The web is all about transparency (dirty secrets), so here you go. I’m standing up. “My name is Jo.” (Now you say, “Hi Jo.”) “On Sunday I signed up for a subscription to the print version of The Denver Post.” I’ll wait if you need to read that again, because I realise that coming from me … it’s hard to comprehend. Background (excuse): I was... 

Dear SXSW attendees: I know you’re all excited. You’re going to spend a whole heap of time being all geeky and fun, and drinking and stuff. Talking about startups, design, innovation, music… ooh I’ll bet you’re all tingly. My husband is one of you. He’s kid-at-Christmas excited. He loves Texas and had a ball there last year. As a startup geek guy, he can’t... 

It has been my absolute privilege to be on the Executive Committee of the CU New Venture Challenge (CUNVC) for 2010. The CUNVC is focused on providing entrepreneurial support, mentoring and cross-campus collaboration for startups that include students and faculty, across the University of Colorado. The goal is to provide some real support and eliminate some of the smoke and mirrors involved in really... 

An American woman named Angie Jackson has decided it was a good idea to share her experience of aborting her pregnancy with the world, via YouTube and Twitter. A mother of a four-year-old who goes to the trouble of outlining the reasons why she decided on an abortion with RU486, Angie says her social media posts are her attempt to “demistify” the process, and let everyone know that for... 

Company A says, “Let’s create an event, sponsor some bloggers, and they’ll create a hashtag around it and we’ll give out some prizes. It will be great, Twitter will be buzzing with our company’s name.” Or a group of bloggers might come up with: “Every week we’ll be ‘meeting’ on twitter, using this hashtag.” Sound like good ideas? Sure.... 

There were so many amazing aspects to the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston, Texas this last weekend that it’s hard to really pinpoint the essence of just one takeaway. There is a great range of posts coming together about the event and you can sort of lose your entire day surf them all through this great link list by Misty Khan. But read this first, right? Come back to the top after you’re done.... 

When Max leaped across from Sydney to join us for three weeks in January, we took lots of pictures. As mums do. I promised myself I’d get them organised, and create a nice montage. As mums do. Now we’re halfway through February, and the planned montage didn’t happen because other things got in the way. As they do. Max enjoying the view. I decided I was being too much of a perfectionist.... 

As part of my series of posts helping mums and families save money this month with ANZ Febusave, today I’m looking at what not to buy when you or someone you know is “up the duff.” I’m a mum of four children, and I thought I’d seen it all. But the stuff some stores will make you think you need as an expectant parent are so ridiculous it astounds me. While you might not go so far as... 

Word of Mouth has always been a double-edged sword for small business. I remember the saying  a local fish and chip shop had on their wall. “If you like our food, tell your friends. If you don’t like it, tell us!” Once upon a time, the worst that could happen would be a letter to the editor of the local paper. With a 24 hour news cycle, the bad news would pass and your business could... 

While many people align technology adoption and use with age, the facts show it’s not all that easy to stereotype the creators of content in the online media. Today’s Pew Report on Teens and Social Media amplifies a very real issue in the US. Our teens and young adults are engaging in “new” media, but on a very limited level. The majority of them are not creating new content. In... 

Shhh. Don’t talk about it. It’s not polite. But make sure you know what you think about it. And be prepared to fight for it, even if you are really not talking about it because it’s not polite. Try not to judge people for their views (that they’re not talking about because they’re too polite), but whisper about their views and about them… and judge them privately... 

Are you still reaching for the same goals you were three years ago? Do you feel like a hamster in a wheel? Everything you do needs a strategy – some of these strategies are comparatively easy, like going to work clean, neat and tidy. The key is to have a routine, and introduce the necessary tactics into that routine to make the objective achievable (like setting your alarm clock to get up on... 

As an official ANZ FebuSave blogger, I’m doing a post each week throughout February on how mums can save a few dollars to help get their budget in check. My first post (yes, I know it’s not February yet, but the Aussies need to get through the last week of school holidays!) is about how to avoid the craziness of the major theatre chains and instead make the most of a home family movie time. You’ve... 

Today, January 26, is the day we celebrate our Aussie-ness. Our family will be celebrating, even though we’re miles away. (Insert song like I Still Call Australia Home or my favourite, Great Southern Land – oh what the heck, I will). I think a game of backyard cricket is in order along with reminiscing about football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holdens. So what does it mean to be Australian? Most... 

Moving to Denver meant we moved to the heart of Speed Stacking. We’d tried it out back in Australia, because you know, it’s freaky to watch so as soon as we saw the ad on tv we just had to give it a go. The sport hasn’t taken off in Australia like it has in other some places. But Denver is where it originated, and so here we are, equipped with cups, timers and mats. This sport is... 

Some mainstream media have incorporated the fantastic ability of the web to allow reader comments to stream live. Apparently, the misguided professional believes this is a wonderful way of operating public journalism, which seems to be so popular right now. Really, we’re demonstrating our real connections with our audience. Unfortunately, when reader comments are opened on every story, and allowed... 

As I predicted right here on Mediamum.net in March 2009 when the Rocky Mountain News folded, Colorado’s the Denver Post is now also in trouble. Its owners are asking for bankruptcy protection. They’re still not humble. I’m hearing professional journalists and academics in journalism blame all sorts of things for this situation: 1. Falling ad revenues (you know, that’s a failure... 

If you are unfamiliar with the Nestle Family incident on social media last year, there are myriad blog posts about it, as well as a single piece of mainstream traditional media coverage. In a snapshot, Nestle brought a number of bloggers to the company’s headquarters in California from September 30-October 1, 2009, showing them the full range of its products, and using them as a focus group for... 

As more bloggers, blogs and readers enter our universe, companies begin to more fully recognise the power of their voices. These companies approach us all with opportunities to “work together” and it can be tough to navigate that landscape. Take a step back. Look at your blog with a reader’s eye. Just as you were taught in school the difference between writing in active voice and... 

In The Sydney Morning Herald’s role as gatekeeper/the fourth estate, those paying for its content deserve a standard of professionalism that is better than those it does not pay for. Is a t-shirt necessary to tell the difference between professional journalists and citizens? You can buy this one at www.zazzle.com. That’s the idea, anyway. The Sydney Morning Herald, however, doesn’t... 

The Islam and the Media conference, held by the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado at Boulder (January 7-10) was a huge success in bringing together leaders in thought and practise on religion and media. But you wouldn’t know it if you’d been watching mainstream media. At a time in our history that international front pages and lead stories are obsessively... 

I’m very excited to be attending the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston, Texas from February 18-20. The schedule of events is chock full of sessions that I want to learn from. I think this conference is one which really does enlighten all parties – marketers and ‘moms’ –  on how the other operates. I regularly hear complaints from both sides – it seems there are as  many... 

Ah the miracle of medicine, look how much you’ve done for women and babies. Birthing in the Western World is no longer fraught with danger, thanks to your hand. Or is it? Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net The oh-so convenient Christmas miracle story splashed internationally across mass media headlines of a Coloradan woman and her baby dying through childbirth and then “inexplicably”... 

“Twitter’s a fad.” “The young kids use Twitter because they don’t want to have a real conversation.” “Twitter is destroying society.” “How do you know they’re real?” “I really don’t care that much about what you’re doing all day.” I’ve heard it all. From all types of people. The only people who truly understand... 

If you’re looking for a great deal for skiing, then a little preparation is in order. Think it out early, and you’ll save lots. Leave it to the last minute, and you’ll be paying for it – literally. As a grad student mum with extremely limited funds, I have got hold of some great deals, and I wanted to share some resources with you. The Colorado Gems Card. For a $10 initial outlay... 

I have four kids. I believe in Santa. This Christmas, we saw yet another moron decide it was a good idea to try and blow up a plane. At Christmas. Christmas is my favourite time of the year and I’ll be blasted (no pun intended) if anyone’s going to take that away from me. So I’ve decided that I’ll let the TSA in on some key things they could be doing to really make a difference...