iPhone 3G S: One Man’s Quest at 5:00 am To be the First

Last week was the release of the new iPhone 3G S, and Janine had the opportunity to meet one man who awoke at 5:00 am while on vacation to be sure he would get one.

What other people did he meet?

What if someone had to pee?

And most of all, WHY?

Learn all this and more from our bleary-eyed subject.

Janine is a mother of twins by day and a Mamarazzi by night. She writes about raising her twins, her neuroses, and reviews on TwoferMom.com.

Graco: employees who are parents connect with consumers

Graco noticed lots of parents chatting it up online and realized this was an opportunity to engage with their consumers and future consumers. I wanted to know how a large company like Graco decides to enter the social media space and if they have been able to measure the success of their blogging and tweeting efforts.  Luckily, I had already become Twitter friends with one of the Graco bloggers, Karen Hartzell, and she was happy to share her experience.

How did the Graco parents start blogging? Did one of you suggest it? Or, who knew that it was a good way to tap into moms?

We started first by “listening” to the space knowing that expectant moms often get their information from experienced moms. We

also knew a lot of that conversation was happening online. We wanted to know, more specifically, what the parenting community was talking about. We used an agency to do conversation mining for us for 9 months (funny how we tend to work in trimesters over here J) before we really “jumped in.”

Have any of you blogged on your own?

Not yet but I would like to! (once I get settled)

What blogs do you rea

d (if any) on a regular basis?

I read so many different ones that it’s almost hard to keep track. My favorite part about the blogosphere is actually discovering new blogs, whether it’s parents of special needs children or grandparents or daddy blogs, or

adoptive parents, etc, so I wouldn’t say I read too many on a regular basis though there are a few I subscribe to.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

It allows me to take the time to appreciate the small things that are happening in my life. It helps me to take notice of things that might go unnoticed so I can share it with my readers.

Has Graco been able to measure the impact of having bloggers who interact with the mom blogging community?

I wouldn’t say we’ve been able to come up with a strict “measurement” of the impact parenting community has had on our business but we’re pretty sure they haven’t “hurt” our business J Social media is definitely difficult to measure but we’re certainly seeing a higher engagement with our consumers and we’ve also had some great success with servicing our customers through this space.

What about Twitter? Love it? Hate it?

Love it. I became addicted over maternity leave because it’s short & quick & I could do it between newborn stuff. I still find it to be a helpful way to connect with parents for just about anything.

Has Twitter had any measurable effect?

I would say we’ve seen a measurable effect with our customer service but it’s honestly hard to tell- we’re really using social media to connect with the parenting community, first as parents, then as company representatives. Twitter is more a connection point for a longer relationship then an end point to hit a “goal.”

When they decided to start the blog and enter the world of Twitter what was the original goal? Was it for customer service? To spread the word on the brand?

Again, we wanted to build a relationship with the parenting community and social platforms give us, as a company, the ability to do that. We wanted to hear first-hand what experiences, what concerns, what issues parents were having. If we get to know our consumers as deeply as we can, we can create products that serve them best. And… we can service them [after purchase] through these platforms as well thus rounding out their positive experience with Graco. If we did all of that, wouldn’t you tell your friends? We hope so.

How does Graco promote the blog?

I wouldn’t say we “promote” the blog as much as I’d much as I’d say we “share” it. We talk about it on Twitter, we add posts to Facebook, we participate in the blogging community by commenting on others’ posts which is a way to say “Hey, come check us out too” and we host Get-Togethers with regional blogger groups as well. We don’t “advertise” the blog in the traditional sense but word spreads which is what social media is all about.

What are the Graco baby moms real jobs at Graco when they aren’t blogging?

The parents featured on the blogs are from different areas of the organization. For instance, I am in the Supply Chain (Senior Demand Planner) and others are in the marketing department, product development, channel marketing, sales, human resources, and fashion. We try to give a well-rounded representation of our company.

Does Graco work with other bloggers to promote products through reviews or giveaways?

Sometimes. I really wish we could more often because we know how important good reviews are. Unfortunately for us it’s a little difficult to give products to review and/or giveaway for two reasons. 1. because they are expensive and we don’t have a huge budget for samples (boy I wish we did!) 2. because our business isn’t a “loyalty/repeat” business- once someone purchases our products, they don’t usually purchase those same items again. (70% of baby gear purchases are made by a first-time expectant mom and those products are typically used again for a second, third, etc. child).

Janine is a mother of twins by day and a Mamarazzi by night. She writes about raising her twins, her neuroses, and reviews on TwoferMom.com.

Laila Ali: newborn baby versus DWTS and sucking it in

I had the opportunity to interview Laila Ali at an event that focused on fighting childhood obesity. As usual I go off-topic and get to the Mom of the Matter. This interview was originally posted here but every time I watch it I feel a little bit better about myself. Why?

Because Laila Ali admits she sucks in her tummy too!

I hope her publicist doesn’t see that and cringe because really – THAT is the stuff that makes a personality like Laila so much more appealing! She. Is. Real. And, more importantly, she is willing to admit it while taking the time to talk to ME…right after being interviewed by CNN (for Realz people).

Here’s to a real mom, and a real woman.

Janine is a mother of twins by day and a Mamarazzi by night. She writes about raising her twins, her neuroses, and reviews on TwoferMom.com.

Whrrl Mom’s Day: Bloggers get pampered by Whrrl.com

What happens when you give JessicaKnows something to celebrate (Mother’s Day) and a budget? You get 7 blogging moms that are ready to be pampered and leave Whrrling their story all over the interwebs!

Whrrl.com sponsored a Mother’s Day event at a salon in Bethesda, Maryland. We showed up, took over the pedi chairs, and gabbed while we ate, Tweeted, and Whrrl’d the story.

What is Whrrl?

A ’storytelling application’ that combines text and images into one, concise story that you can publish on Facebook or Twitter (instead of 5 different tweets it all fits into one nice package).

Whrrl from your phone or your computer. iPhones can grab the application but other folks can use SMS like me!

Janine is a mother of twins by day and a Mamarazzi by night. She writes about raising her twins, her neuroses, and reviews on TwoferMom.com.

TV Studio: What it’s like to be interviewed on the morning news

Recently I was asked to be part of a segment on a local morning news show (WUSA9 in Washington, DC).  The segment was set up by the folks at Washington FAMILY Magazine who chose me to be one of their local featured bloggers as well.

Be prepared to be on TV….or not!

Here’s the thing…it was all arranged over email…over the weekend…so I never had a clear idea of what the topic was (blogging? MOM bloggers? social media?).

Turns out a small detail like What is going to be covered isn’t actually worked out until minutes before the segment!

Here’s is what I saw and experienced behind the scenes at WUSA9:

Part 1: the studio, that cool green screen for the weather, and me embarrassing the guy tasked with sticking the mic up my shirt.

Part 2: Some of the interview (you’ll hear it and mostly see my swollen ankles) AND the part where I take video during the segment.

Janine is a mother of twins by day and a Mamarazzi by night. She writes about raising her twins, her neuroses, and reviews on TwoferMom.com.