Techmamas - Curating the Best of Tech and Social Media for Families

Managing Family Projects with Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium

2013-05-20T20:33:00Z

With a background in project management I can say with experience that managing a family is the most challenging project I have ever taken on. Like me, other working parents I know don’t have the time to sit at a home office desk and calmly get things done. Kids are constantly on the move and have obligations both near and far. To be fully productive as a mom, I need to sneak in work time while my kids are at school, attending after school events or with a sitter. Every small pocket of time during the day is valuable. Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium and Outlook are the key tools I use to manage my family project plan, giving me the flexibility to be productive no matter where I am. I use Outlook.com but since Outlook is included in Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium, it is a seamless and unified solution!

Check out the video that shows how I use the back seat of my minivan as one of my key productive spaces:

Where is your favorite place outside of the house to work on family tasks?

Other tips to have the perfect mobile office:

SkyDrive and WiFi: Because I store my documents on SkyDrive, I know that I can access them wherever I am working, minivan included. To make sure I have WiFi on the go, I have a mobile broadband device with a month to month mobile WiFi plan. SkyDrive always maintains the latest version of my documents in the cloud, so I don’t need to worry about version control.

SkyDrive Organization: I organize my documents with folders on SkyDrive. One of my folders is for homework including my kids’ math Excel spreadsheets, book report Word documents and history project PowerPoint presentations. Other folders have our family photos. The household management folder includes OneNote shopping lists, Word chore charts and household Excel spreadsheets to keep track of everything from home inventory to birthday party lists. In my writing folder I manage the Word files for my tech articles. Storing tech articles in Word using Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium and SkyDrive allows me to edit at home or on the go, and easily share a link to the document with my editors for document review. My public SkyDrive folder has pictures for my travel blogs that I share with my editor and in my blog posts.

Set up a digital family calendar system: Our family uses Outlook to help keep track of our events. I individually color code activities on our Outlook calendar for each of our children (and for us – their parents. My color is purple!). I not only include appointments and events on the calendar, I also include reminders. One great example is summer camp signups. Some popular camps fill up within 2 hours of when online sign ups begin. To stay on top of this crazy schedule, I add “sign up for summer camp” as a calendar item, timed for 30 minutes before online signups start (so I can get ready). Using Windows 8 and Office 365 Home Premium means that I will have all the current documents needed for the signup with me wherever I might be. I even put a reminder in to schedule time with friends, vacations and sneak in a date night with my husband. When I want to make sure family members have the dates on their calendar, I set up the event and invite them to it. Outlook also allows me to keep up with my friends by displaying their social updates next to their email. Emails can be organized by categories or in folders with specific rules.

Set up a mobile device cabinet or space: To make sure all the chargers and accessories stay organized and untangled, ready for their next adventure, each one has its own storage bag. For laptops and tablets, I buy a case that has enough room to put the chargers and accessories. I also put each charger and tech accessory in its own labeled storage bags. A Ziploc bag or pencil case will do but there is also a wide selection of storage bags available at office supply or storage stores. Yes, it may sound excessive, but it is a huge time saver and helps me keep things organized. Even when charging the device, the case is always close by. This simple process has greatly reduced time spent looking for lost accessories both at home and on the road.

How do you keep your digital files organized?

Giveaway: Tickets to Maker Faire May 18-19 (Invention + Creativity)

2013-05-19T03:48:19Z

As a technologist that writes about setting rules for technology limits with kids, I am always on the lookout for events and activities that inspire invention and creativity.

The Maker Faire is one of those events that will inspire kids and adults to show their creative side. It will be at the San Mateo County Events Center, CA Saturday 10am – 8pm and Sunday 10am – 6pm. Here is a link for more information.

The Maker Faire About Page explains: “Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.” It is a fascinating event that we look forward to each year!

I was thrilled to receive an email that gave me the opportunity to offer a (flash) GIVEAWAY for three families to win tickets for their family to attend the Maker Faire this weekend. Maximum of 5 tickets per family.

Update: Winners of tickets were randomly choosen -Sabz Moscon, Lizz Porter and Sandy Gram.

TO ENTER – PLEASE FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER FORM BELOW. *FLASH CONTEST* Contest ends 5/17 at 8pm winners will be notified by 10pm.

I am also excited to see the latest electric car from Toyota (RAV4 EV) will be at the Maker Faire. We hope to convert our cars to electric as we replace them moving forward. Here is the press release information about the new Toyota RAV4 EV:

“The new Toyota RAV4 EV, the latest electric car from Toyota only sold in California; it’s a family-friendly car that’s piquing the interest of environmentally-conscious Californians. Attendees also have the exclusive opportunity to ask questions directly to people who helped develop the new electric car at Toyota.

Some of the activities in Toyota’s area will include:

· Explore the RAV4 EV and speak with Executive Program Manager Sheldon Brown

· Participate in the bicycle-powered slot car track (photo below)!

· “Recharge” at The Maker Lounge with wi-fi and power outlets”
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am receiving complimentary tickets to the event for hosting this giveaway. All opinions are 100% my own.

Creating Chore Lists Using Office 365 Home Premium

2013-05-16T20:36:12Z

Our busy family of five keeps organized as long as our schedule is managed and under control. A messy schedule results in a messy family life. I use technology to create a workflow and make sure everyone understands their responsibilities. Listed below are some of my tips on how to use technology to create a family workflow. To see my family using our family chore tech in action, check out this video:

1. Create a digital chore list: Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel from Office 365 Home Premium are two of my favorite tech tools for keeping the family on the straight and narrow. Staying on top of things is much easier when the family is organized and everyone knows their responsibilities. Using the Office 365 Home Premium child’s chore chart template, I can individually color everyone’s duties.

We put homework on the chore list because it was a central way to keep track of daily duties. They can then either use the mouse or the stylus on our touch screen Windows 8 devices to check chores off when complete so my husband and I know what has been completed and who needs a reminder. Because I store the chore list on SkyDrive, we can access it on any device (no need to print a chore list anymore – that always seems to get lost!). I use the Excel To-do lists to help me manage family projects.

There are so many great Office 365 Home Premium templates to choose from, I am always finding new ones to use to help organize my family life. I also store my Excel To-do lists on SkyDrive so I can access them across my devices, and update them wherever I am!

2. Tie completing chores to screen time or other activities: Some kids get their allowance for completing chores, but in our house we decided instead to use incentives. Our kids value screen time and other special activities, so we set up a system that allows them to earn time with electronics by doing chores. One of my kids enjoys Minecraft, so he knows to do his daily chore first and then check it off on the To-do list before he can play his game. My other young son likes to go to the Radio Shack hobby section and buy electrical supplies for experiments. He earns money to buy his supplies only after checking off his chores on the list.

My teen, on the other hand, likes to choose his screen time depending on how he feels that day and how much homework he may have – so he knows to check off his chores before he socializes online or plays games on the family PC.

3. Add music to liven up the chores: Doing chores seemed to be a strain for my kids… until we suggested they listen to music while doing their work. All three kids lightened up and started dancing to the music while working. My teen can rock out to his favorite group, Green Day, while cleaning the dishes and one of my hip hop obsessed twin 10 year-old boys can listen to hip hop while he “hops” around mopping the floor after dinner. My other twin son prefers to vacuum, so he decided to listen to music on his MP3 player using earphones. We use a few different platforms to manage our family’s music from our Windows 8 PC. My favorite Windows 8 music apps are:

Slacker Radio: While I prefer my kids listen to the Slacker Radio Classical Music light station, they prefer classic “rock” instead. We all enjoy listening to the Slacker Radio festival channel. So even though we can’t go to festival like SXSW Music, that does not mean we can’t feel like we’re right there just by listening to the music on our PC!
iHeart Radio: If we feel like listening to the radio, we use the iHeart Radio app to listen to our favorite local stations.
Xbox Music: We enjoy Xbox music to stream songs on our Windows devices.
Shazam – We installed the Shazam app on our Windows devices to help identify the names of songs we don’t recognize.

How do you manage your family chore list and what incentives do you use?

Top Tools To Keep Kid’s Homework on Track

2013-05-14T02:47:53Z

With my busy life as a working mom, I am always on the move. This requires my technology to be flexible, fit my lifestyle and be available for the kids especially when it’s homework time. Finding the right technology tools can help my family have more productive days. Using Office 365 Home Premium is not only a game changer for families, but it is a great way to keep my kid’s homework on the right track.

Listed below are my homework tech tips and video of my family in action ( click below to view the video).

Tip 1 – Homework storage and document management: The first step for homework management in my house was to create a storage and document management system. It’s important that I can access and review my kid’s homework from anywhere, and now I can do this with Office 365 Home Premium, as it is now integrated with SkyDrive – Microsoft’s storage in the cloud.

Once we store our Microsoft Word, OneNote, PowerPoint or Excel documents on SkyDrive, my family can even view and edit them using Office Web Apps from a browser! How cool is that?

Office 365 Home Premium web apps enable classmates (or anyone we want to share documents with) to edit or view group assignments by using the links we send them.

If we happen to be out of the house using a PC that has Windows 7 or higher, logging into our Microsoft account will allow us to stream a version of Office 365 Home Premium to that PC for a one time use.

Tip 2 – Organize Homework Tools: I set up a system to help my kids have the right tools for homework and know where to store digital documents. We have homework supplies such as paper, pencils, paper clips, stapler, rulers and pens in a desk drawer of our family room desk (where our shared family Windows 8 desktop is located). With Office 365 Home Premium, our family has all the most current Office tools (Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and more) and all their work is stored on SkyDrive in organized folders. They use OneNote for gathering information, Word to create their essays, PowerPoint to create presentations and Excel for spreadsheets in math class. Our kids use OneNote, to create “homework” notebooks that allow them to write and edit using touch, type or stylus.

For some math work, a good old fashioned pencil and ruler is good enough. But when my kids work on equations, they enjoy using OneNote’s equation editor on our Windows 8 touch desktop, allowing them to use a stylus to write the equation and then have it converted to type.

They also use OneNote tools to record audio and video.

My kids’ OneNote notebooks are also the place they can gather information about their projects, including links to web pages, inserted photos and even embedded Excel spreadsheets that update the original spreadsheet when changes are made. Word allows my kids to insert online pictures to their essays and the resume reading feature allows me to utilize small pockets of time during the day to review their book reports, and resume each time at the same place I left off. There are also great templates for my kids to use when creating their book reports.

With PowerPoint my kids can give their presentations with the advantage of using Presenter mode.

With Excel, kids can use formulas, charts and tables to represent math equations and percentages. Using those tools to represent math assignments helps them understand the concepts. And it looks great when turned into the teacher!

3. Set Up Ways to Move and Work – to Help Keep Kids Focused: Some kids need movement to focus and get work done. One of my boys responds very well to homework breaks where he is really exercising his muscles and alternates between jogs around the house and bouncing on a mini-trampoline in the back yard. Then, quite by accident, I discovered that he finishes his work more quickly if he sits (ok… bounces) on my big, inflated yoga ball when attacking his math and writing assignments. He now looks to that yoga ball as his favorite chair, and is able to focus on his homework for longer periods of time because he moves when needed. He even learned to type while bouncing! My next purchase may need to be a balance ball chair. For longer sessions requiring significant writing or typing we ask him to use a regular chair. When sitting, he is usually squeezing a small hand therapy ball for some stationary “hand exercise”. At least that keeps him seated!

4. Teach Your Kids How to Get homework done From Anywhere. With all of our afterschool activities (and especially during Spring Little League), we can’t seem to find a regular time during the week to sit down and do homework together. It is especially challenging when I am at work or a meeting late in the day for my sitter to spread out his time between all of my kids. Luckily our documents are on SkyDrive (in the cloud), so I can help my kids with homework (and “remind” them about their assignments) even if I am not at home. When they have questions on their homework and provide me with a file name, I can take a look and help. Even though they may not especially like that I can always see the latest version of their homework files, they DO appreciate that we can edit together so their assignments get done. After my kids saw how I use Office 365 Home Premium to get assignments done no matter where I am, they started asking to do that as well. My older son figured out that while my twins are playing a baseball game during a school night, he can be there to watch but also work on school projects using one of our Windows 8 devices. Learning to get work done by utilizing available segments during the day is an important skill not only for my kids’ homework but also for their future careers. This also enables our family to check off our list of work each day, so that we can have quality time at night before bed, just talking – no tech in sight.

Guest Post: Emotional Intelligence – The Difference That Makes the Difference

2013-05-06T19:29:35Z

**I have doing research on educational environments for my own kids and found out about Six Seconds.org. Their about page explained “Through 15 years of global experience and extensive research, we’ve found that the scientifically-based skills of emotional intelligence (EQ) are essential for change. These skills are learnable, and predict stronger effectiveness, influence, decision making, health, relationships, and quality of life.” Especially in the age of technology as a key form of communication, I believe that emotional intelligence is an important skill. Better yet, I would like to see that incorporated into more classroom environments. SixSeconds.org is working for the “development of emotional intelligence, a powerful toolset to support people to create positive change — everywhere, all the time.” Joshua Freedman is part of their Global Office Team. I asked him to write a guest post about an exciting upcoming event this June: NexusEQ Conference.

Guest blog by Joshua Freedman

In June, change makers from 12 countries will meet on the campus of Harvard University for a remarkable conference about using emotional intelligence to spark positive change. It’s the 7^th NexusEQ Conference; “nexus” means intersection, and the program is about the intersection of science and practice – head, heart, and hands.

Conference participants are leaders, educators, consultants, coaches, and individuals who see that emotional intelligence is the “difference that makes the difference.” The program features 80 experts including top neuroscientists and emotions researchers, business leaders, education advocates, and authors all sharing success stories of emotional intelligence creating positive change.

Why it Matters

Emotions are part of all our human interactions – think of the last team meeting that went awry… or a great plussing session where ideas were flying? How about a recent “discussion” about you kid finishing homework before Minecraft?

Neuroscience now shows that emotions are embedded in ALL our thinking – even something as “pure geek” as debugging code will be influenced by emotion: “Are you in the mood?”

Research on emotional intelligence (see below for the “101” definition) shows that feeling smarts create a host of benefits, such as:

Greater profitability. For example, an emotional intelligence project at a Sheraton increased market share by 24%.
Better people leaders. In a recent study, 78% of the variation in employee engagement was predicted by the level of the manager’s EQ (a score of emotional intelligence).
More collaboration. Numerous studies have shown that the leaders mood affects how team members work together.
Increased sales. In one study, EQ-trained salespeople earned
Career success. Several studies have shown that people with higher emotional intelligence are more promotable and reach higher positions.
Better grades, less drugs. And for those of us with kids, dozens of studies show that these skills increase achievement AND wellbeing.

Emotional Intelligence 101

The first scientific definition of “emotional intelligence” was published by Peter Salovey and Jack Mayer in 1990, where they proposed a simple, surprising idea: Instead of considering emotion as blocking clear thinking, is it possible that, when properly developed, emotions can actually assist thinking?

We’ve all experienced how emotion gets in the way, but what if that’s simply a lack of skill? It turns out that emotions are data, and we can develop the intelligence to use that data effectively – or not. Emotions are present in ALL of us, and they affect us even when we pretend otherwise. So as leaders, teachers, parents, and people, rather than letting emotions “just happen,” it’s in our best interest to learn to use them in a way that’s smart.

Salovey, who is now the incoming President of Yale University, will provide the opening to the NexusEQ Conference where he’ll share the evolution of this science over the last two decades.

Time for Change

The theme of the conference, “Spark Positive Change,” refers to growing urgency to create change in many sectors of society. It’s a sad paradox that the conference is in Boston after recent events there. Around the world, we’re facing intractable challenges in society, between peoples – not to mention economic meltdowns and environmental disasters. We must, absolutely must, get better at creating change.

The conference is organized by a not-for-profit called Six Seconds – which is a world-wide organization researching, advocating for, and teaching emotional intelligence. The network is led by offices in 10 countries, and last year we supported 60,000 people to practice the skills of emotional intelligence.

Our experience and research with emotional intelligence over the last 15 years is that it’s the missing link. We have tons of smart, skilled people in the world. Change isn’t derailed due to a lack of technical knowledge. The challenge is people. Connecting. Collaborating. Getting on the same page. And that’s all about emotion.

Conference Delegations are forming in 12 countries so far. Following the conference, the delegations are charged with a small task: Teach 10,000 people the key skills and concepts from this conference. Put it into action.

Next year, in March 2014, we’ll hold our third virtual emotional intelligence conference, and we’ll get to see the successes from delegations around the world. Then in June 2014, we’ll go to the next step with 1000 meetings around the globe to fuel this movement for emotional intelligence.

Our vision is that 1 billion people PRACTICE the skills of emotional intelligence. Whether you join us at the Harvard Medical School Conference Center or in one of the virtual programs, we hope you’ll be part of it.

DISCOUNT: Early registration is available through May 11. Here is a link to the registration page: http://www.nexuseq.com/registration/. Above the big green “Order Now” button, click “Enter Promotional Code” and type in: EQNEWS

About the Author

Joshua Freedman is a change leader teaching the skills of emotional intelligence around the globe. He is the Chief Operating Officer of Six Seconds, The Emotional Intelligence Network, and the Chair of the NexusEQ Conference. His books include INSIDE CHANGE and At the Heart of Leadership, and he is coauthor of seven validated psychometric assessments measuring team and organizational climate, leadership, and emotional intelligence.

Vilynx – a busy mom’s best friend in managing family videos

2013-05-17T02:56:55Z

**GUEST POST**: Winnie Root is a busy mom trying to balance between chasing after two very active boys and Director of Communications at a fast-paced Silicon Valley-based startup, Vilynx. She was invited to guest post at TechMamas.com to discuss Vilynx, a video management app for busy moms.
_______________________________________________________________

Over the winter holidays, we took a couple of weeks and travelled to the mid-west to visit family and friends. It was always such a treat to visit and this year the weather even cooperated. We had the perfect snow to make a snowman and snow angels. The boys even got to sled. Oh what fun! I could show you snapshots but a video just tells so much more.

I love family videos. We’d sit and watch family videos for hours on a Friday night. The kids love to see themselves when they were just learning to walk or sitting on a high chair making a big mess. I remember in the old days I used to have to connect my camera to my computer to upload the videos, or physically take out the card and plug in into my computer. That was so last year. These days, I use a mobile app called Vilynx to take, organize and share all my family videos. I have Vilynx on my Android phone, my iPad, and my Nexus 7. The app allows the users to access their family videos that are stored across devices. When I take a video using Vilynx on my Android phone, I can view it on my iPad, my Nexus 7, on my computer browsers, and even on Google TV! The best part is the videos are stored in the cloud account(s) of my choice, automatically. I no longer have to worry about losing my videos or maxing out the storage on my phone.

The 5-second summary display makes it so much easier to find a particular video. The traditional thumbnail view from my film strip doesn’t always tell me what the videos contain. The Vilynx summary technology solves this problem I had.

There is also the sharing option which we all can’t live without these days. I can share my videos easily via email or on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in the same 5-second summary format as well as sharing the entire video.

Vilynx works on my browsers which makes it so easy to insert videos on my blog. I can now simply go to the share option on the web app, copy the iframe and paste it onto my blog. Again, the same 5-second summary format appears. See a tutorial here. If you use WordPress, you’ll have to install the iFrame Widget first.

As a mom, I find myself taking more and more videos. Vilynx has been a great way to capture those precious memories.

Disclosure: This is a guest post/ press update. This is NOT a sponsored post.

Dent The Future Conference 2013 Press Trip: Sun Valley

2013-03-24T15:29:11Z

I was lucky to be invited many years ago on a magic bus ride to CES, which was the first time I had a fun adventure with the team from Parnassus Group (Steve Broback, Jason Preston and more). Over the years they always had the pulse of social media, organizing events such as Tweethouse and It Won’t Stay In Vegas at CES. So when I was invited to join the (pre) Dent The Future 2013 press trip in February (to check out the location) organized by none other then the Parnassus Group, of course I said yes!

Dent The Future (March 24-27 in Sun Valley Idaho) is a new conference that “explores the magic and science of visionary leadership and groundbreaking success. They aim to translate the success of great leaders in business, politics, or charity into a set of lessons for those who would “put a dent” in the future.”

While I had some scheduling challenges (including Spring Break for my kids) so I won’t be able to attend Dent this year, I already put it on the schedule for next year. I will look forward to bringing my whole family with me to enjoy Sun Valley while I experience Dent 2014. Those who will be following the conference from afar like me can do so by following Dent on Twitter (hashtag #Dent2013).

Listed below are some of the details from the “Pre” Dent 2013 press trip in February. We had an amazing trip that was not only filled with fascinating discussions on social media, but also with the beauty and fun of the fabulous Sun Valley Resort. I will be writing another post with more details (and sharing my pictures) about Sun Valley Resort (which was a highlight of the trip!).

This is a picture I tweeted from Sun Valley on our last night of the trip – enjoying a great dinner at a local restaurant.

#dent2013 @sbroback @bikehugger @pop17 @scobleizer @svalleysunshine @techmama @visitsunvalley @shaunacausey @jasonp

Our group lunch on Bald Mountain included yummy food, beautiful location and lots of social media talk!

#sunvalley @sbroback @jasonp @scobleizer @chasejarvis @pop17 @shaunacausey ..@techmama @neilblecherman #dent2013 pic.twitter.com/qyOkry58

Here is a summary of some of the locations we visited (post with full details will be published soon):

Yummy places we ate during our trip included: Knob Hill Inn, Della Mano Restaurant, The Kneadery and the Konditorei for breakfast. But there are many other places to eat.
Zenergy Health Club is a great location for a workout and spa treatments! http://zenergyts.com/
Here are the two websites to find out more information about Sun Valley Resort: www.visitsunvalley.com and www.sunvalley.com. We stayed at the Sun Valley Resort Inn and it was beautiful. There is a great transportation system to go to the mountains, it is not crowded and the weather is usually sunny (per the name “Sun Valley”). The resort is very family friendly – and even has a mountain that is perfect for beginners or family skiing called Dollar Mountain. The other mountain (Bald Mountain) is great for Intermediate to advanced skiers. The Sun Valley Snowsports School has lessons for all levels (and even family lessons). I was excited that they have a “fundamentals” day program for kids (8:30 – 3:30) that includes lunch. There are also programs for Intermediate or Advanced kids as well. There are other winter activities such as ice skating and sleigh rides.

**My next post will share more details about the beautiful and family friendly Sun Valley Resort.

Disclosure: Travel related expenses were provided to the press covering this event.

Secret to Social Media Curation – Goodbye Google Reader!

2013-05-17T02:57:21Z

Among my little secrets I share to those looking to get more involved with social media is: being a social media influencer does not only mean that you only share your thoughts – you need to also share other relevant posts, tweets and social media updates that reflect your niche (the social sharing piece).

But how?

What I did to set up my system of social media and family tech curation was to chose 1,000 of the most relevant family and technology blogs and then add them to Google Reader (years ago). The way Google Reader works is that it was a place to add the “RSS” or subscription feeds from the sites you want updates on – then you can see the feeds listed together in one place. I compared this to gathering a list of all of my favorite websites in one place – then being able to search all current articles and posts together by subject. I then went into my Google Reader, searched for terms that matched my niche (family tech) and found my favorite posts of the day. The next step for me would be to share those posts over my social media streams. So my social media streams (such as Twitter) became not only places that I shared my updates, but relevant updates from social media and family tech space.

But as happens in the social media world, it was recently announced that Google is closing down Google Reader this summer. I had mixed feelings – it was time for a change but that meant I needed to find my new way to store my blog subscription feeds. Now that I use Windows 8 apps and Office 365, I also get lots of social updates from Windows 8 apps. One great Windows 8 app is called Nextgen Reader App.

Mashable created posts with not only information on how to export your RSS feeds from Google Reader, but also Google Reader alternatives such as Feedly, Fever, NetVibes, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, Managing News and Twitter Lists.

Listed below are some other posts that talk about alternatives. Do you use an RSS Feed reader? If so – which one? If you used Google Reader what are you switching to?

CNET: Google Reader is dying, but we have five worthy alternatives

Popular Science: The Best RSS Readers To Use Now That Google Reader Is Dead

RedRover Expands To Local Event Listing Streams

2013-03-15T23:26:56Z

When I hear of apps and websites that make parents lives easier, I always love to share the details. I just received the press release for a new feature the site RedRover. RedRover offers a fun and social way to search for local activities. The press release explained “RedRover users follow event listing streams from their favorite places or brands — kind of like Twitter, but for time-based activities. The mobile app and website then give the user the ability to sort by date, distance, age groups and categories. The result is a swift and pain-free decision-helper.” I look forward to checking it out and will share more details soon as it comes to San Francisco. RedRover’s Founder and CEO, Kathryn Tucker, shared information about Founding a startup as a single mom on Huffington Post Parents. RedRover currently covers New York City and will be expanding to other cities soon.

PRESS RELEASE:

RedRover Introduces Brand New Service So Families Can Have More Fun

NEW YORK (March 8th, 2013) – Today RedRover launches a revolutionary new platform to make parents’ lives easier and more fun. Offering parents a new and truly innovative way to discover the things going on in their town that are just right for them, RedRover has broken new ground in social software by launching a unique and clever platform into a demographic long underserved by innovative software.

RedRover users follow event listing streams from their favorite places or brands — kind of like Twitter, but for time-based activities. The mobile app and website then give the user the ability to sort by date, distance, age groups and categories. The result is a swift and pain-free decision-helper.

“Parents lives are hard enough,” says Kathryn Tucker, RedRover’s Founder and CEO, and mother of two. “I wanted to build a service that eases the burden around trying to figure out what to do — there is too much information out there and no easy way to reduce it to just what’s right for me. My goal is to find the easiest way to connect parents with the kind of high quality, fun events they are looking for.”

Partners like The American Museum of Natural History, 92Y, and the New York Public Library were quick to sign on. Tucker reached out to more than 200 institutions nationwide and was met with a warm reception. “These non-profits, which have wonderful programming for kids, saw the point of RedRover immediately. The inefficiency of search for parents has kept traffic from their doors. It took no time for them to see the value of a service which consolidates all the available choices and suggests events to the people most likely to enjoy them.”

From the New Victory Theater and Central Park in NYC, to the Denver Zoo, The Pennsylvania Ballet, The Bay Area Discovery Museum, The International Spy Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art, RedRover is filled with high quality kid-friendly things to do. Museums, libraries, sports teams, film festivals, farmer’s markets, and nature centers are all publishers on the platform.

RedRover partners have the opportunity to publish events in real time and color their event listings with descriptions, photos, directions, and even offers the ability to buy tickets. RedRover gives partners, venues and marketers, a brand new mobile way to reach their customers.

“The New York Public Library is proud to be a founding content provider of RedRover. RedRover will promote the diversity of programs available to parents and children, and the Library is excited to share the thousands of free family and educational programs offered by the Library throughout the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island,” said Johannes Neuer, NYPL’s Associate Director of Marketing.

RedRover is available on iPhone and iPad as well as on the web at https://redrover.co.

The new platform is launching first in New York City with plans to launch in Atlanta, San Francisco, and across the country in the coming weeks.

Next Phase of Womens Movement: #Womensday #FamilyFriendlyWork

2013-03-18T20:56:32Z

This has been a busy time for the Women’s Movement. Today happens to be International Women’s Day 2013 which has “thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements“. The documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America” debuted February 26. The blog All Things D broke the story about Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Now Requiring Remote Employees to Not Be (Remote) and the commentary has been all over the map. Lastly, Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In, continues to be a hot topic.

Many of my friends and social media colleagues expected me to come down hard one way or the other on Mayer’s requirement calling employee’s back to the office. However, from my perspective, what should be the topic of conversation are policies including family leave, job training, childcare and other economic issues that are holding back women from reaching their full potential. Taking on these categories of public policy is the next phase of the women’s movement.

In the “Makers” documentary, Karen Nussbaum highlights that “despite the gains, the failure to win childcare options was a major failing of the women’s movement…“. For companies, developing appropriate family leave policies and flexible work arrangements (i.e. telecommuting) for “relevant” jobs will enable primary caregivers of children to care for them and still work. Other options include companies that either have their own childcare center or have agreements with local childcare centers. What about women who work for small businesses or have their own business? What if public and private resources could be pulled together to offer more options for health insurance, job training and childcare? This would allow women more flexible job options while supporting the environment of entrepreneurship.

Technology has enabled the flexibility to not only work at home but also work from anywhere (mobile) – so businesses should incorporate telecommuting for relevant jobs. At the same time, some jobs require being in the office for collaboration. A safety net would give women the options to choose jobs that fit with their flexibility needs or even work for themselves. Better yet, why not use the power of online networking to help communities find and hire their local resources? What if every community had the match-making resources to really place businesses with women who have specialized skills, as contractors or employees?

Currently there are numerous email groups, websites and online social networks that list jobs and those looking for jobs. But sifting through all of the information is overwhelming. What if a localized system of matching jobs with those looking for work not only allowed them to pick jobs to fit with their “flexibility” needs but also showed information on what type of job skills are needed and what job training is available?

Now that there are so many educational resources online, job seekers could even find economical ways to get training if they need to revamp their skills. If I had my wish (and a magic philanthropy wand to wave) I would use the power of local communities to support women helping each other. Local community centers could be used for job training in addition to sports and hobbies. Those with technical skills (like me) could be part of a volunteer effort to help train women in need of technical skills. In my fantasy, local communities could recycle older technology to those in need and get donations for new technology.

My personal story is an example of the tough decisions women need to make. I worked hard to earn my role as Senior Manager at one of the top consulting firms in the world and was on Partner track. This firm was so supportive of my work/life balance that they gave me a flexible work arrangement after I came back to my job with my first son and then moved me into a job where I worked mostly at home when I was on bedrest at the end of my pregnancy with my twins. I had a company that not only had family friendly policies – but also wanted to work with me to find the right job for me as my family situation changed.

But after I delivered my twins (yes – the picture above is the view I had from my hospital bed), I realized I needed to step down from my job because the amount of money I would need for childcare of three kids would be either equal or less then my salary. I tried to find a economical sitter that worked into my family schedule but could not. I talked to other working moms who interviewed 50 or more childcare resources, and with three kids (2 of them being twin newborns) – I did not have time.. or the energy. I also realized that my job required travel and I was not able to do that anymore.

It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. But my precious little boys were worth it! I even had (luckily still have) a husband that is a 50/50 partner in raising our kids and a company willing to work with me on job flexibility. I grew up with a single mother so I also knew first hand that childcare is an even greater challenge for single moms (parents). But I left my “company” job over 14 years ago when the online network of women was not as powerful or prolific as it is now. Over the years I have met other women who shared their childcare solutions with me to similar problems.. If only I had that information years ago!! I adapted by creating my career 2.0 online, so now I want to use that power for social good.

There is already an amazing revolution of social good that exists online for moms with sites such as Mom Bloggers For Social Good, The Motherhood, One Mom Bloggers, Go Mighty, The Mission List, BlogHer coverage of social good and BlogHer’s Mission of creating creating greater exposure and economic empowerment (and their powerful network of women) . There are women’s centers and organization looking into ways to develop solutions to fix the women’s leadership gap such as the Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business. And of course businesses like Clever Girls Collective that are women owned and have a network of women. On International Women’s Day I am announcing my social good project. I will be on a mission to help connect women (and working mothers) to the resources and networks they need for their careers by sharing this information online. I have some fun ideas which I will be announcing soon… This will support the next phase of the women’s movement by having women HELP other women to find the resources they need to work.

If each woman can help just one other women find work resources the “pay it forward” will be exponential. Of course, this includes moms supporting other moms who are trying to do that elusive work/life balance that in reality does not exist. In a perfect world this model could also translate to women helping other women worldwide, such as the organization Global Good partners that was profiled on Katie Couric show. Global Good Partners is a “a nonprofit organization that sells handmade, fair trade products in order to improve the economic status of women in marginalized communities around the world.”

So instead of marching, this new phase of the women’s movement would be for women to help train other women with job skills, help them find work related resources, share information about women owned businesses/marketplaces and enable women to get the technology they need not only for job skills but to help manage their families.

Women, it is time to power up our network to a new level! If you have any ideas, please do share! If you have favorite sites that support women’s work efforts, please also share.