Monthly Archives: February 2017

Blogging, Conferences, Friends, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

Farewell to #Dad2Summit 2017

After the LEGO Batman movie
Photo-A-Day #4323

I’m leaving Dad 2.0 Summit tomorrow. I had a different experience this year than the last. Last year I was a freshman making his way through the crowded halls of the upperclassmen, the veterans, those Dads that had many years of Dad 2.0 under their belts. I met many people and became friends with a few whom I would keep in contact with over the course of the next year. Some have become very close. I don’t have that closeness or ties to many other dads back home. Virtually none. I’m not much for the online groups and that is partly why I shied away from the conference to begin with. The other part was the M3 conference and the bad taste that left in my mouth. I had to give Dads conferences some time. Then the time slipped away. So, I am glad that I finally got it in gear last year and went.

I had applied for and won a Miller Grant. I had never met Oren Miller. From all I heard and saw at the conference in Washington he was Dad 2.0’s favorite son lost too soon. I felt myself feeling a little less for never having known him. Mind you, no one made me feel that way. I just felt that way, like I had missed someone quite special and I would never go to Dad 2.0 through that lens and experience.

But my trip last year was good and this year was really good. I got a roommate again, my friend Derek Wilmot. He and I had a great time together over the course of the Summit. It is always good to connect with a friend at these conferences and having a roommate was something that I balked against many times over but the past two times has been great, last year with Dave Taylor and this year with Derek.

Throughout the day yesterday I had many great experiences. I won a Nest Learning Thermostat from Rheem, and a $50 gift card from Russell Athletics, and yesterday Rheem gave me a $25 gift card to Home Depot. Facebook Live gave me a Mophie battery backup for doing a Facebook Live Session. Derek and I did one that was a lot of fun. You can see it here.

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Blogging, Conferences, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

Day 2 Recap of Dad 2.0 Summit 2017 – #Dad2Summit

Future Explorers
Photo-A-Day #4322

During my Second Day at Dad 2.0 2017 I spent a lot of time talking. I started off with some breakfast and then headed to the opening keynote. After that I was walking around the marketplace and was asked if I wanted to take a test drive in a Kia Niro. The car was loaded up with cameras of all sorts plus a cameraman in the front passenger seat and an interviewer in the back seat. She asked me questions as I drove around La Jolla a bit. I enjoyed driving the car and had a fun time with the question and answer. I do love what Kia brings to the conference each year and doing the drive was so much fun.

I then went through the marketplace for a while and talked with a bunch of the sponsors. I was interviewed by Hero Clean, a new cleaning product service for men. They have a really nice product and message. I enjoyed talking with them and had a fun time doing the interview.

Much of the afternoon was a whirlwind. I went from sponsor to sponsor, session to session. At 3:00 I went to the Dove Men +Care Suite and got a haircut and goatee trim. The goatee trim was minimal but the haircut was as close to shaved as I could get it without actually shaving my head. One day I will go all the way, but not today.

After that I was interviewed by Josh Temple of HGTV, who was at the Rheem booth. It was a fun interview and I’ll have that to post soon.

In the later afternoon I talked to a few of the other dads who produce videos. We’re part of a Facebook group and I wanted to do a quick spotlight with them, just a small thing. You can find all of them in the video below. There are links out to all their channels.

Tonight was a special trip, thanks to General Mills Cereals, to Ballast Point Brewing company. We had an excellent dinner and then a tour of the brewery. They have some major brewing facilities. I did have their lager and enjoyed it very much. Desserts were Cereal Inspired desserts including a Cheerios and Trix Marshmallow bar and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Chocolate Truffles. Both were very good. Look for me to do more about General Mills closer to #NationalCerealDay, March 7th.

It was another nice day at Dad 2.0.