Party All Night with #GNO

Want to dish about the latest social media trends while enjoying the gossip of a girls’ night out? Then tuck in the kids, put on your cozy jammies and join Mom It Forward’s Twitter party every Tuesday night (drinks and men optional).

Every week, from 9 p.m. EST to (sometimes) the wee hours of 1 a.m., Mom It Forward (momitforward.com) hosts Girls Night Out (#gno), a “mommy mixer” that welcomes interested and interesting women from around the globe to meet up on Twitter to discuss in real time the latest trends affecting women, from parenting and current events to social media and business marketing.

To join a #gno event, just visit momitforward.com on Sundays, Mondays or Tuesdays, RSVP to the next posted Tuesday night event and set up a Twitter account if you don’t already own one.

On the selected evening, attendees log on to Twitter and type the hash #gno within the search field.  Throughout the night, one can either engage in one-on-one conversations by clicking on an individual and “following” her or opt to keep track of every #gno tweet as they cascade onto the page, which is best done via the Tweet Grid link that one can also find via momitforward.com. Mom It Forward advises it is best to follow individual chats by clicking on all respondents’ Twitter URLS noted on the RSVP list prior to one’s selected #gno event.

But, you can do both if you are confident you have cheetah-speed fingers and myopic-like eyes to read and respond to, respectively, the other posts.

The chit-chat is fun, the tweets super fast, and your head might swirl a bit the first time you join, but stick. it. out!  It’s free, stimulating advice from intelligent women willing to help one another find her personal niche and technological influence in today’s fast-paced world.

Jyl Johnson Pattee

“Our goal is to change the world one mom at a time, starting with women as individuals, then focusing on women as moms or influencers, and then extending to their community and beyond,” said Mom It Forward and #gno co-creator Jyl Johnson Pattee, 39, who also runs the blog, Mommy Gossip.

“We could do the most amazing fundraiser in Africa and really help them there. But, if we haven’t helped the women in our very community, we aren’t succeeding,” added the Utah mother of two boys, ages 6 and 8.  “We have to focus on three pillars to really change the world: me, mom, and my world!”

Launched in September 2008, #gno evolved from the epitome of “momming it forward” between Pattee and co-creator Carissa Rogers, 36, a mother of two girls, 10 and 8, and a son, 5. Several years earlier, Rogers and others from the Pattee children’s school district helped reduce Pattee’s mom workload after Pattee underwent emergency surgery.

The two women remained “online friends” after Rogers moved to Oregon when Rogers, also the blogger of GoodNCrazy, discovered Twitter last fall, Pattee said. Intrigued, Rogers invited Pattee and other online friends for a casual gathering for some virtual conversation and named the event “gno,” or Girls Night Out.

“We had so much fun, we decided to do it again at the same time, same place next week,” said Pattee, noting participants crept upward from 4 people the first week, then 15 the next.

“The third week, fifty people showed up. About a month into it, we had a hash tag (#gno), a website where we included an RSVP list of each other’s Twitter URL links, started assigning weekly topics and inviting panelists. The first week before Thanksgiving we held our first fundraiser and that was when Mom It Forward was born,” she added.

Their efforts have attracted a variety of ambitious moms, successfully morphing #gno into today’s network of moms willing to support Mom It Forward’s mission. Each week, an estimated 300 to 500 attendees now join #gno with last week’s topic, The New Age of Brand Evangelists—Using Social Media Moms & Mavens for Marketing, attracting more than 350 Twitter users, who generated an estimated 5,500 tweets, according to Pattee. This reporter joined that May 19 festivity to gain a better perspective of what really goes on.

That evening, the moderators and hundreds of participants didn’t mind if you partook for a few minutes or stayed, red-eyed, until the very end. The ladies didn’t even mind if you still think the term “tweet” only refers to chirping songbirds. They truly didn’t even care if the Pjs one wore fashioned an enviable pattern of spit up.

They just wanted to engage in an open-house forum that reminds women –and any of the businesses and men that are also welcome to join #gno events—that the estimated “86 million moms in the U.S.” alone possess a strong and influential voice whether it is as a blogger, stay-at-home mother, or as a unified group.

“I used to sit in all marketing meetings and the execs would say ‘OPRAH’ now they say “Mommy Bloggers!’” tweeted “cre8tivejen” during the May 19 #gno.

That night, eight moderators –Allison Worthington Media (“alliworthington”); Mom Generations blogger Audrey McClellan (“AudreyMcclellan”); Adventures in Babywearing blogger, Stephanie Precourt (“babysteph”); Classymommy.com (classymommy);  Mamapreneurs Inc. (“designmama”); social media lecturer and blogger, Gwen Bell (“gwenbell”);  Jessica Knows blogger Jessica Smith (“jessicaknows”);  and the mom blog Sitstahood, The Secret is in the Sauce (“SITSgirls“)- joined forced with Pattee, who serves as the main host since Rogers stepped down as partner in April to focus on her family.

“The women that participate are simply amazing and they are the ones that make it a fun place to be every Tuesday night. I always think of them first when choosing a topic, a panelist, when identifying a sponsor or a giveaway, etc.,” noted Pattee.

Within moments of the social media event, dozens of tweets appeared, including moms, businesses, as well as public relations and marketing representatives. The activity boomed once Pattee (“jyl_MomIF”) posed various questions, starting with an inquiry about which brands involve women in marketing.

Veteran “Brand Ambassador” moms quickly launched names, such as Dove, Disney, Fishful Thinking, Hallmark, Nintendo and Thermos.  Participating businesses, such as HanesComfort, assured vets and newbies alike that businesses specifically attend #gno to co-evolve with social media mothers, who they recognize as influential on and off line.

“Thanks #gno for letting us join the conversation tonight, we really learned a lot,” wrote “HanesComfort,” which returned the next day to add: “Last night’s #gno went very fast and was filled with great content. We learned immensely & have a lot of f/u (following up) to do.”

While some people might think moms would clam up when sharing their trade secrets, the polar opposite occurred. It’s like nervously approaching a sandbox and EVERY kid offering you her toys except, in reality, one walks away with numerous social connections and a mental Britannica of mom-friendly social media tips.

In short: these accepting moms inundated the night with a singsong of tweets offering their plethora of useful advice, honest feedback and leads on how to attract companies to suit one’s blogging and reviewing needs.

They discussed: press kit development, pitching companies,  Internal Revenue Service claims, Federal Trade Commission regulations,  reviewer compensation, leads on potential gigs, the importance of blog and Twitter stats, as well as what should motivate moms/mom bloggers to become Brand Ambassadors.

“When it comes to working w/ a company, one-on-one, it’s important you actually use and life (sic) the product,” advised moderator, Audrey McClellan.

There were also concerns, including the possibility of over-branding in addition to the perceived lack of company interest in tapping Hispanic moms and moms with teenagers. Moms also tried to dispel any misconceptions that they advocate any and all brands just to make a buck since they really make money off of other their other jobs (That would be the jobs in addition to their full-time job as mothers!).

“I wish!” wrote “JulieFBT” of freebirthdaytreats.com. “If only they knew how much time we invested for free.”

Never taking themselves too seriously, the moms peppered their posts with self-deprecating and identifiable humor.

“My husband always jokes with me and asks if I can get someone to sponsor our mortgage!” joked Every day Baby Steps blogger, “marybabysteps.”

Throughout the posts, moms sporadically peeled off their computers to put their kids to bed, clean up their dinner dishes and spend quality time with their husbands and loved ones, they wrote. Some moms, like One Mom’s World blogger, “onemomsworld,” simply expressed appreciation for experiencing great night out with a group of supportive , like-minded women willing to intelligently shoot the breeze.

“I love how Twitter has brought us full circle in mom-blogger relationships. I feel like this is my water cooler of co-workers!”

Some returned minutes later, while others vowed to return Tuesday (May 26) for the next conversation: Marketing to Women and Moms Using Social Media Part II –The Brand’s Perspective.

This #gno is scheduled from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. with a moderator formerly of Wal-mart and now of MARS Advertising, and others from One2One Network and Mr. Youth.

If you’re already a #gno fan, Pattee revealed she plans to expand her efforts regarding social media moms.  She is partnering with Rachael Herrsher, founder of Today’s Mama and Krista Parry of Snowmamas to conference for social media moms from September 17-20, 2009 in Park City, UT. More information is forthcoming, including a Web site to be unveiled this week, said Pattee.

“Our focus is on the evolution of moms in social media and providing them with real skills and knowledge for taking their sites, their blogs, and/or their businesses up a notch,” she said. “This is going to be a wonderful way to bring the #gno community together in real life in a tremendous setting to focus on improving their social media skills.”