From Hip To Housewife

Techlicious, I think I love you. At the big CES  show last year (thank you, Microsoft Windows Live) I felt that women were distinctly marginalized.  I mean, booth babes?   Seriously?  But last week in NY it was Consumer Electronics Week here in NY,  (CE Week) and Suzanne Kantra from Techlicious asked me to speak on a panel two of my Blogging Angels co-hosts, Amy Oztan and Rebecca Levey, about brands and mom bloggers, and how they can work together.  Angel number 4, Heidi Leder, was  organizing the event so didn’t have a chance to join us…this time!)

I thought the panel went pretty well.  We covered a lot of do’s and don’ts.  Had a good crowd.  And it felt like – based on the size of the audience alone – that maybe – just maybe – women in tech are starting to get some respect — at least Mom Bloggers are.  And it’s about time, too.  The panel even got some press, you can read about it here in Dealerscope and  here at CEA Digital Dialogue. (That’s me, in the middle.)

After the panel was an actual, useful talk by Suzanne on the best audio and video tools for bloggers.  ( Adobe Photoshop is more accessible than I thought!.  One thing I really liked that she showed us was the I  iRig microphone  gives you excellent quality audio even from a dinky phone or handheld camera speaker, and the Zoom Q3HD video camera?  Me want.) After that, (and yummy lunch- thanks, Techlicious)  Chad Latz of Cohn & Wolfe made my day by calling us all not MOM Bloggers, or the hated Mommy Bloggers, but by referring to us as “Digital Influencers.”

How awesome is that?

After he spoke, all of us digital influences  hit the floor to see what the next year in tech has in store.  My favorite thing was  the nPower® PEG  – a backup battery charger for hand-held electronics that uses the energy you generate while walking, running, or biking. It’s amazing to me that no one has come up with this yet: As you move, your very movements cause the PEG to continuously  top-off its internal battery providing you with extra power when you need it. –When you’re away from a plug! And, if you’re in an emergency situation, shaking your nPower® PEG will give you the ability to call for help.  Talk about useful.  And GREEN!

Green and tech, and me!  It was a good day.

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