Introducing MomAnswers!

We are excited to publicly launch our newest offering at ClubMom, MomAnswers. It's a new place for moms to easily find, ask and answer each others questions. From the silly to the serious, moms really do know best. Moms can easily ask questions on any of the topics that are important to them, here are some of the questions that are already being asked:

Has the relationship between you and friends changed since becoming a married woman/mother?

Is it ok for dogs to go to restaurants?

How do I break my 2 year old of a pacifier?

Is it ever or when is it okay to fake it during sex?

We look forward to bringing moms an exciting and fun new way to share with each other their knowledge and experiences.

Check it out now.

Welcome to Laura Fortner

We're pleased to welcome Laura Fortner to the ClubMom team. Laura recently joined us as Senior Vice President, Business Development and will be responsible for overseeing company revenues, strategic partnerships and new member acquisition efforts.

Prior to ClubMom Laura worked at CNN News Services where she most recently served as Vice President of Business Development. In this role, she drove revenue-generating content partnerships for CNN digital properties including CNN.com. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Business Development and Operations for CNNMoney.com, overseeing content licensing, content acquisition, subscription products, distribution partnerships, and sales operations for the Web site.

For more information:

• Learn more about Laura and the rest of ClubMom's management team.
• If you're interested in joining the ClubMom team, you can review our open positions.

What's On Your Mind?

On My Mind is the place where moms can go to share what's going on in their day to day world. Whether moms want to talk about their kids, complain about their dh (dear husband),  share things they love, or just vent, On My Mind is where they can go to talk like a grown-up and know that other moms are listening.

Here are a few examples of some recent posts:

Lovely Dear Husband   topic: Complaints about Dear Husband (dh)

How is it when my dear husband hurts his finger he has to be treated like a baby, but when I sprain my ankle I still have to cook dinner and take care of the kids' middle-of-the-night earaches?

New Chapter  topic: My kid(s)

My stomach is all in knots!!! I am so excited. My only son will begin a new chapter in his life Monday. He starts college!!! He is a little bit anxious and scared. Gone is his security blanket of the last four years in high school, the close friends to have lunch with, the home room teacher turned surrogate dad, the supportive counselors. Now he has to start all over but he knows that he has me and his dad as a ground. I beleive that he will be successful and will keep him constantly in my prayers.

This week, we've given On My Mind a new look. Moms can browse through posts by day, or choose the topic they want to read; Seeking Advice, Saying Hello, Stuff I Love, Stuff I Hate, Just Venting, My Kids, and more.

We've also introduced Amanda G, the ClubMom Guide to the MomNetwork. She will be giving out 1Million ClubMom points to 141 lucky winners who add On My Mind posts through September 5. Amanda will be posting her own thoughts each day as well.

Take some time each day and get a glimpse into the lives of other moms, or let us know what's on your mind.

ClubMom at BlogHer '06

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending BlogHer '06 where over 700 (mostly women) bloggers -- including many of ClubMom's finest mom bloggers -- met to connect with old friends, meet new ones, and have a little fun without the kids. (Or, at least while the kids were busy at the on-site childcare which ClubMom was proud to sponsor.)

Several ClubMom bloggers not only attended the conference, but also participated as speakers in the panel discussions on day two.

• Tracey Gaughran-Perez from Jinkies! What's Hot on the Web spoke at the session "MommyBlogging is a Radical Act."
• Dawn from The Gimlet Eye spoke at the session "Identity and Obligations."
• Jenn Satterwhite from Hip Mom and Trendy Tweens and Denise Tanton from Fast Times @ Homeschool High spoke at "Outreach Blogging is Not for the Faint-Hearted."
• Halley Suitt from You're Not the Boss of Me spoke at session "Let's Talk About Sex."

And last, but certainly not least, Grace Davis (known around these parts as Marathon Mom) joined an illustrious panel which included Huffington Post founder and author Arianna Huffington, WashingtonPost.com/Newsweek Interactive CEO and Publisher Caroline Little, and SixApart founder and President Mena Trott for a memorable closing keynote.

And now the recovery begins.

Finding a Movie Star Mom

Moms are thrilled with The MomNetwork's Question Of The Week and On My Mind, and so are we! Thousands are participating in these two new features every day. Whether sharing family stories, asking other moms for help, or just saying hello, moms are connecting and communicating with each other in such an exciting new way.

Announced just this Monday, responding to the Question Of The Week, asked by Elisabeth Shue, could win one lucky mom a walk-on role in her new movie, Gracie! Moms have until July 23rd to add their response to this week’s question – How do you instill confidence in your child or children – to receive their one-time entry into the Be A Movie Star sweepstakes.

Elisabeth will announce the lucky winner in her On My Mind post on August 7th!

What’s New in The MomNetwork

Today we are proud to welcome movie star and mom, Elisabeth Shue, to The MomNetwork as she helps us introduce two new features – Question Of The Week and On My Mind.

As part of the kick-off, Elisabeth will begin by asking the first Question Of The Week to millions of ClubMom members – What’s surprises you most about being a mom? Every mom can add their response, see how other moms respond, and even start a conversation. Each week, a new question will be asked by ClubMom members, bloggers, and even other celebrities.

On My Mind is a new way for moms to express themselves through their own voices. Elisabeth will be creating new On My Mind posts regularly, sharing what her life is like as a mom of three (she just had her third child last week) while going back to work, filming her new movie, Gracie. On My Mind is a great way for any mom to share whatever it is she’d like for all moms to read and discuss – whether she’d like to write about the latest episode of her favorite TV show or vent because her child won’t sleep through the night.

Since its launch in May, we have been thrilled with the initial responses to The MomNetwork. With thousands of moms engaged and connecting with each other every day, it is great to witness the evolution of this new community.

School's Out, Kids!

June 21st marks the official first day of summer, but for many of us, the celebrating has already begun. The days are longer, kids are home from school, backyard gardens beckon, summer fruit is at its sweetest, ripest best, and long-awaited vacation plans are finally just around the corner. Everyone's in the mood to have fun — and much of the content on our site reflects the jovial spirit.

Now that the Fahrenheit is on the rise, we'd like to share a few of our great warm-weather inspired stories with you — pour a glass of iced tea, and enjoy!

Go-To Mom Shannon Blackwell wants to be a kid again herself this summer — and she's got a list of ways to go about doing it. Take a few cues from her to up your daily fun quotient.

ClubMom member and working mom Karen knows how to get creative when it comes to childcare during the summer — and the result is a bunch of happy campers.

And in What's for Dinner, Grill Friend?, Experts Cynthia Stevens Graubart and Catherine Fliegel dole out some hot cooking tips on how to spend more time with the family and less time in the kitchen.

The Story of MomBlogs

ClubMom’s adventure in blogs began on sunny January morning in Menlo Park, CA. A few of us spent the day with a group of mom bloggers. At the time we had an inkling ClubMom should do something with blogs, but we weren’t sure exactly what we wanted to do, so we were looking for some guidance and inspiration.

And inspire us they did. We started off the meeting by asking each of the bloggers to introduce herself and tell us why she started blogging…

“Blogging saves me time since I can write my story once instead of calling all my friends individually to tell them.”

“I didn’t fit in with the real-life moms I met in my neighborhood. But through my blog I was able to make connections with moms from across the country who are now my friends.”

“Blogs for me are the anti-insanity brigade. We keep each other sane because we can find others going through same issues. It’s nice to see that you are normal.”

Halfway through the introductions, it was clear that blogs could and should have a place at ClubMom. The bloggers’ reasons for writing fit neatly into ClubMom’s existing value props of saving moms time and helping moms connect with other moms. Plus, blogs would allow our members to connect on a much deeper emotional level than ever before.

Fast forward four months, a bunch of meetings, and some late nights and our vision has come to life. We’ve now launched over 30 blogs on topics ranging from photography to autism to cooking. We have moms writing about their babies, tweens, and everything in between. Our blogging adventure is far from over, but we couldn’t be happier with its start.

ClubMom In The News

ClubMom is back in the news! We’ve made some huge accomplishments over the last few months, and to ensure we got the word out, we went straight to the press (call us vain, but we just couldn’t resist making headlines!). After talking to the media about the “new” ClubMom, we were covered in a handful of print and online publications.

Kicking off on May 8th, our press coverage started when The New York Times ran the article “‘M’ Is for the Many Ways Marketers Court Her”(PDF) with ClubMom and our very own CEO, Michael Sanchez, front and center.

Then, on May 12th, USA Today included ClubMom and our partner DaimlerChrysler in their story “Internet becomes popular place to make pitches to moms.” Within the same week, multiple marketing newsletters, websites, and bloggers – including Colloquy, MarketingVox, ClickZ, and eMarketer – ran stories about ClubMom and the launch of The MomNetwork.

To top it all off, on Mother’s Day, May 14th, not only were America’s moms getting recognized, but so was ClubMom in another article in The New York Times, “My Heart Belongs to Mother.”

The great press we've received over the past few weeks is a reflection of all of the hard work that has gone into making ClubMom what it is today. Thank you to the ClubMom employees, supporters, friends, and of course, members for helping create the premier online destination for moms, by moms - bringing together the best of what real moms have to say on every topic.

The Mom Diaries: ClubMom launches MomBlogs

They're busy. They've got kids. Or they're trying to have kids. They have husbands and partners who help, or don't. They work full-time, they work part-time. They stay at home. They cook, or they order takeout. They're generous of spirit, they're grouchy and stressed. They live in big cities, they live in close-knit rural communities. They send their children to public school, they homeschool their whole brood. They're moms as diverse as the women who raised those of you reading this corporate blog right now.

But they've got one big thing in common: They're mom bloggers! They write about all of the above and much, much more. These moms are on a mission to chronicle and share the details of their daily lives. Some are funny, some are snarky, some are dealing with serious issues (autism, illness, infertility, weight loss) — but they all write candidly about what today's moms encounter.

And now they're writing for ClubMom — and for you! Come check them out — we have several MomBlogs up already and more to come in the next few weeks. Go to Mom's Daily Dose, our round-up of cool mom blogs far and wide, and click on More MomBlogs to see what's brand-new.

Grab a cup of coffee, sit a spell, and get to know a few of the great new voices that are part of ClubMom.