BlogHer 2012 Scholarships and Sponsorships Available for Women & Mom Bloggers Helping Defray Expenses

BlogHer

Tweet  

Updated 6/15/12

Let's face it, attending women's blogging conferences is expensive especially if you have airfare and hotel expenses you have to pay for. With that in mind, I wanted to share leads that I find for sponsors and scholarships for BlogHer '12 in New York City, August 3-4, 2012 as I uncover them. Be sure to follow MommyBlogExpert on Twitter, Facebook and or subscribe so you'll be alerted when new resources are added to this list.

600 pound bar Ivory Soap carved for BlogHer '11 by artist Todd Bull

Scholarships Opportunities

Journey to New York for BlogHer 12 if you WIN a trip for two valued at approximately $4,500 that Dodge is giving away.  Enter for your chance to win

The first opportunity discovered is courtesy of the blog of Jennifer Medeiros @MakobiScribe who is offering one woman attending BlogHer a $200 scholarship to help with her expenses. Apply for a chance at the MakobiScribe Blog scholarship by completing this Application.



Sponsor Opportunities

No information received yet from sponsoring brands, so bloggers who are going to BlogHer '12 are encouraged to keep checking this post which will be updated as additional sponsorships are identified for you to follow up on.

A note to Bloggers:  
Please do not contact MBE if you are seeking to receive a scholarship or to find a sponsor. I'm simply sharing the information above with MBE readers and have no direct connections with those offering these opportunities. It is up to you to you to work directly with the individual or brand offering help.

A note to Brands:
If you are looking for blogger(s) going to BlogHer to sponsor, I am interested in talking to you personally since I will be attending and am currently seeking sponsorship. Additionally, I'm happy to post your sponsor opportunities here as a way for me to pay it forward to others in the women's and mom's blogging communities.

If you are a brand or individual aware of scholarships or sponsorships available to add to this MBE resource list, please email me at janis@janiselspas.com with "BlogHer Scholarship or Sponsorship" in the subject line.

Don't forget to follow MommyBlogExpert on Twitter, Facebook and/or subscribe so you'll be the first to know when the source of scholarships and sponsorships is updated. 

FTC Disclosure: I attended BlogHer 2011 in San Diego and will be attending BlogHer 2012 in New York and I am applying for some of the scholarships and giveaways myself to help defray travel expenses to the conference. However, Mommy Blog Expert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Twitter Party Calendar This Week May 14-20

Twitter Parties

Tweet

Updated 5/18/12

Lots of parties with prizes for women and moms this week on the Twitter Party Calendar covering May 14 - May 20.  Keep checking back all week because this schedule will be expanded and updated often so you don't miss all the fun parties. You'll also get a sneak peek at Twitter parties coming up in the weeks ahead. Be the first to know when next week's Mommy Blog Expert Twitter Party schedule goes live by following MBE on Twitter, Facebook and/or by subscribing to this blog.

THIS WEEK

Monday, May 14

Come to the @BirchBox Twitter Party at 8 pm EST. Prize: Miss Dior fragrance. No RSVP just use hashtag #gossipgirl

You'll want to check out the Cutter Enjoy What's Out There Twitter Party at 8 pm EST hosted by @Resourcefulmom. Prizes: FIVE (5) Walmart Gift Cards and FIVE (5) Cutter product prize packs #CutterSummer RSVP

Don't miss the @TravelingMoms #TMOM #VisitOrlando Party at 9 pm EST. About all the fun things to do in Orlando: theme parks and much more. Prizes include passes to SeaWorld and Aquatica with fun bags of items from @SeaWorld @WaltDisneyWorld and @VisitOrlando RSVP

Tuesday, May 15

Join the #BeautyGiftCard Twitter Party at 7 pm EST.  Sponsored by @Beautydotcom and hosted by @SocialMoms. Prizes: SIXTEEN (16) $25 Beauty.com Gift Cards including 8 GCs to be given away for tweeting before the party begins and 8 GCs to be awarded randomly during the party. RSVP
 

You're invited to the @BirdsEyeVeg #gno Twitter Party at 9 pm EST. Talking all about veggies and meals. @MomitForward hosts#BirdEye. Prizes: THREE (3) American Express Gift Cards and a Birds Eye Prize Pack ARV $150. RSVP

Attend the #WaterSafety Twitter Party at 9 pm EST hosted by @TheMomiverse with @JabariWater @Joshsfoundation @PoolSafely and @RebeccaSaveKids. Use hashtag #Momiverse. Loads of prizes and swim gear plus a @LandsEnd $50 Gift Certificate and lots more to win. RSVP

 

Wednesday, May 16

Attend the#PaperCrownSadie Twitter Party at 3 pm EST. Prizes. Follow host @Freckleberrymom and special guest Sadie Paper Crown Princess author @AmandaNEvans and use hashtag to participate. Prizes: SIX (6) Sadie swag bags. Details 

You're invited to the VSP and Nine West 'Eye Q' Twitter Party at 8 pm EST hosted by @Resourcefulmom and sponsored by @VSPVisionCare. Prizes: Eight (8) pairs of Nine West sunglasses, a Nine West handbag and a Nine West watch. RSVP 

Join @AppSmitten @tcreativeblogs and @kristincolvin for the #familyapps Twitter Party at 9 pm EST. Prizes: Pre-tweet event for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Code, plus FOUR (4) $25 Amazon GCs will be given away during party. To participate also follow special guests @angela_wilson @DebraNipp @ToryJohnson @AmyHero and @MommyBlogExpert
and  RSVP 

It's the weekly @TheOnlineMom Twitter Party at 9 pm EST.  Use hashtag #theonlinemom Prize: Chance to win $150 Amazon Gift Card. Must RSVP & participate in party to be eligible to win.

Come one, come all to the #TransitionsLenses #SummerSafety Twitter Party at 9 to 10:30 pm EST. Sponsored by @Transitions and hosted by @LatinaMomBloggers. Prizes: Two pairs of Transitions Lenses ( frame & lenses $500 value each), ONE (1) $100 gift card and TWO (2) $50 GCs. RSVP


Thursday, May 17

@MomCentral invites you to the #RISEwithGrains Twitter Party at 2 pm EST. Prizes: TWO (2) $50 Walmart Gift Cards for pre-party tweeting plus SIX (6) $50 Walmart GCs to be given away during party. There's also the chance to win 1 of 8 soccer balls signed by Mia Hamm. Details

Host @SocialMoms invites you to the #LGViper Twitter Party at 7 pm EST. RT before hand for a chance to win one of TEN (10) $20 Amazon GCs. Plus at-party opportunity to win one of TEN (10) $20 Amazon gift cards, two headphone sets ($70 value/each) and the Grand Prize: an LG Viper phone valued at $300. Follow @TechMama and @LGUSAMobile RSVP

Time for the National Pork Board #ChopInspiration Twitter Party at 7 pm EST. Hosted by @MomStart with @AllAboutPork and @TheMotherhood. Prize: a Weber Grill. RSVP

You're invited to the #Intelsocialbutterfly Twitter Party at 8 pm EST with @IntelEdge @LittleTechGirl and @TechMama. Prizes: FIVE (5) $50 Best Buy gift cards and ONE (1) $250 GC. To be eligible for prizes see special instructions and RSVP

They're discussing ALDI deals and steals and the new summer catalog at the #ALDISummer Twitter Party at 8 pm EST. Hosted by @stacieinatlanta and @crissy and featuring fun summer-themed prizes ranging from a Crofton Ice Cream Maker to an Adverturidge Folding Wagon and more. Details 

@LisaSamples would love you to attend the #WWEmoms Twitter Party at 8 pm EST. Prize: an Xbox 360 (without Kinect) Details

Here's a fun Twitter Party hosted by @MomSpark Better Sleep Council #StopSleepingAround from 9-11 pm EST. Talking about sleep routines. Prizes: $25 Visa Gift Cards and a $150 Visa GC. RSVP

Hope to see you at @CleverGirlsColl #TheShowWine Twitter Party at 10 pm EST. Reportedly, they have delicious prizes to give away.  RSVP

Friday, May 18

Join the #theonlinemom #VZWBuzz @VerizonInsider for the weekly Twitter Party hosted by @theOnlineMom at 3 pm EST. Prize: HTC Rezound. To be eligible for prizes participate in the party and RSVP

Next Week

Tuesday, May 22

Come to the Allegra #ClearBeauty Twitter Party at 1 pm EST. Follow @MamaLuvsBooks @lomargie and @LizLongcrier. Prizes: TWO (2) $25 CVS Gift Cards, TWO (2) $50 CVS GCs and Grand Prize is a $100 CVS Giftcard. RSVP

Join the Fisher-Price Twitter Party at 7 pm EST with hosts @ErikaB @Mami2Mommy @classymommy @twoofakind and @simplybeingmommy. Prizes: TEN (10) $50 American Express Gift Cards to win throughout the party. RSVP

Get in on the fun at the Ready for Summer @HousePartyFun Kick-off Party at 8 pm EST. Prizes: THREE (3) Cuisinart Ice Cream Makers, FOUR (4) $50 Fandango Gift Cards, ONE (1) $100 Visa Giftcard and ONE (1) $250 Lowe's or Home Depot GC. Plus if they reach their 20,000 follower goal, you could win a $500 Travelocity Gift Card #HPSummer. RSVP

 

Wednesday, May 23

Come to the @Bananaboat_ Twitter Party with special guest natural living host @SaraSnow at 3 pm EST talking about summer fun in the sun. Prizes TBA. Use hashtag to participate #BananaBoat.

Join the Plum District Boston #PDBoston Twitter Party at 9 pm EST hosted by @PlumDistrictBOS. Prizes throughout the hour Free $10 Plum Dollars to the first 10 guests to  RSVP

Coming Soon 

Sunday, May 27

Bark or Meow if you'll be joining the @EventBarkers #EBTweets Twitter Party hosted by DogTipper and AllThingsDogBlog at 8:30-10 pm EST. Prizes for cats and dogs plus special prizes you can win for rescues. Prizes every 10 minutes. RSVP 


Tuesday, May 29

Twitter Party celebrating 529 Day hosted by @Saving4college at 2 pm EST. Prizes: Signed soft-cover copy Family Guide to College Savings written by @529Guru Joseph Hurley (5 winners) and grand prize $52.90 gift to your 529 plan (1 winner). RSVP
 

Tuesday, June 5

The @FortyliciousCA and @RandomHouseCA Twitter Party at 9 pm EST. Prizes: 10 copies of new book Shelter Details

About this Weekly Twitter Party List Compiled by MommyBlogExpert.com

Twitter Parties are listed free of charge in this weekly schedule. If you'd like to add an event to the Mommy Blog Expert Twitter Party Calendar email janis at janiselspas dot com with Twitter Party in the subject line including all the details and links in the body of your message.

Also available, for a nominal fee, to host, co-host or serve as a panelist for your own brand Twitter party. To inquire, please email janis@janiselspas.com for information with Consulting Query in the subject line.

FTC Disclosure: MommyBlogExpert does attend some Twitter parties as a Guest and also works as a host, co-host, and panelist on some. However, I did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Mother's Day 2012

Celebrations

Tweet

Artwork courtesy of my talented daughter

Happy Mother's Day from 

Mommy Blog Expert's house 

to yours!

Hope your day is special for you and your whole family.

MBE is taking time off to spend some quality time with my kids all weekend. I'll be back to work bright and early Monday morning. Watch for a great lineup of posts starting with the Weekly Twitter Party Calendar Schedule that goes live at 9 am EST on Monday, followed by more stories all week about good things for moms-to-be and veteran moms at every stage of life.

New Ideas for Making the Old Kitchen Cleanup Job Easier & Faster Carving Out More Quality Family Time

Homekeeping

Tweet 

I love to bake to a fault. I mean I really make a lot of homemade breads, cakes, tortes, pies, cookies and even heart-shaped hot pretzels and elaborate one-of-a-kind Gingerbread Houses. In fact, as I write this post, I've also got yeast dough rising for some braided loaves of egg challah bread I'm making for tonight's traditional Jewish Sabbath family dinner.  

Problem is that I've always hated cleaning up the aftermath of all these creative cooking adventures with a vegeance. That's true especially if it involves recipes like the banana nut bread my family is always begging me to make that unfortunately sticks to my Pyrex loaf pan no matter how much I grease and flour it before pouring in the batter.

A recent batch of pink Heart-Shaped Hot Pretzels I made

Usually I have to soak these nasty, but oft-used baking dishes overnight to make them easier to clean --  but I don't like leaving undone baking ware to scrub the next day. In fact, I'm not a morning person and it makes me really grumpy when the first thing I see in my kitchen is dirty dishes when I stumble out there to make my coffee before driving the kids to school. So I was intrigued -- but skeptical -- when I heard about the new Dawn Power Clean dish washing liquid product that was supposed to deliver overnight soaking power in only 5 minutes.

No one loves a challenge more than I do when it comes to making it easier, faster and mostly more pleasant to get my kitchen duties out of the way before I go to sleep at night.  Hating something can really be a great motivation to just deal with it rather than procrastinating, I've found. After trying this dish soap for the first time using a timer that I set for five minutes, Dawn Power Clean really did the job in five minutes that soaking previously would have taken 8-10 hours. 

A caveat: This new product didn't magically soak off the actual crumbs sticking to my pan by itself. Just like with an overnight soak it still required a sponge to gently wipe out the soiled glass loaf pan but the residue did come off easily and quickly.

Here's the Before and After Photos of that delinquent Pyrex Loaf Dish

Before Dawn Power Clean

After Dawn Power Clean

That night I was able to go to bed a happy woman. You can too. So I encourage you to give this product a try for yourself as well as consider following my five tips to a sparkling clean family friendly kitchen that likely will simultaneously recapture time for you to spend enjoying your kids and significant other, instead.


MBE's Best Practices for Running a Tidy, Efficient Kitchen

• Minimize counter clutter by putting away as much as possible since the less you have out, the less that can gather dust or get dirty
• Get everything needed for a recipe out before you do food preparation because it will prevent messy hand prints and such on your cabinets and refrigerator if you have to grab something forgotten with floured, greasy, or wet hands
• Clean as you go when baking and cooking, wiping up spills and putting all supplies back in their proper places rather than piling them on the counter and in the sink
• Make sure everything in your kitchen sink is washed and put away before bedtime because we all hate that party's over feeling when we wake up the next day
•  Teach your kids as soon as they are old enough to help themselves to food that they should automatically and immediately pick up after themselves

Dawn Power Clean, a Procter & Gamble product, works using micro-scrubbing enzymes that power through food messes with ease on glass bake ware and dishes, cleaning everything from everyday grease to baking pans to tough lasagna and other casserole dishes. The new product is available in two scents Refreshing Rain, which I tried, and Vibrant Fresh. For more information on Dawn Power Clean visit the brand's website and/or follow Dawn on their official Facebook page.

Dawn Power Clean Review Pack MBE Received

FTC Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Dawn blogging program to earn My SocialMoms Rewards Points. I also received free product for participating. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic click here. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Leave Groceries for Your Letter Carrier to Pickup This Saturday

Community

Tweet

Fact: 1 in 6 Americans today is facing hunger

With shocking statistics like that I hope everyone remembers that this weekend isn't just Mother's Day. Actually the day before is the 20th Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. That's right. On Saturday, May 12 across America residents can expect their regular mailman or mail woman to stop by during their regular delivery to also collect food. These care packages will then be delivered to a variety of local organizations for distribution to families who otherwise might go hungry.

Image from Stamp Out Hunger

 It's simple to help make a difference by donating edible items

• Gather and bag non-perishable food such as canned foods, pasta, cereal and rice
• Leave packed food bag(s) next to your mailbox for pickup by the neighborhood letter carrier who will make sure your donations are delivered to a local food bank or pantry

PLUS
Three easy ways you can use social media to spread the word about this good cause

Tweet this message:

Help @StampOutHunger 5/12 Natl U.S. Food Drive by leaving grocery bags for yr mail carrier #StopDropDonate http://tinyurl.com/7fat4cp

Follow on Twitter @StampOutHunger  

Like StampOutHunger on Facebook

The 2012 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is a partnership between the National Association of Letter Carriers and the United States Postal Service. Campbell Soup Company is sponsoring the event again this year. For more information visit Stamp Out Hunger.

Image from Stamp Out Hunger

I'm already gathering groceries and bagging them up. How about you? If you're able, I invite you to join me in giving back to your local community. Please leave a comment if you participating in this food drive and if you like, tell some of the things you will be contributing to the largest single day food drive in the USA.

FTC Disclosure: Mommy Blog Expert did not receive any payment or other compensation associated with this post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.