Years ago when I realized I could not use my work email for personal use, I set up a Yahoo email address. I still to this day use Yahoo Mail and view my RSS feeds via my My Yahoo page. So when Yahoo created a Mother Board program for outreach to mom bloggers, I was excited to participate.
The first Mother Board Summit was mid-July. I was excited to see the fellow Mother Board members, meet the engaging Yahoo team and connect with a brand that I am already a power user of – to learn more about their applications and properties.
As I de-brief from my trip to BlogHer10 in NYC August 6-7, I can’t help but think of the fun I also had connecting with my fellow Mother Board members at the conference and spending time at the Yahoo Shine booth. The theme of the Yahoo Shine booth at BlogHer was “re-invention”: there were videos with stories of how women re-invented themselves displayed with live video interview filming to hear more re-invention stories. I even had a chance to do an interview. Lucky for me, they had a makeup section and artist to help touch up my makeup before I went on. I had been in a hurry that morning at BlogHer10 and did not put my contacts in – so I needed some makeup “re-invention”!
I was happy to recieve the make-up “intervention” so I could be free to discuss my career intervention. Jumping off the career train as a Senior Manager at Deloitte to become a mom was a hard choice (even though becoming a mom was the right choice). I began blogging as a career 2.0 and online social networking to build a new professional network, then did lots of hard work to build an new online brand (TechMama) – all of which helped me re-invent myself professionally. Here is my Yahoo Shine reinvention video:
Back to the Yahoo Mother Board Summit details:
A good summary was posted about the Mother Board Summit on the Yahoo! Yodeling Mamas Blog. But here are some of the areas we discussed at the Yahoo Mother Board Summit in July:
1. Yahoo Mail Apps & Social Functions:
During one of the sessions, I learned that status updates from apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr can now be displayed within Yahoo Mail accounts: http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/connectmore/updates. Twitter updates will be available real time on Yahoo properties. Facebook users can also send and view updates from Yahoo sites or upload Flickr photos on Facebook. To share updates, users can set up a profile in Yahoo! Pulse – then add the contacts and applications you want updates from. The Yahoo website has as section that explained Managing updates and Manage linked accounts. The Twitter and Facebook integration is part of Yahoo! social participation – but there are also privacy controls and prompts to see where info is going. This is part of the Yahoo! Social Platform which includes integration in Yahoo! Properties (news etc), Y!updates (mail, messenger, home page) and open ecosystem (share&open sign in).
2. Flickr:
I already use Flickr.com to store and share my public pictures, but I also learned that I can watermark photos in Flickr via Picnik . Flickr users can use Picnik for photo editing.
Flickr offers users the feature of storing video (can be up to 90 seconds long). My current account only has public photos, but I learned during the session that a good idea for parents wanting extra privacy is to create a separate Flickr.com account that is just for family. A full list of Yahoo apps can be found at http://overview.mail.yahoo.com/apps.
3. Other Yahoo properties:
Yahoo Shine http://shine.yahoo.com/ is an online destination for women with sections on Managing Your Life, Fashion + Beauty, Healthy Living, Parenting, Love + Sex, Food and even Astrology.
Yahoo! has a Green site: http://green.yahoo.com/
Yahoo! Good focuses on empowering people to make an impact: http://forgood.yahoo.com/
Yahoo Social Properties: http://developer.yahoo.com/
Yahoo Accessibility Lab : We met some of the team working in the Yahoo Accessibilty lab– that makes sure Yahoo properties are available for people with disabilities. I saw some of the accessiblity accessories and asked where people can buy then. They said at enablemart.com.
3. Kids and Internet safety:
kids.yahoo.com is a starting point for internet access. Each of the sites listed has been vetted for age appropriate content. There is also a property focused on safety called “Yahoo Safely“.
One of the most compelling topics was on Internet Safety. We had the honor of watching a video made by the family whose daughter committed suicide-after an inappropriate picture of her got passed around school. My Lawyer friend Glennia, who was also at the Summit, posted with what happened next “He passed it around to his friends, and the girl, overcome by shame, ended her own life. The boys were charged with possession of child pornography under the California Penal Code for possessing and distributing the picture.”
The lesson the brave parents of this young girl wanted to share was to talk to your kids about Internet Safety (including email and texting etiquette). It is also important to set up a communication system with your kids so they have a safe place to discuss internet safety issues. Taking that point into action, the next day I sat my 11 year old son down (who had just received his new cellphone) and told him that story. My son was surprised that it happened but he learned a good lesson about the dangers of email/texting. The topic lead to an honest discussion with my tween about social pressures, what is appropriate behavior and how to be a good digital citizen. After my talk, I wish I could have personally thanked those brave parents for sharing their story.
Following the video there was an Internet Safety panel that discussed how parents need to educate themselves – then educate their kids about online safety while at the same time setting up a good communication process to keep the door open for regular discussion. One of the panelists was a police officer who visits with schools to discuss safety issues. Yahoo supports Internet Safety efforts as well as inviting Educators to a “Internet Safety” day at Yahoo.
4. Yahoo Editorial:
The last topic was Yahoo Editorial. That session offered great tips including writing tips, blogging style, grammar/punctuation and SEO. Yahoo has a book out that covers these tips: Yahoo Style Guide.
Photo credits TeachMama.Thank you to Robin Zucker, Amy Heinz, Jeanne Moeschler, the Yodeling Mamas as well as Stacy Libby and Nicole Rodrigues.
Disclosure: I do not receive compenstaion for being on the Yahoo Motherboard – I participate to be a part of a fun community of mom bloggers. I did receive a free cupcake (and some lunch) at the Summit – all of which was Y!ummy.
Beth Blecherman started her career in application development then Senior Manager, Computer Process Integrity, for Deloitte. After senior management she took on family management blogging as her career 2.0. She is a Co-Founder of the Silicon Valley Moms Group, a collaborative of mom blogs across the country, and their first international blog Canada Moms Blog.
Blecherman founded her personal blog, TechMamas.com, as a platform to discuss technology and gadgets for families. Beth vlogs with other female tech bloggers at Gadgetspin.com. She also consults with companies on blogger outreach and social media strategies and speaks at conferences on parenting, social media and technology. TechMamas.com was chosen as one of the Nielson Power Mom 50 influencers. On Twitter as @TechMama she was chosen as one of the 25 Influential Moms to Follow on Twitter and BizTechDay’s 25 Influential Business Women in the Bay Area. Beth is on the Board of Advisors for MommyTech at CES.
