Chris Brogan (Photo credit: planetc1)
Yesterday we talked about what the State of Now, the #140 Conference in NYC, next week is all about. Then I read Chris Brogan’s post called, A Primer for Blogging. It was then I realized that I had just posted a sign on our blog that told you there is a #140 Conference in NYC and that Steve and I are going. I did not tell you why we are going.
About the time that Jeff Pulver was asking for speakers for the #140conf NYC, our son, Chris Brogan, was sharing new ideas with Steve and me as he does from time to time. At that particular moment in time I thought, “I AM.” That was a very powerful thought.
Life had sort of gone around full circle. We always thought of our children as a gift from God. They were a gem to be treasured, protected, and polished to the best of our abilities for about eighteen years. At the end of that time we knew we had to set them free in the world to make their own way. They had to be free to live the life they chose.
Our sons thrived and all was well in our corner of the world. Steve and I continued to learn new technologies, but we did not keep pace with everything that was happening in social media. Chris did and he shared his new found knowledge with us, especially when a new gadget was released to the market. He encouraged us to try it.
Chris influenced us. Steve is heavy into poker. If you don’t believe me, talk to him. If the conversation lasts for longer than three minutes, it will probably include poker. There is nothing wrong with that. It is his passion. Chris recognized that and encouraged Steve to start a blog to talk about poker. Steve now writes about poker at Dad’s Poker Blog.
Chris thought it would be fun for Steve and me to explain technical things to the older folks so he helped us set up a blog called MomPopPow. That one didn’t work out as well because we learned that there are many blogs explaining technical to older people and doing it much better than Steve and I could ever do it. We now use MomPopPow to talk about what interests us. Some folks would say that is wrong because we don’t make a valuable contribution (monetized) to the world. That is OK, we are still in development.
Getting back to my reason for wanting to speak at the #140 conference, I want to set the record straight. So many people from all over the world thank me for raising such a wonderful son, Chris Brogan. I thank them. On occasion, I say Steve and I helped, but Chris is a self made man and they get upset. They think we should take all the credit. The truth is, Steve and I took our parenting responsibilities very serious, but we had great material to work with.
Mom Pop Pow! Where you can do it if you try!
Diane Brogan