A Midwife with a passion for laughing and thinking...
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Thursday, August 12, 2010
Lagging Behind
With my husband's deployment coming up very soon, I just find myself without time to devote to the coursework at the moment. I am hoping to have a couple of days soon to be able to do some catching up. I find the course too valuable to let go of completely!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Branding
How does one go about becoming a brand? I think about this. Beyonce, J-LO, and anyone who gets a chance to capitalize on their 15 minutes of fame brands themselves. How many of us are working in industries that have no branding yet? There aren't really any brands for Midwifery. There are well-known individuals. A couple are in this course. So I have to ask, "why am I not able to buy Gloria Lemay brand birth bags?"
After creating an online presence do you try to profit from it? Much of that will depend on why you are there, but we all have to pay the bills. If there is a demand or a niche to be filled why not take the bull by the horn and go all the way.
I am sure there are classy ways of going about this. I certainly don't want midwives running around with Bettie Sheets brand shirts, perfume, toothpaste, etc... But, I am slightly interested in marketing products that might fill a true need AND have my products be known for quality because my online presence has developed the idea that I would only put my name on quality.
My inclination would be to think that in the world of midwifery branding has existed primarily in the written form, as well as in education. I would hope that the lack of branding is because of a sense of purity in the birth world, putting the woman before themselves. However, I wonder if is more a lack of capital. I am not sure if an investor would find developing a product line aimed toward midwives to be lucrative enough. Is is possible to be pure while branding yourself? Can you remain true to your convictions?
This is certainly rambling for the most part, but it is a conversation that I would like to have with myself and others in the years to come.
After creating an online presence do you try to profit from it? Much of that will depend on why you are there, but we all have to pay the bills. If there is a demand or a niche to be filled why not take the bull by the horn and go all the way.
I am sure there are classy ways of going about this. I certainly don't want midwives running around with Bettie Sheets brand shirts, perfume, toothpaste, etc... But, I am slightly interested in marketing products that might fill a true need AND have my products be known for quality because my online presence has developed the idea that I would only put my name on quality.
My inclination would be to think that in the world of midwifery branding has existed primarily in the written form, as well as in education. I would hope that the lack of branding is because of a sense of purity in the birth world, putting the woman before themselves. However, I wonder if is more a lack of capital. I am not sure if an investor would find developing a product line aimed toward midwives to be lucrative enough. Is is possible to be pure while branding yourself? Can you remain true to your convictions?
This is certainly rambling for the most part, but it is a conversation that I would like to have with myself and others in the years to come.
I really haven't quite 'got' twitter yet, but I was inspired to try again after listening to Laureen Hudson's talk about Creating an Online Presence for the International Virtual Day of the Midwife
I actually feel a little ashamed of myself for ignoring that important outlet. I felt that it was extremely self-absorbed to tweet about every thing I did. Laureen's talk helped me to see that it was a valuable microblogging tool for me as a midwife and activist. To think I didn't really know what microblogging was until this morning! Thank you to Sarah for reminding me that I had not had a chance to listen to that fabulous (and free!) talk.
I actually feel a little ashamed of myself for ignoring that important outlet. I felt that it was extremely self-absorbed to tweet about every thing I did. Laureen's talk helped me to see that it was a valuable microblogging tool for me as a midwife and activist. To think I didn't really know what microblogging was until this morning! Thank you to Sarah for reminding me that I had not had a chance to listen to that fabulous (and free!) talk.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Permanent State of Catch-Up?
I have a fear of being late. It comes from being raised by a mother who lived in her own time zone most of the time. She is about one hour behind everyone else. I paid the price for that at elementary school when I was punished or at the very least suffered the disgusted eye-roll of my teachers. Later, I was older and able to get myself on the bus without assistance, but the damage was done. This fear has not resulted in major trauma to my psyche, but it is fun to bring it up just to tease my poor mother.
A couple of days ago we had our second Internet class, I planned my entire day around it. As life would have it, one of my dear clients needed to talk to me about an hour before the class was scheduled to begin. No problem, I would have plenty of time. Well, the call extended for the hour without me realizing it. I quickly tried to log on, telling myself that I would only be a few minutes late. Not so! The few minutes extended in about 30 as my laptop inexplicably kept freezing up. There is nothing more infuriating to me to sit doing nothing waiting on a frozen computer!!!
I decided to switch to the family desktop. I logged right on in no time. Plugged in the headset and found that it did not work. I could hear everyone, but I couldn't talk. They could see me, and were wondering why I didn't speak. After several more minutes of this, I gave up because I was having visions of throwing both of the computers out the window and running down the road screaming. It took me about 15 more minutes and a glass of wine to accept that I would have to listen to the recording and that everything would be fine.
Next time, I will make sure that I don't have anything else open on my laptop and that I begin signing in much earlier. I will also resist blaming mom for the whole mess.
A couple of days ago we had our second Internet class, I planned my entire day around it. As life would have it, one of my dear clients needed to talk to me about an hour before the class was scheduled to begin. No problem, I would have plenty of time. Well, the call extended for the hour without me realizing it. I quickly tried to log on, telling myself that I would only be a few minutes late. Not so! The few minutes extended in about 30 as my laptop inexplicably kept freezing up. There is nothing more infuriating to me to sit doing nothing waiting on a frozen computer!!!
I decided to switch to the family desktop. I logged right on in no time. Plugged in the headset and found that it did not work. I could hear everyone, but I couldn't talk. They could see me, and were wondering why I didn't speak. After several more minutes of this, I gave up because I was having visions of throwing both of the computers out the window and running down the road screaming. It took me about 15 more minutes and a glass of wine to accept that I would have to listen to the recording and that everything would be fine.
Next time, I will make sure that I don't have anything else open on my laptop and that I begin signing in much earlier. I will also resist blaming mom for the whole mess.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Week 2 Facillitating Online
Just tonight I am listening to the recording from last week! Really never imagined that it would be so hard to find time to do it. I think I do much better when I have such things scheduled.
Listening to the session made me realized just how many doors can be opened to me that could have the potential to reach more people AND possibly saving me some time. While I have been playing around writing personal musings on this blog, my focus for this course is much broader.
These are the questions posed for the week:
Listening to the session made me realized just how many doors can be opened to me that could have the potential to reach more people AND possibly saving me some time. While I have been playing around writing personal musings on this blog, my focus for this course is much broader.
These are the questions posed for the week:
- What do you want to learn to facilitate?
- What are you doing now in terms of online facilitation?
- What would you like to achieve, change or do more of?
- What do you need to do or make happen to achieve your goal?
Friday, July 23, 2010
Missing My Connections.
All this week I have been hearing the unfolding news of the aggressive form of cancer called Merkel Cell Carcinoma that my mom's best friend (whom I refer to as Aunt Vicky) has just been diagnosed with.
Mom and Aunt Vicky have been friends since the 6th grade which means that I have known her my entire life. When I was younger, Aunt Vicky's daughter Kelly, only a month older than I, considered ourselves to be best friends. They did not always live close by, but their visits were a top priority for us.
In my current life, I am far away from my family and the friends I grew up with. I moved away from California 16 years ago and since then I have only seen Aunt Vicky a handful of times. The last time was 8 years ago.
The distance that I live in some ways has been a blessing for me. I avoid all kinds of family drama! However, the trade-off is huge. When I have lost family members I have had to make difficult choices and grieve without the comfort of being surrounded by those who share my grief. Our income being what it has been all these past years, that of a large family with a military paycheck, rounding up last minute plan tickets to attend the funeral of a beloved Aunt or Uncle is just not an option.
Today, I sit knowing that Aunt Vicky may only have a few months left. I sit fighting the urge to hop on the next plane to see her one last time. I struggle with the knowledge that if I do so I place my family at an economic disadvantage especially when I have several commitments in the next few months that will require me to travel. The choices are difficult. Some are just part of life, some seem part of life that should not be.
Mom and Aunt Vicky have been friends since the 6th grade which means that I have known her my entire life. When I was younger, Aunt Vicky's daughter Kelly, only a month older than I, considered ourselves to be best friends. They did not always live close by, but their visits were a top priority for us.
In my current life, I am far away from my family and the friends I grew up with. I moved away from California 16 years ago and since then I have only seen Aunt Vicky a handful of times. The last time was 8 years ago.
The distance that I live in some ways has been a blessing for me. I avoid all kinds of family drama! However, the trade-off is huge. When I have lost family members I have had to make difficult choices and grieve without the comfort of being surrounded by those who share my grief. Our income being what it has been all these past years, that of a large family with a military paycheck, rounding up last minute plan tickets to attend the funeral of a beloved Aunt or Uncle is just not an option.
Today, I sit knowing that Aunt Vicky may only have a few months left. I sit fighting the urge to hop on the next plane to see her one last time. I struggle with the knowledge that if I do so I place my family at an economic disadvantage especially when I have several commitments in the next few months that will require me to travel. The choices are difficult. Some are just part of life, some seem part of life that should not be.
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