CNotes

Cast

Cast ... as in cast your vote.

Ninety (90) years ago today the 19th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which granted women the right to vote, was ratified by the state of Tennessee by a one-vote margin. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, thereby making it the law of the land.

The language in the amendment is simple

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Creation & passage of the amendment was decades in the making. (my home state of Florida didn't ratify the amendment until 1969 and Oklahoma was the 33rd state to ratify the amendment in the spring of 1920.)

Supposedly the legislator in Tennessee who cast the deciding vote did so at the request (probably demand) of his mother.

You can read more about my thoughts on this day and Women's Equality Day (Aug. 26) in a post from last year: Coequal.

Chronicles of a New Mom

I'm working on my notes from BlogHer '10 and will share some learnings later in the week.

I've been a little torn on how mommy/pregnancy/parenting-focused CNotes becomes as our life radically changes with the arrival of Miss Hanna Marie Woodworth later this year.  I know I still want to have balance in this blog and am delighted to tell you that I've been asked to join a local group blog from 405moms.com. 

There are several of us blogging at 405moms.com and my blog is called Chronicles of a New Mom.   On this blog, I will talk exclusively about pregnancy, becoming and being a mom. So, if you want seriously in depth mommy-only content from me, check out Chronicles. I'll continue to include some highlights on CNotes, but don't want to abandon some of the other themes I've written about and y'all seem to like.

Some of the other blogs on 405moms.com focus on party planning (don't think that one won't come in handy one of these days) and organizing your time. More bloggers and topics to be added. Don't live in the 405 area code? That's ok - these blogs frequently aren't local-specific.

Today's post on Chronicles is about two women I met at BlogHer who created and write for RookieMoms.com, a great resource for moms & dads, especially those of us who are new to parenthood. You can check out my post here, or visit them directly at RookieMoms.com. With a tagline of "More fun than wiping someone's tushy", what's not to love?

   (C) whitneymoss

Conference

I’m headed to NYC today for business conference that’s part continuing ed and part relationship building with a key constituency PR folks like me work with regularly.  It’s BlogHer '10 and from my understanding, bloggers from around the country convene on NYC to talk about trends & issues facing this form of social media, improving writing, monetizing your blog, how to talk about niche aspects of our lives and more.

 

I look forward to meeting some of the bloggers SONIC has worked with over the past couple of years. Bloggers have helped us drive awareness for cause branding (our Limeades for Learning® program), new products (like the Footlong Quarter Pound Coney) and Wacky Pack® Kids Meals and our fantastic lineup of non-entertainment branded toys.

 

The FCC regulations regarding disclosure were discussed at length and with some degree of controversy at BlogHer09.  I wonder what the follow up will be this year.  I’m also attending a preconference sessions called BlogHer Business '10 that is a smaller group with people like me who work with bloggers in a business setting.

 

I’m headed solo to this gig, although a woman who works on our business at Barkley (SONIC’s agency of record) is speaking and we plan to meet up at some point.

 

I look forward to meeting some of the women I follow in social media space, including @MomAgenda, @lauralevitan, Penelope Trunk, the Pioneer Woman and others.  The sponsorships are pretty incredible for this gig – CPG brandsand other retailers see BlogHer conferences as a natural extension of their marketing mix. I’ll probably evaluate the conference to see if there’s opportunity to SONIC in some forms or fashion. Some of our competitors will be present and it will be interesting to see what they’re doing onsite to build relationships with bloggers.

 

Blogging and social media has and continues to change communications & PR. With the decline of print and local media, PR practitioners need to evolve. While there’s much dialog in the industry, I see many people still holding back & waiting to see what will happen.  Too late for that, Charlie.  The space will continue to evolve and we need to nimble enough to adapt to changing technology to spread the word.  Interesting to me that some people still have their heads in the sand and think this marketing channel is “cute” or “fun” or “fly by night.”

 

I’ll let you know what I learn. Hopefully, I’ll pick up some tips, suggestions and strategies to make CNotes a better blog, too.