DC Metro Moms

The Silicon Valley Moms Group Healthcare Town Hall Recap

These days, the topic on everyone's mind is healthcare.  You can't turn on the television, listen to the radio or pick up the newspaper without hearing of the latest "town hall" meeting or a new debate about healthcare reform in Washington, DC. Quite frankly, it is EXHAUSTING and CONFUSING!  On August 18-19, 2009, Silicon Valley Moms Group contributors added their voices to the fray.  Through written and video blogging, we shared our stories and opinions on this important topic. 

Here are the links to all the posts, and the wide variety of viewpoints they represented:

Silicon Valley Moms:

• Linda: Healthcare for a Dream Life
• Tina: The Questions of Healthcare
• Robyn: One Working Moms Take on the new Healthcare bill 
• Darryle: Two Hearts
• Nicole Peltin: Healthcare - the Dreaded Pre-Existing Conditions
• Erica Cosgrove: a Professor Mom Speaks Out
• Rox: the Business of America May Be Autos and Banks, but it Shouldn't Be Healthcare
• Sidney: Something Needs to Change
• Myrna: My Experience with the French Healthcare System
• Jill: The Stress of Being the Sandwich Generation
• Karianna: Autism is a Dirty Word in Healthcare
• David: Best Healthcare Plan: Diet, Exercise, and Cocktails
• Anna: Socialized Healthcare: What's in a Name

Chicago Moms

• Kim: Healthcare Reform Needed - Different Year, Same Story
• Jeanie: Food for Thought
• Melanie Myatt: Our Healthcare System is Broken
• Miss Lori Asks for Help - Healthcare Evolution
• Shannon Capanna: On July 27, 2009, We Became Part of the Problem
• Angela Allyn: My Healthcare Debate
• Susan: Healthcare is Bleeding Families and Small Businesses Dry

DC Metro Moms

• Sandie: My Mother's Story
• Sue: Healthcare Reform and Children with Chronic Conditions
• Jessica C. :Let Patients Get the Full Picture
• Jill Berry: My Healthcare Experience as a Foreign Student
• Amy Adams: Healthcare Reform is NOT a Race
• Michelle: What About the Children?
• De: We're Lucky We're Insured, But...
• Linda Kerr: Agree on All Points, Unsure of Direction
• Aimee Olivo: I Believe We Need Healthcare Reform Now
• KC: A Doctor in Support of Healthcare Reform
• Andrea Meyers: How Free Healthcare in Australia Saved Me
• Jim: Thoughts on Healthcare Reform from a Federal Employee

New York City Moms

• Carol Cain: Calling Us Lucky, for Now
• Deborah Quinn: Define "Good Insurance"
• Helen P.: Healthcare Debate, An Overlooked Factor, I Think
• KarenTV: The Ultimate in FUD Manipulation
• Jennifer Perrillo: The Healthcare Missing Link: Relief for the Middle Class
• Jessica C: My Dirty Little Secret

New Jersey Moms

• c2mom: Want the Truth on Healthcare Reform? So Do I
• Lori Landau: Kids and Healthcare: Calculating the Costs
• Mary Kate: Does this Position Include Health Benefits?
• Vanessa Druckman: Growing Up Under the Blanket of Socialized Healthcare
• MT: The Cost of Autism and Healthcare in New Jersey
• Amber Watson-Tardiff: Healthcare and Homelessness: Stories from the Frontline

50-Something Moms

• Myrna: My Experience with the French Healthcare System
• Donna: What's So Scary About Socialized Medicine?
• Annie: Lying About Healthcare Reform

Deep South Moms

• Amy: We're Already Paying Too High a Price for Healthcare
• Marty: Broken

Los Angeles Moms

• Elizabeth Peterson:I Say No to Socialized Healthcare
• Florinda Pendley-Vasquez: Healthcare: Other People's Decisions
• Donna: What's So Scary about Socialized Medicine?
• April McCaffery: There is No There There
• Sarah Auerswald: Remote Area Medical: Los Angeles Heroes!

Canada Moms Blog

• Mary G.: Community Health Centres: A Good Health Care Answer
• Crunchy Carpets: Healthcare from a Socialist's Perspective
• Samantha: I'll Keep my Dilapitated aging "Nazi Socialist*" Healthcare System Over Yours Any Day
• Karen: Navigating Stormy Waters - My Thoughts on the US Healthcare System
• Jessica: An American Girl in Canada

Philadelphia Moms

• Cecily: Healthcare Reform, My Experience, Why We Need It
• Sarah: Healthcare Bill Needs Discussed, Debated, Deliberated

Rocky Mountain Moms

• Aviva: Not Political, Personal

3rd Annual SVmoms Summer Party

Cross posted from our sister blog, Chicago Moms Blog.

In coordination with Chicagonista, the SV Moms Group celebrated its 3rd Annual Summer Party in Chicago for the 2nd time around! There was so much laughter and fun shared with our missed bloggy friends and we could not thank our sponsors enough for making this happen.

Chris Campbell of Lakeshore Branding is our extraordinaire party planner and sponsor. Not only did he provide the beautiful party space at NV Penthouse Lounge, but the wonderful SVtinis and Chicagotinis were all provided by him. Lakeshore Branding also happens to be a “digital marketing agency that makes snazzy web sites and happens to be pretty darn good at Internet Marketing”. So if any of you are in need of some web help, he’s the man to call.

That’s Caring along with Tasty Catering provided the delicious food. That’s Caring also provided a couple of their eco- friendly gift baskets as drawing prizes.

Ring Central provided the trolley that chauffeured our bloggers back and forth to the Sheraton Hotel to the NV Penthouse Lounge and back.

Yahoo provided the Tarot Card Readings that was a big hit! Whether it made some laugh, cry, or worry, I’m sure they were all some great materials to blog about.

Smarty Card sponsored the much needed free massages. Imagine a mom without her kid/s. Partying with her girlfriends in a beautiful lounge. With martinis! And now massage?! Yes, it did happen.

Photobooth Express sponsored the most fun party within the photobooth party! They were the silliest, cutest, and funniest photobooth pictures of moms gone partying.  I've personally used this company in a lot of my events and I can't imagine not having them around to help me entertain my guests. And really, how can anyone go wrong with having one of these booths in any of your parties? An instant hit to all your party guests.

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MJ Tam is the Editor of Chicagonista.com - "movers, shakers, & baby makers" and Creator of City Connect Media, Inc. that runs and operates Chicagonista and other upcoming city sites. MJ also has a personal blog called SugarMyBowl.com

Do you Twitter? Follow mjtam here.

Moms, Celebrities and Twitter: the Video

Who's Following You on Twitter? @ Yahoo! Video

Cross posted from our sister blog, Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

It seems more then ever moms are using Twitter to share what they are doing and see what their friends are up to. Twitter is a service that allows people to share "what they are doing" in 140 characters, which keeps people brief. And if that is not enough, moms are sharing their pictures on Twitter using Twitpic and their stories on Whrrl.  Twitter adds to the list of the online social networking and blogging activities moms are doing during the short amount of time they have to themselves. But a guilty pleasure has also developed among many moms who follow Twitter: following celebrities. Following celebrities on Twitter and Twitpic gives me a chance to catch a glimpse of what they are up to on a daily basis. For example, I can view a picture of Demi Moore shoe shopping or see a glamorous dress she is wearing while I (unglamorously) fold laundry. I can also get a good laugh reading Twitter jokes by Heather McDonald, Chelsea Lately show and Jimmy Fallon. I can even follow a verified Twitter account for Barack Obama.

Jane Maynard from This Week for Dinner was a late-comer to Twitter and is still building up her celebrity list of followers (current tally is somewhere around zero). She shared this Twitter story with me:

"The highlight of my Twitter career thus far was when Hugh Grant started following me. Yes, THAT Hugh Grant...Actor/Writer/Producer/baked bean thrower. Okay, so maybe it wasn't really Hugh (who has since disappeared from Tweetland), but if Santa Claus is a follower, why can't Hugh Grant be one to? And, in case you're wondering, I did NOT follow Mr. Grant back."

I was thrilled to learn two of my favorite celebrities Jane Fonda and Katie Couric are not only blogging, but are on Twitter. After I followed Jane Fonda and Katie Couric I received a big surprise when they followed me back. It is this type of interaction that makes Twitter so addicting. Jane Maynard and I also share a fascination with looking at pictures posted on Twitter.

The Pitfalls of Parenting Kids in the Age of Smart Technology

Cross Posted from our sister blog, Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Children and Pitfalls of technology @ Yahoo! Video

I have teenagers and when they were kids, Facebook didn't exist.  In fact, cell phones weren't cheap enough for kids to own until my kids were in Middle School.   I'm definitely learning on the job when it comes to technology use and parenting.  When the kids were in elementary school, there was no discussion or mention of technology in all the parenting books I read.   Oh sure, we had a computer but not all families did. It was more of a resource for the entire family. 

My concerns at that age almost completely dealt with inappropriate content exposure.  That was so much easier to control than what I have to deal with now.  Why?  Because it's out of MY hands and into THEIR hands. 

Read the rest of this post at Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Mommy Bloggers' Liability for Product Reviews - Will It Cause a Chilling Effect?

Mommy bloggers are some of the most active participants in social marketing. Companies have been tapping into the social media power of mommy (and daddy) bloggers, because there is a certain authenticity and trusting relationship that develops between moms and their audiences...oh, and there is purchasing power too. After all, moms control the pursestrings in many households. It is not uncommon for marketers to reach out to moms in a very active way, sending them products for free to review and discuss - honestly and openly - on their blogs.

It is not news that social media - blogs, twitter, facebook - still lives in the real world and that defamation law and trademark rights and copyright protections and, yes, false advertising law still apply to these types of communicaitons. But there are many untested applications of law to social media. One of the newest facets of social media law is the consideration by the Federal Trade Commission of guidelines that would hold not only companies, but individual bloggers, liable for false statements made in connection with product reviews. There is a fear by advertisers that there will be a chilling effect on what bloggers write about products. And rightly so - false advertising is false advertising, wherever it takes place. However, don't forget that bloggers are very vocal. Writing is What. They. Do. I'm not so sure this business is going away. 

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING ON SILICON VALLEY MOMS BLOG......

The Homeless Mom: She Could Be Me

I was on Oprah today.  (Okay, I DVR’d it and just watched it today; it aired last Tuesday.) 

Actually, I wasn’t actually on Oprah, but the woman who was on could be me—or one of my friends or my sisters--and that really scares me. 

This woman has three children, very close in age, like I do, but hers are older.  She lives on the west coast, in Sacramento, and I live on the east coast, here in the suburbs of DC.  She’s about my age and was wearing my clothes.  She has a haircut like me or one of my friends.   Just last year, she and her husband were living in a condo in a gated community; they had a pool, cars, and a Wii.  They had a dog whom the family adored.  And now she and her husband are out of jobs, and they are homeless.

Teaching Today's Students Lessons on Digital Citizenship and Consequences for Cyber Bullying

I’ve always been proud to say that I’m from Palo Alto, California, the heart of Silicon Valley.  I grew up in two blocks from Steve Jobs’ home on a street adjacent to Sand Hill Road, home to numerous venture capital companies that helped fund the dot com boom.  I never really gave it a second thought when I biked by the garage where Hewlett and Packard developed their first computer en route to a friend’s house.  Now when we visit my family, we walk right by Facebook’s headquarters when we head downtown to grab a bento box at our favorite sushi joint.  Yes, I’ve always been proud to say that I’m from Palo Alto because the prestigious technology originating from Silicon Valley has changed our lives but not always for the better.

Imagine my shock to discover that 100 students at my former high school used Facebook to cyber bully another student with mean, cruel, vicious comments that defamed his character through personal attacks. Students launched an online assault through a Facebook group “just for fun.”  No one should ever be subjected to bullying whether in a physical face-to-face altercation or one online.

I am horrified to learn about the behaviors of these students and appalled that nothing more than deactivating their Facebook accounts will be done. Nothing is being done to protect the victim or punish the perpetrators.  The Palo Alto Unified School District says that the students will not be punished because the comments were posted over the weekend and not during school hours.  The victim is truly the victim and it seems like the only consequence for the 100 bullies is to have their Facebook accounts deactivated. The Palo Alto Unified School District should take responsibility for ensuring that its students are responsible digital citizens and make them take accountable for their actions even when off campus outside of school hours like other school systems across the nation have done.

Hey Facebook, nursing is not obscene!

...cross posted from our sister site, Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Today, a number of women and men are participating in a protest against Facebook’s decision to remove photos of women breastfeeding their infants, labeling the content as “obscene.”  A huge fan of the Facebook social network, I am among those greatly disappointed in what I perceive to be an anti-woman policy.  Granted, Facebook’s CEO is a very young man whose business card happens to read “I’m CEO… bitch” – something that also doesn’t inspire confidence in the organizations femme-sensitivity.  So, turn
and turn about, I intend for this post to be a kick in the balls of whichever man made this decision gentle suggestion that Facebook pay homage to progressive Silicon Valley and reconsider its policy… or that CEO Zuckerberg call his doctor parents and get the low-down on the importance of breastfeeding, as I bet he benefited from that “obscene” act himself.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this post at the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

excerpt from the NYC Moms Blog Post: Facebook Nurse In

I love Facebook.  It helps me stay in touch with friends and find people I haven't spoken to in years.  It gives me a platform to promote my book and share my thoughts.  And most importantly, it provides an unrivaled distraction and procrastination technique when I'm working.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this post at the New York City Moms Blog

 

What I Learned at BlogHer '08

... cross posted from our sister site, Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
I have to admit I was very intimidated at the beginning of BlogHer'08, I had no idea what to expect and it has been years since I attended anything like this. As a small business owner I was always the vendor at the trade show, and I was never wined, dined or even given a free water. Well.....times have changed and I do not think I will look at a conference or trade show again after this affair. With the swag, the parties, the cocktails, the make-overs, the free gifts and free food I felt like like Sally Fields at the Oscars,"You like me, you really like ME!"

By the end of the event I was t-i-red. I was tired of talking about me, about my blog, about other blogs, learning about blogs, what I should (and should not) be doing with my blog, B to the L to the O to the G - ahhhh enough about it! Being around over 3,000 women (and a few men sprinkled in to make sure it did not turn into an free for all pillow fight in our panties) made for some interesting conversations, observations, discussions and I learned a even learned a few things:

Click HERE to continue reading at Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

You are in MY Camp

... cross posted from our sister site, Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

Listen up My Little Kiddies- you are in MY camp now!

So, remember last summer when Mommy signed you two up for all kinds of different camps that you said you wanted to go to? Remember how you begged me to sign you up for golf camp, Lego camp, art camp, soccer camp, sports camp and then swimming lessons AFTER camp? And if you recall Mommy and Daddy emptied out their savings accounts so you could enjoy your summer? Remember? Remember? Well, um do you also recall how you both sort of complained after about two days of camp? How you did not want to go to camp and how you hated swimming? I remember the tears after week 3, of camp as I dragged you to golf camp? No? Well I remember....

So this year I cut back, I mean way back on Summer Camps for you two. I don't want tears again, even though I work I want you to enjoy summer. Daddy and I agree you can handle staying home this summer, we think that it will be fun for you. Don't worry, Mommy is lucky that not only is she the boss but she has the ability to take a break from work and hang out with you two. Don't worry we will have fun, I mean lots of fun! Here take a gander at what our first week of what MY camp looks like:

Click HERE to continue reading on Silicon Valley Moms Blog.....