Countdown to #CyberMummy11: A critic’s view

Iota Manhattan is one of my favourite bloggers; she’s candid, tells a good story and has the ability to make you think about larger issues while still making you laugh. I asked her to write about her feelings about coming to CyberMummy:

Susanna asked me if I had time to write a blog post: Countdown to CyberMummy. I’m amazed. Why would anyone want to know what I think about CyberMummy? I mean, I’m the blogger who last year said she was going to run an alternative conference, where we’d all wear our yoga bottoms, eat chocolate cake, and search for our inner bloggers. And this year, there was a moment a few weeks ago when I said publicly that I was thinking of selling my ticket and not coming.

I’ve always said I’m not very interested in the commercial side of blogging. And that’s true, in that it’s never going to be my main focus. But times move on, and it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. And there’s nothing like working in a shop on a lowly hourly rate for focusing the mind on your market worth. I found myself thinking recently “here am I, toiling away in the toy store while my blog sits around all day, doing very little, preening herself, relaxing, hanging out on the internet with her friends… I think it’s time I put her to work”. I woke up to the fact that if you run an ad or two on your blog, it’s not going to be a salary with annual holiday and benefits, but it’s something. So I’ve got an ad! I always thought that it was important to keep my blog independent, so that I wouldn’t be compromised, and always be free to say what I liked. So I’ll still be pretty picky about what I have on my blog (and if there’s one thing you’ll never read here, it’s that chocolate cereal or chocolate spread is a healthy breakfast option for kids), but I can’t say I feel terribly compromised by having an ad for an insurance agency on my right side bar. Perhaps my ethical standards are slipping, but I don’t really think so.

Heartened by my big step into advertising, I’ve approached a few companies with ideas for sponsored posts, or asking for nice things that I’d like to review. I’ve had zero success on that front, just at this point in time. I’m hoping that CyberMummy might help me do a bit better. I’m such a newbie in this whole game. I’ll be the one sitting at the back, with a puzzled expression on my face, writing “*scratches head*” in my notebook, and nudging my neighbour with “psst… how do you spell optimisation?” (Ooh, little cross-cultural joke there for my fellow US/UK expats.) That’s one aspect of blogging I really love. Always new things to learn, always new developments to explore. It can be intimidating, and I’m not exactly known for my eagerness to throw myself into the forefront (though let it not be forgotten that I was a founder member of BritMums…). But if I didn’t blog, I would be even less technologically literate than I am. It does keep me a little bit up to date. I do at least know that your IP number isn’t the same as your IQ, and that a platform isn’t just where you get on a train.

Now at this point, I’m imagining Susanna having to sit down and take a few deep breaths. Cup of tea, perhaps. I’m guessing that when she asked me to write a post, she thought that I’d write something a little biting about blogging and commercial interests, and talk instead about the touchy-feely side of what blogging has been to me over the past 4 years. Well, don’t worry Susanna. That’s coming now.

I have a confession to make (and what really is mummy blogging, if not a great public confessional?). I haven’t looked at the CyberMummy programme yet. I’ve glanced at it. I’ve read a few of the speaker profiles, and some of the ‘top tips’ posts. But I haven’t planned my day.  And I haven’t got any business cards printed. There’s still time. It’s only Tuesday. But what I HAVE done, is arranged to get together with people I really want to get together with. That’s what last year’s CyberMummy was all about for me. Meeting in the flesh, all those fabulous, warm, funny, caring, witty, brilliant, interesting people who I’d got to know in print over 3 of the hardest years of my life. So I’m meeting up with a group of British expats who live abroad on Friday night, and I’m meeting up with a group of non-British expats who live in the UK on Saturday night (I’m not really qualified to join them, but they’ve said I can be an honorary member for the evening). And I’ve emailed a few individuals to say “can we look out for each other at CyberMummy? Can we fix a time to meet?”

Well, got to go now. (Why don’t they run a session at CyberMummy on how to end a blog post? That often stumps me.) Oh, and if you’re looking for a blogger to sponsor to CyberMummy, email me. The new, updated, commercially hungry Iota is waiting. There’s still time. It’s only Tuesday.

Thanks Iota, we’ll see you on Saturday!

-Susanna (A Modern Mother)

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