at the Cheezeburgher Party. My quick exit from the Shutter Sisters Party left a big gaping hole in my social activities. The BlogHer cocktail party turned out to be a wonderful formal send off for the weekend. They had an open bar and some nice horderves. The butlers in their formal outfits made sure that you were well taken care of. They had shrimp pot stickers, lamb chop, coconut chicken, stuffed mushrooms, and mini-beef Wellington.
BlogHer is formally over but it's not time to say goodbye. It's time to say good-bye to my fairy tale life at BlogHer. The clock it heading towards midnight but I hope I don't leave my glass slipper behind.
I decided to make a quick trip over to the BowlHer event and I discovered they had a list and were checking it twice. No problem. I admitted straight up that I had failed to register for the party. She looked down and said, “No problem. Come on in.” I was then handed a PINK feather boa and a crown.
This was another moment I would have just run out skipping and jumping for joy because I got a pink boa and I was so special I got a crown. Pink is my FAVORITE color so my happiness level is already flying at full-staff.
As we ascended the escalator to the second floor you could see people looking at us. Not in a weird crazy bag lady that one might do if you were the only one with a tiara and a feather boa. No this was more like a “Why can’t I have a feather boa and a crown?”
I heard a woman who was walking up the stairs ask one of the pink boa ladies “What’s with the crowns?” “We’re bloggers” she answered. Did she understand I wondered?
At the top of the stairs you noticed that it was decked out to be a big media type event that began with a walk on the red carpet. It appears that they were promoting Lifetime TV Channel and Project Runway. Someone came by with a camera just as I getting online and asked if we loved Project Runway. The squat, chunky young woman behind me chimed in “I’m simply addicted to that show. I just love, love, love it.” You might as well have been asking me if I loved chocolate.
Now’s the time I said to myself. I turned to the woman who had just come to life on cue and said, “I just love your boa. You have great taste.” She looked down at her boa and said, “Oh you too. I like yours too.”
I can’t let it drop here. I have to say something. Usually this is where I fall flat. I did the open now I need to keep the ball in the air.
“You know, originally I wasn’t going to come to this party. I’d signed up for almost every party that you could but I am such a crummy bowler I thought I’d be a fish out of water.”
Not the best come back line but it does open her to state that she’s either a very good bowler, a mediocre bowler, or a bowler more in line with me and perhaps a corpse. Even if she didn’t want to share that she could maybe comment on how she’d been to some party or all of the parties or how much she had been looking forward to this party. I’m hanging and hoping that she will respond.
I decide to make one last attempt at conversation. “I spoke to one of the people who is working with this event and she mentioned that it would be awful for me to miss out on all the great swag. She had even mentioned something about a zebra bowling bag. Isn’t that funny?”
I didn’t realize that I was waving a red cape before a bull. Her eyes narrowed and she said, “I hate all this commercialism. I hate how people are making it all about the swag. It’s not all about the swag. Blogging is about the art. It is about your ability to tell a story. It is not and should not be a commercial venture.”
Ah, OK. I decided to change the subject. “What do you blog about?” “I’m a Mommy Blogger. I blog for a news paper insert the name of a small Midwestern city, and I paid for this trip myself. Unlike some of the other people here who have sold their souls for the all-mighty dollar, I paid for this myself. I don’t let corporate America influence what I am saying. Every day I’m sharing deep and personal thoughts and feelings with people and even though I don’t have a lot of readers I’m beginning to see an upswing in my readership.”
Perhaps because I won a trip to Kraft Food I was a little put off by her statement. I sold my soul to Kraft Food? How is that exactly? Then in the very next thought I blurted out “Do you get paid to blog?” She told me she did but not as much as the sports blogger. He has more people following his blog. While I didn’t say it aloud was that being on a newspaper was also a sponsored blog. My blog is not sponsored but my trip was and I was a bit put off by her self-righteousness.
The woman behind her was also a mommy blogger for a newspaper so they began talking about how sports bloggers always have more readers. Then I heard the woman brag about how she didn’t even ask the newspaper to pay her expenses because that way she could be honest about her opinions of BlogHer. I suppose that was supposed to mean that she was above it all but no one had asked me to say ANYTHING.
I listened as she droned on about how she about her personal and innermost thoughts on her mommy blog. So essentially she sacrifices her family’s privacy for a paycheck. Is that selling out I wanted to ask her. I mean if it’s really all about the craft of writing like was saying then why not do it for FREE? Then I heard her talk about how some companies provide her with things to review but she lets them know that she will write what she truly feels about something and not be a corporate shill.
Again, why not say, my family’s story is not for sale? If swag and ANYONE who takes it is really unscrupulous like you say, then why are you standing in line in a boa and a tiara waiting to go to a party sponsored by a television show? Why not be working on your craft at home away from all this commercialism? Why must you expound upon how much better you are than others?
I believe some women who blog are all about the craft of writing. They are so good at what they do that the fame comes to them. They don’t generally lecture people about hypocritical loss leaders. They don’t have to say they are better than others because their barometer of success does not require putting others down to raise themselves up. I am certainly not at that level.
I was almost trying to turn off her diatribe against other bloggers, against the swag, and then I heard her say something about the stealing of swag. Swag stealing? I knew nothing about that? Pushing? Elbowing babies? A bruise in the shape of a hand? What in the heck was I dealing with? I had gone from rolling my eyes to wondering what the hell was wrong with people.
The line began to move. I watched as women began walking the red carpet, sometimes by themselves and sometimes in groups. They stopped for photos and I tried to get back in a festive party mood but I was mulling over all that I had just heard. I walked down the red carpet, took my photos and entered the bowling alley.
This was a bowling alley like I had never known before. It was HUGE with a bar, pool tables, and glow in the dark pins. I was stopped by one woman who asked if I wanted to send a video message to someone special. I said sure and I told them my husband. They wanted to know why he was the greatest man alive. I had exactly two minutes to think about what I was going to say and then it was lights, camera, action.
Then I walked to the back of the bar. For people like me this was a great place to observe and make a decision as to what I was going to do. I walked up to a table and there were women who were dealing with children with autism. We talked for about ten minutes. I told them about my nephew and about some former students and they told me about their organization. It was this conversation that brought me back to my own reality.
I went into teaching to make a difference. I look over the years and remember the families and former students who thanked me for the things I have done. Why in the world did I let that girl in line ruffle my feathers for even a moment? If being a blogger makes her feel as though she’s changing the world then let her have that. I didn’t care. I think what I did care about what her decision that others weren’t making the same contributions that she was. I knew that in less than 24 hours I would be going back to my little world and then shortly thereafter I’d be starting back to school.
I came out of the shadows of the back of the bowling alley and began to walk around. I tried to play pool. I sampled some products. I handed out some business cards. I had a great time and then I left because I didn’t want to miss the Cheezeburgher Party.
It’s funny that this was the one party that I thought I wouldn’t enjoy but turned out to be one I enjoyed a great deal.
Showing posts with label blogher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogher. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Swag, Thievery, and Hooligans
Here's where I come back to the swag. I'm a sweeper. This means that sometimes I win things like a t-shirt with a movie's name on it. Some people say things like "You won a T-shirt? Big deal!" For me that t-shirt is cool.
I've never had a lot of money. Any little niceties I've ever had came because I was involved with sweeping. Some people laugh and roll their eyes but I am always thrilled when I receive my next CD or t-shirt. I am so grateful to all the companies I have ever won things from that I write them hand written thank you letters. I tend to be brand loyal to companies who sponsor sweeps.
The whole concept that I would receive "SWAG" here really didn't factor in my wanting to attend and I totally imagined that it would be in the form of T-shirts, mouse pads, pencils, pens, etc. I was so amazed when I dumped my first one out that it was like Christmas.
You have to understand that right now my husband does not have a job so I kind of looked at this trip to BlogHer as my birthday gift even though it was something I won from Kraft. When I saw the stuff in my first swagbag I honestly felt like this truly was the best birthday I'd ever had. I had gone to wondering how my birthday was going to shake out to wow I can't believe this.
Some girls have beautiful Sweet Sixteen parties. For some girls their 13th birthday is filled with pink balloons and cake with pink flowers. We were too poor for all that. When I was 21 I was a single mom working two jobs and I was thrilled to get my birthday off but I couldn't afford to do anything special for that day. This was to be my 50th birthday. My next big birthday wasn't going to be until I was 75. Two years ago my husband and I talked about going on a cruise or going to Hawaii which had been my life's dream. All the world was our oyster.
When Darryl lost his job everything changed. I just felt it was my lot in life to NEVER have one of those "WOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?" Birthday party. Now here I was in Chicago, in a beautiful hotel, and the fact that someone handed me bag that included an Kodak HD Video cam and a $50 Pro Flowers gift card blew me away.
All the flashing of cameras and the massages, tattoos, and the parties were really all heady stuff. It didn't make me drunk with power but it did make me very appreciative. I took business cards and I would write hand written thank you cards to the people I met who supplied me with all this stuff. I had brought a box of thank you cards to thank all the people I met at Kraft but once I did that I began writing the other letters in earnest.
I never pushed anyone, never shoved anyone, never pouted whined, cried, or anything else because I "missed out" on a lot of the swag I heard about from others. Oh there's that I wish I'd known about that moment but other than that when I talk about swag it was all fun for me. I never knew that people would go CRAZY over this stuff but then again I suppose I should have known.
I remember hearing a story a couple of years ago about some giveaway that was supposed to happen in Central park. I want to say a certain number of people were going to get $50 or maybe $100 but it was only for the first X number of people. It was a radio stunt that went awry. People lined up 10 deep and when the giveaway began people were thrown to the ground and injured. When I heard about that it reminded me of what my Dad used to always say about large groups. "Stay Away."
It appears that some of the "ladies" elbowed bloggers or babies to get ahead in the line. There were reports of hand shaped bruises on Mommy Need's Coffee's arm. Reports of stolen swag were also circling. I'm serious. People were stealing from elevator carts and even stole from other people.
I was shocked. I first learned of this at BowlHer (that's another story) and it just sounded so incredible.
I also learned of an incident where there was a blackmail attempt for CROCS. Heck I got a pair of Crocs but they didn't have my size so I'll either give them away on my blog or I will give them to one of my students. Some of them do not have money for new clothes or shoes and I have certainly been there. I think they'd just love that.
The attitude of entitlement was pervasive among some rather than adopting an attitude of gratitude. I realize I have a case of low self-esteem but some people need to get over themselves.
I'll give you an example, I overheard one woman speaking with another about how she was "supposed to get a NEW dishwasher but it was taking so long so they contacted her and asked if she wanted to wait for a date in the future for that dishwasher or if she'd be willing to do a product review about detergent and receive a new front loading washer and dryer."
She didn't say it like "Oh I can't believe this. I'm just so very excited." She said it as though she felt she deserved the washer and dryer and they should give her those as well as the dishwasher because she actually had to wait to receive the dishwasher.
MY GOD!!!!! When when I was raising little ones I was working two jobs and still eligible for food stamps. I used to have to take the two of them to the laundry mat where we sat reading books in the hot building so that no one would steal our clothes. I'd have been thrilled if someone had offered to feed some coins into the dryer for me so that I could have bought the boys some fries at McDonalds or a soda.
I'm the only one in the house working right now and I'm taking care of my elderly father-in-law to boot. I am using some of my resources to buy school supplies for my students because many of them are in worse shape. Many of them are in homes with no adult working. Gosh I wish the back pack fairy would fall from the sky and give me some back packs for some of my students. As it is I bought two out of my own pocket and the one I received from Lands End also went to a student. I would have hugged any vendor who handed me a box of 50 pencils because that's about how many kids who will be stopping by my class when they take those high stakes tests telling me they forgot their pencil. I received lots of flash drives with product information that I uploaded to my computer then erased the information. Guess who is getting them? Not me. Some teachers are requiring kids to buy these and I only have one left. So excuse me for not feeling this woman's pain.
I almost jumped in to say something along the lines of "Are you kidding me?" Then I realized that I was the one eavesdropping so I really didn't have much room to talk.
The second day I was at BlogHer I saw woman open one of the many reusable grocery bags and began throwing bottle after bottle of Samples of the All Detergent. I was given two, sure I'd like more but you know what? If I took more then others wouldn't get any. They obviously only gave me two because they'd figured that was the fair number so that everyone would get some. They never said, hey help yourself there little lady. If they did I might have filled a bag and dropped them off at our local food pantry. After all the plant where my husband worked has closed down and he's far from being the only one effected by it. We are lucky because I am a teacher so we aren't dependent on the food pantry but some people are.
So do I feel a bit guilty about the swag? No why would I? I didn't obtain it in a dishonest fashion. I didn't demand anything. Do I feel like I was a swag hag? No because much of what I did get I shared with others and I actually wrote emails and thank you cards to many of the companies that provided these things to me. I have already begun writing reviews about some of the products like Swiffer, like Lands End, like Kraft, like McDonalds, like Ragu, and then I've emailed the rep to let them know how much I appreciated it as well as letting my readers know that I received these things FREE.
I think there are people who were conflicted with all the swag put those doubts aside and acted like a spoiled child. Some people felt that the swag demeaned there craft (more about that) yet they accepted the swag "against their better judgement." (more on that later).
I didn't feel guilty about the swag because the companies wanted to put these products in our hands in hopes that we would talk about them. It is a business transaction that they did to promote goodwill. I don't feel sullied by it. My blog is about saving money at the store so in and of its very nature it is commercial. I am not honing my craft while writing the next great novel, pushing an agenda, or trumpeting my baby's latest accomplishment. I'm just telling people how to save money. I'm telling people about where to get free or reduced priced medication or health care. Companies are looking to spend their advertising money wisely and they know that blogging is the new revolution.
Then again if I had pushed babies, stolen swag, and acted like the world revolved around me I'd be so very embarrassed.
I've never had a lot of money. Any little niceties I've ever had came because I was involved with sweeping. Some people laugh and roll their eyes but I am always thrilled when I receive my next CD or t-shirt. I am so grateful to all the companies I have ever won things from that I write them hand written thank you letters. I tend to be brand loyal to companies who sponsor sweeps.
The whole concept that I would receive "SWAG" here really didn't factor in my wanting to attend and I totally imagined that it would be in the form of T-shirts, mouse pads, pencils, pens, etc. I was so amazed when I dumped my first one out that it was like Christmas.
You have to understand that right now my husband does not have a job so I kind of looked at this trip to BlogHer as my birthday gift even though it was something I won from Kraft. When I saw the stuff in my first swagbag I honestly felt like this truly was the best birthday I'd ever had. I had gone to wondering how my birthday was going to shake out to wow I can't believe this.
Some girls have beautiful Sweet Sixteen parties. For some girls their 13th birthday is filled with pink balloons and cake with pink flowers. We were too poor for all that. When I was 21 I was a single mom working two jobs and I was thrilled to get my birthday off but I couldn't afford to do anything special for that day. This was to be my 50th birthday. My next big birthday wasn't going to be until I was 75. Two years ago my husband and I talked about going on a cruise or going to Hawaii which had been my life's dream. All the world was our oyster.
When Darryl lost his job everything changed. I just felt it was my lot in life to NEVER have one of those "WOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?" Birthday party. Now here I was in Chicago, in a beautiful hotel, and the fact that someone handed me bag that included an Kodak HD Video cam and a $50 Pro Flowers gift card blew me away.
All the flashing of cameras and the massages, tattoos, and the parties were really all heady stuff. It didn't make me drunk with power but it did make me very appreciative. I took business cards and I would write hand written thank you cards to the people I met who supplied me with all this stuff. I had brought a box of thank you cards to thank all the people I met at Kraft but once I did that I began writing the other letters in earnest.
I never pushed anyone, never shoved anyone, never pouted whined, cried, or anything else because I "missed out" on a lot of the swag I heard about from others. Oh there's that I wish I'd known about that moment but other than that when I talk about swag it was all fun for me. I never knew that people would go CRAZY over this stuff but then again I suppose I should have known.
I remember hearing a story a couple of years ago about some giveaway that was supposed to happen in Central park. I want to say a certain number of people were going to get $50 or maybe $100 but it was only for the first X number of people. It was a radio stunt that went awry. People lined up 10 deep and when the giveaway began people were thrown to the ground and injured. When I heard about that it reminded me of what my Dad used to always say about large groups. "Stay Away."
It appears that some of the "ladies" elbowed bloggers or babies to get ahead in the line. There were reports of hand shaped bruises on Mommy Need's Coffee's arm. Reports of stolen swag were also circling. I'm serious. People were stealing from elevator carts and even stole from other people.
I was shocked. I first learned of this at BowlHer (that's another story) and it just sounded so incredible.
I also learned of an incident where there was a blackmail attempt for CROCS. Heck I got a pair of Crocs but they didn't have my size so I'll either give them away on my blog or I will give them to one of my students. Some of them do not have money for new clothes or shoes and I have certainly been there. I think they'd just love that.
The attitude of entitlement was pervasive among some rather than adopting an attitude of gratitude. I realize I have a case of low self-esteem but some people need to get over themselves.
I'll give you an example, I overheard one woman speaking with another about how she was "supposed to get a NEW dishwasher but it was taking so long so they contacted her and asked if she wanted to wait for a date in the future for that dishwasher or if she'd be willing to do a product review about detergent and receive a new front loading washer and dryer."
She didn't say it like "Oh I can't believe this. I'm just so very excited." She said it as though she felt she deserved the washer and dryer and they should give her those as well as the dishwasher because she actually had to wait to receive the dishwasher.
MY GOD!!!!! When when I was raising little ones I was working two jobs and still eligible for food stamps. I used to have to take the two of them to the laundry mat where we sat reading books in the hot building so that no one would steal our clothes. I'd have been thrilled if someone had offered to feed some coins into the dryer for me so that I could have bought the boys some fries at McDonalds or a soda.
I'm the only one in the house working right now and I'm taking care of my elderly father-in-law to boot. I am using some of my resources to buy school supplies for my students because many of them are in worse shape. Many of them are in homes with no adult working. Gosh I wish the back pack fairy would fall from the sky and give me some back packs for some of my students. As it is I bought two out of my own pocket and the one I received from Lands End also went to a student. I would have hugged any vendor who handed me a box of 50 pencils because that's about how many kids who will be stopping by my class when they take those high stakes tests telling me they forgot their pencil. I received lots of flash drives with product information that I uploaded to my computer then erased the information. Guess who is getting them? Not me. Some teachers are requiring kids to buy these and I only have one left. So excuse me for not feeling this woman's pain.
I almost jumped in to say something along the lines of "Are you kidding me?" Then I realized that I was the one eavesdropping so I really didn't have much room to talk.
The second day I was at BlogHer I saw woman open one of the many reusable grocery bags and began throwing bottle after bottle of Samples of the All Detergent. I was given two, sure I'd like more but you know what? If I took more then others wouldn't get any. They obviously only gave me two because they'd figured that was the fair number so that everyone would get some. They never said, hey help yourself there little lady. If they did I might have filled a bag and dropped them off at our local food pantry. After all the plant where my husband worked has closed down and he's far from being the only one effected by it. We are lucky because I am a teacher so we aren't dependent on the food pantry but some people are.
So do I feel a bit guilty about the swag? No why would I? I didn't obtain it in a dishonest fashion. I didn't demand anything. Do I feel like I was a swag hag? No because much of what I did get I shared with others and I actually wrote emails and thank you cards to many of the companies that provided these things to me. I have already begun writing reviews about some of the products like Swiffer, like Lands End, like Kraft, like McDonalds, like Ragu, and then I've emailed the rep to let them know how much I appreciated it as well as letting my readers know that I received these things FREE.
I think there are people who were conflicted with all the swag put those doubts aside and acted like a spoiled child. Some people felt that the swag demeaned there craft (more about that) yet they accepted the swag "against their better judgement." (more on that later).
I didn't feel guilty about the swag because the companies wanted to put these products in our hands in hopes that we would talk about them. It is a business transaction that they did to promote goodwill. I don't feel sullied by it. My blog is about saving money at the store so in and of its very nature it is commercial. I am not honing my craft while writing the next great novel, pushing an agenda, or trumpeting my baby's latest accomplishment. I'm just telling people how to save money. I'm telling people about where to get free or reduced priced medication or health care. Companies are looking to spend their advertising money wisely and they know that blogging is the new revolution.
Then again if I had pushed babies, stolen swag, and acted like the world revolved around me I'd be so very embarrassed.
Monday, July 27, 2009
EA Summer In The City Party
I got back in the elevator and wondered if I should have stuck around. What if this had been the best party? Yet I knew Darryl was looking forward to me going to the EA Summer in the City Party.
The EA Summer in the City Party was the party that Darryl was most excited about. For me it was the Social Luxe Lounge Party. Darryl was hoping that they would give me some video games to try out and review. I had made sure he’d written what platform we use at home because I do NOT play video games.
This party was being held at the House of Blue and was sponsored by Electronic Arts. The last time Darryl and I had been to Chicago we had actually stayed at the House of Blues Hotel. When we were there we had talked about eating there but wound up never doing so.
I arrived at the venue about ten minutes early but already trying to devise a spiel to work on any representatives. I had decided to point out that video games are a thrifty purchase for a family because if you factor the cost over the number of hours your family spends playing the game it really is cost effective. You’re always marketing yourself in every situation I tell my students.
When we were allowed in I looked at all of the artwork they had displayed. I walked up to the bar and ordered a Bloody Mary. As I walked back to the dance floor I decided to check out the video games.
The first video game had me holding two controllers trying to hit a dummy. No not my ex-husband. It was one of those big punching bag things. It took me a couple of seconds to catch on to how to use the controllers but once I got it down it seemed easy enough.
One of the Wii Moms was explaining how she lost some weight playing these games. I could see that happening if someone was doing it every day. I wouldn’t mind owning one and doing aerobics with it. I could see how it would be a motivator. I could see how you could keep someone very engaged in the workout playing the game.
One of the waitstaff came over with a tray of coconut shrimp. Now I’ve tried frozen coconut shrimp before but never ordered it in a restaurant. More than likely because I was disappointed with the frozen coconut shrimp. I decided to try a couple of the nice plump shrimps and they were so very good. I could have sat down and eaten a plate full if I wasn’t trying to watch my weight.
I asked one of the other women who was there but not wearing an attendee badge if she was with the company. She was not but she wanted to show me another game. This one was called Spore Hero if I remember correctly. You can create your own creature hero with over 250 collectable parts and special abilities and fight to save your planet. You crash land on a strange alien world. But something evil has followed you and is threatening to destroy the creatures of the planet.
I could tell pretty quickly that it was not one that my family would have enjoyed. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. This is not because there was something wrong with the game. It really was pretty cool. It just didn’t strike me as something they would like.
My husband's favorite game is Grand Theft Auto. My son's love that game too. Other than the music on the game I can't stand it and I don't understand their obsession with it. They also enjoy war game video games. The EA game party was about family games and the games my husband and sons are playing certainly do not fall in that category.
Another person came by and asked if I wanted to try some buffalo wings. I took a couple while I checked out the next game which was Need for Speed NITRO! This was another game that looked like it would be great for some people but my family doesn’t care for race games either. The graphics were AWSOME though.
I stood there for a few moments and talked with a woman who said she was there with sponsor but I didn’t know in what capacity. I gave my whole spiel and she agreed. If you factored the price over the amount of hours you spend enjoying the game the cost of the game was affordable. I gave her my card and then prepared to leave.
This was one of those events that Darryl would have enjoyed more. He could maybe talk about video games or consoles or those kinds of things but I don’t like video games. I think the peak for me was Pac-Man and that was it.
There was yet another party for me to go to and I was already buzzing. I normally don’t drink this much and the drinks all seem to be hitting me pretty hard. As I left the party they handed me a duffle bag and I was glad they did that. I needed one to help me get all my stuff home. It was beginning to be almost comical at this point.
If you looked up the words "frumpy teacher" my picture would be right there. While I was never the life of the party, even when I was young, I used to put on my boogie shoes and dance the night away back in the day. Now I've left Sugar Mountain and I'm asleep by ten at night so I can wake up by six to get ready to go to work. The whole idea that I had this busy social schedule of one party after the other seemed so out of place in my "real life".
I checked the bag for videos or discounts and found none. My husband will be so very disappointed but I had a good time. I hope more people got to check out the new games there. From there it's on to the next party.
Party Crasher
Do you remember that movie Wedding Crasher? These were two men who set out to crash weddings to pick up women. I remember a while back some guy was all over the news because he had the ability to crash almost any event. He had photos of himself at the Emmy’s, the Oscars, and even at an Inaugural Ball. It was all amazing and funny but I certainly never imagined myself to be a gate crasher.
Little did I realize that’s exactly what I had become. In the spirit of BlogHer it seemed that the possibilities and opportunities were endless. I had such a full social schedule and one event seemed to flow into the next event almost seamlessly.
So it was that at about 6 PM or so I thought I’d take a little walk out towards the pier to get some photos. As I walked our the door there were several other Bloggers and a woman stood ahead of us in the street saying “Hurry! The trolley is getting ready to go to the Witt".
I had no clue what she was saying but I heard something about getting on the trolley and I thought maybe I could use it to catch the couple of blocks over to the Navy Pier. While I was making up my mind, the woman holding the sign urged me to hurry. “Hurry or you will miss the trolley.” Well I didn’t want to miss the trolley. If it wasn’t going where I wanted it to go perhaps I could catch it back to the hotel. I assumed it was running a circular route throughout the night.
The seven or eight other ladies all seemed to know each other and they chose to sit in the back of the trolley and chat. I decided to sit near the trolley driver to ask about the next stop. What I didn’t realize was that there really was no next stop. This was THE stop. We had arrived and almost as soon as we got there we were greeted by another woman with a sign who told us that we needed a ticket and then we would be admitted to the party.
The Witt is located at 2913 North Lincoln Avenue which was not so far away from the hotel that I actually needed a trolley ride. Then again if you have a few drinks in you you would be glad to have this transportation so you didn't have to walk around Chicago drunk in the dark.
I wasn’t sure what party this was but I did know that I had one scheduled for the House of Blues at 7 PM. Perhaps, I thought, this is another party I had heard about and didn’t need an RSVP to attend. Maybe this was a party that I had RSVPed. After all it seemed as though I had RSVPed EVERY party just about.
There were several of those and no one seemed to be checking IDs. A group of people waited behind a velvet rope for their turn to enter the club, but we simply handed them the ticket we’d been given and were whisked away to this exclusive party overlooking the city.
This was one of those “I wish Darryl was here moments.” The elevator stopped at the appointed floor and a beautiful young woman offered me a cucumber Mojito. “No thank you,” I said. “I don’t like Mojitos.”
“You should try these,” she said. Being of the mind of not ordering any drink you know you won’t like because you would be wasting money, I told her no again. She almost looked disappointed. So I said, “Look how much are they?” I figured I could afford a drink in my swanky new surroundings and I might as well order one I liked. I was even wondering if a raspberry martini, a vodka and tonic, or a Bloody Mary would be appropriate for the setting in which I found myself.
The waitress assured me that it was open bar so I grabbed on of the Mojitos on the off chance I might actually like them.
I sauntered over to one of the couches to gaze down at the city of Chicago. It was yet another moment that I said, “Wow. This is how the other half lives.” This was the point where it was truly driven home to me that I really didn’t belong here. This was a private party and only meant for a few people. I was now officially a party crasher.
Sweepstakes and contests have provided me with opportunities to try things and go places that I never would have dared dreamed about. Now it appeared that blogging was doing the same thing. It was a Breakfast at Tiffany’s moment where I wished I was young, and fabulous, and everyone could just see me now. I lifted the glass to my lips and tried it. “I didn’t like it.”
Almost at that exact moment a waitress approached me with a spoon that contained some cream cheese and some salmon. “Would you like one?” she asked. “Uh sure,” I said trying to act as though I’m used to dining on food like this in places like this.
“Wow!” I thought. “Darryl would just love that. He’d ask me if I could make it at home and I would remind him how much salmon with such beautiful color as that cost. I could almost see him scowl. He feels when I say that I’m judging him and his ability to provide. I would get the standard lecture about being so materialistic when in fact I’m just appreciating the uniqueness of the moment.
I spied a bottle of champagne and reached for it. This was the perfect beverage for sitting atop this building with the Magnificent Mile at my feet. Before I could place my hand on the bottle a woman came running over to me and took the bottle from my hand. Perhaps they realized now that I didn’t belong. I hoped that they weren’t going to make a big issue of it. I hoped that they were just going to politely ask me to leave.
Instead the woman, another guest, said, “Here, let me pour that for you. It’s so much more special when someone else pours.” As my students would say, “True dat.”
Another waitress appeared and offered to take my dirty spoon and offer me a mini cheese burger that had been cut into quarters. I took one. Almost instantly I had the urge to chase her down and get three more. It was soooooo good.
The waitress that I originally encountered came by to ask me how I liked the Moito. I apologized to her because I just didn’t like it. “Tell me what you want. Tell me what you want and I will get it for you.” I decided on a raspberry martini and she told the bartender to make the best one he could so she could make it up to me that I didn’t like the Moito.
I took another sip of my champagne. I felt self conscious and out of place. The other women were younger than me and they all seemed to be clustered together. I wondered what time it was and how I was going to get back.
That’s when I chided myself for not having found out if there were any company representatives there. I had already figured out that this was a Suave party because there were Suave parties at various tables.
I spied the woman who’d poured my drink earlier. She was having her photo taken with that beautiful backdrop. I waited for the photograph to be over and then I wondered over to speak to her.
Most people who know me do not believe how difficult it is for me to talk to other people. I sometimes get myself so worked up that I almost feel like I will throw up. Having lived a life of being mocked and bullied throughout my school career and then surviving a violent marriage, I often believe that people have already written me off before the first words have been spoken. Sometimes it’s almost paralyzing and other times I wish I could walk around in a cloak of invisibility so that I did not have to interact with others.
Strange isn’t it that I would pick a career in education. I have to get up in front of an “audience” every day and keep their interest. I’m glad one of my teachers had pushed me to get into the drama club and the concert choir. I learned some coping mechanisms that help me but the fear still lingers. Over the years I have learned I’m not alone in this. There are many entertainers that still get bad attacks of stage fright too.
I smile and extend my hand to the woman as I introduce myself. I ask her if she knows if anyone is here from Suave. She assures me that there is and points to a lovely Asian woman with beautiful black hair. I tell myself I need to thank her for the party, tell her how wonderful it is, hand her my card as I make my pitch, and then ask for her card in return.
My stomach begins to knot and my heart to race. “What if she looks at my card and then realizes I wasn’t supposed to be here?” “Take chances.” I tell myself. “Take chances.” I’m always encouraging my kids, my husband, my students to take chances and now while my hands begin to sweat I remind myself that I should take chances too.
“Hi,” I say. “I’m Catherine C. and this is such a beautiful party.” She shakes my hand. In her left hand is a drink and I don’t know if I’m imagining that she’s looking right through me or at least over my shoulder in a disinterested way but that’s how I remember the interaction.
“You know,” I say. “I just LOVE Suave products. With Suave you don’t have to sacrifice quality for price.” Gosh do I really sound like a commercial? I reminded myself not to let the sentence hang in the wind. Let her know what I’m looking for. I’m looking for a company to sponsor giveaways on my site, to bring new readers to the bog I’m working so hard to create.
I pull out my card to hand it to her. “That’s why my readers love Suave. I have a thrifty living blog, ThriftyMaven.com, and your product is such a good fit because they know they can count on Suave to deliver salon quality products without breaking the bank.
Her hand barely misses mine as I try to hand her my card. “Well we really appreciate that and that’s why you were invited to come to this party.” She realizes then she didn’t get my card because she wasn’t paying attention. She takes it, eyeballs it for a second, and then thanks me for coming.
I have to be able to tell my students how I tried to do things that I was afraid of in order to build my “business”. I have to tell them how I approached people who might help me build my “business”. I stand there for a few moments reflecting what just occurred and realize that my audience with the rep was now over.
She has a life that I know nothing about. Perhaps she had a sick child at home but her boss required her to be there. Maybe she and her husband had an argument because she was required to attend this event. Maybe it was my imagination that she really wasn’t wanted to be anywhere else but here. Maybe the reason she was smiling and laughing with the two other women I saw her speaking with earlier is because she knows them. As always, I crawl back into myself and try to find a reason to gloss over a situation that didn’t go as I had hoped.
After all she wasn’t outright rude to me. I’m not certain how she might have acted any differently. It’s not like I expected her to grab my card and say, “Oh, you’re the Thrifty Maven. My friends and I go on your site EVERY DAY!!!! I’m so glad to meet you. Look we were looking for someone to run this great giveaway. It involves some Suave hair care products and a gift card. The Thrifty Maven would be PERFECT!!!”
I think what I was hoping for was for her to actually accept my card and perhaps glace at it. Everything else would have been icing on the cake.
The waitress comes around again with another round of tapas. I decline and polish off my martini. As I leave some asks me if I’m going. “Yes I have a couple of other parties to attend,” I reply. “My, aren’t you the party girl!” She says. “Why yes I am.” I say.
Little did I realize that’s exactly what I had become. In the spirit of BlogHer it seemed that the possibilities and opportunities were endless. I had such a full social schedule and one event seemed to flow into the next event almost seamlessly.
So it was that at about 6 PM or so I thought I’d take a little walk out towards the pier to get some photos. As I walked our the door there were several other Bloggers and a woman stood ahead of us in the street saying “Hurry! The trolley is getting ready to go to the Witt".
I had no clue what she was saying but I heard something about getting on the trolley and I thought maybe I could use it to catch the couple of blocks over to the Navy Pier. While I was making up my mind, the woman holding the sign urged me to hurry. “Hurry or you will miss the trolley.” Well I didn’t want to miss the trolley. If it wasn’t going where I wanted it to go perhaps I could catch it back to the hotel. I assumed it was running a circular route throughout the night.
The seven or eight other ladies all seemed to know each other and they chose to sit in the back of the trolley and chat. I decided to sit near the trolley driver to ask about the next stop. What I didn’t realize was that there really was no next stop. This was THE stop. We had arrived and almost as soon as we got there we were greeted by another woman with a sign who told us that we needed a ticket and then we would be admitted to the party.
The Witt is located at 2913 North Lincoln Avenue which was not so far away from the hotel that I actually needed a trolley ride. Then again if you have a few drinks in you you would be glad to have this transportation so you didn't have to walk around Chicago drunk in the dark.
I wasn’t sure what party this was but I did know that I had one scheduled for the House of Blues at 7 PM. Perhaps, I thought, this is another party I had heard about and didn’t need an RSVP to attend. Maybe this was a party that I had RSVPed. After all it seemed as though I had RSVPed EVERY party just about.
There were several of those and no one seemed to be checking IDs. A group of people waited behind a velvet rope for their turn to enter the club, but we simply handed them the ticket we’d been given and were whisked away to this exclusive party overlooking the city.
This was one of those “I wish Darryl was here moments.” The elevator stopped at the appointed floor and a beautiful young woman offered me a cucumber Mojito. “No thank you,” I said. “I don’t like Mojitos.”
“You should try these,” she said. Being of the mind of not ordering any drink you know you won’t like because you would be wasting money, I told her no again. She almost looked disappointed. So I said, “Look how much are they?” I figured I could afford a drink in my swanky new surroundings and I might as well order one I liked. I was even wondering if a raspberry martini, a vodka and tonic, or a Bloody Mary would be appropriate for the setting in which I found myself.
The waitress assured me that it was open bar so I grabbed on of the Mojitos on the off chance I might actually like them.
I sauntered over to one of the couches to gaze down at the city of Chicago. It was yet another moment that I said, “Wow. This is how the other half lives.” This was the point where it was truly driven home to me that I really didn’t belong here. This was a private party and only meant for a few people. I was now officially a party crasher.
Sweepstakes and contests have provided me with opportunities to try things and go places that I never would have dared dreamed about. Now it appeared that blogging was doing the same thing. It was a Breakfast at Tiffany’s moment where I wished I was young, and fabulous, and everyone could just see me now. I lifted the glass to my lips and tried it. “I didn’t like it.”
Almost at that exact moment a waitress approached me with a spoon that contained some cream cheese and some salmon. “Would you like one?” she asked. “Uh sure,” I said trying to act as though I’m used to dining on food like this in places like this.
“Wow!” I thought. “Darryl would just love that. He’d ask me if I could make it at home and I would remind him how much salmon with such beautiful color as that cost. I could almost see him scowl. He feels when I say that I’m judging him and his ability to provide. I would get the standard lecture about being so materialistic when in fact I’m just appreciating the uniqueness of the moment.
I spied a bottle of champagne and reached for it. This was the perfect beverage for sitting atop this building with the Magnificent Mile at my feet. Before I could place my hand on the bottle a woman came running over to me and took the bottle from my hand. Perhaps they realized now that I didn’t belong. I hoped that they weren’t going to make a big issue of it. I hoped that they were just going to politely ask me to leave.
Instead the woman, another guest, said, “Here, let me pour that for you. It’s so much more special when someone else pours.” As my students would say, “True dat.”
Another waitress appeared and offered to take my dirty spoon and offer me a mini cheese burger that had been cut into quarters. I took one. Almost instantly I had the urge to chase her down and get three more. It was soooooo good.
The waitress that I originally encountered came by to ask me how I liked the Moito. I apologized to her because I just didn’t like it. “Tell me what you want. Tell me what you want and I will get it for you.” I decided on a raspberry martini and she told the bartender to make the best one he could so she could make it up to me that I didn’t like the Moito.
I took another sip of my champagne. I felt self conscious and out of place. The other women were younger than me and they all seemed to be clustered together. I wondered what time it was and how I was going to get back.
That’s when I chided myself for not having found out if there were any company representatives there. I had already figured out that this was a Suave party because there were Suave parties at various tables.
I spied the woman who’d poured my drink earlier. She was having her photo taken with that beautiful backdrop. I waited for the photograph to be over and then I wondered over to speak to her.
Most people who know me do not believe how difficult it is for me to talk to other people. I sometimes get myself so worked up that I almost feel like I will throw up. Having lived a life of being mocked and bullied throughout my school career and then surviving a violent marriage, I often believe that people have already written me off before the first words have been spoken. Sometimes it’s almost paralyzing and other times I wish I could walk around in a cloak of invisibility so that I did not have to interact with others.
Strange isn’t it that I would pick a career in education. I have to get up in front of an “audience” every day and keep their interest. I’m glad one of my teachers had pushed me to get into the drama club and the concert choir. I learned some coping mechanisms that help me but the fear still lingers. Over the years I have learned I’m not alone in this. There are many entertainers that still get bad attacks of stage fright too.
I smile and extend my hand to the woman as I introduce myself. I ask her if she knows if anyone is here from Suave. She assures me that there is and points to a lovely Asian woman with beautiful black hair. I tell myself I need to thank her for the party, tell her how wonderful it is, hand her my card as I make my pitch, and then ask for her card in return.
My stomach begins to knot and my heart to race. “What if she looks at my card and then realizes I wasn’t supposed to be here?” “Take chances.” I tell myself. “Take chances.” I’m always encouraging my kids, my husband, my students to take chances and now while my hands begin to sweat I remind myself that I should take chances too.
“Hi,” I say. “I’m Catherine C. and this is such a beautiful party.” She shakes my hand. In her left hand is a drink and I don’t know if I’m imagining that she’s looking right through me or at least over my shoulder in a disinterested way but that’s how I remember the interaction.
“You know,” I say. “I just LOVE Suave products. With Suave you don’t have to sacrifice quality for price.” Gosh do I really sound like a commercial? I reminded myself not to let the sentence hang in the wind. Let her know what I’m looking for. I’m looking for a company to sponsor giveaways on my site, to bring new readers to the bog I’m working so hard to create.
I pull out my card to hand it to her. “That’s why my readers love Suave. I have a thrifty living blog, ThriftyMaven.com, and your product is such a good fit because they know they can count on Suave to deliver salon quality products without breaking the bank.
Her hand barely misses mine as I try to hand her my card. “Well we really appreciate that and that’s why you were invited to come to this party.” She realizes then she didn’t get my card because she wasn’t paying attention. She takes it, eyeballs it for a second, and then thanks me for coming.
I have to be able to tell my students how I tried to do things that I was afraid of in order to build my “business”. I have to tell them how I approached people who might help me build my “business”. I stand there for a few moments reflecting what just occurred and realize that my audience with the rep was now over.
She has a life that I know nothing about. Perhaps she had a sick child at home but her boss required her to be there. Maybe she and her husband had an argument because she was required to attend this event. Maybe it was my imagination that she really wasn’t wanted to be anywhere else but here. Maybe the reason she was smiling and laughing with the two other women I saw her speaking with earlier is because she knows them. As always, I crawl back into myself and try to find a reason to gloss over a situation that didn’t go as I had hoped.
After all she wasn’t outright rude to me. I’m not certain how she might have acted any differently. It’s not like I expected her to grab my card and say, “Oh, you’re the Thrifty Maven. My friends and I go on your site EVERY DAY!!!! I’m so glad to meet you. Look we were looking for someone to run this great giveaway. It involves some Suave hair care products and a gift card. The Thrifty Maven would be PERFECT!!!”
I think what I was hoping for was for her to actually accept my card and perhaps glace at it. Everything else would have been icing on the cake.
The waitress comes around again with another round of tapas. I decline and polish off my martini. As I leave some asks me if I’m going. “Yes I have a couple of other parties to attend,” I reply. “My, aren’t you the party girl!” She says. “Why yes I am.” I say.
Imagine Me An Expert
Here is what I learned about what was covered in the session I missed this morning, Business of You: Bloggers are Pioneers in a Post "Employee World." Sounds like it was interesting. I believe I can use some of this in my class.
Communicating Your Best
* How do you show up to meet other people?
* Understand your value before you pitch to others.
* How do you communicate your value?
* Think of 5 pitches to communicate within your community.
Getting the Business
* Focus on speaking engagements where people might be interested in your services. This enables you to build your profile and make you think about what you're doing and the message you want to send. Look at potential clients. It's business development. Be sure to find the right people in the room.
* Start local and tap into local networks. This can launch your global outreach.
* Writing is a small part of the work...getting freelance work is the 40 hr a week job.
* Virtual assistants will help with pitches.
* Protect your intellectual property.
Money Talk
* Have your strategic plan in place. How much will you charge and who is your audience.
* Look at what others are paying for sites like yours.
* Never take the first number they give you.
* Give a range in your proposal..."I can do this for that price and that for this price".
* Instead propose a package deal and add cushion. Focus on profit margin not hourly rate.
* Ask them "what's your budget? What are you thinking in price range".
* Ask the client what they value.
Communicating Your Best
* How do you show up to meet other people?
* Understand your value before you pitch to others.
* How do you communicate your value?
* Think of 5 pitches to communicate within your community.
Getting the Business
* Focus on speaking engagements where people might be interested in your services. This enables you to build your profile and make you think about what you're doing and the message you want to send. Look at potential clients. It's business development. Be sure to find the right people in the room.
* Start local and tap into local networks. This can launch your global outreach.
* Writing is a small part of the work...getting freelance work is the 40 hr a week job.
* Virtual assistants will help with pitches.
* Protect your intellectual property.
Money Talk
* Have your strategic plan in place. How much will you charge and who is your audience.
* Look at what others are paying for sites like yours.
* Never take the first number they give you.
* Give a range in your proposal..."I can do this for that price and that for this price".
* Instead propose a package deal and add cushion. Focus on profit margin not hourly rate.
* Ask them "what's your budget? What are you thinking in price range".
* Ask the client what they value.
Break Out Session Two - Getting Noticed
It is very easy to get lost when you are absolutely clueless and lack the map. This was the case for me when I went downstairs at 1:15 to try to Room of Your own: Your Blog is great, get people to know about it. Actually it wasn’t my first choice but I accidentally went to the wrong room trying to learn about the Business of You: Brands and Bloggers. What I found instead was a room that said Microsoft Spa. I signed up to have my make-up done the next day and I scheduled it for right after I had my hair done. I felt like a naughty school girl because it would appear that once again I would be skipping class.
By the time I made it to the Room of Your Own1: Your Blog is Great, Get People to Know About It I was one of about a dozen women standing in the hall straining to listen to the speakers. The acoustics of the room were not meant for the sound to carry into the hall making it difficult at best to hear what was being said.
The snatches of speech I heard were things that my husband had told me about. Things like the need to get someone to link to my site, checking google trends, and to comment on other people’s sites. I left in frustration after about fifteen minutes. Most of the women were either sitting on the floor almost blocking the door or leaning over the women who were on the floor. For a claustrophobic like me it was too much for me to bear.
I felt really bad about not being able to hear what was being said because the sntaches I did catch sounded like things that seemed to be working for these women and I wanted to know more about them. Thank goodness the basic notes for this session can be found here:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips from these ladies:
1. Don't write cute titles, instead use the keywords you think people would search on Google to find your article. For example a piece about a hotel suite should not be called "How Suite It Is" but rather "Best Suite Under $100 in Chicago."
2. Repeat those same keywords from the title in your first paragraph and throughout the article.
3. Helpful Web site for seeing what keywords people are searching for: Google Trends.
4. One of the things that affects your Google page rank is the ratio between outgoing links and incoming links. So if you add a large blogroll, which is great for community building, you might consider either linking to those blogs with "no follow" links (WordPress has a plug-in that allows you to do this, or you can add it to your page html manually by typing rel="nofollow" inside the link code.) Another solution is to create a static page for your blogroll.
5. Since getting links from other blogs improves your importance on Google, use some "link bait." Strategy one is by linking to others generously in your posts. Strategy two is by writing things others are likely to link to, like controversial posts or top 10 lists. For example, Annie's top post ever on PhD in Parenting combines the two tactics: "Cry It Out: 10 Reasons It Is Not For Us."
Social Networking Tips
1. Whether you are using StumbleUpon, Digg, Facebook or Twitter, do NOT only promote your own stuff. Be friendly and engage in the community. Some people advise to never Stumble your own stuff. On Twitter, chat with people, respond to them, retweet their links and Tweet about their blogs, IN ADDITION TO tweeting about your own posts.
2. It's OK to tweet about every post you write, as long as you engage in the community in other ways. Some people never go directly to blogs or use their blog readers -- they ONLY follow links on Twitter so if you don't tweet your own posts these people will not read read your blog.
3. Do you HAVE to follow everyone who follows you on Twitter, or follow a number of people close to your number of followers? Not all the panelists feel you must. Annie says she stopped following all followers when she got to a number that was as much as she could handle reading (she has 2800 followers and follows about half as many). She only follows people who chat with her and engage her. But Jessica says she still follows every single person who follows her even though she has 22,000 followers.
I found another HP room where you could upload video and photos on the new HP computers. Funny enough we actually have three of these computers. That’s because I won them last Christmas from a blog giveaway. I tried asking the people running the room some questions about my HP computer but they really had no clue how to help me. You see my laptop had crashed earlier this year and every since then I haven’t been able to use my picture drive. I’m not sure why that is but when I asked if they could help me figure out why it wasn’t working they said I’d have to buy a backup disk of some sort. This of course would erase my ITunes and my Microsoft Office.
The clock says 3:00 so I decide to pack it up and call it a day. Tomorrow I will behave better and more responsibly. Tomorrow I will go to all the sessions I tell myself. Then in the very next thought I remind myself that I have a hair and make-up appointment. In a world where once again I am the sole breadwinner of the household I feel special and pampered. It’s not to say that my husband doesn’t do nice things for me but these are things that I’d dare not spend our money on because it wouldn’t be the responsible thing to do. For the past couple of days I have not had to act responsible. In away it almost seems like my last opportunity to run away from being not just a grown up but from being mature. Do you remember people telling you to act more mature? Did you want to appear mature? It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
By the time I made it to the Room of Your Own1: Your Blog is Great, Get People to Know About It I was one of about a dozen women standing in the hall straining to listen to the speakers. The acoustics of the room were not meant for the sound to carry into the hall making it difficult at best to hear what was being said.
The snatches of speech I heard were things that my husband had told me about. Things like the need to get someone to link to my site, checking google trends, and to comment on other people’s sites. I left in frustration after about fifteen minutes. Most of the women were either sitting on the floor almost blocking the door or leaning over the women who were on the floor. For a claustrophobic like me it was too much for me to bear.
I felt really bad about not being able to hear what was being said because the sntaches I did catch sounded like things that seemed to be working for these women and I wanted to know more about them. Thank goodness the basic notes for this session can be found here:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips from these ladies:
1. Don't write cute titles, instead use the keywords you think people would search on Google to find your article. For example a piece about a hotel suite should not be called "How Suite It Is" but rather "Best Suite Under $100 in Chicago."
2. Repeat those same keywords from the title in your first paragraph and throughout the article.
3. Helpful Web site for seeing what keywords people are searching for: Google Trends.
4. One of the things that affects your Google page rank is the ratio between outgoing links and incoming links. So if you add a large blogroll, which is great for community building, you might consider either linking to those blogs with "no follow" links (WordPress has a plug-in that allows you to do this, or you can add it to your page html manually by typing rel="nofollow" inside the link code.) Another solution is to create a static page for your blogroll.
5. Since getting links from other blogs improves your importance on Google, use some "link bait." Strategy one is by linking to others generously in your posts. Strategy two is by writing things others are likely to link to, like controversial posts or top 10 lists. For example, Annie's top post ever on PhD in Parenting combines the two tactics: "Cry It Out: 10 Reasons It Is Not For Us."
Social Networking Tips
1. Whether you are using StumbleUpon, Digg, Facebook or Twitter, do NOT only promote your own stuff. Be friendly and engage in the community. Some people advise to never Stumble your own stuff. On Twitter, chat with people, respond to them, retweet their links and Tweet about their blogs, IN ADDITION TO tweeting about your own posts.
2. It's OK to tweet about every post you write, as long as you engage in the community in other ways. Some people never go directly to blogs or use their blog readers -- they ONLY follow links on Twitter so if you don't tweet your own posts these people will not read read your blog.
3. Do you HAVE to follow everyone who follows you on Twitter, or follow a number of people close to your number of followers? Not all the panelists feel you must. Annie says she stopped following all followers when she got to a number that was as much as she could handle reading (she has 2800 followers and follows about half as many). She only follows people who chat with her and engage her. But Jessica says she still follows every single person who follows her even though she has 22,000 followers.
I found another HP room where you could upload video and photos on the new HP computers. Funny enough we actually have three of these computers. That’s because I won them last Christmas from a blog giveaway. I tried asking the people running the room some questions about my HP computer but they really had no clue how to help me. You see my laptop had crashed earlier this year and every since then I haven’t been able to use my picture drive. I’m not sure why that is but when I asked if they could help me figure out why it wasn’t working they said I’d have to buy a backup disk of some sort. This of course would erase my ITunes and my Microsoft Office.
The clock says 3:00 so I decide to pack it up and call it a day. Tomorrow I will behave better and more responsibly. Tomorrow I will go to all the sessions I tell myself. Then in the very next thought I remind myself that I have a hair and make-up appointment. In a world where once again I am the sole breadwinner of the household I feel special and pampered. It’s not to say that my husband doesn’t do nice things for me but these are things that I’d dare not spend our money on because it wouldn’t be the responsible thing to do. For the past couple of days I have not had to act responsible. In away it almost seems like my last opportunity to run away from being not just a grown up but from being mature. Do you remember people telling you to act more mature? Did you want to appear mature? It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
The Ragu Lunch
My schedule said that this was the “Birds of a Feather” Lunch. It is to be held in the Sheraton Ballroom. You were supposed to find your blogging flock over lunch.
Already I’m in a bad place. I’ve not only missed that Speed Dating BlogHer style but now I’ve missed the morning’s breakout session. I had wanted to attend the Business of You seminar but I’d “spent too much time at the fair.” I knew no one and certainly I had no clue how to find my flock.
Perhaps it would have been easier if the name badges had been color coded. Then I could tell at a glance that someone was a food blogger or a mommy blogger. There were no tables that were marked GLT Bloggers or Political Bloggers. So I decided I would find a table, ask if they minded if I joined them and then try networking that way.
When I walked into the banquet room I noticed that a line with a HUGE bottle of Ragu at the end of a red carpet. The amazing thing about the Ragu bottle was that it was made entirely from vegetables sitting in pasta bowls. Speaking of vegetables the lovely centerpieces were also made of vegetables they use in their sauces. They used onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers
Each lady was allowed to walk down the red carpet; camera’s flashing and then takes a photo with the Ragu jar. Then it was over to the buffet table. I loved the fact that they chose to sponsor this meal because you got an idea about how tasty living within your budget can be. I really loved the upside down pizza and I can’t wait to make it for my husband.
I try to make myself take a seat at a table that’s already occupied as I walk to my table with salad and pasta in hand. The chairs were draped in spandex linen and the overall effect was striking. Habit took over as I proceeded to an empty table nearby. It’s an old trick. It keeps me from having to be the one to make the first awkward comment. Instead someone else will be the one who says, “Mind if I sit here and then I can invite them to sit and ask them about themselves.
I don’t’ have to wait too long. A woman approaches and asks if she can sit at my table and I smile a big smile. “Please sit. Hi. I’m Cathy and you are?” Self doubt is already beginning to rush forward. Did my greeting sound flat? Rehearsed? Maybe she just wants to eat and not be bothered.
She tells me her name and then we trade business cards. Almost as soon as we’ve spoken another woman joins us. She knows the other lady and I introduce myself to her. It turns out they are both food bloggers and dieticians. It appears I am not feathering my nest with people of my same genus.
I remind myself the lesson I learned when I was dating years ago. If you let the other people tell you about themselves and they will come away thinking you are great. So I ask questions and listen about their blogs. It’s great to talk to women around my age. It’s interesting to hear how their blogs came about. Then another woman joins us. Her name is Diana L. York. I remember that because I’m looking at her business card right now. She is the inventor of the slow cooker mate. You can make your whole meal in this one slow cooker.
Suddenly I forget my commitment to not speak out and I begin to bubble over about how exciting this was because I teach my students about having their own company. I complimented her about how much risk she took on to start her own business. I realized I sounded like a blithering idiot and so I shut my mouth when the next woman took her place at the table.
It turns out that she was with Amway. I tried not to let the name Amway color my impression of her. I just remember how it used to be when you had people calling you up and inviting you to their house but they wouldn’t tell you why they were inviting them. It was all so secretive and led you to believe you might be part of a pyramid scheme.
We talked about how Amway changed their name and tried to distance themselves from rogue reps. I did remember that the products were good and they were safe for the environment. Guess they were green before green was so cool.
We finished up lunch and I ran up to my room to try to get my blog ready for tomorrow. After all I still had some time before the afternoon's breakout sessions began.
Already I’m in a bad place. I’ve not only missed that Speed Dating BlogHer style but now I’ve missed the morning’s breakout session. I had wanted to attend the Business of You seminar but I’d “spent too much time at the fair.” I knew no one and certainly I had no clue how to find my flock.
Perhaps it would have been easier if the name badges had been color coded. Then I could tell at a glance that someone was a food blogger or a mommy blogger. There were no tables that were marked GLT Bloggers or Political Bloggers. So I decided I would find a table, ask if they minded if I joined them and then try networking that way.
When I walked into the banquet room I noticed that a line with a HUGE bottle of Ragu at the end of a red carpet. The amazing thing about the Ragu bottle was that it was made entirely from vegetables sitting in pasta bowls. Speaking of vegetables the lovely centerpieces were also made of vegetables they use in their sauces. They used onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers
Each lady was allowed to walk down the red carpet; camera’s flashing and then takes a photo with the Ragu jar. Then it was over to the buffet table. I loved the fact that they chose to sponsor this meal because you got an idea about how tasty living within your budget can be. I really loved the upside down pizza and I can’t wait to make it for my husband.
I try to make myself take a seat at a table that’s already occupied as I walk to my table with salad and pasta in hand. The chairs were draped in spandex linen and the overall effect was striking. Habit took over as I proceeded to an empty table nearby. It’s an old trick. It keeps me from having to be the one to make the first awkward comment. Instead someone else will be the one who says, “Mind if I sit here and then I can invite them to sit and ask them about themselves.
I don’t’ have to wait too long. A woman approaches and asks if she can sit at my table and I smile a big smile. “Please sit. Hi. I’m Cathy and you are?” Self doubt is already beginning to rush forward. Did my greeting sound flat? Rehearsed? Maybe she just wants to eat and not be bothered.
She tells me her name and then we trade business cards. Almost as soon as we’ve spoken another woman joins us. She knows the other lady and I introduce myself to her. It turns out they are both food bloggers and dieticians. It appears I am not feathering my nest with people of my same genus.
I remind myself the lesson I learned when I was dating years ago. If you let the other people tell you about themselves and they will come away thinking you are great. So I ask questions and listen about their blogs. It’s great to talk to women around my age. It’s interesting to hear how their blogs came about. Then another woman joins us. Her name is Diana L. York. I remember that because I’m looking at her business card right now. She is the inventor of the slow cooker mate. You can make your whole meal in this one slow cooker.
Suddenly I forget my commitment to not speak out and I begin to bubble over about how exciting this was because I teach my students about having their own company. I complimented her about how much risk she took on to start her own business. I realized I sounded like a blithering idiot and so I shut my mouth when the next woman took her place at the table.
It turns out that she was with Amway. I tried not to let the name Amway color my impression of her. I just remember how it used to be when you had people calling you up and inviting you to their house but they wouldn’t tell you why they were inviting them. It was all so secretive and led you to believe you might be part of a pyramid scheme.
We talked about how Amway changed their name and tried to distance themselves from rogue reps. I did remember that the products were good and they were safe for the environment. Guess they were green before green was so cool.
We finished up lunch and I ran up to my room to try to get my blog ready for tomorrow. After all I still had some time before the afternoon's breakout sessions began.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
HELP...Obama's Following Me!!!
President Barack Obama, was here in Chicago last night. Do you think he's following me? He went home briefly last night to raise $2 million for his party with a fundraising dinner at the home of business executive and campaign fundraising chief Penny Pritzker and a reception at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.
It turns out that this was the same hotel that was holding the Social Luxe Party. Wouldn't you know I was running late because of the Kraft Tour and I was trying to find out exactly where the Social Luxe Party was being held.
Either I looked like I was lost or perhaps I looked like some wild-eyed right wing fanatic as I wandered around looking for some sort of sign with an arrow pointing to my event because I was stopped in the lobby.
"Mame are you hear for Obama?" Is that a joke? I had no clue what he was talking about. I had no clue that Obama was going to be there. So the question threw me a little. Did this guy think I was Hillary? I guess we both do have short hair and wrinkles. "Obama?" I said. I must have sounded like a moron. Maybe he wondered if I was totally clueless and never heard the name of our President.
That's when I noticed the small sign that welcomed Obama home. Who knew? I guess everyone in Chicago knew but I certainly didn't. I was more interested in going to the Social Luxe party. No offense, but I was certain Obama was not there to give me any swag.
I finally got to where I was going and I'm glad I made it to the Social Luxe Party and got some GREAT Swag.
As I left with my HUGE bag in tow I met some more protests. These were three LaRouche protesters. CLUELESS! I asked if I could make a video of their protest and I wondered if one of them would like to talk for one minute to tell me about their protest. I got the impression that I might as well asked them to calculate the square root of the circumference of the earth multiplied by the distance the earth is from the sun.
They looked at each other. One of them wanted me to know that their sign had two sides. I promised I would video both sides. Then they looked at each other again, they talked, and told me again that their sign had two sides. I said, "Look I'll video the first side then you turn the sign around and then I will video the second side." The young man who was not part of the sign holding effort said he would talk but didn't know what I wanted to talk about. I repeated again. Tell me in one minute or less what you are protesting about.
I actually took the young man to task after the video, not because of his viewpoint because I had promised to let him have his say without editing his message. I just felt that you lose the argument when you call names and that he should work more on his message if he wants it to be effective. I think I detected an eye roll as he said, "I'm just telling the truth about Obama. He is a stupid whine baby."
The LaRouche people do want you to know about the Obama health care policy. According to the LaRouche people the establishment of an "independent board of doctors and health care experts" to make the life-and-death decisions of what care to provide and what not, based on cost-effectiveness criteria. They hearken it to the infamous "T-4" policy imposed by Adolf Hitler in 1939. The Nazi regime was tried and condemened at Nuremberg for the "T-4" policy.
It turns out that this was the same hotel that was holding the Social Luxe Party. Wouldn't you know I was running late because of the Kraft Tour and I was trying to find out exactly where the Social Luxe Party was being held.
Either I looked like I was lost or perhaps I looked like some wild-eyed right wing fanatic as I wandered around looking for some sort of sign with an arrow pointing to my event because I was stopped in the lobby.
"Mame are you hear for Obama?" Is that a joke? I had no clue what he was talking about. I had no clue that Obama was going to be there. So the question threw me a little. Did this guy think I was Hillary? I guess we both do have short hair and wrinkles. "Obama?" I said. I must have sounded like a moron. Maybe he wondered if I was totally clueless and never heard the name of our President.
That's when I noticed the small sign that welcomed Obama home. Who knew? I guess everyone in Chicago knew but I certainly didn't. I was more interested in going to the Social Luxe party. No offense, but I was certain Obama was not there to give me any swag.
I finally got to where I was going and I'm glad I made it to the Social Luxe Party and got some GREAT Swag.
As I left with my HUGE bag in tow I met some more protests. These were three LaRouche protesters. CLUELESS! I asked if I could make a video of their protest and I wondered if one of them would like to talk for one minute to tell me about their protest. I got the impression that I might as well asked them to calculate the square root of the circumference of the earth multiplied by the distance the earth is from the sun.
They looked at each other. One of them wanted me to know that their sign had two sides. I promised I would video both sides. Then they looked at each other again, they talked, and told me again that their sign had two sides. I said, "Look I'll video the first side then you turn the sign around and then I will video the second side." The young man who was not part of the sign holding effort said he would talk but didn't know what I wanted to talk about. I repeated again. Tell me in one minute or less what you are protesting about.
I actually took the young man to task after the video, not because of his viewpoint because I had promised to let him have his say without editing his message. I just felt that you lose the argument when you call names and that he should work more on his message if he wants it to be effective. I think I detected an eye roll as he said, "I'm just telling the truth about Obama. He is a stupid whine baby."
The LaRouche people do want you to know about the Obama health care policy. According to the LaRouche people the establishment of an "independent board of doctors and health care experts" to make the life-and-death decisions of what care to provide and what not, based on cost-effectiveness criteria. They hearken it to the infamous "T-4" policy imposed by Adolf Hitler in 1939. The Nazi regime was tried and condemened at Nuremberg for the "T-4" policy.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
BlogHer Day One
The great people at Kraft Foods have sponsored my trip to Chicago and I can't begin to tell you how wonderful this trip as has been so far. I can't honestly say that I'd ever been on vacation all by myself in my whole life. Vacations have always been a family oriented event and I'll admit I was a little nervous about leaving Mr. Thrifty behind. Then again, someone had to take care of our dogs.
The flight to Chicago went off without at hitch. As a matter of fact not only did Kevin, the WONDERFUL rep from Weber Shandwick, did such a great job of planning my trip out here I felt like a Super-Star. (Everyone should have a Kevin!) While I'm not certain he had anything to do with how short the lines were at security, I'd like to believe he was. I'd also like to believe that he was responsible for getting such a great seat on the plane. Not only was I sitting on a window seat but I had the whole row to myself. The flight went smoothly and I even got some reading in on the flight.
When I arrived at the airport, I headed straight for the baggage claim. The driver that Kevin had arranged was waiting for me right at the gate. (Note to self. Ask Mr. Thrifty for my very own Kevin). My driver was so nice and helpful. I was brought to my car with tinted glass which fit my new rock star status.
When the car arrived at the Sheraton I just couldn't believe that a company would be willing to do all this for me. I knew I loved Kraft before but now I'm contemplating having a heart with the word Kraft Foods tattooed on my ankle. (Well maybe not tattooed but I do love Kraft.) Everyone at the hotel was helpful and friendly.
You should see my room. I'm staying on the 24th floor and the room is pure luxury. I'm within walking distance of the Magnificent Mile and the Navy Pier. It's close to just about everything you'd want to see in downtown Chicago. I also have internet access in my room.
Thursday is the day scheduled for my tour of the Kraft Kitchens. I look forward to receiving their magazine every month and then making many of the recipes contained in the magazine. So for this Mom who loves to cook this opportunity is actually a trip of a lifetime. You should have seen my Mom's expression when I told her I was going. For years she told me that if I kept eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese I would turn into Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I guess my obsession with all things Kraft (especially stove top stuffing) did turn me into a Kraft Fan Forever.
I think that some companies recognize that product loyalty is won in small increments by providing consistently good products but also in showing they care about their customers by reaching out with their magazine, their website, providing coupons, corporate outreach (like with Crystal Light's Global Water Challenge), running contests, sweepstakes, and listening to customer feedback.
I don't think that I can thank the people at Kraft Foods enough. I hope to learn many things that I can take home to my students. I am looking forward to telling you more about my trip.
After I checked into my hotel I headed down to the Concierge desk to find out how to get to the local Hair Cuttery. I used to have a Hair Cuttery near me but no more. That would be all well and good except I had a gift certificate that Darryl had won for me last year and I hadn't been able to use it.
Darryl had written this really nice essay about how I deserved a make-over and his essay was chosen the winner. The prize had included a $125 gift certificate for a makeover from Hair Cuttery. I decided to check online to see if there was on in Chicago and there was one. I quickly put away my suitcases and headed off to catch a bus to Randolph Street. There I had my hair dyed and foiled for a frisky new look. I didn't need a hair cut and since I normally dye my own hair I think I was a bit shocked at the sticker price for having this work down at a salon. It cost me $110 for all that. I just can't imagine spending that kind of money on my hair every day. Still it was a treat and one that I might never have had if it wasn't for my darling husband.
After two hours in the salon I took the bus back to my hotel and took a little walk down the Magnificent Mile. Lots going on down there. I even had a couple of interesting conversations with a protester and an activist. Ah the city, makes me miss DC. We just don't have all those huge buildings in DC or Rome, GA for that matter.
I actually heard the protesters before I saw them. I heard some music and wondered what was going on. As I got closer I realized that there was a protest going on. Turns out that NBC does not treat their employees right. I was all over the story. I noticed that a couple of the local city officials were there being interviewed by the local news. That's the moment I said, "Hey wait. I'm a blogger. Bloggers can report what's going on. No scratch that bloggers report what's going on."
I decided to ask one of the protesters and almost immediately I realized that I might not be on top of my game. I prefer planning out what I'm going to say. This was spur of the moment and I had no background whatsoever on the story I was covering. Can we say rookie mistake?
I asked one of the women participating in the protest and almost immediately she invaded my personal space. We were so close we almost touched and I had to tell her that she was too close to the camera. It turns out the people she's striking with have been working for four months without a contract. I asked her a couple of questions and she was obviously very anxious to let me know her viewpoint. I think it kind of amazed me that someone who didn't know me would be willing to talk to my little pink Vado Video Camera and treat me like she thought I was some journalist.
After speaking with her I felt a little empowered. Would everyone be so willing to speak to a handheld camera? I found out when I talked to the Green Peace Activist. Originally he wanted money which I didn't have. I have a husband who is unemployed thank you very much. He originally called me over saying, "You look like you care about the earth."
Honestly, at first I wondered if there was just something about me. Just a few weeks ago, Darryl and I had checked out some cars at a local dealership and the salesman actually asked us if we were "tree huggers". I wondered what would cause him to ask that. Darryl thought it was his sandals. I thought it was my tie-dye tee shirt with the peace symbol. We both missed part of the equation. You see the salesman had told us that while those things played into his question we were also the only couple to ever show up on his lot so concerned about the mileage of the cars we were looking at and asking about the cash for clunkers deal.
When the Green Peace guy said I looked like I cared about the earth I wondered what made him think I did or was that simply his pick up line. I suppose it was my peasant skirt which gave me a bit of a bohemian look. More than likely it was the fact that I was carrying an organic cotton carry all that said Earth on it with a stencil of two elephants on it. I had won the carry all from a blog giveaway a few months ago and I brought it to help me carry swag.
He and I discussed Al Gore, derivatives, carbon credits their founder's belief in Nuclear power, and about how Green Peace does not back Obama's Cap and trade policy. I think he was a little surprised that some random woman on the street actually knew something about Green Peace or their agenda.
So even though I didn't give Mr. Green Peace any money I did allow him to tell me about a cause that Green Peace is involved in and that he wanted others to know about. It's nice to be young and have a passion burning in your heart. Once again I was surprised at someone's willingness to talk to my Vado Video camera.
My Green Peace friend was taken in by the "fact" that Al Gore is donating "All his money back to the cause" This is not quite true and here's a little background on that.
Former Vice President Al Gore has built a Green money-making machine capable of eventually generating billions of dollars for investors, including himself, but he set it up so that the average Joe can't afford to play on Gore's terms. And the US portion is headed up by a former Gore staffer and fund raiser who previously ran afoul of both the FEC and the DOJ, before Janet Reno jumped in and shut down an investigation during the Clinton years.
Here is how Gore buys his "carbon offsets," as revealed by The Tennessean raises serious questions. According to the newspaper's report, Gore buys his carbon offsets through Generation Investment Management:
Gore helped found Generation Investment Management, through which he and others pay for offsets. The firm invests the money in solar, wind and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe...
Gore is chairman of the firm and, presumably, draws an income or will make money as its investments prosper. In other words, he "buys" his "carbon offsets" from himself, through a transaction designed to boost his own investments and return a profit to himself. To be blunt, Gore doesn't buy "carbon offsets" through Generation Investment Management - he buys stocks.
Here's a list indicating what it takes to make money along with Al. Funds associated with these companies have placed millions of dollars under Al Gore's control. And, as you'll see below, Gore's selection for the US President of GIM might raise a few eyebrows as well.
AFLAC INC - AQUANTIVE INC - AUTODESK INC - BECTON DICKINSON & CO BLACKBAUD INC - GENERAL ELECTRIC CO - GREENHILL & CO INC - JOHNSON CTLS INC - LABORATORY CORP AMER HLDGS - METABOLIX INC - NORTHERN TR CORP - NUVEEN INVTS INC -STAPLES INC - SYSCO CORP - TECHNE CORP - UBS AG - VCA ANTECH INC - WATERS CORP - WHOLE FOODS MKT INC
According to their own documents, GIM intends to invest in, or buy companies poised to cash in on Global Warming concerns.
Putting this in perspective, for years the mainstream media have posited that George W. Bush (oh almost forgot EVIL George W. Bush) started war with Iraq to benefit the company Vice President Dick Cheney used to run, Halliburton, as well as Bush’s oil tycoon friends. It almost seemed you couldn't find a reporter who couldn't find a way to introduce Cheney without mentioning his ties to Halliburton.
Yet, as the former Vice President continues to plug global warming as a coming crisis in need of immediate attention, the same media completely ignore his obvious financial conflicts of interest.
If Gore's motivation in pushing Global Warming is so altruistic, was it really necessarily for the already wealthy Gore to establish a multi-million dollar corporation in England to cash in? And given the history of Gore and Knight, are these people we should trust to drive a re-vamping of the world economy at the same time they're lining their pockets because of our much smaller carbon footprints?
Then again this is why I like reading on both sides of the spectrum. I've always heard there are three sides to every story, his, hers, and the truth. Neither the far right no the far left have a real grip of what's real that isn't clouded by their bias. So Green Peace guy, because I know you are reading this, see what happens when you talk to some old lady walking down the street with a Disney Earth bag?
I also tried to get a little of the "Obama is the Russian's Puppet" guy but I decided not to interview him because I felt that would be exploitative.
Dinner tonight was the Cheesecake Factory. Anyone who does not believe that sweepstakes influence your buying decision must not know the people I know. We tend to be loyal to companies that regularly have sweepstakes and contests. For the last several weeks I have been entering a contest/sweepstakes that was sponsored by the Cheesecake Factory. You had to write an essay in the contest portion of the promotion but you had the opportunity to win a gift card instantly.
I did NOT win. Every day, day after day I would go to that site to play the instant portion of the game and every day I'd say, wow that really looks good. So I made a conscious decision to throw caution to the wind and despite my thrifty challenge I purchased lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. What a lunch it was. I ordered a Southwestern Salad and it was so huge I was too full to eat dinner tonight. I had also ordered a margarita and a cheesecake. I had to take the piece of cheesecake with me along with half of my salad.
Finally I have a sad death to report. Gidget, the chihuahua from Taco Bell and Legally Blonde passed away. She was 15 years old. Quoting the dog’s owner, Karen McElhatton, as saying Gidget “lived like a queen” and “had a great life.” I hope wherever you are Gidget you can always head for the border for some tacos.
So tomorrow's the big day and I can hardly wait. Come back tomorrow to find out what I learned
Thanks for stopping by and let me know if there's anything you want to tell the people at Kraft Foods.
The flight to Chicago went off without at hitch. As a matter of fact not only did Kevin, the WONDERFUL rep from Weber Shandwick, did such a great job of planning my trip out here I felt like a Super-Star. (Everyone should have a Kevin!) While I'm not certain he had anything to do with how short the lines were at security, I'd like to believe he was. I'd also like to believe that he was responsible for getting such a great seat on the plane. Not only was I sitting on a window seat but I had the whole row to myself. The flight went smoothly and I even got some reading in on the flight.
When I arrived at the airport, I headed straight for the baggage claim. The driver that Kevin had arranged was waiting for me right at the gate. (Note to self. Ask Mr. Thrifty for my very own Kevin). My driver was so nice and helpful. I was brought to my car with tinted glass which fit my new rock star status.
When the car arrived at the Sheraton I just couldn't believe that a company would be willing to do all this for me. I knew I loved Kraft before but now I'm contemplating having a heart with the word Kraft Foods tattooed on my ankle. (Well maybe not tattooed but I do love Kraft.) Everyone at the hotel was helpful and friendly.
You should see my room. I'm staying on the 24th floor and the room is pure luxury. I'm within walking distance of the Magnificent Mile and the Navy Pier. It's close to just about everything you'd want to see in downtown Chicago. I also have internet access in my room.
Thursday is the day scheduled for my tour of the Kraft Kitchens. I look forward to receiving their magazine every month and then making many of the recipes contained in the magazine. So for this Mom who loves to cook this opportunity is actually a trip of a lifetime. You should have seen my Mom's expression when I told her I was going. For years she told me that if I kept eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese I would turn into Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I guess my obsession with all things Kraft (especially stove top stuffing) did turn me into a Kraft Fan Forever.
I think that some companies recognize that product loyalty is won in small increments by providing consistently good products but also in showing they care about their customers by reaching out with their magazine, their website, providing coupons, corporate outreach (like with Crystal Light's Global Water Challenge), running contests, sweepstakes, and listening to customer feedback.
I don't think that I can thank the people at Kraft Foods enough. I hope to learn many things that I can take home to my students. I am looking forward to telling you more about my trip.
After I checked into my hotel I headed down to the Concierge desk to find out how to get to the local Hair Cuttery. I used to have a Hair Cuttery near me but no more. That would be all well and good except I had a gift certificate that Darryl had won for me last year and I hadn't been able to use it.
Darryl had written this really nice essay about how I deserved a make-over and his essay was chosen the winner. The prize had included a $125 gift certificate for a makeover from Hair Cuttery. I decided to check online to see if there was on in Chicago and there was one. I quickly put away my suitcases and headed off to catch a bus to Randolph Street. There I had my hair dyed and foiled for a frisky new look. I didn't need a hair cut and since I normally dye my own hair I think I was a bit shocked at the sticker price for having this work down at a salon. It cost me $110 for all that. I just can't imagine spending that kind of money on my hair every day. Still it was a treat and one that I might never have had if it wasn't for my darling husband.
After two hours in the salon I took the bus back to my hotel and took a little walk down the Magnificent Mile. Lots going on down there. I even had a couple of interesting conversations with a protester and an activist. Ah the city, makes me miss DC. We just don't have all those huge buildings in DC or Rome, GA for that matter.
I actually heard the protesters before I saw them. I heard some music and wondered what was going on. As I got closer I realized that there was a protest going on. Turns out that NBC does not treat their employees right. I was all over the story. I noticed that a couple of the local city officials were there being interviewed by the local news. That's the moment I said, "Hey wait. I'm a blogger. Bloggers can report what's going on. No scratch that bloggers report what's going on."
I decided to ask one of the protesters and almost immediately I realized that I might not be on top of my game. I prefer planning out what I'm going to say. This was spur of the moment and I had no background whatsoever on the story I was covering. Can we say rookie mistake?
I asked one of the women participating in the protest and almost immediately she invaded my personal space. We were so close we almost touched and I had to tell her that she was too close to the camera. It turns out the people she's striking with have been working for four months without a contract. I asked her a couple of questions and she was obviously very anxious to let me know her viewpoint. I think it kind of amazed me that someone who didn't know me would be willing to talk to my little pink Vado Video Camera and treat me like she thought I was some journalist.
After speaking with her I felt a little empowered. Would everyone be so willing to speak to a handheld camera? I found out when I talked to the Green Peace Activist. Originally he wanted money which I didn't have. I have a husband who is unemployed thank you very much. He originally called me over saying, "You look like you care about the earth."
Honestly, at first I wondered if there was just something about me. Just a few weeks ago, Darryl and I had checked out some cars at a local dealership and the salesman actually asked us if we were "tree huggers". I wondered what would cause him to ask that. Darryl thought it was his sandals. I thought it was my tie-dye tee shirt with the peace symbol. We both missed part of the equation. You see the salesman had told us that while those things played into his question we were also the only couple to ever show up on his lot so concerned about the mileage of the cars we were looking at and asking about the cash for clunkers deal.
When the Green Peace guy said I looked like I cared about the earth I wondered what made him think I did or was that simply his pick up line. I suppose it was my peasant skirt which gave me a bit of a bohemian look. More than likely it was the fact that I was carrying an organic cotton carry all that said Earth on it with a stencil of two elephants on it. I had won the carry all from a blog giveaway a few months ago and I brought it to help me carry swag.
He and I discussed Al Gore, derivatives, carbon credits their founder's belief in Nuclear power, and about how Green Peace does not back Obama's Cap and trade policy. I think he was a little surprised that some random woman on the street actually knew something about Green Peace or their agenda.
So even though I didn't give Mr. Green Peace any money I did allow him to tell me about a cause that Green Peace is involved in and that he wanted others to know about. It's nice to be young and have a passion burning in your heart. Once again I was surprised at someone's willingness to talk to my Vado Video camera.
My Green Peace friend was taken in by the "fact" that Al Gore is donating "All his money back to the cause" This is not quite true and here's a little background on that.
Former Vice President Al Gore has built a Green money-making machine capable of eventually generating billions of dollars for investors, including himself, but he set it up so that the average Joe can't afford to play on Gore's terms. And the US portion is headed up by a former Gore staffer and fund raiser who previously ran afoul of both the FEC and the DOJ, before Janet Reno jumped in and shut down an investigation during the Clinton years.
Here is how Gore buys his "carbon offsets," as revealed by The Tennessean raises serious questions. According to the newspaper's report, Gore buys his carbon offsets through Generation Investment Management:
Gore helped found Generation Investment Management, through which he and others pay for offsets. The firm invests the money in solar, wind and other projects that reduce energy consumption around the globe...
Gore is chairman of the firm and, presumably, draws an income or will make money as its investments prosper. In other words, he "buys" his "carbon offsets" from himself, through a transaction designed to boost his own investments and return a profit to himself. To be blunt, Gore doesn't buy "carbon offsets" through Generation Investment Management - he buys stocks.
Here's a list indicating what it takes to make money along with Al. Funds associated with these companies have placed millions of dollars under Al Gore's control. And, as you'll see below, Gore's selection for the US President of GIM might raise a few eyebrows as well.
AFLAC INC - AQUANTIVE INC - AUTODESK INC - BECTON DICKINSON & CO BLACKBAUD INC - GENERAL ELECTRIC CO - GREENHILL & CO INC - JOHNSON CTLS INC - LABORATORY CORP AMER HLDGS - METABOLIX INC - NORTHERN TR CORP - NUVEEN INVTS INC -STAPLES INC - SYSCO CORP - TECHNE CORP - UBS AG - VCA ANTECH INC - WATERS CORP - WHOLE FOODS MKT INC
According to their own documents, GIM intends to invest in, or buy companies poised to cash in on Global Warming concerns.
Putting this in perspective, for years the mainstream media have posited that George W. Bush (oh almost forgot EVIL George W. Bush) started war with Iraq to benefit the company Vice President Dick Cheney used to run, Halliburton, as well as Bush’s oil tycoon friends. It almost seemed you couldn't find a reporter who couldn't find a way to introduce Cheney without mentioning his ties to Halliburton.
Yet, as the former Vice President continues to plug global warming as a coming crisis in need of immediate attention, the same media completely ignore his obvious financial conflicts of interest.
If Gore's motivation in pushing Global Warming is so altruistic, was it really necessarily for the already wealthy Gore to establish a multi-million dollar corporation in England to cash in? And given the history of Gore and Knight, are these people we should trust to drive a re-vamping of the world economy at the same time they're lining their pockets because of our much smaller carbon footprints?
Then again this is why I like reading on both sides of the spectrum. I've always heard there are three sides to every story, his, hers, and the truth. Neither the far right no the far left have a real grip of what's real that isn't clouded by their bias. So Green Peace guy, because I know you are reading this, see what happens when you talk to some old lady walking down the street with a Disney Earth bag?
I also tried to get a little of the "Obama is the Russian's Puppet" guy but I decided not to interview him because I felt that would be exploitative.
Dinner tonight was the Cheesecake Factory. Anyone who does not believe that sweepstakes influence your buying decision must not know the people I know. We tend to be loyal to companies that regularly have sweepstakes and contests. For the last several weeks I have been entering a contest/sweepstakes that was sponsored by the Cheesecake Factory. You had to write an essay in the contest portion of the promotion but you had the opportunity to win a gift card instantly.
I did NOT win. Every day, day after day I would go to that site to play the instant portion of the game and every day I'd say, wow that really looks good. So I made a conscious decision to throw caution to the wind and despite my thrifty challenge I purchased lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. What a lunch it was. I ordered a Southwestern Salad and it was so huge I was too full to eat dinner tonight. I had also ordered a margarita and a cheesecake. I had to take the piece of cheesecake with me along with half of my salad.
Finally I have a sad death to report. Gidget, the chihuahua from Taco Bell and Legally Blonde passed away. She was 15 years old. Quoting the dog’s owner, Karen McElhatton, as saying Gidget “lived like a queen” and “had a great life.” I hope wherever you are Gidget you can always head for the border for some tacos.
So tomorrow's the big day and I can hardly wait. Come back tomorrow to find out what I learned
Thanks for stopping by and let me know if there's anything you want to tell the people at Kraft Foods.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
We WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Around noon today Darryl and I both received emails saying that we each won a flip video camera from Huddle House. I'm so thrilled. This means that we can give one to Dan and one to Mike for Christmas this year. I can do that because today Darryl's new Flip HD video came today. We received that for doing a review with BlogSpark.
Tomorrow I leave for Chicago. I'm a little nervous but very excited too. I'm going to keep this post short because I have lots of things to do.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Do You Have To Pass The Queer Test To Go?
As I said in a previous post I am very excited about going to the BlogHer conference. I've really never been to a conference before. I've been to educational seminars with all their little breakout sessions but at the end of the day you were on your own. I didn't realize that BlogHer was so much more than just breakout session and learning how to improve your blog.
I suppose it's because BlogHer is a woman centered event that it's only natural that there would be so many opportunities to network and socialize. Being full of youthful enthusiasm I decided to sign up for almost EVERY party there is. Think "Audrey Hepburn" circa "Breakfast at Tiffany's". I'm just a party girl. Maybe even a Barbie girl in a Barbie World. I was going to be a regular party girl until I fell asleep per Eastern Standard Time. I felt that there was something to learn and much to learn about by going to each of the parties.
When going through the list of parties I saw the invitation to the Sweet & Out Loud Party! Hey, I'm sweet and I've been told I'm loud. Maybe I should sign up for that one too. With just a few clicks of the mouse and very little reading I was "IN" and not Out. The Party is scheduled for Friday July 24, 2009 at 8:30 PM at the Crimson Lounge in Hotel Sax. Heck they even told me that the party wouldn't be a party without me. How true. How true.
I went to bed that night and the next day began sending all the information that needed to be printed out for my trip to my husband so he could print them out all at the same time next week. Now I really began reading more about the parties I would be attending. I was trying to get an idea of what to wear and what I might learn at each of the parties.
It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that I was now entering the "Queerosphere." Stop right here. Before I go any further I want to say that this was a quandary for me. Did this mean that the party was only for GLBTQ? If so then I needed to let them know that I wasn't eligible. Could I come to the party if my nephew is Gay? He came out to the family a couple of years ago and I was there for him and let him know that he is always first and foremost loved. Could I go if I've had several Lesbian students in the past who tell me I'm the bestest teacher EVER? Does it sound trite if I said "I had a friend who is gay." Can my hair dresser who is "Out" testify as to my character?
Certainly there was no such things as a "Queer Test". Would they just let me go so I can meet new people and make new friends? Can I still enter for a chance to win a Sweet Cruise for my husband and I if the trip is being given away in the Queerosphere?
I need not have worried. Here's Sweet's policy on that: they sweetly welcome anyone who wants to be in a lesbian-centered environment for a week. I don't have any problems with that. Actually I'm a bit Sweet on the idea of a cruise.
Now a little more about the cruise:
Sweet Caribbean Cruise for Two: Value $4,598
Sweet, the lesbian travel company with a twist, is offering a balcony stateroom for two on our Caribbean Cruise, Nov. 8-15, 2009, aboard the Norwegian Spirit . Merging the best of lesbian travel with social and environmental awareness, Sweet aims to make the world a better place while having a blast in it.
The largest lesbian cruise ever will depart from New Orleans where we will pitch in with the post-Katrina relief effort by day and party on Bourbon Street by night. From New Orleans, we sail to gorgeous Costa Maya, Mexico, fabulous Belize City, Belize, scuba and snorkeling wonderland Roatan, Honduras, and stunning Cozumel, Mexico. For your entertainment, we're bringing Suzanne Westenhoefer, Erin Foley, Gloria Bigelow, Sandra Valls, Edie Carey and Jen Foster. We'll host off-the-hook Club Skirts (makers of the legendary Dinah Shore) tea dances, theme parties and events.
It includes all of your accommodations, port taxes, gratuities and fuel surcharges for our 7-night cruise. It does not include round trip transportation to New Orleans, lodging before or after the cruise, transportation to or from the port, specialty meals, alcohol or specialty beverages, spa treatments, shore excursions or other on-board expenditures
If you are going to BlogHer too don't forget to submit all of your entries using this form. You're not in until you've submitted each of your entries. If you've already submitted once and then score another entry, just submit a second form. Keep 'em coming.
It's official now because I received an email about the dress code for the event. So here's the message of the day:
"I'm attending the Queerosphere's Sweet & OUT Loud Party, and I'm entered to win a cruise for two from Sweet, a lesbian travel with a twist."
Friday, June 5, 2009
Today's The Day
Today's the day I can finally annouce what I won. I know one of my fellow Peach Sweepers checks my blog. I want to post it there but then again I want to be able to tell everyone about my Hall of Fame win so I will post it here and some people will know ahead of time.
Congratulations to Catherine C. from Cartersville, GA! She is the Grand Prize winner of the STOVE TOP Dinner Challenge! Catherine put together a quick and delicious weeknight recipe to warm up her family for less than $10 and won a trip to BlogHer '09 plus a $1,000 grocery gift card. I am so thrilled
Well another person left my website but at least she was very nice so I didn't boo hoo. Here's what she said:
Sorry, but I need to unsubscribe from your newsletter. I couldn't find a
place on the site to do it. You do a great job, but I just have too many
e-mails right now. It worked out fine because I got eight more people sign up for membership.
Today I made a video that I hope to put on ThriftyMaven on Sunday about how your can save money by getting your hair cut at a beauty school. The guy who cut my hair today did a GREAT job. I was really happy with it.
Here are the blog contests I entered today:
Prize: Father's Day Fortune Cookie (ARV $29.95)
Prize: JVC Everio GZ-MG 630 camcorder (ARV $429.95).
Prize: JVC Everio GZ-MG 630 camcorder (ARV $429.95).
Prize: 100 personalized fortune cookies in choice of flavor from Fancy Fortune Cookies.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Shameless Promotion And Vote Begging
One of the things i was planning to do on my site was start a series of articles about contests and sweepstakes. I figured I'd do that this summer when work wasn't as pressing. Then I received word that I'm one of the eight FINALISTS for a recipe contest. The grand prize would be a trip to the BlogHer Conference. Don't get me wrong, that would be an amazing experience and I would be able to learn things I could bring back to my students. What I'm hoping to win is one of the $500 gift cards for FREE groceries.
This puts the ThriftyMaven in a bit of a peculiar situation. In order to win I need votes. Vote contests are my least favorite contests beause you have to beg and plead with friends and strangers to vote for your entry. I'm asking you to consider helping out a starving blogger by voting for my recipe.
So in a big departure from my normal format I'm begging, pleading, crawling on hands and knees for you to go to:
http://www.blogher.com/vote-best-recipe-stove-top-dinner-challenge
and vote for my recipe
Thanks ahead of time.
Friday, May 1, 2009
An Exciting BlogHer Giveaway
You have a chance to win Three nights at the Chicago Sheraton.
Did I mention it's not just three nights at the Chicago Sheraton? They are giving away a three-night, executive-perk stay at for the nights of July 23-25. Those nights include the night before the BlogHer conference begins, plus the two nights of the conference, and the room they've reserved for our winner is on the hotel's Executive Club Level, with no strings attached - no rack rate, no taxes, no access fees, just a free three-night stay at one of Chicago's top hotels.
The Executive Club Level offers access to a bi-level lounge which features not just "breathtaking views" but daily complimentary breakfasts, evening hors d'oeurves, and snacks and beverages throughout the day, plus free high-speed internet access, PC and Mac workstations, office supplies, and massage chairs. (The lefthand photo above was taken in the Club Level lounge.) Club Level guests also have access to an executive health club, free in-room high-speed internet (standard room residents pay a daily fee), 60 minutes of free local calls (did you know hotels charge for that now?), "plush robes," turndown service, free mouthwash, etc. etc.
Oh I see. Now you're interested in how you can win aren't you. Well I am too. It's a random drawing giveaway with two chances to win.
You can blog about the contest and you can twitter about the contest.
When you blog about the contest you link to the post just like I'm doing.
Your tweet is already written for you so you don't have to think in 140 characters or less.
Entries for this giveaway until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on May 1
Good luck to you. I'd love to go too so remember if you win, I'm willing to be your guest.
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