June 18, 2010

Homeless Bloggers

couch As many already know, the Silicon Valley Moms Group has decided to close its doors. This blog has been home to many great writers who will know be living on the virtual streets. Okay, so most of us have our personal blogs, so maybe it's more like losing your vacation blog. Still, it is a loss and many of us will be wandering around, laptop bag in hand, searching for someplace else to unpack for a while. I've only been a writer for the Silicon Valley Moms Blog for a few months, but I'm deeply disappointed that I, and hundreds of writers across the country, won't be writing for them any more.

Unlike many of the writers who have been with the group for a long time, I have not met any other local bloggers, networked at BlogHer or other conventions, or become part of the "in" crowd of mommy bloggers through my association with SV Moms. I looked forward to doing all of these things, and I hope in time, as new communities form, I will have those opportunities.

Silicon Valley Moms Blog was one of the first blogs I read on a regular basis when Moe was born. It was recommended to me by a friend who had "been there." Although I couldn't relate to every post, I found a wealth of information, resources, and a group of moms (and a dad or two) who were facing the same challenges I was. As any new mom will tell you, just knowing you are not alone is incredibly helpful.

As I read the posts, another thing happened. I thought "Why couldn't I do that?" So I started Anybody Want a Peanut? I didn't tell anybody about it at the time, and until Moe was diagnosed, the blog didn't have much focus. By the time I decided to start telling people about it, I had removed most of my early posts to give the blog its current shape. Reading SV Moms inspired me to write, something I've always loved to do but never had the time or motivation.

After Peanut was launched, I missed having a forum to write about other topics, and I wanted to try my hand at writing for a larger audience. So I got up the courage to apply to Silicon Valley Moms, and was thrilled when the founder, Jill Asher, invited me to join. Someone other than my family and friends thought I was a good enough writer and a unique voice worthy of joining their community. It gave me the confidence to continue writing and developing my voice and style.

I will, of course, continue to write here and at Autism Sucks. As new Silicon Valley, Special Needs and other blogging communities form I hope to become a part of those networks as well. For now, I want to thank the team at SV Moms for allowing me to be a part of the site that they built from the ground up, for their hard work, and for considering me for whatever they do next. (Really. I'm interested. Call me.)

5 comments:

  1. Why are they shutting down?

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  2. Thanks for nice shearing. I like your excellent work.

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  3. Oh I didn't know that. Thanks for letting us know about SVMoms.
    BTW I follow you on Peanut! SVMoms got me into a few personal blogs. I wouldn't have known about their existence without the little author bio at the end of each post.

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  4. Reading the posts from the other women was always as much the best part as anything else!

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  5. Hi! I just came back from vacation to this news.

    I only had one post up, but it was awesome. Someone thought my stuff was good enough to publish!

    WOuld love to commiserate with you.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! Respectful disagreement always encouraged.

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