The Write Spot, LLC

Join me at BlogWorld Expo East #bweeast for a panel on #toyotafail

I just got the word that my panel has been accepted to present at BlogWorld and New Media Expo NY 2011, May 24-26, 2011 in New York City!

Here are some details about the session:

#ToyotaFail - the crisis the wasn't

The panel will be on Wednesday, May 25 from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm

The ambition of an inexperienced PR-wannabe and the reputation of a Big Brand crashed into each other magnificently on the front page of a popular mom blog in February of 2011.

As the surrounding traffic slowed down to witness the carnage and Twitter about it - one figure emerged from the chaos surprisingly unscathed. Toyota's preventative maintenance and fast reflexes kept their brand image intact through the actions of their Social Media team.

We'll examine the life-cycle of a brand-crisis from the blogger, PR and Brand perspectives by analyzing the #ToyotaFail incident and how Toyota's Social Media team averted a rapidly developing brand crisis by listening & responding on Twitter as it was happening.

Panel:

• Christopher Barger, Voce Communications
• Shelly Kramer, V3 Integrated Marketing
• Anne-Marie Nichols, The Write Spot
• Lucretia Pruitt, The Social Joint

Takeaways:

• How to use Twitter to handle a PR crisis
• How to turn lemons into lemonade
• How your PR and social media teams should work together, not against each other
• The dangers of newbies doing blogger outreach

Feedback? Questions? Let me know below in the comments.

I look forward to seeing YOU at BWE East soon!

(Details updated 4/23/11)

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.

Cision Navigator's Top 10 Diet and Nutrition Blogs

Cision is a provider of media relations software services and solutions for public relations professionals. Cision provides public relations software tools and resources including media research, media lists, press clippings, media monitoring services, and evaluation of media coverage.

Their Top 10 Blog lists are generated by comparing Unique Visitors per Month figures for blogs in Cision’s media database to give you a snapshot of some of the best read and most discussed blogs.

Somehow This Mama Cooks! On a Diet got on their Top 10 Diet and Nutrition Blogs along with my friends at A Veggie Venture and Iateapie.net.

Always and honor to be among such terrific bloggers.

And that’s not all. This week I’m featured on Flatout Flatbread’s blog along with a few other ladies who will be at Blogher ‘10.

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.

 

I'm one of Babble's 50 Best Mom Food Bloggers

I was chosen as one of Babble’s 50 Best Mom Food Bloggers for my healthy food and lifestyle blog, This Mama Cooks! On a Diet.

Not only that, but I’m #8 in the Top 10 Healthiest Eating Mom Blogs.

They love me:

Because she knows that family food is more than just a veg-starch-protein. In addition to a comprehensive archive of delicious-looking recipes, you'll see regular posts on all those topics that you feel you should be following more but probably aren't — childhood obesity, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, diabetes, what the heck Rocco DiSpirito is up to these days. She stumbled into professional blogging almost by accident — after putting her career as a marketing and technical writer on hold for four years to take care of her prematurely born son (and, later, her daughter, Lucie), she began blogging as a way just to force herself to write everyday.

It’s a very cool honor to be on the same list as so many fantastic food bloggers. Make sure to check it out or nominate your favorite mom food blogger who didn’t make the list.

Clorox's Simple & Surprising e-journal

This month I’m guest posting at Clorox’s Simple & Surprising e-journal about Holiday Season Prep without the Mess.

Check out my tips on how to keep the holidays and winter break with the kids a bit tidier.

Live and in person: Anne-Marie's whirlwind social media tour

Funny thing about these social media conferences is that people want me to talk into their video cameras. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the earrings…

BowlHer at BlogHer 2009 (I’m usually in the group shots):

At Izeafest 2009 with "The Power of Giving: How Giving back Enriches us All" author, Azim Jamal:

Moms Cliq magazine launches

MOMS CLIQ, the official magazine of the Mom Bloggers has just released its first issue.

Yours truly has an article in it – How to Squeeze Blogging into a Very Hectic Schedule.

The rest of the FREE online magazine features everything from the big news happening in the mom blogosphere to mom essays about blogging and ways to attract more blogging success.

Good stuff, check it out!

I make the Denver Post and move TO ANOTHER TOWN

This week several mommy bloggers (well me and Michelle Lamar of White Trash Mom) were called by the mainstream media to give their two cents on Sarah Palin:

Women debate Palin's choice
Denver Post, CO - Sep 4, 2008

Anne-Marie Nichols, a Democratic in Fort Collins who writes a blog called A Mama's Rant, supports the Republican's decision. "She's the luckiest woman in the world if she gets that job," Nichols said. "She'll have babysitters, chefs, maids, chauffeurs, health care."

I got mentioned before Dr. Laura. Sweet! But I don’t live in Ft. Collins. No matter, it gives me a little anonymity in my local community, which is fine by me.

I was able to get the writer, Colleen O'Connor, in touch with my managers at CafeMom, the largest social networking site for mothers. If you ever want to see what moms are thinking, check it out.

Forty-three percent said it's sexist to even ask whether Palin can handle the job. Forty-six percent said it's fair to ask, but she's the only one who can make the decision.

The controversy around Palin is the latest salvo in the mommy wars. It’s a shame because we should be talking about health care, the Iraq war, and the economy instead.

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!