What Makes a Mom Totally Stupid

How do you turn a mom into a complete idiot? You take one weekend with one sick child, 1 well child, and make that mom sleep deprived. You add in a Monday with only half a day of school and you get a mom who’s functioning, reasoning and thinking skills are drastically altered. Temporarily, of course, but until said mom gets some much needed sleep, said mom is going to do something really stupid.

And I did. Big Time. I had a phone meeting Monday afternoon with a potential sponsor for the BlogHer Conference. I was really excited about it. It was with (seed)+ and I had already reviewed their products and liked them. I would have loved to promote their products.

I thought the phone call went great. There was a moment when I thought they might have been unhappy that I said that my children thought they were eating junk food when consuming their product, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t until last night, when I played the conversation back in my head, that I realized what I said and what I was talking about.

I wasn’t talking about their product. I was talking about a different product. A food product. Their products are lotions, bar soap, and bar shampoo. Can you say “You totally blew it?” I knew who I was talking to, but for some reason, my mind took me to a different company and product. I know it was because I was sleep deprived. Unfortunately for me, that isn’t going to cut it.

What company is going to take a chance on a person that has done that? A very understanding company, perhaps? Do me a favor, let me know that I am not alone here. Tell me about something really stupid you have done, because you were sleep deprived. Don’t be shy, I know you have at least one story you can share.

BloGHer 2010 Preliminary Schedule to Include Autism

If you think the BlogHer 2010 will be all fun and games, think again. The conference organizers have put up the preliminary schedule for the conference and it is full of great sessions designed to help bloggers improve their blog. Here are some of the classes scheduled for the 2010 conference:

“Change Agents: Feeding the Conversation: How to Build A Community Around Your Cause
Passions: Reserved for Room of Your Own
Personal: Blogging Autism: Shattering Myths, Opening Eyes and Finding Your Tribe
Professional: The FTC Guidelines: After A Year, Has Anything Changed?
Geek Lab: Usability for Beginning Bloggers (Beginning Level)
Writing Lab: Writing Inspiration: Stoke Your Creativity
Job Lab: Self-Marketing: Resume and Social Network Profile Writing Clinic”

Did you notice the one on Autism? Here is the description for the Autism session:

“Personal: Blogging Autism: Shattering Myths, Opening Eyes and Finding Your Tribe
Autism is both more out in the open than it has ever been before and more shrouded in myths and mystery. Come learn and share your stories about how blogging contributes to the autism community as a source of support and outlet for parents, as a way for those not dealing directly with autism to gain more insight and sensitivity and as a tool for advocacy and activism.”

The description of this session describes what I aim to do with my blog. I am looking forward to sitting in on this session, learning how I can approve my particular blog niche, and interact with others that blog about autism. I am excited that BlogHer has scheduled an Autism blogger session and I applaud them for doing so.

If you plan on attending this year’s conference, I suggest that you go read the new conference guidelines. Last year, there were a lot of bloggers attending the conference and having sponsors pick up the cost. This is something that I am doing this year. Jones Dairy Farm is one of my partial sponsors, and I am looking for more to cover the rest of my conference expenses.

BlogHer has made changes to their conference guidelines as they pertain to bloggers handing out their sponsor’s promotional materials. You can read the exact details on their website. Basically, it means that you can not hand out a sponsor’s promotional materials within the conference space. You can still wear clothing with your sponsor’s information on it and you can have your sponsors listed on your blog’s promotional materials, i.e. business cards.

Businesses that want to have their promotional materials distributed at the conference can contact the organizers and arrange to become a BlogHer Conference sponsor. Businesses that sponsor bloggers to attend can still benefit with advertising space on your bloggers site, posts written that include a mention of your business (like I did in this one with Jones Dairy Farm), and having the blogger wear a shirt with your companies information on it. Bloggers with sponsorship can devote their time to attending the sessions offered at the conference, instead of trying to hand out boxes of swag. I consider this a win/win situation for everyone involved. I look forward to attending this year’s conference, and if you are a company looking to sponsor a blogger, please consider me.