At Dad 2.0, Whit Honea discovered a room full of people telling stories and living the art of conversation, with organic connections and genuine laughter. It was a good room to be in.
The Dad 2.0 Summit, which was held in Houston on the first weekend of February, brought together an amazing collection of bloggers, social media specialists, and brands that found common ground in parenting and decided to build upon it. There was also karaoke.
This was the second year for the Dad 2.0 Summit, and the improvements, tweaks, and audibles called, in my opinion, took the fledging conference from a hopeful (and successful) experiment the first time around squarely into the legitimacy of blogging events that are not to be missed.
Obviously, much of the praise falls upon the people behind the conference, a group headed by Doug French and John Pacini. Together with their wonderful team they have built a space for men and women to champion what is right with fatherhood and address those things that are not, but in a way that is far from preachy and embraces both the art of writing and the business of blogging. The intertwining of theory and technology with passionate practice is something to behold. Sometimes there are tears.
One of the main focuses of the conference is allowing bloggers to work with brands in a way that is mutually beneficial, where the benefit for the brand is reaching new markets in non-traditional ways, and the benefit to the blogger is something greater than a gift card. The very obvious benefit to the rest of the world is that the role of fathers and their portrayal in media is very much under the microscope in this process, and with each step forward another bumbling buffoon of a TV dad is addressed, corrected, and hopefully put out our collective misery.
Of course, the side effect (a positive one) of having so many smart and dedicated people in one hotel for an entire weekend is that long days of powerful discussion melt nicely into long nights of the same, but over drinks, dinner, songs, and laughter (see, karaoke). In fact, many people rank the networking aspect, and this is the part they are talking about, as the best part of any conference, which is not a knock on the work done by day, but rather a celebration of it.
It is funny, to walk through a bar filled with bloggers, many of whom have only met for the first time (in real life) hours before, and to watch them interact. Aside from the random updates to social media and photos being taken there is rarely a smartphone in sight. Rather, they are people telling stories and living the art of conversation—it is a room of organic connections and genuine laughter. It is a good room to be in.
Overall, the Dad 2.0 Summit proved to be a rousing success, from the sponsorship of Dove Men+Care, Honda, and so many others, to the keynote speakers touching hearts, brains, and wallets (figuratively). The takeaway content was there for the taking, and at times it was downright inspiring.
Don’t miss another one.
—
#Dad2Summit
Whit – This piece was downright solid! You see, I enjoy writing about fatherhood experiences, but don’t consider myself a writer because brevity is an art form – not one which I’m skilled at, and words don’t run off smoothly or smartly for me – so, I just make do. BUT, happy to be surrounded by talented writers like you that make us all look good. Thanks!
Thanks, Lance. To be fair, brevity loses more than a few rounds with me as well! It was a pleasure seeing you in Houston.
This is the first time I’ve heard of this. I am the SAHD in our family. Due to the economy and no teaching jobs in SoCal my wife and I decided that it made the most sense for her (with her Master’s Degree and 13 years experience as a teacher) to keep teaching and me raise our two kids, as the SAHD… which is fine. I love being with them and we are making this work. It wasn’t the plan when we got married, but it is working out. We ave raising our kids, not a day-care. Will this event… Read more »
Johnathan, it will certainly take place next year, although the location has yet to be announced. In the meantime there are a few other conferences and events for parent bloggers as well as those specifically designed for SAHD, a quick Internet search should give you a better idea of what is out there. Good luck!
Agreed. Had a great time, and it was much more than I expected. Your ‘dump trucks’ story was awesome.
Thank you. Something tells me that will be part of our family lore for years to come.
I’m glad the conference exceeded your expectations!
Great recap post, Whit. Nice read compared to other people (cough, me, cough) blather on for days.
Thanks, Jon! And yours wasn’t nearly as long as you suggest. There were only two intermissions.