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Atlanta Bound for TypeACon

Posted on September 26, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

For years, I have been trying to get to TypeACon, but the timing has never worked. In 2011, I actually wrote a Type-A Whine post about not making it to Asheville. That is all about to change today when I get on an airplane and head to Atlanta.

I am beyond excited because everything worked out beautifully. TechyDad will be home with the boys for Jewish holidays. I snagged my conference pass in November for a great deal (THANK YOU sponsors). When I heard that a certain speaker was coming, I jumped at a sale and scored amazing deals on my airfare. While there, I will be rooming at the Westin Buckhead with a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Disneyphile who I met at another conference in 2011. Now, I am thrilled to be able to call Ellen a friend. I am looking forward to learning, laughing, and loving all that TypeACon can and will be thanks to the hard work of Kelby and her Minions. That is Kelby and Shannan below when we were roomies in NYC just about two years ago.

Of course I will be seeing many old friends, but I am so excited to finally meet many online friends IRL. That is just another fantastic perk about social medial conference like TypeACon, the networking that can happen.

If you are new to The Angel Forever, my name is Beth. My husband also blogs at TechyDad and we have two boys, NHL 10 and JSL 6. While I am not in a classroom right now, I still consider myself an educator and am really passionate about educational matters with all of the changes happening in our schools. Another newer role in my life is being an autism advocate for my son (my journey has been documented over the last five years). It took us a long time to get a diagnosis, but now that we have it I am working tirelessly for him. In addition to this, I am a geek. I love all things with technology, apps, Doctor Who, and beyond.

I am a lifestyle blogger and write about our many adventures/travels, books that we are reading on Tuesday Tales, and Disney is always on my brain. I confess that I adore writing about Disney and sharing information about their parks since I grew up going to Walt Disney World, honeymooned there, and have taken the kids there multiple times. Oh and in my spare time, laugh with me here, I love to craft. My current favorite is crocheting, but I am practically a lifelong knitter. Yarn is almost always with me just in case I have time.

If you happen to be in Atlanta for TypeACon, I look forward to seeing you there. Safe travels to everyone and again thank you to Kelby and all of you who have worked so hard to make this event possible.

Categories:
Conference me moments social media travel

Raising Digital Families For Dummies Book Launch

Posted on April 26, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I adore the world of social media and what it has meant for me. I have been able to meet people that have had a huge impact in my life. Many have become real life friends that I have also been blessed to meet in person. The two amazing women below are Amy Lupold Bair and Shannan Powell. They are the force behind Resourceful Mommy Media.

Looking back, I am not even sure how I met Amy, but I have to guess it was probably on Twitter and may have had something to do with Walt Disney World. I instantly made a connection with @ResourcefulMom (that’s Amy) because she was also a teacher that was no longer in the classroom. We had two children that were similar in age, husbands that refused certain social media platforms, and our love for all things Disney went back to trips with our families when only one park ruled the Orlando land.

This past year, I have watched as Amy wrote her first book and now it is being launched. Yes, Raising Digital Families for Dummies is officially coming out and I already purchased my Kindle copy a short time ago.

Amy’s passion for social media is clear to everyone that knows her. In this book, she helps other families to see how to guide their children in the ever changing digital world that we live in. I look forward to exploring her book and working on a plan for our family.

Now, I am asking you to please help me to congratulate Amy and join her for the Twitter launch party on Monday, April 29. There is more information about it on her website, along with magical prizes being given out.

Once again a big Mazel Tov to my friend Amy on her first of what will likely be many books.

Disclosure: NONE – I wrote this because I am supporting a friend!

Categories:
books friends social media

Online Reputation Management for Dummies

Posted on December 13, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Blogging has opened up an entirely new world for me. When I started The Angel Forever almost six years ago, I had no idea that I would be building a brand. The reality is that slowly the need to think about how I present myself in Social Media and beyond as the person behind The Angel Forever became evident. I had to be the voice behind my blog and not simply Beth. Gone are the Tweets where I vent about things at school. Sometimes, you will still see personal items like notes about the crazy weather and parenting, but that is showing a side of my brand – the Mom.

At various Social Media events – including BlogHer, SheStreams, and Disney Social Media Moms – I took notes from people about how to build a brand. Slowly, I have been working on this. Of course, at the same time you also have to think about your online reputation. Not only do big companies have to think about this, but bloggers do as well.

Thanks to an opportunity with For Dummies, I was able to receive a copy of Online Reputation Management For Dummies.

Heading into 2013, I have goals for myself. With these items in mind, I need to be ready to manage my online reputation. Author Lori Randall Stradtman mentions “Expecting the best and preparing for the worst.” The inner Eeyore in me laughed and nodded at that statement. The reality is that you must be prepared and have a plan ready. The last thing you want to do is panic and let emotions guide you IF you need to fix something. As a victim of cyberbulling by someone who has targeted many bloggers over the years, I am always looking to learn. I adore that Stradtman makes a point to remind people that Reputation Management is not simply another way of saying damage control. She’s right. It’s a process that takes time and her book helps others to do this.

Online Reputation Management for Dummies is broken down into six parts that go further into depth on specific areas. The sections are:

Getting Started with Online Reputation Management —Learning what this means and what approach will be best for you.
Organizing Your Teams – In addition to an everyday team, you need to think about people/professionals that can be on your crisis team.
Listening Is Love – What monitoring tools to use, how to utilize SEO Keywords, and setting everything up to check what is being said.
Establishing Your Reputation – Engagement via Social Media, making your brand, defining your message, reaching out to groups, tips on writing to get attention, using visual to get message out there, and getting others to spread your brand.
Responding to Crisis: Your Step-by-Step Plan – How to manage issues as they grow, working on a crisis, and making personal connections (this was a life saver in my situation).
The Part of Tens – Reputation tips for special events, faceplant moments, and making readers/fans happy.

Since the book arrived, I have had time to scan it over and get a general feel for what is inside. What I have realized, I need more time to read certain areas that are more of what I will utilize in the weeks ahead. I know I need to monitor a bit more, especially with the past cyberbully issues. I also need to really home in on defining my brand and working with the writing tips like catchy titles, adding SEO keywords, creating lists, how to, and other items within Chapter 12: Writing Your Way to the Top and Chapter 13: Using Visuals to Spread Your Message. I already use Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Instagram. Now to use them more to build my brand via Online Reputation boosting strategies from Stradtman while also being prepared to protect and respond IF something should happen.

Now I have a plan of action with the Online Reputation Management Cheat Sheets available online, along with my own outlines. As I enter 2013, I have a plan on where to focus my attention so I can get more specifics to utilize in my strategy from this book.

Do you have an Online Reputation Management strategy? I would love to know your thoughts on this topic thanks to our new Social Media and online world.

Disclosure: I wrote this post as an Ambassador for Dummies books through a Global Influence campaign. I received a copy of this book for review purposes, but as a fan of Dummies books, the opinions expressed are 100% my own. Additional locations to purchase this book can be found on the following landing page. An Amazon Affiliate link is included in this post for the Dummies book mentioned. I will receive a percentage of money for the sale should you opt to purchase it through that link.

Categories:
books social media

Stolen Words, Photos, and the NickMom Fiasco

Posted on September 21, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Children learn early that is is not acceptable to steal written words from other people. Of course, that does not mean that everyone follows these copyright laws. As a teacher, I had ways to check to see if my students were plagiarizing their book reports, essays, and other items. It’s sad to say that tools exist for teachers. This was probably part of the reason why I made book reports into projects that were more creative and outside of the box. They were more fun to correct and share. Plus, they were harder to copy from a source.

As a parent, I have had to explain to my nine year old that when he needs a photos for a project we have to go to sources that are acceptable. Simply using Google images to hunt something down is not allowed. This is something that many schools are starting to explain to students, but with budget cuts many technology education curriculums are being slashed. This often means internet usage and copyright laws are not being covered properly. We need to make sure that our children are following these.

Now, you would think that grown adults would know better than to copy something that was not their work. This is not the case. Several months ago, I had a content scrapper pull an entire blog post about my anniversary. Every word, photo, link, and item was pasted onto their for-profit website. No permission was asked, it was simply taken. I caught it because of a ping-back on a link within my stolen post. I submitted a comment requesting the item be removed immediately and mentioned DMCA laws. After a week of nothing being removed and noting more and more stolen item on their website, TechyDad stepped into use his webmaster ways. Since they were pointing to MY photos hosted on my server, we replaced their call to them with this:

This remained on their website for a few days, then the website vanished. Of course, not all content thieves leave a trail. Case in point – the NickMom website (that I refuse to direct you to). If you have not heard about their massive blunder, you must head over to read Amy Lupold Bair’s post where she introduced the blogging community about the tactics of NickMom. Kelby Carr, Type-A Mom, continues to update her post about how NickMom is sliming parent bloggers. More and more bloggers have written about how to protect your photos after they realized their items were stolen. The reality is that NickMom continues to publish content that is not theirs and will not remove it unless the owner notifies them. I love the way Emily, ColoradoMoms, puts it. The picture of her adorable son and the caption are spot on. Nichole Smith, The Guilty Parent, compares this tactic to stranger danger. These wonderful women, and so many others, have now written about this topic, but one post really hit home. It was from Sarah, Nerdy Apple, on why she left NickMom. As someone who once left a writing job because I was worried about my reputation, I applaud Sarah for standing up and protecting herself. As a community, we must unite to protect each other and stop people from thinking that it is acceptable to take content without permission.

So my question to you this week:

Had you heard about the NickMom drama and have you ever had someone take your writing, photos, or other work without your permission? Would love to know your take on this ever growing issue in the blogging world.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #221

Categories:
Aloha Friday bloggy friends Educational photos PSA school social media TechyDad vent

My Views From Today

Posted on June 15, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When I received my new phone Violet, I was thrilled to be able to try new and different apps with her. Early on, I found that I really liked making a collage of photos that I had taken throughout the day. I still do this and often use PhotoShake and AddWatermark to make ones like this:

I do not take specific photos for the collages, they are just randomly shot during the day. Then, at the end of the day, I can send the collage on Instagram stating it is my “Views from today” Tweet.

Once the kids are in bed, I sit with my phone for a few minutes to see what pictures I have snagged while out and about. It is interesting to see how, on some days, I have a lot of options to put into the collage. Then there are days where there are very few.

So my question to you this week:

Do you like to make photo collages? What programs do you use on your phone and/or computer to make them? I do use PhotoScape and PicMonkey (more on this soon) for blog collages and on my Facebook page.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #207