What are you waiting for?  After today, the cost to register for the 2009 Western District Conference goes up!  Do yourself a favor and visit the official site to register NOW!

At just $195 for two days of amazing speakers (read this blog for just a few of the details!) this is the deal of the year century.  Don’t miss out!

Despite the fact that California law has limited cell phone use while driving, I’ve got to confess I broke the law this weekend by attempting to use my Blackberry to look up a Petsmart location for some puppy supply shopping (yes, while driving).  However, their site wasn’t optimized for my mobile and I became increasingly irritated that I couldn’t simply find a store location.  As it turns out, I ended up seeing a PetCo while I was driving around and they got my business.   Too bad for Petsmart.

The lesson here?  People lead their lives on the go and need access from anywhere.  So we’ve asked Mike Wehrs from the Mobile Marketing Association to come and enlighten us.  Here’s a little about what you’ll learn in his session, “Public Relations on the Mobile Platform: A Brave New World…”

For hundreds of millions of people across the world, their first experience on the Internet is through a mobile phone. The global shift away from communicating on a computer already has begun. How will this evolution in how people communicate and inter-relate affect public relations professionals? How can PR pros maximize their communications programs using a mobile platform? How are leading brands already deploying mobile marketing campaigns and getting results? Find out how mobile marketing will change the marketing and PR industry forever, and how PR pros can stay ahead of the learning curve for this bold, new communications medium.

P.S. – Please don’t report me to the CHP.  I promise next time I’ll pull over while looking up directions!

Oh, and don’t forget that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO SAVE on your hotel room.  So, book now!!!

Oh, and to make it easy, we’ve linked their logos directly to their sites for you, putting you just one click from their wonderful services!

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

In-Kind Sponsors

Again, without the generosity of these wonderful companies and the great people that work at them, we would not be able to hold such an amazing event.  Please as you see and meet these people at the conferece, say thanks!

Could a statement ever be more relevant than that is right now?  Everyday seems to be a new day and the business environment is changing faster than ever.  Those not able to move quick, adapt and improve will be left behind.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want this to be me which is precisely why I can’t wait to hear Casey DeLorme, owner of Get Spine Communications speak at the 2009 PRSA Western District Conference!

Here’s the overview of his workshop, which is sure to be packed:
Just as our profession achieves exciting levels of maturity and executive-level acceptance, technology and economics force change in our roles as public relations practitioners.

• A tumultuous job market requires even the gainfully employed to be continuously entrepreneurial.
• Technology has rendered many of our profession’s staples-writing/publishing, audio/video production, and mass information dissemination-available and cheap for everyone, eliminating the notion of “controlling” our message.
• Long-held distinctions between our profession and others, including marketing, advertising, and sales blur as we borrow from one another’s toolsets.
• Globalization is no longer in our future. It is a reality, regardless of our protests or state of readiness.

In a culture where individuals identify themselves primarily through their profession, this poses many quandaries.

During this “thought experiment” workshop, Casey DeLorme, APR shares a theory that we can leverage our own professional skill sets, including sharp critical thinking, creative brainstorming, and powerful networking skills to more powerfully shape our careers. In doing so, he covers ground both though-provoking and whimsical to explore the key questions:

• With always-on resume/portfolios (think blogs, LinkedIn, and Twitter), how do I create and groom a solid personal brand and professional personality?
• Social media presents me with a constant-on (and freely available) professional education, how do I chart my way through the skills and knowledge I need to develop?
• How do I explore and determine my value as a professional, monetarily and otherwise?

The workshop opens with the premise that the public relations is ideally situated at the intersection of intellect and creativity to lead the business world into uncharted territory where everyone is a publisher/broadcaster. It closes with a checklist for grappling with the key question, What do I do?

About Casey DeLorme
Casey DeLorme, APR is an award winning 14-year Public Relations industry veteran with extensive experience in online/social media marketing, presentations/presentation coaching, special events, media relations, creative strategic planning, and crisis communications.

He has developed effective communications programs for nonprofits, health care, university, municipal, military/aerospace, telecom/wireless, software, commercial real estate, tourism, and arts/entertainment clients.

In addition to operating San Diego-based Getspine Communications, Casey speaks extensively, including delivering seminars on social media (online marketing), applying artist-developed creative techniques in business, personal/professional networking, media relations, marketing for artists, and leadership. (He also throws in the occasional slam/beat poetry performance during open-mic nights.)

Casey earned his Bachelor of Science (yes, BS) in Public Relations from Northern Arizona University in 1994. He served on the Tucson, Ariz. board of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for 10 years and chaired the organization’s Western District in 2007. He served as a board member of the Tucson Zoological Society and is a board member/marketing chair for Volunteer San Diego. He earned his APR in 2002. He holds two PRSA Primus awards for Strategic Use of Public Relations.

Source

If you haven’t registered yet, do it TODAY because you will save money.  I repeat, YOU WILL SAVE MONEY!  Who doesn’t need to do that?   The deadline for the special hotel rate at the Newport Hyatt Regency expires TOMORROW so book your room now.

Now, on with the news…the release is released and the show is ON, baby!   We wanted to share with all of you the press release that crossed the wire yesterday highlighting the amazing program that this year’s PRSA Western District Conference will offer.  More speaker updates are coming here on the blog so stay tuned, but in the meantime, check out the release….

PRSA WESTERN DISTRICT CONFERENCE WILL FEATURE PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING “DIFFERENCE MAKERS”

Event will Address Impact of 24/7 Communications on Marketing and Public Relations; Experts will Share Cutting Edge Techniques for Influencing Consumers, Business and Government

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – April 1, 2009 -The Public Relations Society of America’s Orange County Chapter today announced the slate for the PRSA Western District Conference, which will be held April 22-24 in Newport Beach. The event will feature some of the communication industry’s leading “difference makers,” who will discuss the impact of today’s 24/7 communications cycle and offer suggestions for influencing consumers, business and government.

“Our theme for the conference is ‘Making Waves,’ which refers to finding creative ways to cut through the dense clutter of information and generate awareness, build credibility and ultimately affect people’s perceptions and behavior,” said Daniel Rhodes, chair of the event. “Each of our featured speakers has wrestled with complex marketing challenges and developed effective solutions, often employing a variety of traditional and non-traditional communication strategies.”

The conference program will be highlighted by a luncheon keynote address by Peter Shankman, chief executive of The Geek Factory and founder of Help a Reporter Out (H.A.R.O.). The event will also feature presentations by a diverse array of top industry experts, including:

• Steve Rubel, senior vice president, Edelman Digital (“Five Digital Trends to Watch for in 2009″);
• Sean Fitzgerald, partner and managing director, Ketchum West, and Jerry Swerling, professor of professional practice at the University of Southern California (“Media Myths & Realities: What We’re Facing in 2009″);
• Mike Wehrs, president and chief executive, Mobile Marketing Association (“How Marketing on Mobile Devices Will Affect Public Relations”);
• Smooch Reynolds, founder and chief executive, The Repovich-Reynolds Group (“Career Success: Aligning Knowledge and Leadership Attributes with Management’s New Expectations”); and
• Paul Leinberger, senior vice president, The Futures Company (“What Consumers are Doing Now…and What Marketers Must Do in Response.”)

The event will also feature a panel of four senior-level journalists and presentations on subjects ranging from social media and crisis communications to community relations and “mommy blogging.”

The Western District Conference, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, is expected to attract 150-200 attendees from throughout Southern California, as well as Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Hawaii.

In support of the “Making Waves” theme of creative marketing, PRSA launched a multifaceted marketing campaign to promote the event. The highlight of the campaign’s launch is an electronic video invitation featuring Orange County Chapter President Leisa Brug Kline and Western District Chairman Todd Cooley. The tongue-in-cheek video shows Brug Kline and Cooley bickering over whether potential attendees should focus more on the conference’s educational and networking opportunities or the numerous attractions available to people visiting the area. The video was produced by The Buddy Group, a digital engagement agency based in Orange County.

“We thought it would be fun to kick-off this campaign with a little humor,” said Rhodes. “We wanted to get people’s attention and then encourage them to learn more about the event. We also wanted to remind potential out-of-town guests of the myriad cultural and leisure activities available in southern California. These are stressful times, and we think combining a little relaxation with intensive professional development is an attractive proposition.”

In addition, the conference is being marketed through a variety of channels representing the wide array of communication tools available to practitioners today. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are being used to engage the social networking audience, while the conference website features an online registration system and a blog designed to host a conversation about the event.

Conference sponsors include Marketwire, Cision, Curran&Conners, Business Wire, OCPRSA, and Nettresults.

For more information please visit www.westerndistrictconference.com or call 714-832-2037.

As PR pros there can never be enough access to top editors and the advice they can offer us on pitching stories effectively is more valuable than gold (especially today!).  The 2009 PRSA Western District Conference brings some of those heavy hitters together for one powerful session:  West Coast News Leaders Offer Pitching Advice.

Who’ll be there?

• Russ Britt, Los Angeles Bureau Chief for MarketWatch from Dow Jones
• Scott Jagow, Host of Marketplace Online
• Michael Hiltzik, Business Columnist for the Los Angeles Times
• Richard Siklos, Editor-at-large for Fortune magazine

Session Overview:

Does your story have what it takes to make the national news? Senior editors and writers from West Coast bureaus of major new organizations will offer exclusive insights on how to effectively and tastefully pitch your stories, explain why they need your expert NOW and give you the latest trends in how and where news is showing up. This session is critical to just about any public relations professional whether you work at an agency, a non-profit or business. Learn tips on how to make your story worth national coverage.

About the Speakers:

Russ Britt
Russ Britt is a business news veteran. As a Bureau Chief, Russ manages and covers a full range of corporate news from Los Angeles and beyond. Stories from MarketWatch reach millions of investors as well as the general public who track these stories on their mobile phones, desktop dashboards and similar devices. Russ joined MarketWatch in 2000 as Bureau Chief. Prior to joining MarketWatch, he was an editor and reporter for Investor’s Business Daily, covering company news and technology. He also wrote about the media, defense, technology and the economy for the Los Angeles Daily News.

MarketWatch stories can also include audio and video components, such as this one that Russ did about the “Best Place for Business” survey.

About MarketWatch
MarketWatch.com, published by Dow Jones & Company, tracks the pulse of markets for engaged investors with more than 16 million visitors per month. The site is a leading innovator in business news, personal finance information, real-time commentary and investment tools and data, with dedicated journalists generating more than 1,400 headlines, stories and market briefs a day from 10 bureaus in the U.S., London and Hong Kong. In addition, MarketWatch offers subscription products for individual investors, including the Hulbert Financial Digest suite of products, Retirement Weekly and ETF Trader. The MarketWatch Radio Network also provides radio updates every 30 minutes. MarketWatch.com is a member of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which includes WSJ.com, Barrons.com, AllThingsD.com, BigCharts.com and VirtualStockExchange.com.

Scott Jagow
Scott Jagow is Marketplace’s online host. He shares news and views throughout the day on our blog, the Scratch Pad, and also hosts Marketplace’s weekly podcast, After the Bell.

Scott spent three and a half years hosting the Marketplace Morning Report. As much as he loved the job, working in the middle of the night finally caught up to him. He grew fangs and developed an allergic reaction to the sun. Thankfully, both conditions have now subsided.

Before coming to Marketplace, Scott was a host and reporter at WFAE, the public radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also worked as a producer for NBC News at the NBC News Channel in Charlotte, and as a local television reporter before that. His career started in Chapel Hill at the news/talk radio station WCHL. He worked there during and after his college years at the University of North Carolina.

Among his career highlights, Scott has hosted a Democratic presidential debate, covered the Olympics, been blown over by hurricanes and reported from Germany and Egypt. Scott was North Carolina Radio Journalist of the Year four times. He’s also won several national honors for his reporting, including an Edward R. Murrow Award, a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Award for Public Service.

When he’s not blogging, reading or hosting, Scott follows horse racing, plays guitar and soccer and suffers as a fan of the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres

Michael Hiltzik

Los Angeles Times Business Columnist Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who has covered business, technology, and public policy for more than 30 years. In that time he has served as a financial and political writer, an investigative reporter, and as a foreign correspondent in Africa and Russia. His fourth book, a history of Hoover Dam entitled “The Colossus,” will be published by Simon & Schuster next year. He is currently at work on his fifth book, a history of the New Deal.

Mr. Hiltzik also is the author of “Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age.” Published to widespread critical acclaim in 1999, “Dealers of Lightning” chronicles the invention of such world-changing technologies as the personal computer, laser printer, Ethernet, and Windows-style graphical displays at Xerox Corporation’s legendary Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s and ‘80s. His other books include “The Plot Against Social Security” (2005).

Mr. Hiltzik received the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry. Among his other awards for excellence in reporting are the 2004 Gerald Loeb Award for commentary in business and the Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association for legal reporting.

A graduate of Colgate University, Mr. Hiltzik received a master of science degree in journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in 1974. He lives in Southern California with his wife and two children.
Richard Siklos
Richard Siklos is an editor-at-large at FORTUNE magazine, currently based in Los Angeles.
Through two decades in journalism, Richard has written for some of the best publications in the U.S., Britain and Canada, with an emphasis on the intersections of business and media. Before joining FORTUNE in 2007, Richard was the corporate media correspondent for The New York Times, where he was both a writer and columnist. Before joining the Times, Siklos served as the U.S. business columnist for London’s Sunday Telegraph and Canada’s Globe and Mail, was also the founding editor-in-chief of Inside Magazine, the media editor at Business Week, and a contributor to the Vanity Fair “New Establishment” rankings. Siklos is the author of the book Shades of Black: Conrad Black and the World’s Fastest Growing Press Empire (1995) and its sequel Shades of Black: Conrad Black, His Rise and Fall (2004), which was recently adapted for a TV movie.

Between 2001 and 2007, Richard held an adjunct professorship at New York University’s Department of Media, Culture, and Communication.

PRSA Western District Conference Features Smooch Reynolds

Without question, these are challenging times for professional communicators. We not only are facing a crumbling global economy, but are having to rapidly adapt to a revolution in communications technologies and practices — a world in which grandparents are twittering and one major newspaper after another faces extinction. Yet at least one industry expert says opportunities abound – at least for those with the right skills and business savvy.

“Corporations recognize that A-level talent is key to advancing their business in global markets,” says Smooch Reynolds, founder and chief executive of The Repovich-Reynolds Group, a retained international executive search and management consulting firm specializing in the communications, investor relations, finance, and marketing functions. “It’s critical for professionals to understand the shifting expectations of management and know how to leverage their intellect and talents to reach that A-level.”

Reynolds, author of the book “Be Hunted! 12 Secrets to Getting on the Headhunter’s Radar Screen” and contributing author to the book “Navigating Your Career,” has spearheaded senior-level executive search and management consulting assignments for such clients as Activision, Edelman, Exxon Mobil, Genentech, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, McDonald’s and Nike.

She is just one of the high-powered experts who will be sharing their insights at the PRSA Western District Conference, which will be held in Newport Beach, Calif. April 22-24.

Want to be an A-Level Player? Sign up for the conference today – www.westerndistrictconference.com.

Featured in PR Week and undoubtedly routed around the desks of top agency thinkers, this study is an absolute “must read”. The study touches on the following questions:

• Is traditional media dead?
• How does media consumption vary among people of different ages?
• Are digital/social channels credible?
• How do consumers’ media choices affect their purchase decisions?
• How are the increasingly blurred lines between media channels affecting the way Americans buy products, seek information, plan their social lives, and make personal and business decisions?
• And how is all of this affecting the practice of public relations and communications?

Just one more reason to attend this dynamic conference!  Gotta love that!

About the Speakers:

Sean Fitzgerald
Sean Fitzgerald serves as managing director of all Ketchum operations in the Western U.S. As a member of Ketchum’s Global Crisis and Issues Management team, he also acts as the regional leader for all crisis work supporting Ketchum clients based in the Western U.S., and acts as an ongoing global resource for many of the firm’s national and global corporate clients. Sean provides strategic counsel to Ketchum clients on a wide range of issues including corporate reputation, crisis management, corporate social responsibility and media relations. He currently serves as senior strategist for Hyundai Motor America, Chase Card Services and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. His expertise ranges from developing and implementing global media relations strategies to creating outreach programs aimed at specific key audiences, such as community, NGO or political entities.

Prior to joining Ketchum, Sean served as vice president of corporate responsibility and global issues management for Mattel, Inc, the world’s largest toy manufacturer. In this position he was responsible for establishing and maintaining positive relationships between the company and its diverse stakeholders around the world. He also headed the company’s groundbreaking ethical manufacturing program. In addition, he was responsible for the supervision and overall strategy for all media relations programs supporting Mattel’s international affiliates, including those in India and Brazil, and coordinated all international external communications related to both brand protection and corporate reputation.

Before his position at Mattel, Sean served as director of global communications for San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co., the world’s largest marketer of brand-name apparel. At Levi’s he was directly responsible for all communications supporting the firm’s global reputation. He developed and implemented all media relations strategies for the launch of the company into South Africa, India and Argentina.

With more than 20 years experience in strategic media relations supporting both corporate and marketing communications, Sean has developed and implemented public relations and corporate identity programs on both the client and agency sides. Prior to joining Levi Strauss & Co., he served as senior vice president for Golin-Harris Communications, heading that firm’s West Coast corporate practice. In that position, he represented a variety of multi-national firms including Chrysler, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba America, Sony and Price Waterhouse. Highlights of his work at other public relations firms in Chicago and Los Angeles include the launch of Hyundai into the U.S. marketplace, an award-winning media launch of an innovative Merrill Lynch financial product, and the coordination of an international communications strategy encouraging economic investment and development in Northern Ireland.
Jerry Swerling
Professor and Director of Public Relations Studies; Director, Strategic Public Relations Center
USC Annenberg School for Communication

Public Relations Management Consultant

Jerry Swerling, who was named “Public Relations Person of the Year 2000″ by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, has more than 37 years of experience as a communications educator and professional. He is a frequent speaker on trends in public relations and the state of the profession.

At USC, where he serves as Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Public Relations Studies, he is responsible for the management of the undergraduate and graduate programs in public relations, including curriculum design, faculty organization, and student mentoring. He also teaches at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

In addition, he serves as Director of the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, the mission of which is to “advance the study, practice and value of public relations by means of practical, applied research.” The Center’s best-known project is the annual PR Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) Study, which is widely recognized as one of the most important sources of PR management-related information for the profession.

At the professional level, Jerry serves as Principal of Swerling & Associates, a PR management consultancy he formed in 1998 to help corporate clients solve a wide variety of organizational and strategic communications challenges. His consulting clients have included (among others) General Motors, Cisco Systems, Home Depot, Toshiba America Information Systems, Honda, Michelin, State Farm Insurance, The American Cancer Society National Office, Hyundai, Dairy Management, Inc., Computer Sciences Corp, Toyota, and Remy Martin.

Jerry previously headed the Southern California operations of Porter/Novelli, a leading, global public relations agency. Under his eight-year leadership, P/N’s organization grew from a small, little known presence in Los Angeles to one of the strongest and most respected firms in California, with a staff of 60 serving in offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Irvine. While he was with Porter/Novelli the agency consistently won industry accolades, including being named 1994/95 “Public Relations Agency of the Year” by Inside PR magazine.

Among the clients won and served by Porter/Novelli under Jerry’s stewardship were McDonald’s, Oral-B Labs, Nissan Motors North America, Iomega, Hewlett Packard, Baskin-Robbins USA, Kia Motors America, Allergan, Inc., the California Department of Health Services Breast Cancer Early Detection Program, Southern California Gas Company, Household Credit Services, the California Kiwifruit Commission, Motel 6, Kubota Tractor Company, ICS Communications and Sun-Maid Growers.

Before moving to Los Angeles from Boston to join Porter/Novelli, Jerry served as Senior Vice President/Director of the Public Relations Division of Ingalls, Quinn & Johnson. At IQ&J, which at that time was one of the largest integrated marketing firms in New England, he built a highly regarded PR agency virtually from scratch. Clients served under his leadership included NEC Information Systems (US introduction), Steinway Pianos, T.J. Maxx Stores (national introduction and roll-out), the Massachusetts Department of Tourism, BayBanks, Bank of Boston, Friendly Family Restaurants and the Wm. Cabot Children’s Apparel Company.

Jerry holds a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Communication from Boston University. He is past president of the Counselors Section of PRSA-LA and is currently a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, the European Public Relations Research and Education Association (EUPRERA), PRSA, the Educators and Counselors sections of PRSA, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), and the Public Relations Section of AEJMC.

Panelists:

• Elisa Camahort Page, Co-Founder and COO, BlogHer
• Sarah James, Freelance Writer and Blogger
• Rebecca Woolf, Freelance Writer

The panel will be moderated by our own PRSA Western District Chair-elect, Nancy Syzdek, APR.

Mommy Blogger Panel Overview:

How the Mommy Blogger Revolution is changing the dynamics of consumer PR and more.
Are you trying to reach women, locally or nationally, between the ages of 18 and 39 who wield an enormous purchasing power and serve as opinion influencers? Then you need to get familiar with the history and power of the Mommy Blogger revolution. Forget Oprah’s Favorite Things, these women can make or break product releases, drive traffic to or from your business, and even shut down a multi-million-dollar pharmaceutical campaign in between diaper changes and dinner. How can you tap into this amazing power with public relations? Learn from some of the do’s and don’ts of pitching from best of the best in the blogosphere.

About the Panelists:
Elisa Camahort Page, Co-Founder and COO of BlogHer
A blogging pioneer and marketing executive with 18 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Elisa Camahort Page leads all events, marketing and public relations for BlogHer while working as COO to ensure that all company operations deliver on the company’s vision. Elisa was at the vanguard of professional and business blogging. Among the seven blogs she writes are blogs with personal, professional and political focus areas. Elisa opened her own high-tech marketing consultancy, Worker Bees, after a successful career as a marketing executive in the cable broadband sector. Her most recent corporate position was Senior Director of Product Marketing at Terayon Communication Systems, where she managed multiple product lines, senior product management staff, and multi-million dollar budgets. In addition to her many personal blogs, Elisa is a frequent public speaker and is widely read as BlogHer’s conference leader and reality television editor.

Sarah James, Freelance Writer and Blogger
An avid freelance writer and blogger, Sarah James can be found regularly contributing her musings on parenting, fashion, beauty and green living at Parentdish, Work It Mom, Mopshots and Brita’s FilterForGood website.

Since 2005, Sarah has been entertaining thousands of readers daily with her humorous outlook on life at her blog Whoorl, as well as authoring the popular beauty website Hair Thursday. Her personal blogs have been featured in The New York Times, The Sydney Morning Herald and ABC Nightline. Sarah lives in Southern California with her husband and vivacious toddler.

Rebecca Woolf, Freelance Writer
This Southern California mom has worked as a freelance writer since age sixteen contributing to publications including MSN, Nerve.com, 19, Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, Babytalk and The Huffington Post. She is also the author Rockabye: From Wild to Child (Seal Press) a memoir based on her widely popular parenting blog, Girl’s Gone Child . She also blogs at Babble.com’s Straight from the Bottle blog and is a panelist on the hit web show, Momversation . As well as a blogger and author, Woolf has consulted for corporations including Disney and Gallo.
Rebecca lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Hal, and their kids, three-year-old son Archer and newborn daughter Fable.

Nancy Syzdek, APR
As a15-year PR veteran, Nancy has worked in numerous industry sectors including government affairs, media relations, business-to-business communications, internal relations, and marketing communications. She is the past president of the Las Vegas Valley Chapter of PRSA and the Chair-Elect of PRSA’s Western District.

Nancy is proud to call Las Vegas her home where she’s a “mom-with-a-paycheck” (because all moms are “working moms”) to her five-year-old daughter, Boo, and two-year-old son, Doodle. In her spare time, she shares about family life in Sin City at Fear and Parenting in Las Vegas. She is also a columnist on parenting news and issues for The Imperfect Parent.