The Connected Mom

I am back from a brief hiatus from my blog.  It took a couple of weeks to recuperate from JavaOne.  Throw in a nasty cold/virus, my extended Memorial Day weekend,  workload catchup, and I am now woefully behind in blog postings.  

Speaking of JavaOne, I was happy to see the "working mom" as one of the consumer "personas"  they portrayed in the general session opening video.  I could not agree more. Lets look at the typical day in the life of a working mom, shall we?

The typical working mom wakes up around 6am, gets in an early workout/run (if she is really dedicated!), showers, gets dressed/ready for work, gets the kids dressed for daycare/school.  Makes everyone breakfast.  Packs lunch boxes.  Packs back packs.  Drops the kids off at school, heads to the office for an 8.5 hour day, then repeats the process in reverse in the early evening.  On weekends, replace the 8.5 hour work day with errands, kid's activities, chores and hopefully a spare moment to complete a full glass of wine and maybe...just maybe some quality time with the hubby.  Exhausting?  Yes!  How on earth does a mom stay connected with her family, peers and co-workers during these times?  Mobile apps and social networks, my friends.  Here's the working mom's toolkit:

iPhone or Blackberry Pearl:  If I ever lost my cherished iPhone, my mind would go with it.   I can check email, text my friends, twitter,  surf the web, entertain myself and the kids while sitting in the Dr's office...the list is endless.  It is the killer mobile device. 

Twitter:  what started out as a strange little application with little purpose has turned into a very effective "micro-blogging" tool that makes it very easy to send a brief update to friends and followers on "what are you doing?".   There is a huge and growing network of moms who effectively use Twitter to commiserate, share and converse.   Busy moms love Twitter and it is quickly replacing email and text as the best way to get the word out quickly to fellow moms.

IM/Text:  In the time it takes to look up a phone # and dial out, I can get a quick text out to a friend, family member to set up a meeting, playdate, announce a late arrival, etc.  And I can do this while herding the cats (I mean kids!) out the door.  

Facebook:  Great place to post Twitter updates and share photos/videos with friends.  Even better place to start a mom's club and ignite specific topics like "what's the best jogging stroller for junior"? 

YouTube:  When a friend mentioned that I could watch an old Muppet episode called "Manamana" on YouTube, my world changed.  I can now watch short Muppet, Sesame Street and singing kitty videos with my daughters. Provides hours of entertainment on demand and I can do this while checking email, web surfing, etc.  Warning:  make sure you preview all videos or you will take the risk of having to answer questions such as "Mommy, what was the elephant doing to the giraffe?" over and over and over again.

And that's only skimming the surface.  Every day new apps are created to help make mundane tasks a bit more manageable for us working mommies and help us improve our multi-tasking skills.   Hallelujah, sisters!

Posted at 04:40PM May 30, 2008 by kcelestre in General  |  Comments[1]

The Rock Stars of JavaOne2008

As a working mom of 2 young girls, I often find my work life and personal life on a constant collision course.  It is challenging to keep them separate, so I embrace the collision and try to apply my experiences as a mom to my role as group marketing manager and vice versa.  There is never a dull moment!

This week was a classic example of yet another intersection of my two lives.   My mother-in-law recently sent my 5 year old a bunch of Hannah Montana paraphernalia for her birthday.  As some of you know, Hannah is the rock star of the kiddie generation.  My daughter became quite the groupie this week with her Hannah concert tee and matching purse.

 A few days later, Sun announced that Neil Young would be making an appearance at our 2008 JavaOne conference in San Francisco.  Not to date myself, but Neil happens to be the ultimate rock star of my generation.  One can not mention the name Neil Young without reminiscing about the raw, genuine rock music that influenced so many in the 70's.  Even Gen Xer's respect Neil's amazing contribution to music.  Check out this awesome biography.

What does this all mean?  1 week. 2 rock stars.  2 generations. I could not have asked for a more perfect lead in to our SDN "Rock Star" event at JavaOne next Wednesday night!  We will salute all rock stars.  From Neil Young to Hannah Montana to the rock stars that make up our 3+ million members of the Sun Developer Network.  Rock on!

Posted at 03:11PM May 02, 2008 by kcelestre in General  |