I’ve been invited on many trips. Hallmark, General Mills, and last week Ninja. Bloggers are clamoring to be invited on these so called “free trips”. As an attendee let me tell you the trips aren’t free. On average for my “free bloggy trips” I spend $100. NYC obviously was closer to $500. This is a post I’ve been wanting to write for a while, as just this morning as another invite came through my email it was clear. I NEEDED to write this!
How do I get invited? In almost all of the invites I received are from companies I’ve previously been working. Or as in the case today fits what my blog, and family is about.
What happens at the event? Most events involve a dinner, meet-up and is followed by speakers, product tasting (if applies) and product demo. You may even get a tour, or if you’re really lucky able to cook in the Betty Crocker kitchens.
Are events created equal? The answer is no. Nothing is. When life becomes fair I’ll shit rainbows.
However let me give props to some of the companies who did it right! Hallmark and Fleishman-Hillard invited our children. Family is what Hallmark is all about, and its those things that set this event above others. Kai was able to attend and see what mommy does and she was fully engaged in the event. I was also pregnant at the time and FH went above and beyond for me. For me when I think of Hallmark I think family, I think Christmas. Hallmark is family.
Hallmark and General Mills were the only trips I didn’t spend any money on, they did it right. They paid for everything and made sure we all had gift cards that were full and ready to use. They even accommodated Brooklin and made sure we both had everything we needed.
However not all events are perfect. While going to check out in NYC we discovered that our room wasn’t paid for, for the second night. Per our agreement Lizzy and I had no idea. Did the pr company drop the ball? Maybe, probably it was a mistake. Lizzy and I explained to the hotel (a fabulous one right in the center of Times Square) that this was not our agreement. They allowed us to leave without paying luckily.
So now what? Our focus should be more on family. If you want to pitch moms, just consider it.
Should family be included? YES! I had to turn down a trip to a really fabulous company that I support because I simply can’t manage everything going on. However today I received an invite for my entire family to go to LA. Of course we said YES! A family friendly company willing to actually engage my entire family. The thought excites me, can you tell?
Should children be allowed? Honestly I’ll be upfront I think they should. Corporations have how much money? How much in budgets? Blogging trips are wonderful and all but sometimes I think my children would also love to be engaged. My four year old has quite the mouthpiece, and I think her opinion is valuable. Even more than my own at times. It’s them who I purchase for. Some companies are “family friendly” that’s what their market is. In fact I only buy some of their products for my children. When appropriate yes, children should be included.
What’s my point? Blogging trips/events are fairly new in the blogsphere I believe companies, firms, and bloggers are all learning as we go. There are some great companies who do engage our families, and not all corporations are bad. It’s how we learn from here and move forward.
My one tip is to consider engaging my family, Del Kaila and even Brooklin. It’s like going to Disneyland and not bringing your children. (ouch!) And bloggers, there are so many chances, just think for every trip I pass up it’s another chance for you! Just remember that in the end not all “free blogging trips” are really free!
Behind my blog is my family. We’re all different but together we make one. More blogging trips should be for families. And that’s the truth!
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Thanks so much for sharing! I really appreciate learning all I can!
I have to agree with you Kristin. Jason and I were just discussing this subject, and I do believe that a “family” suited event would be more enticing to those of use with children. Thanks for your honesty, it is refreshing!
Can’t wait to hear about your LA trip!
I thought it was a big oversight that there was no wi-fi in the hotel and that we had to pay for ethernet. But they were very nice about accomodating me to stay longer and fly in and out of Newark, which was more convenient for my family.
Can I get an Amen for more family events???
I totally think it should be a family event. Because most products that are reviewed are not ones used for ourselves but for our children!
Well written! I think one reason I raise a brow at the thought of going to an event is because I’d most likely be leaving Charlie behind. That doesn’t sit well with me. Thanks for the insight.
Great post. I would love to go to a blogger event, but it would be even better if i could bring the family.
I get invited to a lot of events. I have mixed feelings in regards to families being a part of every event though. For instance, I was initially shocked to learn that it was the MOMS idea that their families not be invited to the Disney mom blogger events. However, after attending one, I understood why. There’s no way that I could have bonded with the group of women on such a deep level in such a short amount of time if my kids were around. (Later, I worked a Disney event and was able to bring my family. While I was excited that they were able to experience Disney, it was SO much more work having the family there. Then again, I guess that it depends on the ages of your kids…)
I’m more concerned with the timing of events (i.e. being in the middle of the week during the school year). For those of us who have kids in school, that’s not very “family friendly”…
What I loved about Hallmark is that they offered Baby Sitting for us. But traveling with kids can be hard.
I do like when a company works around people’s schedule.
I’m cuoius which LA event was it for? I was invied to an LA event, bu what made me laugh is that they said “we’d like to fly ou out to sunny southern CA” uhhhhh I LIVE in southern CA…..
yeah we spent close to 400 dollars with the NYC event.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve already had to turn down one really nice event because children weren’t part of the equation. I just don’t understand how moms can be expected to drop their life, go clear across the country…all without their children. As much as I love connecting with brands and would love to know more about their internal operations, I’m not going to leave my children with a stranger to do that.
I was glad to go on my own LOL! I didn’t have to worry about my children and for once in my life could just worry about myself. My hubs would have gone to GM had he been invited I think though.
Hopefully more invites come my way b/c it was SO much fun! I didn’t spend any money to go to General Mills either. However my hubs says the extra expense of a daycare day and my day off work was a big expense…to me…completely worth it!
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