Follow your passions, use your blog as a microphone for social good, believe in your ability and power to bring about social change and get inside the head of your reader.
These were just a few of the of the pointers I took home from last weeks Digital Parents Conference, attended by over 100 parent bloggers from all around Australia. Or maybe they were just the words that I could actually decipher from my scribble as I decided to resort to old fashioned, taking notes, handwriting. I therefore didn’t take too many notes. And aside from that I had both Louisa and Kellie live blogging next to me so I knew I could just hook into their notes later.
There were probably 2 facets of the conference however that I can use immediately to help me take my blog and business forward.
1. Blogging for social good: Whilst I may not be the blogger that goes to Niger like Eden to report on the latest famine, or like Darren from Problogger who travelled to Tanzania to help bring about life saving medical procedures that would be routine operations in Australia, I believe I still have the ability to bring about social change, even if it is on a much smaller scale.
For me and my blog and business, I want parents to experience more joy in their family life and I want children and teens to be better equipped to face the obstacles that prevent them from having a healthy, happy and productive journey into the adult world. To do so, I will continue to try and inform and empathise and expose some of my own realities of raising a family in the modern world.
2.Technological Domination: The second facet was the enormity of this digital world and how absolutely it will engulf our children and their futures. Now of course at a blogging conference there are going to be lots of ‘tech heads’ and social networking geeks that just love their gadgets and stuff. But if this is what can happen with those of us that still typed their Uni assignments on a typewriter (or maybe a Dos document in the final year), then one can only assume that our children, who as 2 year olds are swiping through screens on an ipad like its second nature, will be even more engulfed by this online phenomenon. It is this aspect of parenting that I believe needs particular attention. I recently wrote about the importance for parents to embrace the technological world and attempt to understand it from their child’s perspective. I now believe that more than ever and will therefore continue to make this a focus.
What else I learnt?
- Some people are exactly as you imagined them to be from their online persona
- Some people are so very different from how you imagined them to be from their online persona
- I have some competition when it comes to karaoke microphone hogging (Not mentioning Shae, Clint or Jess)
- Kristy from The Imperfect Mum and Nathalie from Easy Peasy Kids would make great room mates. (thanks for letting me crash in between events)
- Gemma from My Big Nutshell is one funny girl, with a lots of spark’ (and has great taste in clothes).
- I love writing. I want to continue to write and experiment and hone my skills
- I will try to make every sentence count
So thankyou to all who helped make this years conference a fabulous experience and for providing me with the information, motivation and the confidence to move forward with my blogging aspirations.
If you were there, what were your highlights? And if you are not a blogger, what have been your experiences of conferences and networking events?
This Post Has 37 Comments
Martine I was hoping we could get together and watch the 3 part DVD on cleaning 😉 Love spending fun times with you Nx
HAhhhhhaaa
With Pizza? I will use the cleaning wipes to clear the mess.
Absolutely! I am sure we have a few spare hours between us to learn some extra tips! x
Blogging for Social Good comes in all forms. Your post on Heartfelt never leaves the highest clicked on posts on my blog. Sharing information that way is sure to have helped a number of families. There are no limits to this blogging caper!
Thanks Claire, it certainly does have the power to have a very positive impact on the world. We just need to ensure we use it the right way for the right results.
It was brilliant to meet you Martine. Expect an email from me soon x
Fabulous to meet you to Kiri x
I loved seeing you again Martine, but we need longer chatting time next time. Thank you for popping up to say ‘hi’ too, when I was a bit overwhelmed Denyse X
Thanks Denyse. It was great to see you again but I would definitely love to chat longer next time. YOur talk was fabulous too. You speak so well. 🙂
The highlight? For me? Definitely the dancing! Obviously I don’t get out enough 🙂
Yep it was a highlight for me too! Love a good dance x
My highlight: singing Flashdance with you and wondering where our bicycles and welding masks were 😉
We did rock that Irene Cara! x
Martine you do such a beautiful job on your blog here. (Between you and me, it’s one of the only ones that’s goes straight to my inbox 🙂 )
I took away a lot of similar things too. I feel really inspired to keep gonga no to get better at this, and do good from my blog, not just random craziness. Which is totally a category I post things into. 🙂
Loved mike hogging with you xxx
Thankyou Jess, that is very kind. I love that you are feeling inspired…but be sure to keep some of the random craziness!
Besides meeting my buddy (thanks for the support Martine, like many others I had my moments of feeling freaked out and left out), what I got out of the day is I still have the same goal for my blog, to write about my life, my family and my history. Plus an additional passion for trying to do some good for the world, or a tiny part of it anyway.
xx
I am glad you got lots out of it and sometimes it is enough to just reaffirm what and why we are doing what we are doing. Loved being your buddy too x
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the conference! Still yet to hear a bad thing about it. On the to-do list for 2013.
Yep, definitely put in the ‘to do’ list..lots of fun and learning!
Sumed up so beautifully. It’s true, we can all make a difference, some in smaller ways, other bigger. But it all counts.
Thanks Mandy…and well done on conquering the Fun Run for kids!
I’ve been thinking about technology and kids quite a bit lately. Things are so different to when I was a child & expectations/experiences of communication, entertainment, relationships have changed. I wonder what it will be like by the time my boys are adults!
Yes it is changing all the time and hence we have no idea how it will look by the time our kids are adults. I think that is why I am passionate about parents keeping up with the changes as they happen.
Sounds like such a valuable experience for a blogger, not to mention oodles of fun!! Thanks for sharing your experiences & learnings. Hope you meet you there next year x
Would love to meet you there next year!
Your first two lines got me hooked. I passionately share your concerns and thoughts about technological issues. Thanks for keeping this issue in the fore. This is definitely a topic to be raised and you seem like an apt person to be an gadget of influence in this area.
I meant to write “an apt person to be an agent of influence” not “gadget”! No idea how that came out. influence of iGadgets, maybe!
Thanks Veronica! I actually think both versions work! And I do hope to be the person to help parents find there way through the ever changing technological landscape!
Just wanted to chime in that you are already blogging for social good. I know I look to you for ideas and inspiration when I’m finding things hard going, and we’re not even near the teen years yet!
Loved chatting to you albeit briefly 🙂
Thanks Kate that is very kind. And yes lovely to see you again…will chat longer next time 🙂
Love this! I was most excited about blogging for social good!!
Yes I think it was the session that most surprised me as I realised that that is what most of us are doing, just in different ways.
I totally think you do a lot of social good with your blog…
If you help just one other parent or child you are doing something wonderful and I know you have already helped me!
Thanks Kate, you are too kind 🙂
Hmmmmmm did we not share the mic for the last song of the night? Or did I dream that….either way I loved singing with you xx
No I’m pretty sure we did…..lots of fun 🙂
Sounds like a wonderful day that you got a lot out of. I can’t wait to get to my first conference
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