December 15th, 2011

Tips to Stay Healthy

No273 13 Oct 2009 SneezeWhether you are traveling this holiday season, spending a lot of time at the mall or just have little ones a home, tis’ the season to sneeze.

Many of my 12 Days of Holiday Giveaways posts have been about various gift ideas, and how to have a fun and relaxing Holiday season. But what if you get sick? Or your child gets sick? I was sick one Christmas not too long ago. As I coughed, sneezed and tried to peer through my watery eyes to see what people were opening in their Christmas stockings, I really wanted to crawl back into bed.

So I thought I would take the common “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and tweak it to fit the reality of cold and flu season. Because, really, let’s be realistic:

Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house,
Everyone was stirring, yes, even the mouse;
Though the stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
No one cared that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children had fevers as they snuggled in their beds,
While visions of ibuprofen and acetaminophen danc’d in their heads,
And Mama with her handkerchief, and my tissue in my lap,
Had just settled down since our coughing paused for a gap,

When outside the house there arose such a clatter,
But I didn’t energy to see what was the matter.
I hobbled to the window in a non-dash,
Opened the shutters, and hoped not to throw-up on the sash.

When, what to my watering eyes should appear,
But a minature sleigh, filled with cold and flu gear,
With a driver with energy showing he wasn’t sick,
I knew through all the medicine it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than a virus, his coursers they came,
And without a sore throat, he shouted and called them by name;
“Now! Flu, now! Colds, now! Aches, and Cough,
“Off! Fever, off! Watery eyes, off! Pain, Off Off Off!;
“To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
“Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As a hacking cough leaves you high and dry,
St. Nicholas flew up into the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of aspirin and tissue – and St. Nicholas too:

And despite my ear infection, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I sneezed in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound:

He was dress’d all in scrubs, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish’d with ashes and snot;
A bundle of pharmaceutical products was flung on his back,
And he look’d like a pharmacist just opening his pack:

His eyes – how they twinkled! Not a watery eye to be found,
His cheeks were like roses, his good health abound;
His non-coughing mouth was drawn up like a bow,
How he never gets sick, I will never know;

The stump of a thermometer he held tight in his teeth,
And the bacteria in the house encircled his head like a wreath.
He didn’t have the stomach flu in his round belly,
He was able to keep down a meal of dried toast and jelly.

He was healthy and happy, a right jolly old elf,
And I was envious when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his clear eye and a twist of his non-aching head
Soon gave me to know that I would no longer have a fever to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill’d my hands with products; then turn’d with a jerk,
And since he didn’t have to blow or wipe his nose,
He gave a quick nod, and up the chimney he rose.

He sprung to his sleigh, since he was healthy as a whistle,
And away they all flew, trying to dodge the sickness missle;
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight-
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a feverless night.

(c) CharleneChronicles

Yes, people, I did write that myself. So no stealing.

But the reality is, what can you do to keep you and your family healthy this winter? Here are 5 basic tips I gleemed from a recent event with Dr. Meg Meeker – a popular pediatrician and leading authority on children’s health. She also has a great book called 10 Habits of Healthy Mothers that I personally can’t wait to read.

 

  • Wash your hands. If you can’t get to water and soap, carry hand-sanitizer and use frequently. We call it “Germie Juice” in our house.
  • Use a humidifier in the house. A study last year by Environmental Health showed that the use of portable humidifiers, like the Vicks Humidifiers, in the home may reduce the survival of airborne flu virus by controlling humidity indoors. Specifically, if the humidity in your home is between 40-60%, the flu virus survival in the air can be dramatically decreased by up to 30 percent for homes with radiant heat and 17 percent for homes with forced air heat. You can buy a humidity thermometer (a.k.a. hygrometer) to check the humidity levels in a certain room.
  • Stock up on items before you get sick so you don’t have to make a trip to the drugstore with a sick (and cranky) child or when you just want to crawl into bed yourself. Products containing Ibuprofen are great for muscle aches and Acetaminophen is great for reducing fevers.
  • Take your child’s temperature before they get sick so you have a baseline to determine how bad the fever is or if they really have a fever. If your child’s everyday temperature is 99.0 degrees, then a temperature reading of 99.5 may not be bad. But if your child’s temperature trends lower like 98.0 degrees, then 99.5 is more alarming.
  • Get plenty of rest and eat healthy foods. We all know that, but a reminder is always good!

If you do get sick:

 

  • Drink plenty of fluids like Gatorade (or pedialyte for kids 3 and under.)
  • Use saline drops in the nose and then an ear sucker (a.k.a. ear syringe) (not a nose sucker, a.k.a nasal aspirator) to unstuff the stuffy nose of little kids who can’t yet blow their nose. The tip (similar to an ear thermometer tip) is easier to get in the nose, which is why it is recommended.
  • Use the right thermometer for accuracy. For children under 2, use a rectal thermometer (ahem…make sure to label it as such and clean it after each use!) For children who are over two, but not ready for an oral thermometer, a Vicks behind-the-ear thermometer is great since it takes the temperature near a major artery (unlike a forehead thermometer.) If you take a temperature orally, make sure not to eat or drink anything hot or cold 30 minutes prior to prevent a false reading.
  • Know the difference between a cold and the flu. A cold lasts 3-5 days and the flu last about a week. Cold symptoms include stuffy heads, low fever, but everyone can still function. Flu is headaches, high fever, body aches, and wanting not to do anything. Plus, you may not always need antibotics. If a cough lasts more than two weeks, has an ear infection or a nasal mucus is thick yellow, you may want to check in with your doctor.

 

All in all, I hope you all have a happy AND healthy holiday season. But to help you with that, as part of my 12 Days of Holiday Giveaways, leave a comment about how you stay healthy and enter to win an awesome prize pack containing a Vicks Humidifier, a Vicks Behind Ear Thermometer, and a Vicks Vaporizer! Valued around $100. Thank you Vicks!
Congrats to Justin for winning this awesome prize pack!

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Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post, but did attend a lovely event hosted by 360PublicRelations and Kaz, and also received a goodie bag of Vicks products to keep me healthy and blogging this winter! All opinions and text, however, are my own.

Image Credit: mcfarlandmo via Flickr Creative Commons

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November 10th, 2011

McDonald’s Social Media Magic

Sign outside McDonald's Plaza, one of the four...

Image via Wikipedia

Every business deals with poor customer service. The larger the company, the more customer service snafus occur. It is the nature of the beast, or the business if you will. Yet, how the company handles it, especially in today’s realm of social media, is where the company can shine or fail.

McDonalds is one of the largest companies out there. With over 32,000 franchise locations, 400,000+ employees and 62 million customers a day, there is significant number of point-to-point contacts with those customers on a daily basis.

I admit I rarely go to McDonalds. Not out of disregard for the company or the food, but solely for the fact that I am at home more often than. This one day, however, I found myself traveling with a toddler that fell preemptively fell sleep. An unfortunate timing: he had a full belly of yogurt and crackers, but my stomach was rumbling. Especially since it had been a long morning, and we had been on the road for 3 hours.

A drive-thru was my only option and I knew there was a McDonalds nearby. After waiting in the drive-thru line for over 15 minutes (couldn’t get out of the car due to said sleeping toddler) I quickly scanned the (confusing) menu with the tiny print on the billboard as I attempt to communicate my desires through the little black box.

As I drove up to the pay window, I asked the employee about the pricing of my meal since I thought the price was $4 and not $8. After several rounds of “I don’t know” why the price is different, he finally gave me an answer (value meal vs. single items). However, he made it clear that he did not like my questions and proceeded to snap my change in my hand, slam the little window, and stomp (literally) to an office and (based on the hand gestures), complain to someone about me. While I get that all the time from many blog haters, I was in shock. I was hungry, I barely come here and I get an employee that is off his rocker. As I drove to the food window, I asked that employee to please get a manager as I could not get out of the car. Someone came over and I mentioned what had occurred. She handed me a free burger card as an apology.

As I drove off shaking my head, I reached into the McDonald’s bag to placate myself with fries as least. As I bit into a cold fry, I tweeted.

Within hours, I had two McDonalds social media representatives tweet me back saying how sorry they were about my experience. “Wow”, I thought. Someone was listening. Someone cared that I had a bad experience and cold fries. They wanted to know what happened and when I told them, they passed the details to the restaurant general manager: to improve, to learn and to prevent. They also sent some free coupons for a future visit.

In the few months since the incident, I have not been able to stop thinking about the fast social media response and the forwarding of the information to the restaurant in question. A winning combination that other organizations should make note of in their social media strategy. Furthermore, it is not just the “poor service” response plan that amazed me. All companies with a social media presence should be scanning Facebook and Twitter for questions too because it is never good to hear stories of no response when a consumer asks a question of a brand. Both levels of engagement (crisis management and proactive management) build positive customer relations and customer loyalty.

Next time I have a sleeping toddler in the backseat and a craving for fries, I know where I am going. What about you? Tell me about a positive customer service experience you had, and one person will receive a handful of McDonalds free product coupons valued over $10.

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Rules: (Gotta have them)

Leave a comment about this post; US entrants welcome. Include your name and email in the appropriate fields so I can contact you if you win. (Including just first name or first name + last initial is OK!). For your safety, please do not put your email in the actual comment. Anonymous or SPAM-like comments will be discarded. Entry period closes at 11:59PM ET, Monday, November 14, 2011.
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One lucky winner (drawn randomly via “And the Winner is” WordPress plugin) will receive the coupons. No substitutions and the winner will be notified directly via e-mail who has roughly 48 hours to respond and claim their prize. They then will be listed back at this post using first name only. A minimum of 5 people must enter in order for the Giveaway to occur. Winner must comply with all rules mentioned here, or a new winner will be selected. Charlene Chronicles has the final decision on the winner and is not responsible for wrong email addresses or notification being tagged as spam. Full legal disclosures can be found here.
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Image used with permission. I received no compensation for this post. I sincerely appreciate the Mc-Awesomeness of McD_EasternMA and Amanda_McD, as well as the great Alison at their Boston-based PR company. The coupons I received I am giving away to one of you.

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October 27th, 2011

Making Your Blog Social

Tips and Strategies for Promoting your Content.

As I mentioned in my recap of the Wordcamp Conference in Boston, I sat in on a session where the focus was on making your blog functional (see my post here) and on a session where the focus was making your blog social. Not Buddypress kind of social, but a discussion about content marketing. Being social (i.e., marketing your content) increases your web presence and sharing your blog posts grows your market; whether your goal is to sell your stuff, create a community, increase awareness of a cause or get more followers. It hopefully improves your social experience and the social experience of those who are on your site. It basically was a reminder that if you blog, you probably should Tweet and post on Facebook push your content, because if SEO is important for those that do a Bing or Google search for a topic and land on your blog, you need to be proactive too, if you have one of the above goals.

Some ways to do this are to create blogs that also have video content on YouTube or photographs on Flickr or Slideshare. Then you use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to spread the information you created. With that one blog post, you have broadcasted in 5 social mediums. If time is a factor, there are a variety of plugins that can automatically do that for you via your WordPress blog, like Network Publisher.

Another way to promote your content is to have a subscriber list, but make sure to note it is free. Remember, not everyone understands that that your “Subscribe to my Blog” is a free thing. Especially since a lot of websites are beginning to charge people. Also be upfront with the information about your subscription list: How often will you be emailing them? Will you sell their information?

Lastly, have buttons at the beginning or end of your post to make it easy for your readers to share your post. Plug-ins or tools like the Facebook Share, Tweetmeme, Twitter Retweet, Sexy Bookmarks, Add to Any, Socialize, Facebook Like, to make sharing your blog post super easy. Just don’t make it too busy or have too many buttons. That may actually hurt your goal. Pick one or two plug-ins, or one or two buttons where you most want to have your content shared. And as always, back up your blog before you install any new plug-ins. While these are some examples, they may not work for all. Always review to determine what plug-in is right for your blog, both in the social sense as discussed here, but in a technical sense too!

So what do you think? Do you currently use any of these plug-ins? Do you have a plug-in you love that is not list here?

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October 13th, 2011

Exercising While Pregnant

Chicago Marathon

Image via Wikipedia

So there have been a lot of articles about the woman who ran the Chicago Marathon at 39 weeks pregnant and gave birth just hours later. Her doctors had given her the go ahead and the race officials did not ban her from running. So she did.

I love this story for many reasons, but mainly because it shows times are changing again for women and sports. Just 40 years ago, women were pulled off a marathon courses because marathons were only for men. It wasn’t until 1972, that women were allowed to run the Boston Marathon, for example.

I also love this story because it shows times are changing for women’s health. As soon as you got the official diagnosis that you were, indeed, preggo, the nurse or doctor told you to start ‘taking it easy’. In fact, when I became pregnant about three years ago, I was told to stop running immediately. I was just six weeks along and there was no medical reason to stop. I had just run a marathon 8 months prior too. But it was just the common pregnancy medical advisory.

Fast forward to today. Most doctors and nurses are changing their guidance and are encouraging women to stay active during their pregnancies. Science is showing the benefits of exercise on the fetus, and the fact that scientists are even studying exercise and pregnancy is a big win for women’s health.

Yet, it is important to remember that only one percent of the world population has run a marathon, and since many marathons are only certain times of year, to be able to find one on the race calendar when you are 39 weeks pregnant is the luck of the draw. But the essential point of the story is that this woman (Amber Miller) was able to run the Chicago Marathon because she had run marathons in the past. Which, basically, is the key point with regard to exercising when pregnant:

 

    1. Don’t start anything new. Don’t start running when pregnant if you have never run before. If you have run before, but no more than 5 miles, don’t start training for a marathon, etc.
    2. Listen to your doctors. While Amber completed the Chicago Marathon, she didn’t actually run the whole way. She ran half and walked half based on her doctor’s advice, which is also part of point number three.
    3. Watch your core temperature. The key to exercising while pregnant is to raise your heart rate to get the health benefits, but you have to be careful about increasing your core temperature, which can be harmful to a fetus. It is the same reason why you can’t take long hot showers while you are pregnant. So find activities that don’t elevate it too much, or balance such exercise with periods of rest, like Amber did with her run/walk schedule.
    4. Find safe exercise options. As your pregnancy progresses, your core shifts, which is why pregnant women become ‘off balance’ while walking. So make sure the exercises you pick don’t challenge that balance, which would increase your risk of falling. Stick with ‘straight-line’ exercises like walking (or running), swimming or the ellipitcal machine. Perhaps skip classes like step aerobics that require you to twist and spin (plus as you get bigger it gets harder to see the step!)
    5. Don’t forget strength. While aerobic exercises are important during pregnancy, so are strength exercises. So remember to incorporate some weights into your exercise schedule, but listen to your doctor about how much you can lift and stick to machines if you can, as they will make sure your posture is in line. This is key since pregnant women’s muscles ‘relax’ as a pregnancy progresses and there is an increased risk of a ‘pulled’ muscle if you don’t perform the exercise correctly.

 

All in all, exercise and pregnancy is showing to be a good thing. While many doctors’ wouldn’t advise many pregnant women to run a marathon, the fact that we can, and are not banned from doing so, is a wonderful advancement for women. The information gleaned from such pursuits could generate key data for health advancements. A win-win for all of us.

 

Charlene is a seven time marathon runner and a certified aerobics instructor. However, this post should not be construed as medical advice and you should talk to your doctor about any exercise program.

 

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October 10th, 2011

Disney Mom

The day I came back from my Disney Vacation with my husband and toddler, I got this email. (Ironic, isn’t it.)

Yup. Rejected. Again.

This is the third time I have applied. I am not sure what I am saying (or not saying) that is not getting me to the next round, but I have to say, it stings.

While some local bloggers have stated that I am not a ‘big’ enough blogger to merit the attention from the likes of Disney, I thought it was more about my knowledge of Disney. Not sure what is the percentage of Disney Panel applicants that have been to Disney more than 30 times, have done every Disney tour possible and have even run 26.2 miles on Disney property, but I even took a trip with my 23 month old to keep up with the Disney happenings as it pertains to young children: took the time to talk to cast members, chatted with other Moms at the water parks or in the rider swap lines. So to say I was serious about my application? Totally.

Disney Family Picture

So once again, the opportunity passes me by, and my hopes for getting an invitation to the Disney Social Moms Conference diminishes too. Though I did get an invite to attend the first Disney Social Media Moms conference, I was still post-partum and wasn’t cleared to fly. But the same blogging community also said that other ‘bigger’ bloggers’ should get invites before me to that event too.

Whatever.

So while I am not an official Disney Mom anything, I do know a lot and will be sharing my recent Disney experience with you all. I suppose this way I can be brutally honest and give you the good and bad of Disney based on my 30+ years of Disney experience. So stay tuned for some funny (and real) Disney Mom posts. Even if I am not a ‘big blogger’ or an ‘official’ Disney Mom.

So later gators – I’m off to look into a Disney Cruise….

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September 27th, 2011

Tips for Getting a Facial

Young women getting facial maskIf you are like me, you probably haven’t had a facial in a long time. I finally got one at a great place in Chestnut Hill, MA called MZ Skin Care. After my experience with the awesome Ultrasonic Facial there, I realized that there are some key factors to consider when deciding where to go and who to trust with your skin. So whether you live in Massachusetts or Minnesota, consider these following face tips (and check out my video on other spa etiquette considerations too!)

 

  • Go to a spa that has facialist with expertise in skin. If you have an esthetician that was giving a pedicure in the appointment slot before, they probably are not an expert. Find a person that only does facials because they will have seen all skin types, skin tones and skin issues, and can recommend the best facial for you based on your complextion, your lifestyle and skin goals.
  • Be prepared to have a facial switch-a-roo. In other words, you may have booked the Triple Exfoliation Double Sow Cow facial, but a good esthetician will look at your skin and ask you a couple of questions first. So if you booked the oily skin facial, and the esthetician is seeing your dry skin, they are going to do something different. Let them, but feel free to ask about the price differential and how it may or may not impact you.
  • A good esthetician will not try to sell you new products. They may state that you are using the wrong product (e.g. facial cleanser for dry skin when you have oily), but they should only be educating you and not selling you.
  • Don’t book a harsh or stimulating facial before a big event – like a wedding. You don’t know how your skin is going to react no matter how brilliant is the facialist. If you do want your skin to be in tip top shape for a special occasion, start going every 6 weeks about 6 months prior to the event, to ensure maximum impact.
  • Most runners know the best therapeutic massages are often not at a spa. They go to a massage specialist at a business that specializes in massages. The same could be said for facials. A business that only does facials means they have a focus and passion for skin care. By no means does that mean a typical spa doesn’t have facial rock stars, but it is something to consider. On the flip side though, you lose the flexibility of getting multiple services at once or having the ability to get a walk-in appointment.
  • It is a myth that you will always break out after a facial. It is possible as there are some facials that are stimulating and can pull out the pore gunk resulting in a lovely zit, but it is not always the case. Plus, the more consistently you go, the more your skin stays in shape and is used to the facial process.

All in all, there is nothing like a facial when your skin gets massaged & masked and you walk out with a glow. So take the time to go get one (especially during Spa Week), and if you live in Massachusetts, ask for Mara at MZ Skincare. She rocks.

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Thanks to my role in the Hot Mom Spa Squad, SpaWeek.com treated me to my long overdue facial!

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July 27th, 2011

The Similarities Between Puppies and Babies

When I pulled out the puppy books again this past weekend after we picked up our third family dog (first-post baby), I came to the startling realization that these “How-To” puppy and baby books are similar in many ways.

After my son was born, I read lots of books about how to have a happy baby, a well-fed baby, happy toddler, potty-trained toddler, etc. Each time I have gotten a puppy, I have read books about how to have a happy puppy, a quiet puppy, well-fed puppy, potty-trained puppy, etc. Hmmmm. Here are my (tongue-in-cheek) comparisons.

1. Dog training books talk about positive reinforcement vs. discipline of your puppy. (Toddler books discuss the various ways to use positive reinforcement vs. disciplining your child.)

2. Dog training books tell you not to put the puppy in bed with you even though they may be whining those first few nights home. (Baby books advise not to place a baby in bed with you if they are crying at night those first few weeks at home.)

3. Dog training books provide step-by-step guidance on how to potty train, including being proactive, consistently bringing the puppy to the potty area so they will learn, and offering lots of praise and treats. (Hmmm, so do toddler potty training books.)

4. Training books tell you to distract a puppy from chewing on your shoe, by giving them another object that is acceptable to mouth. (Baby books tell you to offer your baby another object to mouth if they are mouthing an unacceptable object.)

5. Dog training books discuss developmental games, such as throwing and retrieving objects, and providing stimulating toys that crinkle, make noise and have texture. (Do you see where I am going here?)

At least dog training books don’t get into college tuition costs, but the sleep deprivation from having a new puppy during these past three days? Brings back the fuzzy/caffeine induced baby memories.

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I love my son and I love my three dogs. I do know which is which, and this post does not imply that kids are dogs or that dogs are kids or that kids are kids or that dogs are dogs or that cats are dogs for that matter.

Image Credit: yoshimia via stock.xchng

 

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July 26th, 2011

My BlogHer Marathon

I recently heard there will be over 3000 people at BlogHer this year.

In case you missed it.  T.H.R.E.E ……T.H.O.U.S.A.N.D!

Holy #$%&!

That’s a lot of peeps.

The only event I have ever been at, that had that many people, is a Marathon.  At those, on average, there are over 20,000 people.  For anyone who has ever run a marathon, you know how crazy the Athlete Village, Starting Corrals, and Porta Potties can be. (See the above photo.)

I have run 7 marathons and have learned some strategies over the years, so I am going to treat BlogHer as my own “BlogHer” Marathon (minus the medal at the end, but probably a lot of swag). I’m pretty sure I will still have the pulled hamstrings and sore quads.

First, the ‘Athlete Village’ will be the Expo Area, the ‘Starting Corrals’ the Hotel Lobby and the ‘Porta Potties’…well, every public bathroom at the hotel.

Second, I will not use the public bathrooms and probably will head up to my room. There, I pretty much know that there is still toilet paper available. So I am thankful not to be pregnant and thus have no choice. I just hope I don’t lose my room key.

Third, I will bring water and snacks. With that many people, just getting from one end of the hotel to my room probably will require carb replacement.

Forth, I am expecting a lot of noise, which means I probably will not hear too much. Thus, I will probably keep asking the unfortunate person standing next to me, “What did they say?”. I will also use the strategy of just following around the runner, I mean blogger, who looks like they have (a) expertise and (b) knows what the hell is going on.

Fifth, I will probably be sore at the end of each day from walking and carrying around my bag that probably will get heavier with the swag/samples everyone keeps talking about. So I am going to be stopping by a related booth for samples to counteract the other samples that is causing the pain resulting in said sample. (Did ya get that?) Better yet, someone tweet me if you stumble upon free massages. Bonus if it is a foot massage.

Sixth, I will be counting on adrenaline to get me through it all.

Seven, I just hope I don’t have this happen to me when there is a stampede to some swaggy thingy.

And lastly, I am looking forward to meeting my fellow teammates at a great event.

See you in San Diego!

{Note: I revived and revised this post from last year, when I attended my first BlogHer. I survived & soon my number of blogging conferences may match my number of marathons.}

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Image Credit: Tinypic.com

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June 23rd, 2011

New Dog

New Insanity

OMG. I am getting a dog this Saturday. Forty-eight hours from now. I know the specific time when my life is going to change. As many of you know from my previous post, it has been a whirlwind.

I don’t remember being this nervous when I got my other two dogs. But then again, I wasn’t married and didn’t have a toddler. In addition to potty training said toddler, I am adding to the poop insanity and adding puppy pee to the equation. (Apparently I like challenges.) I have already started to shift my schedule during the next two weeks so I can help the pup transition. My Saturday mornings will probably be at a puppy kindergarten somewhere.

The house has even more doggy paraphernalia. (If there are any PR people representing Dog companies, I may be the Blogger for you.) My two current dogs are wondering what the heck is going on and my toddler, of course, is oblivious. Though we watch the video of the puppy playing all the time. Not sure if it works, but hoping it will help when the puppy comes home.

I have stacks of books I got from the library that I have been pouring over. As a refresher for training, transition, and dog-to-dog introduction, as well as as learning how to acclimate kids to a new dog. (Though if you are looking to acclimate a dog to a new baby, Isis Parenting has an awesome blog post on the matter.)

Adding to my panic are the comments I have received over the past couple of weeks since we told people we were going from two dogs to three. Needless to say, not very supportive, and generally along the lines of, “Are you freaking insane?”

As the time gets closer, I think the answer is, “Yes, we are.”

Until once again I see his little face. Then the answer is, “No, just full of love I want to share.”

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May 25th, 2011

Blogging Conferences

The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media Conferences

I have been fortunate to attend several blogging/social media related conferences this year; at times as a speaker and at times as an attendee. All in all, I am a Blogging/Social Media Conference newbie, but it was immediately clear when I walked into the opening keynote at SheCon, that something was off.

I touched upon the industry lessons in my first post, and it provides a segway into the lessons for all conferences. This post is not going to focus on details like whether water was available or whether or not lunch was offered, but overall concepts that shape the space.

Many kuddos to the organizers for running such an event. Yet, there are lessons to be learned for all social media conferences, the social media industry and the people engaged within it. The ideas presented are based on my past experiences as a project manager, event planner and seminar organizer, as well as my observations at SheCon and other social media conferences. They are only my thoughts and every conference attendee has different experiences for which to relate. However, you know that you hit the nail on the head when the thoughts seem to reflect the majority.

1. Conference Cost. Conferences should cost something, and the SheCon conference was free. While I love free, there was no incentive for people to actually attend. Having even a small fee would provide a level of investment. It would have perhaps provided water, lunch or even Internet access, which would engage the participant, enable them to be invested, and eliminate minor concerns that can negatively impact the experience.

2. Constant Communication. Conferences are a juggling act, but the key is to not show the juggle. Clear and constant communication with the attendees provides a sense of community, even when things inevitably go awry.  Simple tweets communicating schedule changes or room re-assignments do wonders for positive flow. Making verbal announcements or handwritten signs in a pinch is better than conference attendees wandering aimlessly or realizing after a panel has started that they are in the wrong room. Dissatisfaction spreads quickly, which leads to the next point.

3. Rapid Response.  It should be expected that things will go wrong, but is it how the conference organizers handle the snafus that makes all the difference. I saw several tweets (some of them mine) asking for assistance during the SheCon conference. Rarely did I see the official conference organizers respond to the questions or concerns. While the community often stepped in with answers or support, it would have been better to see the conference brand itself engage at a great level with the conferees. It adds a level of connection, brand exposure and positive reinforcement of leadership.

4. Organized Response. Each conference should have a designated person to constantly be scanning the conference #hashtag. Not the person or persons who are running the conference, (who are often running around putting out the preverbial fires), but someone who is connected to the conference, familiar with the goals of the conference for consistent voice. This person should be able to devote time to handle problems, and to be consistently present in the space. Again, to show engagement, leadership and brand exposure.

5. Speaker Expertise. Speakers are the face of a conference, and often it is not what they say but how they say it and where they engage. In addition to rockin’ speaker proposals, speakers should be interviewed by phone. While they may be subject matter experts, do they effectively communicate that expertise? How do they present themselves? This factor is just as important as the panel topic as it reflects on the conference brand. Perhaps speaker references or video introductions would provide additional assurance that the speaker is the best fit for the particular conference and its goals.

6. Speaker Engagement. All speakers should be required to volunteer or assist in other areas of the conference. Again, they reflect the conference itself. Speakers that are approachable are often thought of more positively and positive thoughts transition to the conference as a whole.

7. Attendee Support. I was shocked when I found out that I had to pay $12.95 a day for Internet service at SheCon, and at Mom 2.0, Internet was sporadic and spotty. Appropriate tools are essential. At a social media conference, Internet is essential. At a pharmaceutical conference, it may be pens and paper. All in all, attendees need the tools and support to have a successful conference experience, and it should be checked and rechecked to ensure consistency. If the conference is unable to provide such support, it should state it clearly in the materials. A notice, for example, that Internet would not be provided at SheCon, would have minimized the shock and frustration. At Mom 2.0, the hotel did have internet technical support on hand, which assisted in ‘frustration management’.

8. Functional Space. When looking for conference space, consider the vibe of the space based on layout. Having all breakout rooms, exhibitors, and lounges in close proximity enables better engagement.  It fosters a positive environment as the number one reason most people attend conferences is for the networking opportunity. At SheCon, the rooms were far apart. At Mom 2.0, it was in an L shaped layout, which split the crowds.

So it is not about lunch, water or if the coffee was any good, but the functionable space, the response of the conference organizers and the engagement of the speakers.

While each conference location can effect the conference as a whole, and the experience of the staff at the conference hotel is often outside the control of the conference organizers, each of the points above are within the scope of possibility to ensure an amazing conference and a positive buzz; even after the closing keynote speaker has gone home.

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