Dad 2.013 Summit Roundup Roundup

It's been a bit quiet around these parts the last few days, partly because I've been swamped with some offline work deadlines, and partly because--duh, wasn't everyone at Dad 2.0 Summit anyway?

Congratulations to Doug and the many folks who made following #dad20 an entertaining experience. [On Twitter, no one can hear you karaoke, which, seriously, two nights in a row, fellas?]

Anyway, here's a roundup of the roundups of Dad 2.0, starting with the spawn-laden boy band that is Dadcentric:

[Kevin;] Also, the Dove "Man Cave" was a nice touch, even though I got shut out of the a shave and haircut. However, I think attendees will all wear nicer shoes next year know knowing they have the opportunity to get a shine from a leggy Latvian blonde.

But most importantly, the people were great -- attendees, the Dad 2.0 staff, even the sponsors were incredibly cool as people throughout. I feel I truly made many personal connections I didn't at the last one.

Me (Jason. Avant, not Sperber. We need nicknames.): What I enjoyed: Brene Brown and David Eagleman; I spent some time talking to David about Science Things, and he's a great guy. His book "Sum" is amazing; if you liked "Einstein's Dreams", you'll dig it. The Writing A Wrong panel was terrific; Jon, Kristen and Jon were honest, vulnerable (!) and funny. I was thrilled to meet some really cool noobs - Chris Read and Carter Gaddis are great, and you at home need to read their stuff.

What I did not enjoy: the Brand Panel and the Creation and Curation panel.

On the subject of brands and blogs, big content thinker Craig Heimbuch pounded out some tough love for [aspiring? delusional?] pro bloggers while stuck on the tarmac:

There is a massive disconnect between content creators and brands that are buying or seeking content as part of a marketing plan. Creators make art. Brands buy commodity. They are both wrong. The value of content for a brand is not aesthetic - not wholly anyway - nor is it simply to check off a content marketing box. There is PR value in reaching out to bloggers and paying them a pitance or tossing them a free case of pencils to write something. But that PR value does not move the needle. And the longer bloggers are relegated to fighting over the tiny table scraps pushed to the PR budgets, the less chance they have of making real inroads with brands and innovating a new way forward. And as long as bloggers remain content to leave innovation to someone else, the big media companies and ad networks are going to continue to eat bigger and bigger portions of marketing pie.

Finally, a bit of Jon's recap of the one panel I was truly disappointed to have missed, the one Jason mentioned above, where Jon, BHJ, and Kristen talked about writing in the strange public space that blogging has created while going through difficult challenges and failures. From Blurbomat:

One of the evolving elements of this form of writing is the societal boundary on how much we share and don't share. What was driven home for me in the session was that when we are in the middle of heavy emotions or a heavy experience and we feel we should write it down, maybe that's not the best time to push that heaviness out into the world. I shared that I had used a journal for the private things that I didn't want to share on Blurbomat. I also mentioned that I was trying to be respectful of all parties during an intense time of crisis and change. It bears repeating: don't say anything online that you couldn't say to someone in person. Those boundaries helped me push my writing in new directions. I'm no Black Hockey Jesus, but that push was needed and welcome.

DadCentric Roundtable: Post-Dad 2.0 Summit Edition [dadcentric]
A Call To Action for Bloggers From The Tarmac Leaving Dad 2.0 [craigheimbuch]
Dad 2.0 Summit 2013 Recap: Leprechaun in the Hood

ROUNDUP ROUNDUP UPDATE

My post at LOD, in which I try to explain #dad2summit to my son (laidoffdad.typepad.com/lod/2013/02/da...) is the 36th recap. (dad2summit.com/2013/02/07/dad...).

— Doug French (@LOD) February 22, 2013