Editor & Publisher: AP ending ASAP,a youth-oriented syndication package launched in 2005, in October. The cause? "A number of marketplace changes that were happening with the U.S. newspaper industry." (Susan sez: Is that corporate speak for we're screwed?)

Kingsley Idehen: The way to inject Facebook data into the semantic web (ie RSS feeds and more). Techie, and fascinating.

Inside Facebook: What are the hottest apps?

Kara Swisher: Why Yahoo! and MySpace should merge

Jackson West: Interesting summer reading, including the interesting Ken Nunn, author of Tijuana Straits.

So I know I mentioned my sister came to Blogher; but it was grand today to see that Nancy got a whole post of her very own from BlogHer fashion blogger Susan Wagner, who writes about fashion at Friday Style and who totally appreciated Nancy's fashion sense. (I know if you are a tech person, this is probably putting you to sleep.)

I don't want to use the photo without permission, but if you want to see what my amazing sister looks like (and what a sharp dresser she is) go here.

Elizabeth Edwards is one of the most authentic people I have ever met. The way she interacted with the audience at the keynote and her subsequent interactions and presence at the cocktail party and right down to how she spoke with people outside the event on her way out demonstrated a depth of sincerity, an authenticity and an ability to be present in her life that I just don't see to that degree in many people. Regardless of the political beliefs, it was VERY powerful and inspiring.

Susie Bright is also an amazing person I got to meet and interact with at BlogHer. The founder of Off Her Backs and an early feminist and subversive, Susie is a vibrant, interesting person who has much to teach and clearly enjoys learning from others. Susie, I hope we connect more back home in CA.

I was also really proud of my friends Lisa, Jory and Elisa. They've created Blogher as a platform that clearly is taking on a life of its own under their able stewardship. The fact that Jory's business skills can lead to so many sponsorships, Elisa's organizational skills can produce such a large conference (and make it all go so smoothly) and Lisa's presence and political chops can bring in an Elizabeth Edwards are all cool, but what gets me is how the vision and message (yes, this is a cause-related business) they support are something so many women are tapping into--I am watching with interest to see where this all goes.

BlogHer also had a diversity I don't usually see. Not only was it woman-focused, though with some very cool men attending, but there was a racial mix and an age mix that many conferences don't have--and this time, I think the very engaged Mommybloggers were balanced with lots of other types of bloggers--including, I was happy to see, a larger number of women over 55.

I met so many interesting people and have a huge number of follow-ups for next week--and feel refreshed and energized--just what I hope a conference would help me achieve.

(On another note, it is interesting to contrast this post with the ones about the techcrunch party-which seems like a must-attend for status event more than it was fun for everyone there. Don't know if that is true, but am getting that vibe.)

(And on yet another note, I hope Scott Beale's party was a blast. I *heart* Scott and would have loved to be there. The pictures here and here look great.)

Labels: blogher07

"You spend so much time checking off what you'll do that you never do anything. Why waste your time talking about movies you're going to watch when you haven't even seen the classics, the 20 you have in your Netflix queue, and DVDs you've already BOUGHT?!?

-- Jason Calcanis, always frank, about his new declaration of Facebook bankruptcy.

Update: Tom Watson and Fred Wilson are part of the smart guy pile-on on Jason's post.

Priceless Tom led: "Jason Calacanis reminds me of those television actors who suddenly find their lives as popular series regulars too confining, too empty, too common. You know, like when Henry Winkler found Fonzie to be limiting his artistic brilliance, and lit out for the big screen."

Listening to CEO Rashmi Sinha,She's Such a Geek editor and tech journalist Annalee Newitz and renowned tech visionary Esther Dyson chat with Elisa C.

Some snippets:

Rashmi: "I go back to India and meet people who have met through blogs; it's no longer elitist--it leaves me in awe."
Esther: "The internet is like sex, first we use it for communication, now we use it for fun. Wat we are really seeing here is that we are trying to establish an online presence for ourselves via digital identities and consistency online--I may not be available, but my flickr pages or my twitter stream are."
Annalee: "There's a flip side--there's altruism, wanting to form communities, not just to broadcast but to share with and to use to collectively change things for the better--and that is one of the strong drives behind the technologies involved in this conference. That's the utopian side of this technology."

Annalee: "Things are changing when you feel comfortable discussing orgasms with someone with whom you might not discuss your work."
Esther: "And then you discover your neighbor is reading your blog."

Rashmi: "When we build social technology that allows us to feel the presence of other people in that same space, it is invigorating--Ajax and rich interfaces really help with that--it's a stronger connection."

Susan sez: I am amused that although Annalee joked that "the Internet is porn," the audience actually does keep talking about sex--one women said she orgasmed on a treadmill; another gave a discourse on furries adult babies and all sorts of sexual corner cases (I am still not sure why she shared all that).

Now Kalyia is asking about what's next for women in tech, and Rashmi is noting how entrepreneurial Blogher attendees are, and Annalee is describing how women in tech are both reaching out to one another and encouraging women to be brave about breaking boundaries.
Esther sez "Does technology need to be tailored for women--or for people?"

Labels: blogher07

So it's midnight in Chicago and I'm too wound up to go to sleep. The energy of spending most of the day with 700-odd BlogHer attendees, following by going out to dinner with my sister (who is also at the conference), has been too wound to sleep.

I know that sometimes there's a bit of a BlogHer backlash as the conference gets bigger, the sponsors kick in, and there's a real company forming, but in my world, this is all just great. Great, great, great. The idea three women I know had an idea 3 years ago and now they have BlogHer floats my boat every time.

Tomorrow's day 2 of the conference and that means diving back in for more. Another day, another room full of excited people talking and talking.

Labels: blogher07

We're still getting email from people who would like to attend the Off the record: Sex & Relationships blogging meet up at Blogher.
If you are a sex and or relationship blogger, if you are interested in discussing authentic voice and personal journeys and privacy and protecting your privacy this session is for you.

We ask you let us know you want to attend so you can agree to support the confidentiality of this session.

We have some fascinating discussants coming but want to have as many people who are interested in these topics take part.

Email to susanmernit@yahoo.com, please if you'd like to show up.

Labels: blogher07, personal blogs

Listening to the session on digital identity and enjoying the frank discussion of how the bloggers on the panel choose to reveal--and not reveal themselves. JurgenNation author Stacy Campbell is talking about how she's become more honest, while NoPasaNada blogger Stacy Barmore is discussing how she's learned, uh, discretion (and not whining). Kris Likey sez she's realized that not being truthful is highly inaccurate in terms of depicting her reality, and Always Aroused Girl (AAG) reports on how keeping an anonymous blog doesn't always mean being truly truthful, either.

AAG: "You can write about taking out the trash, and if you write it well, it's of value."

Moderator: "Is keeping a journal or a diary different or similar than blogging?"

Audience points:

• It is different because you know you will get feedback on your account.
• An online journal is a way to share experiences--and issues.
• Women writing blogs is powerful because it is a consciously constructed narrative--I can say what I was thinking,
• "Blogging personal stories makes it okay to be human. To be who you are."
• "One of the important things about personal blogs is that the true story of what happened gets told."

I'm interested in how people decide who to write about others form a philosophy of what and how much to share The panel says:

• Heather: I focus on me and my reactions, not the other person (I agree with that.)
• Kris: It's always about them for the person who reads it, if they find it.
• Stacy: I might talk briefly about my boyfriend, but I try to respect his own life and keep him out of it. I try not to bring people into it who don't want to be.

Audience points:

• If one woman told the truth the world would split open--this is partly true as women tell the truth about their lives--it becomes a radically honest framework for change.
• "I have been dunmped multiple times for my blog--they couldn't handle it."
• "I went fron bitching about my husband to being so happy because my mother in law started reading my blog," aka self-censorship. (Do parent bloggers have to hold back? Yes, of course.)

Moderator: Do personal blogs allow us to get beyond common sterotypes (Susan sez: This is a GREAT question!) Panel sez:

• I like I can be not thin, not young, and have a great sex life and a great sez blog.
• I know people think I am white, because I am erudite (paraphrase), but I am a young black woman.
• People ask me if I am married: No. Do I have kids: No. I am just not what they expect. (another paraphrase).

Audience:

• Are we really being honesty? Is blogging truly a complete record?
• "If I can't call you as asshole to your face, I am not going to put it out there."
• Draft folders are for personal entries no one wants to publish.
• MochaMomma: Race is another identity issue.
• Mary Tsao: We give the world a gift when we write about ourselves...but I get uncomfortable when my friends want to share their intimate details--and expect me to write about it. (another paraphrase)

Susan sez: These sessions--honest talk that appreciates tone, nuance and intent, are the reasons I treasure the sessions at BlogHer. I am also amazed at how many mommybloggers are here--this is a community that truly benefits from being given voice--I wish that single daters were as present and coherent as a community online.

Labels: blogher07

So I'm here!--and so are 750 other people, filling up a ballroom in the Navy Pier. Yes, Blogher has grown large, but with Jory, Elisa and Lisa up on stage talking about the community it doesn't feel that different--more like the same person in fancier clothes.

There are 150 speakers, 30 volunteers, and a boatload of sponsors--clearly, the girlz have tapped a vein--and the 750 attendees, who look amazingly diverse--seem clearly psyched.
And the sponsors! AOL has donated video blogging kiosks, Google has experts coming to talk about SEO, and Yahoo! well Yahoo! is doing the heavily wired Internet cafe and the (co-sponsored with Barnes and Noble) book signings. And then there's childcare right on site--this is a cool thing--I love the idea of moms with strollers being able to attend with kids. (Oh yes, and there is an exhibitor hall...wow, this conference is getting serious...)

Some of the ground rules:

• Blog everything but let people know if you want to be off the record(and recognize it may not work)
• Don't be flamazoids (play nice, kids)
• Don't get lost--the Navy Pier seems HUGE

Update: Had dinner late last night with bloggers cunning minx, rachael kramer bussel, viviane, amber rhea, rusty tanton and lisa williams. Fun!

Labels: blogher07

"If you're sleeping with a portable device next to your pillow so you will not miss an email during the night, you are not alone."

-the opening line of the press release for AOL's third annual study of email use among Americans, which has tons of juicy facts.

The Register: MySpace finds and removes 29,000 sex offenders--that means they committed a felony.
BlogHer's got a redesign.
WSJ: Facebook hires a new CFO, from YouTube. (Susan sez: If an IPO falls in the forest, is a CFO there to receive it?)

Zowie! AOL's bought Tacoda, the ad-network/targeting business that Dave Morgan started in 2001 and built into a powerful service.

This on the heels of the OpsWare acquisition, the Google/ DoubleClick for Microsoft/aQuantive, Yahoo!/Right Media and WPP Group 24/7 Real Media buys.

Bonus: Ex-AOLer Jeremy Liew on content sites and ad networks.

I have been really busy the past few days, but trying to stay current (and failing). More consistent updates starting Thursday.

I'm flying out to Blogher on Thursday am, and am looking forward to connecting with old friends and--one of the great pleasures of BlogHer--meeting new people.

NYTimes has a piece on a new study, conducted in Federal prisons, in which 85% of the men convicted of watching and possessing child porn on the net said they had committed acts of sexual abuse against minors, from inappropriate touching to rape.

Is the issue here that porn fuels abuse? Or that the pervasivness of child abuse is something our culture is reluctant to face?

Best quote from the article: " The findings, based on offenders serving prison time who volunteered for the study, do not necessarily apply to the large and diverse group of adults who have at some point downloaded child pornography, and whose behavior is far too variable to be captured by a single survey. "

Ahem, so what are you writing about? Inquiry, repression--or both?

Will the company with the best technology win? Facebook clearly thinks so, because just 2 months after the release of their full API and developer platform, they've acquired Blake Ross, one of Mozilla's chief architectects.

How many ways to say wow about that are there?
Will I make everyone at Yahoo! mad if I wonder if we considered that option?

As the blogosphere goes nuts on this juicy snippet of Friday news, I'm just impressed with the shrewdness. Blake Ross + Facebook. Wow.

"if BLOGGING teaches you anything — its that the blogosphere has an insatiable appetite for what is perceived at is real. We read blogs and we write blogs because we believe that we are reading some kernel — or writing about — some kernel of truth. Blogs are “different” that way from the mainstream media and, on another note, its exactly why bloggers get so riled up about conflicts of interest.

That desire for wanting things to be “real”, and to be keeping it “real” extends right to the authors. Especially if the content is interesting enough to demand it. People ask me if its important that we know who is writing our favourite blogs. Would it matter if the people *behind* the blogs were fake? Or that it was ghost-written?"

--Tony Hung, Deep Jive Interests, writing about efforts to out the"fake" Steve Jobs.

“This company is a true Internet success story. This started as an offline community, a cocktail party, that turned into this Web site that actually makes money."

-- Mediabistro founder Laurel Touby, who, after 10 years or so of running her online literary/media community and tons of classes and parties, sold the business to JupiterMedia for $23MM.

(Via NY Times)

Susan sez: This one is about having the dedication to hang in there and find ways to offer services to a specific community that no one else can exactly replicate-in this case, journalists and writers. Congrats, L.

Update: Rafat says: "This comes close to what the company hoped for ($25 million or so) when it started the M&A process in early 2006, though one would have expected the valuation to go up in the almost two years since then."

Okay, so for the digerati, Facebook, pownce, twitter and many more are the flavors of the moment. Fads, as Rubel says (and he's partially right.) .

But what does our interest in these particular services tell us about ourselves, right now?

Some thoughts:

1. We want to be local, not global. Small is beautiful, and a digital backfence like Facebook's status updates or twitter, has irresistible appeal.

2. Local is a state of mind. My new best friend, who I met in December, lives in New York; most of our friendship is bites and bytes, but she's my can I borrow a cup of sugar/do I look fat in the dress pal. (In other words, tech powers connections--powerfully.)

3. Reality TV is us. Who needs Survivor? The relationship status changes on FB have their own small drama--and are the equivalent of telling the town crier you're now married/separated or whatever.--And this is true for many social nets.

4. EM Foster wasn't the only one who yearned to "Only connect." Everyone with 530 friends on any social network is demonstrating both a yearning for community and their talent for getting a sash full of Boy Scout (or Girl Scout) merit badges.

5. It's all about the people, still, not about the brands. The fickleness and the endurance of switching costs suggest, that no matter what guys who like to gather for dinner chat and then name names and blog about it afterward say a universal ID isn't yet mandatory--too many people are still discovering the thrill of digital identity sharing via FB, twitter, flickr and so on.

6. People are learning their own power. PopSugar, FM, and other ad networks were first, but niche and community ad networks will abound--and the bloggers and creators will drive the terms once the first wave passes...communities (and content) that can't be commoditized have high value--and people are seeing that.

7. Forget Starbucks, the third place is digital. Got 5 minutes? Need a break? That place you like to go is probably right on your screen.

8. Passive versus active still matters--but you can drive behavior. Remember those rules about people who watched TV rather than posted in online forums? It's still that case that most people are reluctant to write, slow to put themselves out there, and cautious about privacy and sharing. BUT--smart networks like FB model behavior and get that lagging 80% to do more that they ever did before, raising the bar on all network/community activity.

9. Stories rule. Aren't celebrities royalty? And don't we all love their fairy tales? And aren't we all busy creating a few of our own? No, more than a few....with magic tools.

10. Technology teaches possibility. It's true that Facebook is a fad, as are the other hot sites of the moment--but it's also true that the big rush onto Facebook tells us more about what users want--and about how particular behaviors, once established, seek to find a home. Create that home, power that home, and babe, you win.

Bonus point: Having fun now? Wait till it all truly moves to your phone aka hand-held device.

"The magic of hyperlocal sites, be they Backfence, other startups, Yahoo Groups or local blogs, is that they provide a forum for community members to share and discuss what's going on around town. The back-and-forth of a good online conversation can be as rich, deep and interesting—or more so—than traditional journalism. In fact, the role of journalists in this process is overrated—except maybe by journalists! The less involved site managers are, aside from lightly moderating the conversation, the better. Proponents of some other citizens' media models argue that journalists are essential to hyperlocal sites as thought leaders and examples of professional reporting. But that adds considerable expense, and in our conversations with community members we learned that the intrusion of an all-knowing journalist would tend to stifle, not enhance, community conversation, by setting top-down agendas and crowding out community members."

--Mark Potts, Backfence co-founder, discussing lessons learned from the now-shuttered service.

(Susan sez: This is good advice for everyone seeking to integrate community into their services--which should be everyone in every vertical, content area, niche, service and CRM site.)

I'm wishing that someone would build a tool that allows users to important their FB contacts into LI, and their LI contacts into FB. Wouldn't that simplify things?

I have different sets of contacts on both services, but their is a significant overlap and I'd appreciate some help in getting these two sites--and my contacts--more organized.

PS Dave McC says there's a rumor...

I think I may have come to the wrong house.I'm sorry. Can I get a hug? That's really good wine.... Can we have a group hug?"

A DC robber who intruded on a family having an afternoon BBQ, but then had a change of heart after being offered--and drinking--a glass of Chateau Malescot St-Exupéry.

--Reporter Allison Klein, Washington Post, writing about a 6/11 incident.

(Via Gina Smith)

So I'll be writing a sex and relationships column, as well as continuing to blog about what's out there for Blogher. My first column--15 things I learned about online dating from doing it--is live on the site right now. I'll be posting weekly, on Fridays.

Read/Write Web: 3 Years since AOL dissolved Netscape Corp--and look what happened.
WJS: Blogging is 10 years old today; Duncan Riley: No, it isn't!
Jeremiah O: Is Facebook mail replacing email? Mebbe.

Did a 4 mile or so hike in Huddart Park this am, heading to friends for a party tonight with a bowlful of Banana Cream Pudding and some marinated fruit (par-tay theme: Trailer Trash).
Tomorrow, another walk, then seeing friends and later exploring San Jose's Vietnamese neighborhoods(especially the sandwich shops) to help out a friend.

This weekend is going to go very quickly, I can see that already.

Hey! I am going to be in Chicago at Blogher at the end of the month and would like to get together with a small group of single moms who are also bloggers and possibly online daters. If you're at the conference and fit the bill--will you get in touch so we can meet? susanmernit@yahoo.com will work just fine.

Viviane and I are going to facilitate a session at Blogher at the end of the month for bloggers who want to talk about Sex and Relationship Blogging--if you're coming to the conference and are interested in this session, let us know. Here's the description of what we're hoping to facilitate:

Cloaked behind another name, bloggers are writing more freely than ever before about private personal experiences they might be hesitant to share publicly. In doing so, they are creating community and making their voices heard in powerful ways—but also dealing with issues of privacy and exposure.

This BlogHer session is for everyone at the conference who is using the web to share personal narratives about sex and relationships, and/or to share erotic fantasies and desires, so that members of this community and those supportive of them can talk freely with one another. We intend to offer a safe, facilitated space to talk about your blog, identify and privacy concerns, and share personal and community experiences related to blogging about sexuality, personal experience, and relationships and to create a safe space for those writing on these topics behind a veiled persona to speak freely in real time.

Other interested parties will be welcome at the session, but only on a space-permits, rules followed basis.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This session is committed to protecting personal privacy and facilitating open discussion; for that reason, the following protocols will be practiced:
Those Blogher conference attendees wishing to attend this session must send an email with expressing interest and agreeing to respect confidentiality to organizers Susan Mernit ( susanmernit@yahoo.com) and/or Viviane ( viviane212@gmail.com).

In the email you need to affirm that you will follow the confidentiality guidelines and not share or discuss the session in ways that identify participants.

When you write, it is not necessary to identify your personal blog, but it would be appreciated; confidentiality protected.)

No photos, live blogging or audio recording—this is an off the record session.

During session, no identifying of participants or their blogs by speakers unless you choose to self-identify with a specific blog you write and maintain.

Shared commitment to maintaining a safe private space for honest discussion reaffirmed at start of meeting.

Participants admitted only at organizers' discretion and as space permits.

Note: This session came about because it struck me last year at Blogher that there were women who didn't write erotica or blog for a living--but who were writing honesty about their own journeys--who were either unable or unwilling to publicly share their stories in the "Naked" sessions...this session is intended to give everyone writing really personal stories a chance to share if they wish.

"Starting this Friday (July 13th) I am taking a one month sabbatical. I will not be using the computer during this month, as hard as that is for me, and so will therefore not be accessible by email. My phone number if you need to reach me is XXX_XXX_XXXX; however, no work or computer oriented calls please. I will plug back into the blogosphere and start checking emails starting on August 10th, when my sabbatical ends."

--Master front end whiz Brad Neuberg, who knows when it's time to go off the grid--and sometimes it is.

My friend Jason Shellen is moving on from Google, at last, and has an articulate post about it that's live today.

Jason--who joined with the Blogger acquisition in 2003--writes:
"Despite the fun I've had at Google and the weird looks I'm going to get from people for turning down the free Google food, massages, excellent benefits and the like - I feel I've got that entrepreneurial/start-up bug deep within me and I can't help but think about the next thing. I'm going to take a little time off while I think about what is next (hopefully while surfing and riding my bike in Santa Cruz) but I've decided to leave Google."

So, on one hand, this is super cool news--here's someone smart and talented who did the small company, then the big company,and now is ready for his next adventure--and brave and successful enough to walk away from the big G.

On the other hand, Jason's departure is exactly the reason I feature Google could become just another AOL--a place that does a great job of acquiring talent and a pretty weak job of keeping them in roles that don't just spin them sideways over the years. In other words, did Jason feel he was getting things done at Google at the end, or using his best skills? And how many Jasons are there there? Endless hiring only works at the top of the funnel--retaining talent is critical as well.

Is Facebook a roach motel? Apps and data in, but not much coming out?
Kinda seems that way sometimes, dunnit?

Just came across Particls, a new service (with a really confusing start page) that basically works like pointcast did and delivers data to your desktop. The founders want to take an RSS feeds of your FB news stream and package it with other data you provide (like links and feeds you read/write) so that your so-called friends (or the voyeurs who hang on your every move) can see your status data, even if you're not joined to them on FB, as part of a stream they ship out.

So, on one hand, this sounds cool. RSS next gen and all that, right?

But on the other hand, it sounds waay too stalkery and perhaps like the Aussie founders inhaled way too much Steve Gillmor and Seth Goldstein before they earnestly started pitching their product as a way not only to track attention--but to get it.

Dunno. Gonna check it out more.

But I am sure, that me at least, part of the appeal of the FB stream is the closed network quality...that's probably one of the things I don't want to export out.

"There are two kinds of suffering. The first is the suffering that causes more suffering, that we repeat over and over. The second is the suffering that comes when we stop running. The second kind of suffering can lead to freedom."

--Thai Buddhist monk and teacher Ajahn Chan, quoted in an essay by Jack Kornfield in Voices of Insight, an anthology edited by recent discovery Sharon Salzberg.

Peter Brantley's got a really good post about going to an academic conference and seeing how quickly and intuitively the 30-something attendees used FB to organized work group tools amongs themselves--and how few of the 40-somethings had FB accounts.

The money quote:
"What I learned, and what was new to me, was just how intrinsic the use of Facebook is today among younger scholars - grad students and junior faculty - in their scholarship and teaching. Facebook, for now, is often the place where they work, collaborate, share, and plan. Grad students may run student projects using Facebook groups; they may communicate amongst each other in inter-institutional (multi-university) research projects; they may announce speakers and special events to their communities "

Ian Kennedy: A lovely post on social networks and the growth of the Net (and our Net experiences.)
Jeff Jarvis: Newspapers local challenge.
Subjectivity: How do we map identity?
Tara Hunt (and Sam Rose): Individual and collective focus, as in how we think..and organize experiences
Anne Truitt Zelenka: Amazing Anne is going to write longer pieces, keep blogging--here's why.
and
Back in Skinny Jeans: "You know you are getting fat when you discover that you have back boobs so big that they need their own bra."

"It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward. "

--NY Times editoral board, in a July 8th editorial

"It takes a lot of time to ramp a blog up. If you genuinely have an interest and passion about the topic it will show through and eventually it might become a revenue stream for you."

-Old friend Richard MacManus, Read/Write Web, profiled in a NZ paper.

(Susan sez: I dig this story, because Richard, like many bloggers, started with a passion--innovative technology--and followed it into a great new career--and because he's a lovely, smart guy.)

Update: Richard has more c ommentary on this on his own blog, including this one:

"So really, it took 3 whole years for Read/WriteWeb to go from 'hobby' to full-time job. The bottom line: blogging is a very difficult, and highly competitive, way to make a living. If I didn't have a true passion for the topic of Web technology, I would not have been able to put in the 'hard yards' (I think that is a kiwi or rugby expression, meaning hard work). "

I did my first--but not my last-- Avon walk this weekend, and feel good about how I did, the money I raised, and the great team--Urban Dog Walkers--I am on. We raised $175,000 to support breast cancer research and testing for uninsured women, and made a major contribution to what the Bay area collected--over $5 million dollars (this amazes me).

On one hand, it was interesting to see how cleverly groups like Avon leverage community to make fund-raising a lifestyle experience and hook people in, on the other hand, it's a cause I am happy to be a part of.

Thanks to e