This past Monday and Tuesday (October 4,5), I attended a fantastic conference oriented to people who use Twitter, work in Social Media, teach, want to learn and grow, and so much more. I also got to speak and my topic was (surprise surprise), “Dads Are Parents, Too.”
There were dozens of incredible speakers and it was all organized and created by Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) with assistance from the tireless (mom of three, I might add) Melissa Pierse (@melissapierce).
The information offered by the amazing diversity of speakers was overwhelming and completely inspiring! I was busy on my computer, taking notes, tweeting about it, while others, worldwide, were watching in via a “live video stream.”
BUT, the common denominator of Jeff’s conferences, in this man’s opinion, is what we can do to help out! What we can do via the incredible power of Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Media resources to “repair the world,” as I like to phrase it.
Krupali (@krupali), as she likes to be called (an Oncologist), shared her stories of helping give dying patients a special wish. She’s an angel, as Jeff has often called her.
Kevin Pollack (@kevinpollack), actor & comedian, brought the house down with his “interview” about how he’s used social media to reach new audiences.
Andy Grammer (@andygrammer), Chamillionair (@chamillionaire), Ilene Chaiken (@ilenechaiken), Jason Pollock (@Jason_Pollock), Kenna (@OKKenna), Nick Cannon (@NickCannon), Angela Shelton (@angelashelton), Eric “CandyMan” Nash (@onelovecandyman) and so many other artists discussed their use of Twitter and Social Media to reach new audiences and help do some good.
Other speakers covered literally everything from real estate, food trucks (really!), to the paucity of dad bloggers (me – more on my talk later). There was Bob Watson (@TopBrokerOC) leading a panel on real estate. Other panels were on moms working at home and another was on sneakers! Yeah, sneakers! And, it was cool (a whole world I had no idea existed). Jeff told me that his sons have become mini-Jeff-entrepreneurs in the sneakers world! Who knew?
My friend Julie Spira (@JulieSpira), a frequent guest on my Radio Show, talked about the perils of online dating and was totally unfazed by a technical glitch when her PowerPoint that went with her talk didn’t work. Pros everywhere.
Linda Sherman (@LindaSherman) and Ray Gordon (@RayJGordon), my partners in BoomerTechTalk (@BoomerTechTalk), flew in from Kauai after many sleepless and delirious nights getting the website ready, so they could be at #!40conf LA and to hear my talk and take photos and video of me. Now, how’s that for partners!?
I know I’m going to leave off someone, so please check the whole list below! Some of the other fantastic talks were given by Jessica Gottlieb (@JessicaGottlieb), Stacey Soleil (@staceysoliel), Lisa Steadman (@LisaSteadman), Johnny Diggs (@JohnnyDiggz), Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal), a great spokesman for the homeless, and Robert Moran (@RobertMoranLA).
My talk was about how few dads are represented in Social Media, blogging, and in the MSM (Main Stream Media) altogether! I referenced the recent Newsweek cover story about men, called “Man Up,” and discussed how SAHD’s (Stay-At-Home-Dads) are still horribly outnumberd by SAHMs (Stay-At-Home-Moms). Newsweek claims certain statistics and I asked the audience what they thought the percentage of SAHMs were in comparison to SAHDs. I got back anywhere from 70-80%, as the number of SAHMs from the audience. Newsweek declares, based on how the men describel themselves, that the percentage has hovered at slightly less than 3% (SAHDs) for the past few years!
WHAT? I called out the dads/men to step up and said that was my mission and goal with my “A Dad’s Point-of-View” columns, blogs (here and elsewhere), and my Radio Show.
Watch part of my talk on this YouTube video I’ve called, “Giving Back to the World.”
Then, I spoke about my wonderful interaction with “The Africa Zebras,” a group of girls in Africa and how I befriended them and that led to my writing about them and doing a Radio Show about them. That all led to many people, in addition to my family, sending books, toys, and other things to them – ALL via Social Media – and I declared it a blessing and our duty to “repair the world.” I believe in this with all my heart and soul!
Frankly, my head is still spinning as my feeble hard-drive of a brain is trying to process all the wonderful ideas and inspirations disseminated non-stop over the past two days.
Social Media is a force. Attending the 140conf emphasized how it can be a force for doing GOOD, as well as doing business. Get aboard…Now!
