A Blogger Calendar For Me?

It seems like a lifetime ago when Jay and Tara had us lined up outside CyberMummy on that beautiful June day. They were shouting at us... a lot... well Jay was shouting at me a lot because I was being silly...

I know how much work they have both put into pulling this together - so thank you guys and also a really big thank you to Snapfish for agreeing to print it for them.

As the calendar is a super limited edition work of art they are making us work to get hold of one. Here's my offering, my blogger CV.

Name: Sian To

Started blogging : 03/03/09

Blogs : mummy-tips.com - first post : Who am I?

geekisnewchic.com

cybher.com

Big Eye Art Tumblr

Writes about : Life and geeky stuff

The Important Bits

July 2009 - BlogHer Chicago - my first trip to the USA

July 2009 - Inspired to launch a blogger event in the UK and CyberMummy was born

July 2010 - The first CyberMummy with 200 delegates

August 2010 - BlogHer NYC with Jay

August 2010 - Trip to Bangladesh as an Ambassador for Save the Children

September 2010 - Trip to the UN Summit in NYC as Ambassador for Save the Children

November 2010 - Joined Instagram

December 2010 - Blogladesh reaches TEDx London

February 2011 - Blogladesh shortlisted for Media Guardian Innovation Award

March 2011 - I go to Downing Street!

June 2011 - CyberMummy part 2 with 400 delegates

September 2011 - Goodbye CyberMummy - hello Cybher. The new event for women bloggers is announced

October 2011 - I change my Twitter name from @mummytips to @geekisnewchic and launch new blog

May 12th 2012 - Cybher!!!

Top Mummy Bloggers... and a new I Went to CyberMummy11 badge

Not quite sure how this happened  but I'm happy to take praise when it's given.

I think that I'm supposed to hustle votes but if I'm honest, making the shortlist just blows me away anyway.

I've crammed so much into the last twelve months, and I'm really proud to have been a part of it all.  I've made some amazing new friends... the ones that don't come along with great regularity, they know who they are.

And there was CyberMummy10, BlogHer10 with @Cosmicgirlie, #Blogladesh,  #UNsummitNYC, meeting my real life hero @nickkristof, winning the BMB Brilliance in Blogging 2010, Make A Difference Blogger award, seeing my beautiful daughters make their TV debut on Annabel's  Kitchen on CITV, winning the Bloganthropy blogger of the month, Yan's first collection going into Harrods, going to Downing Street with Save the Children and of course CyberMummy11.

See, it's been a pretty amazing year. If you do feel inclined, click on the picture below to get to the Loved By Parents voting page.

Thanks for all your amazing support, Blogladesh and CyberMummy wouldn't be the successes that they are without you people behind me.

Blogladesh shortlisted in the MediaGuardian Innovation Awards

I've some amazing news to share with everyone who tweeted, blogged and generally made a noise about our Save the Children Blogladesh campaign..... we've been shortlisted in this years MediaGuardian Innovation Awards!!!

The 2011 awards celebrate the most successful innovative digital communications across a range of categories. We made our impact in the Campaigning Category and have been shortlisted alongside Starbucks Love Project and FairShare Music.

I still can't quite get my head around what we achieved. Blogladesh was an incredible journey for all of us and I'm honoured to be their ambassador. 

The winners are announced on 24th March.

Wish us luck!

My 2010 in Pictures - win a CyberMummy11 ticket

It's been quite a year for me, first CyberMummy10 and then Blogladesh and the UN with Save the Children. I wanted to say thank you for all of the help and support from you, my friends and fellow bloggers. There were some dark times - especially in Bangladesh but what we achieved is set to change the face of charity campaigning for good. You were all a part of that.

To say thank you, I'm giving away a ticket to CyberMummy11 - but you do have to work for it!

To be in with a chance of winning you need to join in the 'Your 2010 in Pictures' meme. Your entry can be a single picture that sums up 2010 for you or a montage like mine. Do your post then come back and add it to the Linky below.

Here is my 2010.....

Entry closes at midnight (GMT) on 10/01/11 and a winner will be chosen by my trusty assistant and me over a packet of biscuits and a pot of tea.
The prize is a ticket to CyberMummy11.

MummyTips and the Build a Bear's Sparkle all the way..

OMG - I cannot believe that I nearly missed this weeks Gallery.... and as it's 22mins past midnight I actually have missed it but better late than never...

Tara's theme this week is Sparkle and I was inspired by (copied) my friend Karin from Cafebebe...Please don't tell her...!!

She posted a beautiful pic of her Little Miss from a lovely day out we had courtesy of Build A Bear. My pic is a true rarity... Both of my girls in the same frame - without me having to engage even the slightest photoshop edit...

And they do truly Sparkle...

My wish for 2011 is that they learn to value, love and respect each other..... because I am fed up of their fighting!

Blogladesh reached TEDx London

This time last week - I was being pressured to ditch work for the day and join my friends and colleagues at the BMB Xmas party at St Martins in the Field. Talk about peer pressure. I relented and made my way to London, Macbook in hand..

picture credit - Jennifer howze

Then I had a call from a lovely lady called Andrea Hartley - she was presenting at TEDx London that evening and she was highlighting the success of the Blogladesh campaign. After chatting for a while I let slip that I was actually in London for the day - and somehow I ended up right there at TEDx amongst a group of amazingly talented and passionate women as I watched the Blogladesh story unfold.

It really blew me away to sit back and hear our journey told by someone else and I realised how easy it is to slip back into real life and leave the things that Eva, Josie, Liz and I experienced behind us. I wish this wasn't so - but of course daily life takes over.
As a small gesture to Blogladesh and Save the Children - and it is small I know, I have declined to send wine and goodies to my clients this Christmas. Instead they will be giving a child the gift of education.

Do stop by Save the Children's Wish List - there are gift options that literally do save lives and from only £10. And as an end to the post I have just heard that I have been shortlisted in the British Mummy Bloggers 'Brilliance in Blogging' awards in the 'Bloggers who make a difference' category.
If you followed Blogladesh - pop by and vote.....

How to make your iPhone battery last all day!

Yesterday I was in London at the British Mummy Bloggers Christmas lunch. I'd planned to go straight back home afterwards but sometimes plans change. An amazing opportunity presented itself to me and off I went to join a truly inspirational group of women at TEDxLondon to share the success of our Blogladesh campaign with them.

One problem..... 

I wasn't planning to be out all day / night - so I didn't have my iPhone charger with me. It riles me that I put up with the fact that my battery doesn't last all day. It's like I've been totally and utterly brainwashed by the God of Apple and I'm taken back about eighteen years to mobile phones of old. But this isn't 1992, it's 2010 and your phone battery should last all day. FACT.

So there I was - unable to tweet or text from this amazing event. My phone had been as dead as a Do Do for hours. But on the train on the way home I chanced upon a gentleman with an iphone charger (I'd seriously been asking everyone I spoke to all evening). He gave me my life line but also shared the best tip I've ever heard on how to make your battery last as long as possible. I've had an iPhone since launch - yet I'd never heard this - I guess that's one of the side effects of a product that comes without a user guide....

So here it is.....

Did you know that unless you manually close the apps on your phone they remain open and so draining your battery?

When I say close the app - I don't mean hitting the home button because that doesn't actually close the app. You'll know what I mean when you try it.

Dur... it all makes perfect sense now... this is why my phone pings, dings and vibrates with Facebook messages, ebay notifications and tweets all night long.

Try this and you'll totally get it too...

1. Double click the home button and it brings up a scrolling list of all the apps you have open on your phone.

2. Press one till it jiggles and you'll see a red minus icon appears. 

3. Click it to close the app down.

Don't worry - you aren't deleting. Just closing down. 

Every single app on my phone was open. This is just a few of them...Angry Birds, email, camera, Smack Talk, Twitter, Facebook, Tube Map, Super Yum Yum, Bejewelled, Camera Bag, hipstamatic, eBay, google and the Cat in the Hat. No wonder my battery life was having a hard time...

Today - my battery lasted till 10pm and I'm so happy I could squeal.

Small things.....

Vote Blogladesh!

Nominations are open for this years Mashable awards and this post is a shameless begging pitch to everyone who supported Eva, Josie and I throughout our Blogladesh trip. You cared enough to follow us and now we need just one more thing...

Please pop over to Mashable and nominate Blogladesh for a couple of their awards.... pretty please:)

The categories to nominate us in are.....

Most Creative Social good Campaign and Most Creative Social Media Campaign. 

Picture is of Yasmine, taken at the Ad-din hospital, Dhaka.

By voting for Blogladesh in the Mashable Awards you will be keeping our campaign alive. What we achieved with your help was amazing, your support gave us 'regular mums' a real voice and people stood up and listened to what we had to say. Save the Children is a unique charity and the work that they do around the world is nothing short of breathtaking. They educate, support and save the lives of children like Yasmine every single day.

You can vote for us in the Most Creative Social Media Campaign by clicking on the Mashable awards logo above.
And in the Most Creative Social Good Campaign by clicking the Mashable awards logo below. Simple!

You can vote every day... so if you have a spare 2 mins we would all appreciate it!

With Tony Wadsworth on BBC Radio Leicester

For those that missed my interview on BBC Radio Leicester today with the lovely Tony Wadsworth. I was going well till my phone rang!! If you are interested it was the girls ballet teacher! Oops... sorry Tony!

If you haven't already bought Nicolas Kristof's book Half the Sky - here is the Amazon link. Do it now, you won't be sorry.

Nutrition - What is being done in India?

Yesterday before the summit kicked off I spoke to Dr Rajiv Tandon about the nutrition projects in India. He is a very inspirational guy who has helped to same many children.

One day till the MDG Summit

Tomorrow I'll be at Save the Children's interactive art installation at Grand Central Station where I'll be speaking to the Emmy winning actress Claire Dane.

Blogladesh... Behind the scenes at the BMB web chat

We were a bit rowdy due to the fact that we'd been able to take our first semi normal shower in three days but this is us  - as we were talking to you all courtesy of my CyberMummy partners Susanna and Jen of British Mummy Bloggers.
Don't know about you but I think their web chats are a million times better than mumsnet.

Inside a Bangladesh village home

Tomorrow I'm off to the UN Summit with Liz from Save the Children as an extension to our Blogladesh campaign. I'll be reporting back and giving my views on the political side of the campaign.
If you were wondering why you should get behind Save the Children and Press for Change, watch this.

The Gallery... Celebration

Holy shmoly look at the time....... I nearly didn't make this weeks Gallery at all. 

I've been wracking my brain and trawling my photos for something to fit the Celebration theme and then it dawned on me. 

Quite simple really - I bring you some of the amazing children I met in Bangladesh - celebrating life.

As an extension to our trip to Bangladesh I'm heading off to the UN Summit in New York on Saturday. I'll be reporting back from the Mashable Digital lounge and flying the flag for #Blogladesh. Thank you for all the amazing support you have shown. 

Don't forget to sign up for Josie's web chat with Nick Clegg over on mumsnet tomorrow night and if you haven't already it's not too late to Press for Change.

Back home

All week people have been asking me how my trip to Bangladesh has affected me, but in all honesty I've been too caught up in the whirl of family, media and work to come to any conclusions. I'm not sure that it's going to be as simple as saying I've learnt a, b & c because deep down I feel the change is more of a spiritual one. 

I feel different inside.

I'm angry about the injustice of it all. 

I'm ecstatic to be born here in the modern world. 

I'm shocked that millions of people are still living in such primitive conditions. 

I'm thankful for western medicine. 

I'm outraged by my own frivolous existence. 

I'm grateful that Save the Children gave me this opportunity - but do you know what?

It isn't about me.

The trip wasn't about me. Blogladesh was about connecting with children like Yasmine and Sanjita and Shanto. It was about seeing their lives through my maternal eyes. Feeling their mother's pain, concern, anger and helplessness and then sharing those feelings with people back home who have the power to make life saving changes.

It's very easy to think that the actions of a single person won't make a difference - but they can and they do. It take less than 5 mins to sign the Press for Change petition. 

Blogladesh... Yesterday's Radio interview

Here's a link to my interview on BBC Radio Northampton.... it's in two parts..
Part 1
Part 2 

If you haven't already done so - please sign the Press for Change petition on the Save the Children web site

Blogladesh on ITN Lunchtime news

Sorry about the quality of the clip but it disappeared from ITV player before I could grab it.

MummyTips on BBC EMT

The BBC TV crew arrived first thing on Sunday morning, so I apologise for looking so jaded!

Mummytips on BBC Radio Leicester

My post #Blogladesh interview with @wadsworthBBC on BBC Radio Leicester this morning. Do tune in to BBC East Midlands today at 6.30pm tonight for another interview.

Sign the Press for Change petition here.

Blogladesh road trip

A glimpse of our road trip from Barisal back to Dhaka.