Techmamas

TechMama is Traveling - With None Other Then The "Traveling Geeks"

Million Mile Frequent Flyer Status is not all it is cracked up to be...

Before I joined Deloitte, I was an international computer auditor.  This gave me the opportunity to travel to Mexico, Spain, Sweden, England, Puerto Rico, France and all over the United States. The business trips were back to back for weeks at a time and luckily they were all BK (before kids). I thoroughly enjoyed the travel but I had no - um - personal life.

Now I have the personal life, but fitting in travel is not easy...

With three amazing but extremely active boys, a wonderful husband (Neil Blecherman) and multiple blogs to manage - I try to limit my traveling to only key events. My involvement in social media has given me the opportunity to connect with an amazing network of bloggers from both BlogHer and the Silicon Valley Moms Group. My programming/systems project management background led me to also show my geeky side by connecting with technology and social media bloggers. I created a personal blog to discuss my perspective as a tech mom (TechMamas.com) and am starting a vlog called GadgetSpin with Eliane from Ubergizmo, TechieDiva, and Ponziarelli. But no matter how much I develop my online network, attending conferences/events to have old fashioned "live interaction" is still the best form of networking.

Bloggers gone traveling...

There are some amazing social media connectors and community builders and when they call about an event - I jump on board.  They look for stories that need to be told or discussions that need to be sparked - then match bloggers to the stories to bring information online. One connecter is Guy Kawasaki who organized an amazing blogger embark on the USS Nimitz and introduced me to Alltop (now I have MyAlltop!). Robert and Maryam Scoble and Steve Brobeck organized a blogger bus to CES last year that gave me the opportunity to spend time with an engaging group of bloggers. One of the bloggers on board was Christine Lu. When she informed me about the ReThink Hawaii conference, I decided that was a great work-cation opportunity. I also view my partners at Gadgetspin as connectors. Eliane and her Ubergizmo team just recently organized Ubergizmo10 - well worth the drive to San Francisco. There are also multiple circles of moms who have used their community building, shopping and writing skills to form online networks.

I have been following Renee Blodgett for some time and enjoy her insights on social media. I also view  Renee Blodgett as a social media connector and community builder. She is one of the co-founders of a group called Traveling Geeks . The Traveling Geeks website describes it best: "Traveling Geeks is a consortium of entrepreneurs, thought leaders, authors, journalists, bloggers, technology innovators and influencers who travel to countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote new, innovative technologies. The initiative was founded by Jeff Saperstein and Renee Blodgett in 2008."

Traveling Geeks 2009 - Paris

When I was invited to join their Traveling Geeks/Paris trip, I knew that was one adventure not to miss (no matter how many mom-planning-loops I had to jump through). I can't wait to see what is in store for the Traveling Geeks Trip to Paris, which includes attendance at LeWeb. I plan to be online sharing the trip with my readers as much as the international connections allow. The Twitter hashtags for the trip are #TG09, #travelingeeks. Their is also a Facebook fan page and a Twitter ID: @travelinggeeks.

Now back to my search for an unlocked GSM smartphone international data plan and international Broadband card!

My Work-cation at ReThink Hawaii

When Christine Lu contacts me about an event, I do everything I can to show up. She is one of those connectors that brings interesting people together to spark amazing discussions. My husband Neil Blecherman and I decided to join go to the ReThink Hawaii conference after she notified us. We not only looked at it as a chance to network and  but as a vacation; we had not been away for longer then a day together in 10 years - since we started our wonderful family of 3 boys!!.

Photo Credit: Kris Krug

Here is a picture of the ReThink Hawaii attendees, my husband and I are in the middle left - Christine Lu is at the front. Because we wanted to spend some time at the beach, we did not get to attend all the sessions. On the last day we enjoyed going to TEDx Honolulu just before we jumped on the plane. I enjoyed seeing the TEDx video to explain the passion that is spreading around the world. The TEDx Honolulu organizers (including L.P. “Neenz” Faleafine and Traci Toguchi and also did a great job of pulling together a compelling program. I look forward to when the TEDx  Honolulu videos are loaded. Of course, I am somewhat bias because of my excitement to hear my husband's TEDx speech (Neil Blecherman).

Being in semi-vacation mode, I decided to cover this trip via smartphone - using Twitter to capture my thoughts.My husband attended the Sustainablity/Eco session we both attended Social Media Business Summit Co-organized by Christine Lu, Rick Calver, Jim Turner.  I enjoyed speaking on a panel at the summit about Parent Bloggers with Jim Turner. The "Re-tweets" below with my picture are from an attendee who shared some of my key thoughts as I spoke. I also enjoyed hearing Jim Turner's perspective as one of the original parent bloggers who also runs a successful media business called One by One Media. We both shared that we don't make money from blogging - blogging is a way for us to share our voice. We have other businesses that compliment the blogging. I summarized a few of my key answers when asked why I blog.  Why TechMama blogs: "blogging a great platform for creating an online brand and image, blogging creates my voice but make money on other things (i.e. books, consulting), the three overall reasons I blog is community -relevance - voice. that's why "

Here is a summary of my Twitter stream from the conference. I will be looking at new ways to micro-blog, including trying the BlackBerry Whrrl app I just loaded.

TechMama's Twitter Stream from ReThink Hawaii:

Register for CES before Deadline And Come to MommyTech

CES is the Consumer Electronics Show and one of my favorite conferences to see the latest and greatest in electronics and gadgets.

DEADLINE: Registration is free before October 1st, but is $100 after that. So REGISTER NOW!

Very exciting this year is that MOMMYTECH is added to the lineup at CES.  

Here is some information from their website:

"Mommy Tech is both a one-day conference and a four-day exhibition to be held January 7-10, 2010 at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. This conference plus expo will explore all the key trends impacting this $90+ billion dollar marketplace.

• Mommy Tech Summit - Friday, January 8 - co-produced by industry veteran Robin Raskin, will spotlight top thinkers and product creators for the mommy market. Empowering moms with technology that helps them juggle priorities, stay connected with their own families and other moms, and savor their multiple roles in life, is the central theme of this conference.
   
• Mommy Tech Expo - January 7-10, 2010 - will be located in the front of the North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  The Mommy Tech Expo will showcase the latest in portable devices, wireless phones, notebooks, photo sharing services, and accessories that appeal to expectant moms and young families. Get a firsthand look at the latest in baby monitors, warmable baby wipes, room monitors, GPS devices for finding straying children, and much more."

I will be speaking on a panel for the MommyTech summit and spending time at the Expo. Join me at CES this year by attending MommyTech Summit and Expo.

BlogHer '09 Room Of Our Own Session: Gadgets For Blogging

I am very excited to be speaking at a "Room of Our Own" Session at BlogHer titled: Gadgets For Blogging. BlogHer is the premier blogging conference for women bloggers and this year will be held in Chicago.

If you are going to BlogHer  - please come by!

Friday July 24:

Breakout Session #3 - Room of Your Own 2: Gadgets for Blogging:

So you want to stay ahead of the curve in the latest tech gadgets? In this session, you’ll learn about the newest developments in vlogging, blogging, liveblogging, uploading photos, taking photos, going wireless and using mobile technologies. Get the scoop from Beth Blecherman from TechMamas, Eliane Fiolet, the writer behind Ubergizmo, Gina Hughes, who blogs at Techie Diva and Ponzi Pirillo, who blogs at Ponzarelli. These four women are driven by staying in-the-know about the latest in social media technology and gadgetry.

BlogHer 09 Room of Our Own Proposal: Gadgets For Bloggers - PLEASE VOTE

A group of fun gal gadget bloggers and I proposed a room of our own session for BlogHer 09 called "Gadgets For Bloggers". The room of our own sessions are open for anyone to propose, but only a short list will be chosen. We are all passionate about gadgets - and hope to share info at the session. So - for those BlogHers out there, I am asking for your voting help..

To vote, you login to the BlogHer website - then vote by selecting "I would attend this session". Click HERE to comment that you would attend. Only those logged in can vote.

For a view of the other proposals, Click here. We are on page 5 of the list of proposals. 

Here is a link to the high level details and a list of who will be doing the session with me:

PROPOSAL FOR BLOGHER 09 ROOM OF OUR OWN: GADGETS FOR BLOGGING

Get the scoop on the latest technologies to vlog, blog, liveblog, photos, wireless, mobile technologies and more.

Session will be led by:

Gina Hughes Techiediva.com

Eliane Fiolet Ubergizmo.com

Amisha Gandhi Notebooks.com

Beth Blecherman TechMamas.com

Ponzi Pirillo  Gnomedex

"Moms Who Tech" Birds Of Feather Session at Web 2.0 SF

I was excited to carry on the conversation we had at SXSW about "Moms Who Tech" that was so lively, we just had to keep it going.

On Thursday April 2, 7pm at Web 2.0 (Not to be missed conference in SAN FRANCISCO) I moderated the Birds of a Feather  "Moms Who Tech" session. Details were:

This session will be a conversation about how moms are using technology to manage personal, social and family management tasks. This session is relevant for moms (parents) who want to discuss how they use technology, moms with a technology/programming background and marketers/companies with technology products that want to learn about social media outreach to families.

TIME:  Thursday April 2, 7pm

Moderator is Beth Blecherman  Founder TechMamas.com (and Co-Founder Silicon Valley Moms Group) - 
Co-hosts:
Sarah Murgel, User Experience Lead - Razorfish  (Razorfish/Cafe Mom Digital Mom Report)
Martha Feingold, VP Horn Group (and mom blogger)

UPDATE: Posts on the event are listed on Susan Etlinger's blog and the RazorFish Digital Design Blog (post by Sarah Murgel).

HERE ARE SOME LIVEBLOG NOTES (please excuse errors - these are liveblog notes). We decided to focus more on blogger outreach for this discussion because most attendees were interested in that topic:

LIVEBLOG:

-Sarah Murgel from Razorfish is discussing the Digital Mom Report with Cafe Mom.

-Martha Feingold, VP Horn Group is discussing her view as VP Horn Horn group, mom of 4 and a mom blogger for Silicon Valley Moms Blog. Her kids use cellphones.

-Susan Etlinger is also VP Horn Group. Her personal blog is Family Room. Today is Autism awareness day. As a mom blogger she get's pitched regularly.  She is also apart of an informal mom blogger network that provides support and influences each other.

SXSW Liveblog: Moms Who Tech

***MOMS WHO TECH follow-up session was at Convention Center Level 3 - Room 4 (panelist area) with Shireen Mitchell.

We just finished the Moms Who Tech core conversation at SXSW, we have an amazing set of attendees who sparked a very interesting discussion. Sarah Granger was kind enough to take notes - which I will post soon. I will also be posting the names and websites of the "Moms Who Tech" in attendance.  For those wanting to follow or join in the conversation, we will be using the Twitter hash tag #Momswhotech. Unfortunately, my co-leader Shireen Mitchell's plane was late so I will be twittering using my id (TechMama) when she arrives and timing on gathering for a follow-up discussion for those interested (sometime today - hopefully at 3pm). We were thrilled to have Tiffany Galligan, Experience Director Razorfish in attendance to discuss the Cafe Mom/Razorfish "Digital Mom" study.

Here were some overall questions framing the discussion:

1. How do moms use tech for communication, information gathering and family management? How is tech a part of their lives as mothers? In careers, school, children's education?
2. Why are increasing numbers of moms engaging in social media and using technology?
3. How are moms using technology to politicize & become activists?

When asked why I decided to put this together, I shared that moms:

• Have digital responsibility for themselves and families
• Are savvy communicators and community builders who are taking their communication online
• Multitaskers that will use the available technology to make their and their families lives easier
• Moms buy technology for their households and are savvy at gathering information (offline and online). Get their information from other moms (and are therefore primary purchasing influencers).
• Kid’s school and social lives are now online (including HOMEWORK), so technology in family households is a MUST!

Here is the first run of "Moms Who Tech" at the session, will add more as I get the names. If I did not get your name, email me at techmamas(at)gmail(dot)com. If you were a business trying to reach out to moms please also email me your info and I will post about that separately (and thanks for coming!):

Speakers:

Beth Blecherman @techmama http://www.techmamas.com/   http://www.siliconvalleymomsgroup.com

Shireen Mitchell @digitalsista  http://www.womenwiredin.com/

Guest speaker was Tiffany Galligan from Razorfish http://www.razorfish.com/ who discussed the Digital Mom study.

Partial List of Attendees (will add more as I get them):

• Sarah Granger @sairy http://www.sarahgrangers.com
• Rachel Silverman Wall Street Journal blog "The Juggle" 
• Felicity Chapman @cubesandcrayons http://cubes.typepad.com/cake/
• Maria Genitempo @maria_celeste http://lalalandmamma.blogspot.com/
• Wendy Piersall http://www.wendypiersall.com/
• Kim Janocko @craftymamaof4  http://craftymamaof4.blogspot.com
• Annie Lynsen/KaBOOM! @kaboomplay @thinklynsen http://kaboom.org/news
• Colleen Padilla @classymommy http://www.classymommy.com 
• StacyDeBroff @momcentral http://www.momcentral.com/blogs/mom-central-
• Robin Dance @PensieveRobin http://www.pensieve.me
• Dr. Karen Rayne @KarenRayne http://www.karenrayne.com
• Michele Wilcox @sparksfley http://www.sparksandbutterflies.com
• Amy Allen Clark @momadvice http://www.momadvice.com
• Monica Brady @MommyBrain http://www.mommybrainreports.com
• Angela Conley @249smiles  http://www.249smiles.com
• Krista Parry @krista_parry @snowmamas http://www.snowmamas.com
• Lynnae McCoy  http://beingfrugal.net/
• JTaffet  http://roxyandtyler.aboutmybaby.com/
• Lauren P. Thomas  http://thismommygig.org/
• Alisa Sherman http://babyfruit.typepad.com/
• Mercedes  http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/about/
• Christine Lu http://thechinabusinessnetwork.com/

NEXT UP: I will load the liveblog notes of the session soon. Not to be missed...

TechMama at SXSW 09

I am thrilled to be at my first SXSW starting today. For those wondering what SXSW is, the about page has a good quote from the National Post "SXSW ...reflects, discusses and showcases trends in culture and media but also often creates them.". I submitted a request for a panel months ago and was thrilled to have a core conversation approved. I asked Shireen Mitchell to co-lead the discussion with me because of her valuable perspective. Our "Moms Who Tech" session will discuss that moms have become power users of technology and social networking. The discussion will examine the gadgets and social media that they use to manage their careers, families and friendships. 

I just got in late last night and am jet lagged but excited to jump on board. I have already twittered with recommendations for interesting panels/conversations to attend (or read about for those not here). So I am not only here just for my session, but to network and learn from the amazing group here in attendence.. More to come!

For now I am off to the Pepsico Booth to do a podcast for their Digital Speak Easy series via BlogTalkRadio. My podcast will be at 3:40pm (Austin time)..

DEMO09 - SmartyCard "Educational" Online Gaming

There are so many different online gaming and virtual worlds available, that many parents are confused about which sites are safe. Taking it to the next level, if the site is safe in regards to content - the next issue is if the website is just "sugar" and addicting with no learning experiences involved. As parents, how do we allow our children to have some screen time that is just fun but also provide some with learning experiences? And if we find that solution, how do we get our kids to buy in?

My solution for my 6 year old twin boys seems easier then for my 10 year son. For my twins, they enjoy spending time on educational websites for their "screen" time.  So while I have been able to engage my 6 year olds in educational websites, I have not been able to with my ten year old. He is very bright but feels that after he goes to school, does homework and outside sports then he is done for the day. He does not want to do additional activities that may be deemed *gasp* learning activities other then reading (which he loves).

The issue was that my fourth grade son (like most students) needs practice with math facts and other areas outside of schoolwork. My problem was that the "nagging" was not working. Paper workbooks and some of the educational sites for older kids did not engage him. I had a point system but was not consistent in carrying it out. My ten year old has limits on his screen time, but when he does have a few moments - he goes to game sites that have the word "addicting" in the name.

**Enter my opportunity to test out the beta of an online (educational) gaming site called SmaryCard for 3 - 6 graders**

I was given the opportunity to log onto the beta website for SmartyCard before heading to DEMO09 (where they were launching). So I decided to give the site the ultimate test and see if my rebel 10 year old son would engage.

Here is a the explanation of SmartyCard from their website:

"SmartyCard provides children grades 3-through-6 with bite-sized learning activities in subjects such as reading, writing, math, social studies and science. Children earn points that can be redeemed for their favorite play time rewards - toys, DVDs, video games, books, iTunes downloads, Club Penguin™ and other virtual world subscriptions, and much more.

SmartyCard offers child-friendly, parent-approved learning activities available from some of the world's most respected and popular education content providers, including Learning.com, LearnStar and Ignite Learning. "

During my testing on one Sunday afternoon when my 10 year old was allowed to have his screen time - he was using SmartyCard.com to practice *gasp* math and spelling, excited to be earning points.

Here is an interview with Chris Carvalho, General Manager of SmartyCard (and father of 3 boys!) -using my Flip Mino:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Children can only sign up after their parents sign up and "activate" them. The point system is applied to the educational games - after the child gets 7 out of 10 right - they earn a specific amount of points based on the level of difficulty of the question. Hints and input are given to help the child learn as the go. Points are listed on the left side of the screen so children and parents can keep track of progress. Parent account has "Fund My Child's Account" - Add points, Change acct settings and buy a smarty card. From parent account you view "play history" and "purchase history" for all of your kid's accounts.

Children can only buy items if Parents have entered their credit card information into the account, and emails are sent after every purchase. SmartyCard vetted the list of reward items offered and the website is COPPA compliant. There is no cost to register and try out SmartyCard but unfunded accounts have limited access library of learning activities, and points earned with unfunded accounts cannot be redeemed for rewards. Points can be added to a free account for as little as $10.

If kids try to "game" the system and fake their parents email address for signup - then they won't have access to redeem points (because no credit card information would be entered). 

The first question I had was "why should I give my child points that they can redeem for items to play an online game"? After I used SmartyCard, I realized that the points were providing the incentive for my son to participate in supplemental education. Because I already had a point system and my son was able to save up for things like iTunes cards or a RipStiK (which they happen to have in their reward list already) - I realized this would fit in with our current incentive program. Best yet, I was so frustrated trying to redeem iTunes cards - that just providing easy access to redeem those was a plus for me in itself!

Every family has different needs, but I found that the digital world is here to stay. Children interact with media rich environments on a daily basis - and it has become part of how their interact socially. I am a big supporter of parents educating themselves and their children on the digital world, make educated decisions for how and what websites your children interact with - then have fun. SmartyCard falls in the supplemental education, incentive and "have fun" boxes for me. I also appreciate the graphic rich environment that adds to the experience.

Listed below are some screen shots from SmartyCard and a link to the press release:

DEMO09 - Social Entrepreneurship Panel

I exchanged emails with Suneet Bhatt of DreamVillage and met Efe Osagle from Lead Now Fellows at DEMO09, but missed the DEMO Social Entrepreneurship panel. Happily, I found the video at the DEMO video library and VIEWED IT. Social Entrepreneurship is a term used to describe "someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change".

As a mother, I think social entrepreneurship can provide great lessons to children/tweens/teens to show that businesses can also help with social issues to make an impact on society. Information on the Dream Village website gave an interesting explanation of their goal: "Our goal is to operate as a for-profit social enterprise, promising a substantive donation to charitable causes, while also generating a sound return for interested investors."

Suneet Bhatt will be emailing me more information about his organization for me to post on TechMamas.com. Moderator was Ami Kassar from Advanta and IdeaBlob.  But for now, here are the links to the speakers organizations: