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Getting foodie with Sam's Club

Last month, I signed on as a Sam’s Club Food Ambassador.

I’ll be sharing Sam’s Clubs delicious and healthy food ideas and product news from their clubs in the upcoming months with my readers at This Mama Cooks! On a Diet.

Visiting Sam’s Club HQ

Last month I visited Sam’s Club headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. I was very much impressed with the quality demands Sam’s Club puts on their food partners as well as the extensive product taste testing they do.

Not only is Sam's interested in getting a good price point for their customers, they're also concerned with convenience - in the products they sell (are they convenient for busy families), in the way the stores are laid out, and in their packaging with their new "bag in a bag" frozen veggies or "mix and match" bakery offerings.

Sam's Club also aims to get the quality possible and backs this with a 200% back guarantee (twice as much product or twice the price back) on all their fresh food and meat.

Along with their sustainability efforts – from their stores to their headquarters – I have a new appreciation for the company. Or maybe it’s just the delicious international cheeses, the baklava, and those monster king crab claws?

Cooking with Sam’s Club

Stop by This Mama Cooks! to read my first Sam’s Club post: Planning a party? Cook up some healthy appetizers with Sam’s Club cheeses.

Anne-Marie Nichols joins the Global Stevia Institute's expert panel

I'm exited to announced that I’ve joined the expert panel for the Global Stevia Institute (GSI). The GSI is a newly formed organization committed to promoting accurate, credible and consistent information about the natural, no-calorie sweetener stevia and recently launched its new website - www.globalsteviainstitute.com.

The fact and science-based approach of the Institute will be instrumental in advancing the knowledge base of the industry, especially as use of stevia gains popularity worldwide and information about the plant-based ingredient becomes more widely available.

This entity and approach is the first of its kind in the industry and will fuel online and offline educational opportunities in the year to come including webinars, events, continuing education and professional presentations.

The GSI board and expert panel represents a cross-functional group of nutritionists, medical doctors, and health educators to ensure that stevia information is disseminated in a way to best educate the public and industry.

Global scientific advisory board

Each GSI advisor and expert lends cross-functional expertise in nutrition, health and disease, food and beverage ingredients, regulatory policy, culinary arts and social media to advance the Institute's mission to promote accurate and consistent information about stevia.

I’m honored to be among such esteemed members as:

Executive Director

Keith T. Ayoob, EdD, RD, is an internationally known nutritionist who has worked extensively in the area of obesity, heart health, child nutrition and family dynamics. He received his EdD from Columbia University.

Global Scientific Advisory Board

Jean-Michel Cohen, MD, PhD, a nutrition specialist in France and an award-winning and best-selling author on the subjects of nutrition and obesity. His books have been translated in more than 10 languages. Dr. Cohen received his PhD and MD from the University of Paris.

Mauro Fisberg, MD, PhD, specializes in adolescent nutrition, childhood obesity, food intake and consumption, anemia and nutritional intervention. He received his PhD in pediatrics from the Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo.

Alan Rogol, MD, PhD holds the Vice President position with The Endocrine Society. He received his doctoral and medical degree from Duke University. 

Marilyn Schorin, PhD, MPH, RD, FADA, is a registered dietitian with expertise in food, health and nutrition communications, and food laws and regulation. She received her PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Columbia University and Masters in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Michigan.

Expert Panel

Robyn Webb, MS – Nutritionist, author, culinary instructor. She provides nutrition education for patients who have diabetes and serves as the associate editor of the award-winning Diabetes Forecast magazine. She received her Master of Science degree in Nutrition from Florida State University.

 

If you want something done, give it to a busy person

Since my last update, I’ve signed on new clients and started new projects.

Community Moderating

I’m still a community operator at CafeMom, but have also signed on as a Mom Bloggers Club Ambassador and just started moderating the Mom Central bloggers Ning group. It’s fun networking with other women and discussing the ins and outs of mom blogging.

Glubble

However, I’m most excited to announce that I’m now the Community Moderator at the Glubble Parents Forum. Glubble is a free, online activity center for families with children 12 and under that allows parents to choose safe websites for their kids, supervise where children go online, and use social networking, photo sharing and other tools to enhance family relationships. (You can read my two reviews: Keep your kids safe online and your computer working with Glubble.com and Mommy may I? Glubble works with parents to make the Internet safe for kids.)

It’s challenging to moderate a community of parents from all over the work, but the Glubble Team are very supportive of their customers and it’s a pleasure working with them.

Blogging

I’m still posting away at my blogs and have avoided starting any more. Honestly, I’m too busy running giveaways for shoes, videos, yogurt, ice cream, cleaning products and turkeys these days. But I have added one more “place I blog at” – Rocky Mountain Moms Blog. You’ll see me there twice a month writing mom stories instead of my usual product reviews and recipes thing. I look forward to returning to where I started – blogging about motherhood. I have a Bell jar full of notes on possible topics and can’t wait to get started.

The latest July/August 2008: BlogHer 08, BlogTalkRadio interview, upcoming workshop, Mom Central Consulting, and The Big Tent at the DNC

BlogHer08

I was quoted on the CNET, Blogging and bringing home the bacon about BlogHer. They took a picture of the podium during my session, which was lived blogged very thoroughly at Free and Flawed by Jenn: Live Blogging from BlogHer ‘08 - DIY Content Syndication & Promotion and at happykatie: Blogher 2008 - DIY Content Syndication and Promotion. It was also followed up with a much better picture at our moderator, Krista’s blog, Kribaby: 5 Tips from BlogHer08 DIY Content Syndication. (That’s me seated in the middle, talking with my hands as usual.) Here's another picture of me from the Web Teacher.

I’ve been reading the other posts in the blogosphere about the session and either it was too advanced, too easy or full of good stuff. This leads me to believe that BlogHer needs better session descriptions. Since many people came up to me with compliments or questions, I believe I did a good job at least introducing people to the concept of social bookmarking.

I meant to write up a BlogHer post, but it’s been done by dozens of other bloggers who were there. All I can say was that seeing old friends was terrific, the sessions were fantastic, the networking was awesome, the keynote speakers amazing, and I am still learning so much at the sessions I attended. The only complaint? We need eggs and yogurt in the mornings at breakfast, not just pastry and fruit.

blogtalkradio: Motherhood Uncensored

I was recently on the Motherhood Uncensored BlogTalkRadio podcast, Back to Preschool: Getting Our Super Little Ones Prepared for Their Big Day. You can listen to the archived show here or click on the badge to the right. We talked about book you could read and activities you could do to prepare your child for that first day of school.

Workshops

I will also be teaching another blogging workshop, Beyond Blogging Basics, through the Northern Colorado Writers on Saturday August 23 at the Windsor Rec Center.

Mom Central Consulting

I’m now officially the Social Media Manager at Mom Central Consulting. I got to meet several of the women from Mom Central at BlogHer, which was fun because I’ve only worked with them on the phone. I hope to go out to their offices in Newton, MA soon.

The Big Tent

I will be representing the National Association of Mothers' Centers and MOTHERS at The Big Tent, the media tent for bloggers covering the Democratic National Convention. I’m the MOTHERS E-newsletter Author and Coordinator and blog at their book blog, MOTHERS Book Bag, and probably will be blogging there, having dispatches posted on the MOTHERS website, or both.

What’s up next month? For start, BlogWorldExpo 2008 in Las Vegas!

It's all About Me - Part II

An update on the latest with me.

Blogging Workshops

First, I'm partnering with the Northern Colorado Writers and teaching two blogging courses - Blogging Basics Saturday, June 21 and Beyond Blogging Basics Saturday, August 23. Both workshops will be at the Windsor (CO) Recreation Center. (Windsor is about 1 hour north of Denver.) If you live in Northern Colorado or Southern Wyoming and are interested in learning about how to blog or do more with your blog, sign up!

New Partnerships

(Drum roll please...) I've signed on with Mom Central Consulting as a social networking consultant. I am thrilled to be working with Stacy DeBroff and her awesome team of mom bloggers at Mom Central and Mother Talk.

Publicity

On July 30, I'll be a guest on the Motherhood Uncensored podcast. I'm a big fan of Kristen Chase and her Motherhood Uncensored blog. In fact, her podcast is one of the few I listen to regularly. (I also work with Kristen doing reviews for The Parent Bloggers Network.)  I'll be speaking as the My Readable Feast blogger on books to get kids ready for school as well as how to combine reading books with family activities like cooking and going to the zoo.

The May 2008 issue of Bloghology is out. You can download the PDF of the report at Search for Blogging. Not only does it feature an interview with yours truly, but a terrific article by my blogging mentor, Yaro Starak.

Finally, I will be appearing in my local paper, the Daily Times-Call - Carbon Valley edition's "Spotlight on Business" this week. (Here's the link: ‘Mommy blogger’ has found outlet for her writing.)

It's a busy summer so far!

How to manage multiple blogs and a busy schedule

Wondering how I do it all? See How to Squeeze Blogging Into a Very Hectic Schedule over at the Blogger Reps blog. My article will be appearing in the first Blogger Reps newsletter.

Go to Welcome to the Premiere Issue of the Blogger Reps Newsletter! for info on how to sign up to receive their newsletter.

Update: Click here to download the newsletter.

Anne-Marie Nichols joins Parents Behaving Badly

I've joined Jay Allen, The Zero Boss at Parents Behaving Badly. The blog is part of b5media's blog network, and is about all the horrible things adults do to kids.

My first two posts at Parents Behaving Badly deal with Michael Barber, the lowlife who beat up his former girlfriend's two-year-old. At his recent parole hearing, Barber took responsibility then blamed the boy's mother for the beating.

Blogging at Parents Behaving Badly should be a depressing gig. Except by the time the news hits the papers, the kids are in protective custody and the adults are in jail. Thank goodness for the small glimmer of hope in these stories.

But what about the cases that don't make the news, and the parents who haven't been caught yet? That's the real tragedy, folks.

Cognitive Solutions, Inc.

I'm pleased to announce that I have been hired to rewrite the content at Cognitive Soluntions' website. BKMedia Group is doing the website redesign.

Cognitive Solutions, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of high performance bar code printers. We serve customers worldwide and provide bar code printing solutions to all industries, including retail, manufacturing, automotive, distribution, health care, among others. They are located in Golden, Colorado.