Unless this is the first time you’ve been to my blog or you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, then you’ve probably heard me mention a time or ten that I was going to the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston, TX.  Well, the Summit was this past weekend and I am sitting her trying to collect all of my thoughts.  Here goes!

First, I’m not even sure how to convey how significant this conference is.  The level of speakers at Mom 2.0 this year was just amazing, but more about that in a minute.  In the simplest of terms, being at Mom 2.0 and listening to those speakers, talking with them, asking them questions would be like meeting an author that has inspired you or meeting your favorite athlete.  Or, if you are an aspiring actor, like meeting one of the greats.  Does that help?

The Speakers

AH-MAZING!  The keynote speakers for both days included Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project), Heloise, Heather Armstrong (dooce.com), Maggie Mason (mightygirl.com), and Gabrielle Blair (designmom.com).  I know!  I could have sat and listened to Saturday’s keynote panel all day!  They were that good! Even my husband was impressed!!!

And the speakers during the breakout sessions weren’t too shabby either — Gwen Bell, Rebecca Woolf, Ciaran Blumenfeld, Karen Walrond, Allison Czarnecki, Isabel Kallman, Jenny Lawson, Marie LeBaron, and Jyl Johnson Pattee…just to name a few. The amount of knowledge these and the other fabulous speakers were willing to share was invaluable!  They spoke on everything from working with ad agencies and PR to photography and creating community.

The best part about these women is that, no matter how famous or popular they are or how huge their blogs are, they are so down to earth.  They have no problem answering questions and talking to even the smallest of bloggers (ahem, me) or posing for a picture.

(me with Maggie Mason — Mighty Girl, @Maggie)

The Lessons

This is going to be tough but I’m going to just do some bullet points of things I took away from the sessions I attended.  If anything peaks your interest, let me know.  I’d be happy to chat more with you about them!

• Different people want your blog in different ways — use email, video, photography, Twitter, and other Social Media outlets
• Trademark your blog name and logo.  Copyright your material.
• When doing PR and advertising campaigns, select brands that fit with your blog.  Don’t change your blog to fit their brand.  And make sure the value is equal on both sides!
• Engage with others
• The FTC is not out to get bloggers but be smart and disclose.
• Numbers, subscribers, followers, and stats are not the whole picture.  Think quality, not quantity.
• Product reviews and blanket advertising is becoming a thing of the past.  Advertisers are beginning to embrace the rawness and artfulness of “those crazy bloggers” and involving them in campaigns — Heather Armstrong
• Focus on content campaigns — Maggie Mason
• Is your blog, especially your comment section, user friendly for your readers
• Don’t do video for the sake of doing video.  And when you do incorporate video, keep it under 4 minutes!
• Shitty, authentic photos are better than canned photos.

The Overall Experience

I’ll be honest, I was a bit skeptical when I first walked in Saturday morning.  The only other blogging conference I’ve been to is BlogHer, so pardon my comparisons.  BlogHer is the largest blogging conference in the country.  Thousands of attendees, huge and numerous sponsors, and an very large expo hall.  Mom 2.0 is a much more intimate conference.  The attendees is capped at 350 attendees (I think) and the expo was shockingly small, more like a lobby.  While I was surprised at the lack of exhibitors and companies and, well, swag, I found it to be refreshing.  I was able to focus more on networking with other bloggers and PR/marketing reps than walking aisles and aisles of booths.

The nice thing about the smaller size of the conference is that you find familiar faces in each session and break.  I didn’t feel like a tiny fish swimming in a huge ocean, like I felt at BlogHer.  And as I said before, everyone was so nice and approachable!

And Mom 2.0 certainly did not disappoint when it came to “extra” activities.  Although I did not attend the Mad Men Party or the CheeseburgHer party, I did go to a few of the suites, met some ladies for drinks, and enjoyed a delicious dinner with Barilla and a small group of bloggers.  Oh, and FotoFest!  I was completely blown away by the photography skills of some of our fellow bloggers!!!  Mom 2.0 also offered a pre-screening of the animated film “Despicable Me” (coming to theaters this summer) and a special Q&A with the director and producer of Flicka 2 (coming to DVD this spring…I’ll be telling you more about them in a later post).

It was also very cool that I got to share this experience with my husband and that he got to catch a glimpse into the grander scene of blogging.  I think, although he’s super supportive of what I’m doing, he got a new perspective on it all.

Would I attend Mom 2.0 again?

Yes.  Well, maybe I should clarify.  Yes, if the same or a similar list of speakers were going to be there.  It was a great learning experience. Sure, there were some sessions where I walked out of it disappointed but that happened at BlogHer, too.

Will I attend Mom 2.0 in 2011 (New Orleans)?  I’m not sure.  It really depends on how life plays out next year.  I’d love to try Blissdom at some point, too.  And I’m thinking that next year will be my husband’s year to go conferencing-about.  So, at this point I’m not booking my ticket but I’m also not saying no.

- – - I will be uploading photos soon to my Flickr page from Mom 2.0 – - -

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Despite the fact that I’ve been blogging for five years, I’m quickly realizing I have so much to learn!  And that is probably a huge understatement!

I should probably begin by saying that the first three-ish years of blogging my purpose for writing was to keep family and friends updated on what was going on in our lives (i.e. the kids) and to vent.  It has only been the last year year or so that I really took my blogging seriously.  And by seriously, well, I’m not sure exactly what I mean by seriously.  All I know is that I really enjoy writing and I am now becoming more deliberate about it.

Back to the whole ‘learning’ thing…

As I work with more PR companies and guest post at other amazing sites, I’m often these crazy questions about my site stats and unique visitors; my Google ranking and affiliate links/affiliate marketing.  Imagine me sitting at my computer, reading those emails, with a ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look on my face!  My affiliate-ranking-stat-visitor what?  Apparently I have a lot to learn yet!

Of course, my first instinct is to head to Google and start researching these things.  But then I’m swimming in an overwhelming amount of knowledge.  And not all knowledge is good knowledge.  There are some marketing blogs and affiliate blogs that have some great information but not every site on Google has my best interest in mind.  Not every ad network or affiliate network is a fit for me.

So the next step for me is to go to the people who have been doing this and the people who have been making it work for them.  That’s where conferences come into play.

As I write this I am heading down to the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston, TX.  I’m hoping to get some of my many questions about all of this answered while I am there.  I’m also hoping to attend BlogHer 10 this year.  I went to BlogHer last year but really feel like I have so much more I could take away from that conference by going again.

If those don’t work for me and I still feel like I’m drowning in all of this information, then I’m just going to show up on the doorstep of some of the bloggers who have got a grasp on it all and say TEACH ME!!!

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Sorry for the delay on announcing the winners of the Iron Man Armored Adventures Volume 2 dvd.  I’m currently sitting in the lobby of the Four Seasons in Houston at the Mom 2.0 Summit and am just now getting a chance to announce the winners.  I can’t wait to tell you all more about the conference but, until I can collect my thoughts and articulate them into a post, I’ll just announce some winners!

The THREE lucky winners of the Iron Man Armored Adventures Volume 2 dvd are:

Julie L

Amanda C

Krista W

Congratulations ladies!  You should be receiving an email from me soon about claiming your prize.  If you haven’t received that email, please let me know (staceysays @ me . com).  For everyone else, thank you so much for entering!  Please note that Iron Man Armored Adventures Volume 2 is currently available to purchase on dvd!  Also, don’t forget to check out my current giveaways located on the right side bar!!!

One more quick thing!  I was so impressed by your creativity regarding your super powers.  I thought I would share with you some of the different super powers you mentioned:

Super Strength — No more sliding furniture around the house when looking for lost toys, just lift with one little finger!

Super Speed — Oh the things I could get done!

Flying — I’m not sure what I would exactly do with this but it would be cool just to get away from everything and fly around for a while!

Mind control & emotion control — No more crabby kids.  Or husbands.  Or opinionated old women at the super market who believe I’m doing everything wrong as a mother!

Invisibility — Wow, I would actually get five minutes to myself!  And, no more “but mom, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Time Warp — I hate to live in the past but there are a few things I could definitely go back and change a little.

Mary Poppins super power — To snap my fingers and get things done?  Absolutely!  Sign me up!

Teleport — This would be super fabulous since traveling with my two girls any distance over 10 minutes is less than fun  right now!

Heal others — Sick kids and sick husband would be a thing of the past. Amen!

Thanks so much for sharing your super power wishes!  I had so much fun reading them and thinking of ways they could fit into my daily life!

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Last week I found out that I was selected to be a brand ambassador for The View!  Wow, me, a brand ambassador.  Huh. Super!

I’ve been watching The View off and on for years.  I started watching it college and then fell back in love with the show when I had my first daughter and it joyously aired at the same time as her morning nap!  Oh those were good times!  Now, with two little ones running around the house, I have to sneak off to catch a few moments when I can.  It’s good to have a dvr in the house, too!

I’ll be honest though, I haven’t always enjoyed The View.  There was a season or two along the way that I just refused to watch.  I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about.  And even now I don’t always agree with everything the ladies are saying.  I think that is why I like the show so much.  Not because of the arguments between the co-hosts (although those can be fun) but because they each present such different opinions on subjects.  And I’m often surprised at which c0-host takes what view.

So, what does it mean to be a brand ambassador?  Well, it means that I have to watch The View more.  Sorry kids, mommy has work to do!  Just kidding!  It means that when I do watch The View I get to share my opinions and suggestions as to how to make it a better show with you and the people over at ABC.  Over the next few weeks I’ll also be sharing with you some of the stuff happening at The View.

The first thing I want to share with you is an amazing sweepstakes happening over at Mom Central!   One lucky winner from that sweepstakes will be randomly selected to receive a trip to New York City to watch a taping of The View!  The sweepstakes ends February 28th so don’t forget to check it out and enter!

* I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for ABC Daytime and will receive a tote bag or other The View branded items to facilitate my review. However, all opinions stated are my own and are not being swayed by compensation.

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Zoe is our second born and, as it stands right now, the baby.  She’s nearly 2 years old and, well, I’m just going to say it…I have the hardest time connecting with her.  It’s not the age that makes it so hard for me to connect with her, as it has been this way since she was born.  It just is.  And I have a few theories!

Theory 1: She’s different

Zoe is very different from her older sister.  Different in almost every way.  Abbi was a very laid back and yet quick to fall into a schedule child.  I’ve mentioned before that Abbi was sleeping through the night at an early age and weaned herself from bottles and naps at just the right time.  Zoe’s never been a good sleeper, didn’t fully sleep through the night until after she was a year old, and is still on a bottle.  I think all of those factors have caused me stress.

Zoe is also a very intense, short-tempered little girl.  She’s constantly pushing her boundaries and, thus, pushing my buttons.  I think this is due, in part, to the fact that she’s trying to keep up with big sister.  Trying to do things she’s probably not quite ready to do.  Or at least not do perfectly.  She gets so frustrated when she can’t get the legos to line up just right the first time and ends up throwing a huge tantrum about it.  Abbi wasn’t like that at this age.  She was content reading/looking at books or building towers.  Until she turned 3 I think she only threw a handful of tantrums, whereas Zoe throws a handful or two of tantrums each day.

Theory 2: I’m different

When it was just Abbi and I at home during the day I was still doing some website design. I would do that design work while she was napping or after she went to bed for the night.  I was even able to do some of that work while she sat happily next to me on the couch or on the floor playing.  Now I’m not doing nearly as much design work but am focusing more on writing.  The workload seems to be about the same or a little more, so what is the real difference?  Well, I’m feeling more so now that I need an existence outside of just being Abbi and Zoe’s mom.  I need to be connected outside of these four walls.  Writing gives me that since of identity, that connection.

After four (plus) years and with every year that goes by, I feel my identity slipping away.  And it scares me.  I love being a mom.  I love being my girls’ mom.  I love being known as Abbi and Zoe’s mom.  But what happens when they are in school full time?  When they are no longer here all day demanding my attention?  When they are off having lives of their own?  Who will I be then?  I don’t want to be figuring that out after the fact.  I want to maintain my own identity now.  And I think that the drive to keep that identity puts a little stress on me and stress on my relationship with my kids.

Theory 3: Life is different.

I think the biggest stressor on mine and Zoe’s relationship is that life is different.  Our lives are so much more different now than when Abbi was this age.  When Abbi was this age it was just her and I in the house during the day.  Our house was quieter.  I only had one kid’s schedule to work around.  Tim only worked a few miles down the road and was often home from work by dinner time.  And he wasn’t traveling near as much, at least not overnight and long trips.

That was then.  Now I have two kids in the house.  The house is amazingly louder.  I have two kids’ schedules to consider and those schedules don’t always line up.  Tim’s office is now a half hour away which means he rarely makes it home from work for dinner with the girls.  He travels a lot.  And the chaos of our house is increased by the presence of our puppy (now 10 months old).

So, how do these theories fall in to the fact that I just can’t connect with Zoe?  In a lot of ways I guess.  Mostly though, I’m stressed most days.  Stress that is brought on by me most of the time, stress that is a result of my kids being at very demanding ages, stress from solo-parenting.  Combine my stress with a child who is short-tempered, impatient, and intense…well, it creates for some explosions throughout the day.

I’ve been trying to figure out ways that I can connect better with Zoe (I’ll be writing about that soon).  Unfortunately I’m sick right now and Tim is traveling again and, well, that just isn’t helping me reduce my stress.  Damn you, stress!

Here’s where I need your help!  Have you been in this position with one of your kids, where you connected easily with one but another was more of a challenge?  How did you make that connection?  Please, let me in on your secrets!

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