Before there were endless PR pitches, link contests, product reviews and the feeling that if your blog doesn’t have 72 ad banners and 25 comments per post you’re a complete failure, there was just writing on your blog for fun, meeting up for a good time and feeling that you were a part of something special.
I’ll be honest that as the blogosphere and mom-o-sphere have grown, I’ve had that feeling less and less. Maybe it’s my fault. Perhaps all the personal gains and losses I’ve had over the last four years sent me further away from the blog community when it should have been pulling me toward it. But, whatever the case, 
I had an experience today that made me remember all the things I love about being a blogger and why I continue to write and post.
I was part of a select group of bloggers participating in a program coordinated by The Motherhood to partake in a day of good deeds: “Do Good Day.” It was sponsored by 77Kids, a new store for girls, boys and babies by American Eagle. I love Cooper and Emily having connected with them in blog years past, and was really excited by the opportunity to work with them.
Led by the mighty Hyacinth and Melissa here in Chicago (there were teams of 7 bloggers in 10 other cities around the country doing good today too), we agreed on a Do Good Day program: Bake for the tenants of the Ronald McDonald House and then pass out $77 worth of $1 bills at random in the afternoon on our own.
Thanks to resident bakers Emily and Michelle, we made a cake and thumbprint cookies for the residents of the RMH. In a conversation with a resident couple before we started cooking, I was told of the hardship families must endure when their kids are at Children’s Memorial Hospital, but the family residence is in another city completely. For these families who are already shouldering the burden of the high cost of healthcare, saving money on meals and hotel rooms is a necessity. RMH pays for 100 percent of their living expenses. Residents can stay there for as long as they want. Soda only costs $0.25 from the vending machine. Amazing.
Also, 77Kids included for each of us a “goodie” box filled with the $77 to pass out as well as goodie bags, an adorable (and high quality) tee shirt for my eldest and thank you notes to pass out at the organizations at which we were volunteering.
Since I brought baby burrito, I was not in charge of baking. Which is a good thing, because there’s nothing I do worse than bake. So baby burrito and I wrote some thank you notes, clipped money and gave all of Theresa’s (count ‘em) SEVEN kids someone to watch and play with. We laughed, shared stories and learned a lot about how lucky we are.
I had to leave early to go to an appointment for baby burrito, but I wish I could have stayed longer to chat and gab with the amazing women in the room. It was that intangible good feeling I had when I left that I had done a good deed and had a nice morning with interesting women that reminds me why I stay connected and committed to the blogosphere.
And it was nice to be a part of a company-sponsored experience that didn’t feel pushy, sales-y. Just Good-y.
Full disclosure: I was compensated to be a part of the 77Kids team and to post and tweet about my experience. However, the mushy, gushy bloggy-love feelings are all mine. You can’t pay for that.
Part of what I love about being a “writer,” is the chance to interview and meet new people. Last week, I got to chat with Harlan Cohen, advice columnist and writer of the uber-touching-and-funny pregnancy advice book for dads, Dad’s Pregnant Too!
You can read my review of the book on my ChicagoParent.com Second City Baby Blog if you like. If you’re starved for time, I’ll tell you up front that I really liked it and wish I had it on the nightstand during my pregnancies. My full interview write up with Harlan will appear in the September issue of CP.
I hardly ever accept invitations to blog events with my kids because it’s hard to convince a four-year-old that it would be fun to hang out with me and my bloggy sistahs. I mean, he bawled his eyes out in hysteria at the first and only blog event I coordinated last month. So it’s safe to say that we stay away most of the time.
But when the kind PR folks of Catalyst Public Relations sent me an email that we were invited as VIPs to their Powerade Play event at Daley Bicentennial Plaza to schmooze with Venus Williams and Derrick Rose and try the samples of the new Powerade Play drink for kids, well, I responded yes faster than Venus’s serve.
We love tennis (okay, and my son likes the Bulls *as a Detroiter I cringe*) in our house.
My eldest and I geared up for the big day yesterday by watching countless Venus/ Serena matches on You Tube. He kept asking about Venus’s sister. I told him DO NOT SAY THAT IN FRONT OF VENUS.
If only he said anything at all.
After we saw MJ (man, she is EVERYWHERE!) at the event, we waited, and waited and waited for our chance to stalk brush hands with tennis greatness.
Here’s the photo play book of what happened next:
We played Bag-O (which, people, is not NEARLY as fun played with little kids sober.)
We got excited when a limo pulled up. False alarm.
We were bummed when we thought this was as close as we’d get.
And when we had the chance for the photo opp, this is what happened…
He chickened out. But Venus was super cool about it.
I should also mentioned the Powerade “Blue” color got a mixed review from the little guy. Maybe we’ll try the “Red” next time.
I was not compensated for posting about the Powerade Play event. I did receive a complimentary VIP Pass to the event, which had no monetary value to my knowledge, but worth a few good memories.
I shop at the Lincoln Park Whole Foods almost once a week not infrequently. At first, the store, a behemoth grocery store by any standards, let alone a Whole Foods, scared me. But I’ve grown to love the size, the selection, and especially, the sushi bar. (I even got Cyn to meet me there once.)
Which is why I was appalled and horrified that a local mom, Lisa Portes, was BANNED from Whole Foods for LIFE for accidentally taking out a $15 bottle of chewable vitamins amidst a clusterf*** of epic proportions with her kids. (Full story in Chicago Magazine via Windy Citizen.)
Everyone who has children, babysat children, or watched children from afar can understand how difficult it is to grocery shop (or do any kind of shopping) with kids. Just the baggage and items alone needed to keep them occupied, dry, sanitized and fed is enough without remembering the grocery list, your wallet, and your own, sustainable shopping bags. (Portes gets extra props for those.)
So what, she paid for the groceries, left, forgot another item and went back to get it, took her kids to the bathroom and forgot to pay. Was that worth the shakedown by the security guard in the parking lot, a Whole Foods “mug” shot and directive to never step foot in the store again?
I think not.
I remember fondly when Kristen forgot to pay for the duck that accidentally fell into her shopping cart. Was that worth the $6.95 to take her kids out of the car, go back and pay? Readers were mixed, but I know that I wouldn’t have gotten out of my car at that moment to return it.
We all have our bad moments as mothers. And apparently Chicago does not like when moms have those moments, or moms in public in general (as referenced by the comments to this story and the Stroller Wars story that I was a part of.) Not all of us are a texting, careless, maniacal bunch.
I personally think it’s clear that Portes did not intend to steal the vitamins. It’s also clear that a company has a policy against shoplifting and I cannot fault Whole Foods for adhering to policy.
But where’s the middle ground? It’s not like Portes was a repeat offender. It’s not like she didn’t offer to pay. I’m not sure how the Whole Foods organization works, but most companies I’ve worked with over the years with regards to employee relations give managers the ability to assess the situation of their own store or office and make an informed decision based on that.
Rather, what it seems, is that everyone likes a scapegoat, especially when it’s a harried mom. It’s easy to judge that mom and assume the worst. She was an easy target for the bored security guard in the parking lot. As Portes says, “They didn’t leave the slightest margin for human error.” And that seems exactly like what it was. Human error. We all err as humans.
Even the crazy Chicago mom haters.
Even the manager and the security guard at Whole Foods.
I love the store, the products and the people I encounter at Whole Foods. But I’m not a fan of the way they handled this situation or their inane, inflexible policy. It makes me wonder who’s looking over my shoulder as I soldier on through the vast aisles of the store. I better make sure I triple check my cart on the way out.
Am I allowed to link and rant while on “hiatus?” (which is turning out to be the worst hiatus evah.) Because, I am.
As I think about what it is that I want to “be” or “do” as it relates to blogging, writing, social media consulting, I keep going back to being local. I know local people, I am a patron of local products and businesses. I like helping out the neighborhood and the small shops.
So I was very interested to read what Cassie Boorn (thanks, Kim) had to say about marketing your small business online in response to Jessica Gottleib’s thoughtful post about why small businesses should not engage bloggers. In Jessica’s mind, it all comes back to providing customers with the best product or service you can give them. If those suck, well, no good blog campaign can fix it. And Cassie gives some good tips in her post like having customers review your business. While I don’t necessarily agree that customers should be given discounts just for reviewing on Yelp (it may look like they’re being “paid” for a positive review), I think that third-party validation like Yelp always helps when making decisions about what service or business to use or shop at.
IMHO and from limited experience, at least locally here in Chicago, I think there are four keys to local social media outreach:
- Make genuine online conversation with your customers. I love, love what The Bleeding Heart Bakery (also a neighbor of mine) has done with their Twitter feed. It’s not sales-y. Rather their banter is light, funny and to the point. And always responsive to people’s opinions and thoughts. Sunda does the same thing. It has the benefit of local celeb Billy Dec to Tweet about, but when I replied to one of their Tweets, they responded immediately and genuinely.
- Tie in-store promotions and events with an online presence. Whether it’s a post offering an in-store discount to Facebook “fans” or mention a Twitter update for a free soda with your purchase of a sandwich, there has to be a connection between the bricks to the clicks. Not all people are on Twitter and Facebook all day long, but most people have an account to either service and would more than happy to check online for an in-store deal.
- Be an online personality. Most of the local small business people I’ve chatted with are terrific personalities in and of themselves. Cassie rightly says that small business owners should start a blog to talk about news, specials, post links, and have a conversation. But it’s more. Blogs are a showcase for the unique and individual nature of a small store owner’s personality and interests. And it’s a great way to get a niche following of other like-minded and interested bloggers and potential customers. (Hello, Krista K?? Why isn’t your blog updated!?)
- It’s not one size fits all. I agree with Jessica that blogger outreach isn’t for everyone or every store. I’m finding the more I talk about the topic, the more I find that the blog world in a lot of ways is a small, insular place. Every mom blogger event I’ve been to in Chicago has the same 75 person target list. Not all of those moms (many of whom I know and love) are going to all want to blog about the same thing. Some of my friends who are avid Facebook updaters don’t even have blogs. But they have a great audience on Facebook. There’s something to that as well. I think good marketing is an integrated mix of social media, traditional online media, print and good (emphasis on GOOD) PR. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, foursquare, etc., are all good to have on the roster, but not necessarily all good to use in every situation.
So what are your keys? What am I missing here?
See, I wasn’t gone that long, was I? Truth be told, I took a huuuuuge break from my Second City Baby blog, so I really had to post there! Read what I wrote about my experience with Illinois Early Intervention. Anyone else have a positive experience like I did?
