This is a bit of an awkward post. You see, recently a couple of people have mentioned the ‘Wonderwebby’ brand to me during conversation.

Brand? What brand?

To be honest, I keep forgetting that I have a brand at all.

I see it as:

a blog which I have been neglecting,

photos which I don’t take often enough,

fundraising which I should do more of,

a fortnightly Tiny Letter ‘Creative Notes’ which is all about bringing creativity to life,

freelancing and working on a job which I love; producing ebooks and events for bloggers, photographers, entrepreneurs and creative people,

It’s abut the things I love (and wish I could spend more time learning and writing about)

art and design,

social media,

family and motherhood,

looking after yourself,

pursuing your passions,

found objects,

inspiration,

non profits,

play,

writing,

food and healthy eating,

technology,

learning and curiosity,

living authentically,

…and sharing the things which inspire me, things I admire, and not being afraid to share ideas on the interwebs.

I can try to work out what this brand is, and what I should focus on.
But what I really want to know is what Wonderwebby means to you.  I’m really curious to find out, so I can make this blog better for you. Also, I tend to be pretty hard on myself, so it helps when I get some feedback!

Your opinion matters to me. Without you, this wouldn’t be a blog :)

It’s awkward, because it feels a bit like I’m passing a piece of paper and pen around the room and asking you to write a word about me. That’s not my intention. And I’m certainly not asking for back-patting. Any feedback is good feedback. If I don’t ask you, then I’ll never know!

So here goes….how would you describe my brand? What would you like to see more of?

*passes the pen and paper*…

Some days I feel like starting this blog over again. Stopping the blog. Creating a new brand.

Nearly 8 years have passed since I started Wonderwebby. It was my first blog, apart from a small blog on our intranet back when I was working at IBM. I started off blogging about web2.0 and all the things I was discovering about what seemed like the complete reinvention of the web. I blogged later about fundraising for social good, innovation, digital marketing, collaboration, learning through play, creativity, life-drawing and photography.

Since starting this blog I have had a third child, celebrated 13 years of marriage, seen all of my children starting school, quit my job at IBM and started working for a blogger. But in all of this time, my blog has been a personal series of posts with a common theme, I think, of the wonderful webby possibilities and more recently, bringing creativity to life.

Then, this year I started my fortnightly personal Tiny Letter ‘Creative Notes.’ I love writing it, I enjoy the replies and conversations. I’m about to write my fourth Tiny Letter to send out tomorrow. It’s exciting. I could almost stop blogging here and put all of my focus on the Creative Notes brand.

Almost.

Except that Wonderwebby has become my brand. I feel like there is a history here in my blog, a journey, a viewpoint, a thumbprint.

So I won’t stop blogging. Not yet. And here’s my personal blogging plan…

Anything can happen.

What a week!

I’m finally resurfacing after ProBlogger Training Event 2012. This is the second ProBlogger Event I’ve had the pleasure of helping to organise. As usual, I didn’t get the chance to attend many sessions. However managed to spend some time chatting to people and speakers in between breaks. One of the most consistent messages I kept hearing was that of “doing the work.” These opportunities to blog for a living, to make money online, blogging success…they don’t just happen. Opportunities happen to people with drive, determination, people who help and people who DO.

Our ebook Session

Misho Baranovic and I gave a presentation together on the first day of the Training Event, about the way our ProBlogger and dPS teams create ebooks. Misho is a mobile photographer who worked on our recent iPhone Photography ebook at Digital Photography School. I haven’t presented to a crowd for a couple of years and I was only standing thanks to some cold & flu meds…but somehow managed to share for about 20 minutes before Misho presented.

Matthew from UX Mastery took some visual notes of our session…thanks Matthew!

The Celebrations

Later that evening we celebrated at Maha – the food was exquisite and I was blown away by the service.  Here are some pics of the chefs and waiting staff. Thank you so much for making our experience just perfect!

The team from SmileBooth Australia took our photos and made us laugh. I tried to round up our event team for a quick snap!

The Gratitude

This year out team grew beyond Darren, Nicole (brilliant job of content curation) and myself, to include even more registration desk volunteers (thanks to World Vision Australia for being at the desk too – with 300+ nametags to distribute we needed you!), room producers, and a virtual event team! I have a sneaking suspicion the team will grow even more next year! I really appreciated so many attendees coming up to say thank you and expressing their gratitude for the event. It made it all worth it. I’m just sorry I didn’t get around to saying hello so many people.

A total highlight was meeting Chris Guillebeau. To be completely honest I didn’t know that much about him beforehand, apart from looking at his website and exchanging a few emails. But I was really impressed with what I heard from his sessions and he was one of the most pleasant speakers people I’ve ever worked with!

Yes, I was exhausted after #PBevent this year. I slept, drank copious amounts of tea and ate lots of chocolate on Sunday. I also booked myself in for a massage today! In fact, I suggested on Twitter that we have a PBevent recovery at a Day Spa next year and at least a dozen people said a big YES. What do you think? I’ll see what we can do :)

To those of you who attended, and all of our sponsors…thank you thank you so much for making the event a success. Hope to see you at PBevent next year!

Perhaps as I am headed towards a significant birthday, I’ve recently been admiring many things of yesteryear. There’s something so fun and creative in all things retro. This week I headed out to some op-shops with a few girlfriends after working hard on the late-night launch of an ebook (about iPhone photography…loved working on this one obviously!)  However there’s another side to vintage finds. Moments and memories. Treasured memories. Some books I have been reading also spoke of objects from the past.

For instance, I read with curiosity how artist Mirka Mora practically caught memories in her handbags. One day she lost many of them, following a visit from Marcel Marceau in which he advised her to lose some clutter before it took over her life. She gave many of her beloved handbags away to charity. Only to try and buy back as many as she could. You see, she realised, regretfully, that she couldn’t bear to part with so many memories, after all.  (“It is as if my fate is sealed and I cannot change the way I am, or I might lose the art of painting, who feeds on the memories encrusted in my brain.” Mirka Mora, Love and Clutter)

In her older age, Nora Ephron wrote with amusement and a sense of betrayal about her memories. Many had left her. Amusing because she could remember some trivial and useless things. The more important details however, were washed away with time. She regretted not keeping a journal and love letters. I wonder if our blogs will help us to remember some of the moments we forgot to document elswhere, when we’re older. (“On some level, my life has been wasted on me. After all, if I can’t remember it, who can?” Nora Ephron, I Remember Nothing)

In 1989 I visited Berlin as part of a student exchange program and LOVED the op shops. We could buy the American Military’s used Levi 501′s by the kilo. I still remember a silk pyjama top which I wore as a shirt the next year, and a fuschia coloured silk dress which I wore and wore until I couldn’t repair it. They reminded me of the vibrancy of West Berlin, the punks, a creative city and my first trip overseas on my own. Obviously I don’t own them any more. I wonder if I will forget about Berlin. About the op shop owner who had mascara running down his face as he sobbed into the phone. The feeling of being in such a big city as a teenager. About the bizarre feeling of a city divided and the sad, courageous stories she once told.

When I find lovely things in op-shops I can’t help but wonder what memories they once held. Then I place them in my home, on my bookshelf or my wardrobe and forget that they ever held …or will hold…any memories at all.

I sat in the quietest of rooms at BlogHer12, stunned by the lack of attendees in a session hosted by some incredible women who have changed lives. Wow, that’s interesting. “It’s not interesting. It’s an issue.” replied the political commentator live-blogging behind me. Here I was at a conference with over 5000 bloggers all wanting to learn about many aspects of blogging. There were several sessions held at once, to accommodate the different needs of the diverse and large group. I understand most were there to learn about everything from SEO to iphoneography and content creation. Still, it was a shame that so many missed out on this particular session. I wish these women would have been part of the keynote with Soledad O’Brien, Christy Turlington Burns, and Malaak Compton-Rock.

So, the wonderful facilitator Cheryl Contee introduced the panel and what they have been doing with their blogs. Her introduction actually caused a few tears to unexpectedly fall down my face in appreciation. Moments before,I had been wandering around a massive conference expo with lifestyle brands promising me tastier treats, free manicures, gadgets, gizmos, better health and even better skin. I had spent the previous five days enjoying and exploring New York and all of her wonderful sights and delicacies. Now I was hearing stories of women using their blogs to stand up for the basic rights of young mothers, teenagers and babies around the world. It was a slap of reality in my face. They spoke of not having time for fear. Of people having a voice, but how bloggers become the voice for those people.

Please meet:

Ana P. Santos, Philippines, publisher of Sex and Sensibilities and Ana Santos Writes who is helping to prevent teen pregnancy in the Philippines through much needed birth control education. She is not only helping to educate, but she is also overcoming cultural attitudes to give women a better life.

Fungai Machirori, Zimbabwe, publisher of Fungai Neni. Fungai is a smart and beautiful soul who writes about life in Zimbabwe…and continues to write despite frequent power cuts. Last year she was denied a visa to attend, so it was wonderful to have her along this year her share about her experiences as an outspoken blogger.

Maha Elsanosi, Sudan, publisher of Mimz, an incredibly fearless young woman blogging about issues in Sudan, and working on projects such as To Sudan With Love (which she founded), the newly launched Voices of Sudan, and the newly launching 500 Words Magazine

Tara Livesay, Haiti, publisher of The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog. who provides prenatal and midwifery support as well as a birthing center, a residential teen mother program, and more.

Take a look at their blogs. These women rock.

Truth Telling

Nothing moved me at BlogHer12 as much as the stories these women shared. Their determination. Audacity. Fighting spirit. Truth telling.

It got me thinking about the words and stories we share on our blogs. I observed the hunger to grow bigger, more popular blogs. More readers. More interesting trivia. Funny memes. Some women are doing this really successfully. But I’m not sure it’s right for this blog.

I hope that I can always be a truth teller.

Last night on an independent art show, artist Amber Wallis said something along the lines of  “there’s some kind of truth to drawing which influences everything else.” I think this is why I’ve enjoyed life drawing so much this year (although the class is on hold for a term..and I’m missing it terribly!) The same can probably also be said for photography and words which find themselves on all sorts of blogs.

I ran into Zoey aka GoodGoogs briefly at a BlogHer12 “invitation only” party hosted by Hasbro. I like Zoey. I like the words, pictures and the truth she tells on her blog. I couldn’t help but notice this post after our time in New York. “I am going to be on social media to be there. I am there to have fun. I am there to share things that I create so that people will connect with them. So I’m no longer worried about the conversation happening on my blog. I am using social media as a digital publishing medium rather than a link following medium.”

Your Inner Voice

This post. On Copyblogger. You know whe you’re thinking about things and then you read a post which sums up what you wanted to say? It’s a good post about ambition, polularity, the pressure to lie and the drowning out of our inner voice.

“Everywhere we look, we see supposed evidence that bigger is better and more exciting is best. “…..”We feel financial and personal pressure from our spouses, our peers, and our competitors to bring in more revenue, have six-figure launches, and quit our day jobs to become professional bloggers. We often go to bed thinking of ways to grow our businesses so we can have better, richer and fuller lives, and at every turn, we get hit with marketing messages from questionable online marketers who flaunt photos of their sailboats and mansions. “…

“I think we can also reconnect with our best selves when we take care of our bodies and minds. I think we can try to eat good food, get a little exercise, and try to get more sleep.”

Popular Posts

I could create a blog which resounds with the publishing tone and marketing smarts of a glossy magazine. It could do well. Who knows, maybe one day I will.

For now, I’m happy with my blog right here. My voice. I hope to blog twice a week. To live a creative life, “reconnect with my best self” and share truth as I see it. I have a hunch that more people will become happy doing that too – and that brands (like Hasbro, thank you) will be happy to engage with us.

After all, popularity is often subjective.

 Thank you to ProBlogger for sending me to BlogHer12

Lag lag lagetty lag. Your mind wanders and you try to make sense of time. What day is this? Have some supper with your breakfast.

Lists. I write one more. List list list. Work. Life. Things I want to change. Go and pick some flowers from the garden. You’re home.
The words move around the page. My list. It’s not helping, this time. So I go pick the flowers, which are heavy with raindrops. My scissors break. I fetch some more.

I feel like New York has been calling me since I was 17. Stacks of Warhol’s Interview magazines filled my head with dreams. New York. She intensifies every creative cell. Every exchange is some kind of reflection.

We walked. We walked and walked. The humidity and grit of the city clung to each movement. The CITY. My mind still seems to be wandering the way it did in NYC. It wanders my page, expecting to turn the corner once again. To walk into the warm air of the subway. To be surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of a new city.

Now, between emails. I ring the local modern art museum. One family membership, thank you. New York awakened a sense of cultural debt to my children. An article in the in-flight magazine about the Boyd family summed it up, in a way.

“Growing up in the Boyd family was different.

Art was everywhere.

It covered walls and lined hallways, and was done casually in the mornings,as other families might do crosswords.”…

“Their parents, Merric and Doris Boyd, believed it was the divine right of everybody to be creative.”

Museums might not be the only place to find creativity. But it’s a starting point. We didn’t actually make it inside the Guggenheim (at least, not past the entrance), as it was closing time.  Sitting outside the entrance for a moment, to rest our feet, inspiration could still be found close to Frank Lloyd Wright’s (quite poetic) cylindrical creation.
The conference? I’ll write about that later, although I have to mention some women making a difference in their world made me cry. I didn’t expect to. But their bravery was exceptional.

Thank you New York. Your people were charming and pleasant. Your food was delightful. You even gave me good coffee.

I hope to visit again.

*****

Many thanks to ProBlogger for sending me to BlogHer12.

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PART ONE: NAVEL GAZING

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I thought I’d share a  few more things about me before the trip, because hey, it’s always helpful when you’re meeting new people!

• I never got a degree but I did get a Masters.
• I never thought I would get married, in the official sense. But (to my surprise) I got married in big Greek church many moons ago and now we have three wonderful boys
• I’m the eldest daughter of four siblings from three different marriages.
• See that girl who just flung her pen across the room as she was talking? That’s me. Clumsy.
• Because I’m prone to clumsiness I was never particularly good at sports. So I prefer to swim and walk instead.
• I hate making mistakes. But I’m never afraid to try again.
• I overthink things. And I’m a visual person. Put the two together and it can get messy :)
• I like to sing. Perhaps this helps me to stop overthinking :)
• Money doesn’t impress me at all. But amusingly, over the years I’ve discovered I have an odd knack of helping others to make money.
• I once was vegan.
• My very talented and creative mother has unfortunately had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for over 20 years.
• One of my brothers has Asperger’s Syndrome
• Planning is my thing. Ironing is not.
• Manners matter. People count. And a smile goes a long way.
• I love the country. I love the beach. I love the city. And the ‘burbs ain’t so bad, after all.
• I’m generally optimistic, but I play devil’s advocate very well. “What if….”
• I’ve always enjoyed volunteering for no other reason than….I can. In my early teens I used to volunteer at school holiday programs. In high school I was part of the Equal Opportunities committee. In my twenties I was a foster parent.  It just feels right to give.
• When I need to rhyme words, I do so by quickly sounding them out alphabetically in my head. Maybe that’s how everyone does it?

Over on Facebook I asked if anyone had questions..and here they are!

Jo from Dusty Plum asked “Where have you traveled before Jazz? Where is your favourite place to travel with your family?”

When I was 16 I lived in Germany for two months on an exchange student program. As I was explaining to my 7 year old last night, this was in the days before internet, skype, Facetime and Facebook. I didn’t see my photos until about a week after I arrived home and the only correspondence with family was a brief weekly phone call and letters. Actually, I think that was part of the whole experience! I stayed in a small village most of the time, a few days in Stuttgart with another family and a week in Berlin (this was before the Wall came down…and we were told it would never happen.)

When I turned 20 I moved to Melbourne from Adelaide on my own. I’ve lived here ever since.

I’ve also been to China (southern), Italy and France. Since having kids (at one point we had 3 under the age of 5) our holidays have all been in Australia until now, after all I love this country…but it is so big and there is still so much to see and do! We have explore much of Victoria. I love the high country, the beaches at Phillip Island and of course there are so many other wonderful places. We have been to the Gold Coast, once. Northern NSW. Sydney and Tasmania. My favourite place to travel with my family is anywhere near water and good food!

Shai asked “What’s your career been like so far and how did you end up doing what you do now?”

Wow Shai this could be a long answer, but I’ll keep it short and post about it sometime! In high school I was determined to find my vocation but just couldn’t decide between the arts and health. Maths and science weren’t my strong points, so technology was never part of the plan although I may or may not have been in the lunchtime computer club! So my career so far has always been about finding out what I love to do, doing it well and meeting some awesome people along the way. And in a roundabout way, everything has come together to the point where I get to work part-time, from home, for a blogger, managing ebooks and blog events and freelancing on creative projects. I’m very fortunate.  That’s the short answer, anyway!

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PART TWO: THE OTHER SIDE OF NEW YORK

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I’ve packed my bags and I’m off tomorrow morning. My first trip overseas since my honeymoon. The first time I have left my kids for a long time. Off to have fun, to have an adventure and to discover what lies ahead at BlogHer’12.

I may have packed too many clothes and not enough business cards. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t read fashion/women’s magazines or know all of the big labels, I just happen to think clothes are fun and NYC seems like a fun place to dress up :)

See you on the other side of New York! You can keep up-to-date with my NYC adventure over on my Facebook Page for the next week.

Now to finish the domestic duties before I leave my boys and husband for 10 days. There are hand-me-down school uniforms to re-label. A few shirts to iron (if I get time….yes, I’m very good at avoiding ironing) and a bit of movie night (that is TV and popcorn) to enjoy with my lads.

*****

I can hardly believe that on Saturday I’ll be flying from Australia to New York. Thanks for such wonderful travel tips in my last post, to help me prepare for my trip to BlogHer. Apparently there will be 4,500 bloggers attending…wow! Please say hi if you’re going to be there – and if you’re heading over from Australia please let @Nellbe know as she’s hoping we can get a group photo! I’ll be packing my passport, a few favourite dresses, good walking shoes, lipstick, a sense of humour and a portable recharger for my phone!

Here are some of my favourite links from this week.

• Crash Test Mummy gave some excellent tips for reducing jet-lag symptoms
• I loved these tips from Carly Jacobs of Smaggle on some simply glamorous ways to travel
• Cinti from My Poppet shared some excellent practical tips…a must read for anyone wanting to travel.
• Another post..an oldie but a goodie from @planningqueen on preparing the family when you’re flying solo

So now that I’m almost organised…what do I plan on doing once I’m there?

I’m looking forward to discovering a new city, meeting new and old friends over some delicious meals and getting lost in all kinds of art. I’m hoping to meet people (and brands) who are finding creative ways to live extraordinary lives in the simplest ways. I think I’ll remember to take lots of photos. And then I hope to continue the inspiring conversations and connections once I’m back.

Yes, I will miss my boys. A LOT. A week will fly by though, I’m sure and I know they are in good hands with Mr Wonderwebby.

(see these Plants vs Zombies figurines? They surprised me with a crafty interpretation of their favourite iPad game recently!)

What do you enjoy most about traveling? The people or the places?

It’s been a while since I’ve shared about my daily work, so I thought I’d jot down a few things that are happening at Wonderwebby HQ.

Getting Ready for a Big Blogging Training Event

Funny how life works out. One minute you’re blogging, the next thing you’re working for a blogger to create a conference for bloggers! One of the big things I’m working on with the ProBlogger team right now is the 2012 ProBlogger Training Event (PBevent) – an event for 300 bloggers to learn more about creating successful, profitable blogs. I’ve been talking to some wonderful sponsors, our venue Etihad Stadium about logistics and looking at ways to make the event informative and fun.

Social Media Conferences and Events

Before I get to PBevent, I’ll be attending BlogHer in New York. It will be wonderful to meet some bloggers from around the world and to enjoy the conference as an attendee, instead of an organiser! Please say hi if you’re going to be there. Oh, and there’s New York itself. Did I mention New York?

I also bought a ticket to attend the Maha/ProBlogger food blogging event. The dinner (which sounds amazing), wine and information about food blogging will be worth it. I’m trying to get along to a few more local face-to-face events in Melbourne this year, like NetSquared Melbourne, Social Media Club, Tweastie, and the First Tuesday Blog Club but it’s always a juggling act to attend meetups between family and work time. Breakfasts are also tricky to get to, when there are school lunches to pack and freeway traffic to contend with. This week I’m going to our school disco instead of a meetup. Like I said, juggling.

(you have to love Melbourne at night, even in Winter)

The wonderful world of Webinars and eBooks

In addition to the event, we’ve been organising more webinars for ProBlogger and putting a calendar in place. I’m moderating over at the ProBlogger community and we’ve also launched a few ebooks at dPS. So far this year we’ve seen the launch of Nuts and Post and Natural Light…and I’m helping a couple of new authors to put their ebooks together right now. Just this morning I met with an author at my place to talk about her upcoming book over coffee and a cheese platter. It’s so enjoyable to provide a point of coordination through the production, keep things on track and to provide publishing guidance and direction. I’m so happy to be part of the creation of these titles, I’m learning more about ebook marketing every day and I get to work with some clever people along the way.

 Blogging in Australia ….and a new client.

Have you noticed more Australian bloggers and brands are working together? I’m watching this space intently – as bloggers and brands find new, innovative ways to work together. Think partnership (not just blog posts), influence (not just readership), creating value and rewarding to reap the benefits. In fact, I’m taking on a second client….I can’t say much for now, but I’m excited about working with this brand as they increase their online presence and engage with the blogging community.

How about you? Are you working with brands and blogs? What do you do? 

Are you seeing more sponsors engaging with bloggers this year?

Or maybe you’re a blogger wanting to work more with brands…who would be your dream brand to work with?

What a week! I’m just pausing now to catch my breath and the thought just occurred to me…

…if I never started using Twitter, I never would have started blogging and I would never have imagined that one day I would be working for a blogger – let alone be heading to a conference in New York this year. How amazing is that?

If I had never tweeted or joined in some collaborative blog for good projects -  I wouldn’t be part of an exciting microproject which started this month. And I wouldn’t know about projects like Nathalie’s “blogging village to raise a child” approach – which is exciting and interesting as people with a common purpose get together to make a difference.

So what’s this all about?….

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1. New Yoooooooork!

YES! I’m so excited to be heading off to New York for a week in August this year! I’ve always wanted to visit NYC so this is literally a dream come true :)  ProBlogger is sending me off to BlogHer’12 (big big YAY!) a leading social media conference for women. It’s going to be very interesting and dare I say, so much fun!

As thrilled as I am, this is also the first time I will be spending a whole week away from my husband and kids (did I mention how awesome my husband is?!)… and very, very far away at that. I know that I’m going to miss them like crazy. Believe it or not it was actually a big decision to take a trip away from them. Buuuut… I think I’ll enjoy a little time on my own in NEW YORK (did I mention I’m excited?) exploring (and instagramming!) an amazing city, meeting some wonderful people and hopefully- at least once – sleeping in for the first time in a loooong time.

Do you have any tips on things to do in New York? Places to eat? Must see places? If you were going to visit New York, where would you like to go? This is my first trip to the US, so I’d really appreciate your suggestions!

Very, very exciting!!!

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2 #Superawesomemicroproject

Recently I saw some interesting tweets flying about on Twitter which caught my interest. There’s not much else I can say right now….except that I’m now a patron of this, along with 39 others. It’s a collaborative project from the guy behind this.

I know some other people who have invested in this project through Twitter and blogging. Others, I met for the first time over pizza “project launch” in Melbourne last week. Oddly enough, I have handed some money over to a stranger for – what some may say – is a peculiar project. A very cool, peculiar project. Stay tuned!

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3 The Fish Slap

Could a bunch of bloggers help to make a big difference? Nathalie from Easy Peasy Kids is very generously having a get-together for 40 people at her home June 5th (in Melbourne.) She’s raising funds on the day for World Vision Australia. You can RSVP or send her a prize that she can auction off on the day. Nathalie is hoping she can get 40 bloggers together.” With forty of us here we can form groups of five contributing $10 a month and sponsor eight children as a community. This amount will also ensure that Angel for the Forgotten and Foundation 18 also receive support or a charity of your choosing.”

RSVP and learn what the fish slap is all about over here.

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At the heart of all of these activities…it’s the people that make all the difference. Social media is helping to make that happen. Yes, it’s exciting. That I can be part of this, work from home and still spend lots of quality time with my three kids, is simply awesome.

Grateful.