The Financial Times recently identified this group as “becoming a powerful force in the digital media market” and evidence seems strong from the sponsors for the recent Cybermummy conference, which included Procter & Gamble, Huggies, Fisher Price and Vodafone.  

There’s an interesting debate going on about how PRs and mummy bloggers should or shouldn’t interact.

Whilst it seems some bloggers are receptive to approaches from PRs – so much so that P&G recently used bloggers to announce the news that its traditional white Fairy Liquid bottle was coming back to celebrate the brand’s 50-year anniversary in the UK, some bloggers seem aghast that they could ever be considered as a marketing target.

Working Mum on the Verge recently wrote “you have to be a product pretty close to my heart to get an endorsement (Green & Black’s may apply, of course).”

Yet some mummy bloggers are involved in ongoing relationships with brands – for example, the Disney Ambassadors, Huggies Mums and Pampers Mums.

Approaching a mummy blogger with PR content can be minefield – make a mistake and you’ll be blogged about for all the wrong reasons but it’s not always easy to tell who’d like to be approached.

Sally Whittle, founder of the Tots100index (a monthly index of Mummy and Daddy blogs) recently published a useful blogger outreach guide but even following this means a tricky balancing act for any PR trying to engage the mummy blogging audience – don’t approach too many, make it a little bit exclusive and sample with caution.

Whilst many of these rules also apply to traditional PR, liaising with mummy bloggers is a whole different ball game to journalists and one which we PRs should not underestimate.

1. I’d really like to have a bath – but it’s just too hot so cold showers it is
2. I’d love to sit down and enjoy a great British cuppa – but it’s too hot so a glass of cold squash it is
3. I’d like to be able to sleep under the duvet but no, it’s too hot
4. I want a roast dinner but no, another BBQ it is
5. I’d like to go to bed when it’s really dark, not half light

And with the hot weather set to continue for the rest of the week, it looks like I’ll have to continue my toenail maintenance for a while longer! 

The children’s parents commented that ‘we wanted to recreate the simple freedom of our childhood. These days children live such regimented lives. They can do nothing unless it’s planned.  We are trying to let them enjoy their lives and teach them a little bit about the risks of life’.  Various organisations, including RoSPA and Sustrans, have come out in favour of the issue, advocating the valuable life skills children can learn from activities such as this.

However, much of the debate in the office and also amongst friends and family, has been around the age of the children – should an eight year old really be in charge of a five year old?  Whilst the route to their school is on the pavement, through the backstreets of leafy Dulwich, my issue is not about letting children have a chance to learn self-confidence and responsibility but more about what might happen to them along the way.  What would the eight year old do if there was an accident on the way to school?  What about the issue of ‘stranger danger’?

As the mother of a three year old, the thought of letting him cycle a mile down the road in two years time, even with an older sibling, isn’t something I’d feel comfortable with.  I appreciate the need for children to learn risk and understand danger but in my mind, this seems to be a slightly unusual way for children to learn this.  In this day and age, it’s harder than ever to know at what age children should start to be given some freedom outside the home but five seems a bit too young for me.  What are your thoughts?

It’s the 25th year of the CIPR Excellence Awards and each year they recognise and reward best practice in public relations throughout the UK and acknowledge personal and team achievement at the highest professional level.  This year the Excellence Awards received over 750 entries across the 27 award categories – for a full list of award categories, visit the CIPR website (available later today).   Winners announced on 16 June – keep your fingers crossed for us!

As a parent, I know how much I rely on the help and advice available freely, 24/7 through the internet – whatever the problem, there’s always someone who has shared their experience online.  And when it comes to the lighter side of parenting, the comical tales from other mums and dads can help raise a smile even after the most frustrating day with a toddler.

Most mum and dad bloggers write their blogs in their own time, after a day at work and when the kids are in bed so that’s why it’s great to see them being recognised with the launch of the Mummy and Daddy (MAD) Blog Awards, which will celebrate the utter brilliance of British parent blogs.

There are ten different categories to enter in The Mads – everything from ‘Blogger of the Year’ to ‘Funniest Mad Blog’ and I for one can’t wait to see who the winners are when they are announced in September.

To enter or to nominate a blogger, simply visit the site and complete the online nomination form.

1. @porridgebrain – in her words ‘a seriously sleep deprived, slightly neurotic mum attempts to survive motherhood by writing, laughing and eating a lot of cake’.  Her take on motherhood and it’s challenges never fails to interest and amuse me
2. @hwallop – consumer affairs editor for The Telegraph.  Keeps me up to date on all kinds of things!
3. @schofe – Philip Schofield’s take on life plus a regular update on who’s on This Morning (essential celebrity insight!)
4. @mintelnews – boring I know but essential for work
5. @mynameisearl, @MarieEfthymiou, @ Mlle_Estelle – my colleagues for their witty insights!

What’s more the show is supported with a really informative and interactive website – everything from a panoramic view of a labour room to an online birth registry as well as more information about the various women and births featured in the show along with pregnancy and birth help and advice.

There are only three more episodes to go but for anyone who missed any and wants to catch up, downloads are available from the site.  Don’t worry – general consensus is it’s positioned giving birth as a positive experience, rather than the traditional soap opera style screaming scenario!

Whilst working from home is actively encouraged at Speed, client meetings and other commitments can make it hard to actually fit it in so today was a real bonus.

In the past, ‘working from home’ was shorthand for a slack day but with my trusty Speed set up of i-phone, laptop and remote server connection, the day passed much like any other (only quicker it seemed?).

And now I read that employees working from home are more productive than those who clock in everyday – maybe there’s no need for our Leicester Square office…… although whilst there are lots of biscuits here to eat, there aren’t as many people to talk to!

In contrast celebrity mum-to-be Denise Van Outen ignited the debate in a different direction yesterday when she spoke out about how she how she wanted to work but felt that she had lost her judging job on a BBC show because she was pregnant.  In her words “I’m not ill, I’m having a baby.”

So should women stay at home or go out to work?  Who knows – personal circumstances or desires make the choice for most but at least women today have the option.  When Anne Diamond fell pregnant for the first time in 1987, there was total outrage that she planned to continue working five days a week as a presenter on Good Morning Britain.  As she explains ‘My pregnancy was even the subject of a leader article in the Guardian, along the lines of ‘what is the world coming to when a pregnant woman expects to continue with her high-profile job as though nothing has changed?”  It’s hard to believe but she was in fact the first TV presenter to be pregnant and to go on doing her job!