http:// 2011-08-12T12:23:14Z 2011-08-12T12:23:14Z mum-s-the-word-for-tourism-body

GIPPSLAND, VIC August 9, 2011 – THE rapid growth in digital media has led tourism body Destination Gippsland to discover an authentic message for its consumers via mummy bloggers. Marketing and project manager James Archibald said it had always used a mix of traditional and new media, but would now have a stronger focus on digital media as its growth brought about new opportunities to attract visitors to Gippsland. Mr Archibald said he chose to work with mummy bloggers – a relationship established via Brand Meets Blog founder Louisa Claire - because of the integrity they had to offer regional tourism. ``With Louisa the integrity is sound and we’re looking for bloggers to send an authentic message to consumers.’’ The project involved mum bloggers Megan Blandford, Claire Hewitt and Toushka Lee visiting West Gippsland on Saturday and Sunday, taking in the towns of Yarragon, Erica and Rawson before reaching Walhalla. The trio experienced the inaugural light festival, Walhalla Vinter Ljusfest, and toured historic houses, a mine and cemetery with the town’s longest serving resident and Star Hotel proprietor Michael Leaney. Ms Claire, of Brand Meets Blog, said engaging established bloggers for campaigns could be an effective part of any new media strategy. ``A blogger’s reputation and reach means they capture their audience in a more personal way than is often achieved through traditional media.’’ She said watching the bloggers’ genuine engagement with the town confirmed what a powerful strategy this was for Destination Gippsland. Mummy blogger Claire Hewitt from Clairey Hewitt (www.claireyhewitt.blogspot.com) said using targeted bloggers allowed a region to handpick the exact target market they wanted to attract. ``If they are after Gen Y, families or retirees they can align their market with that direct audience by using bloggers of influence within that target market,’’ she said. Keen traveller and mummy blogger Megan Blandford from Writing Out Loud (www.writingloud.blogspot.com) agreed. ``I think by adding this to my blog, I’m giving my readers not only information about a spot they might not have thought of visiting, but fun stories they’ll enjoy and photographs to inspire them. ‘’ She said each blog and website had a different audience reach and style, which had led to her sharing her experience on a travel blog as well. Louisa Claire runs Brand Meets Blog, a business that helps connect brands with bloggers for personal and targeted campaigns. Louisa has over four years experience as a personal blogger andworking on blogger outreach campaigns involving her own blog, Everything Is Edible. She is also the founder of The Mummble which caters to the rapidly growing group of blogging mums in Australia. Louisa is married with two children and lives in Melbourne. # ENDS #

2011-08-12T12:16:40Z are-we-losing-the-art-of-play

PERTH, WA August 12, 2011 – PARENTS are continually given the guilt message to limit their child’s TV viewing, but are coming up blank when it comes to alternatives, according to Perth early childhood educator and successful blogger Christie Burnett. This was part of the idea behind the launch of her new online resource Playopedia, which brings together play ideas in varying categories for babies through to early primary aged children. Mrs Burnett said the problem was two-fold. ``Thanks to over scheduling, television and high tech toys, children are at risk of forgetting how to play,’’ she said. `` Then there are parents not knowing how to manage when their children are bored, the default becomes putting on the television.’’ She is regularly approached by parents needing help and ideas for playing with their children and, being a stay-at-home-mum herself, saw Playopedia as a way to help fellow mums. ``We’re told that children should have limited TV viewing hours. So if I don’t want to put my child in front of the TV, what can I do? How do I make it fun so that they want to engage in something else?’’ she said. Playopedia, which is a housed on what has become one of Australia’s largest parenting blogs Childhood 101, offers unique, quality play ideas that can easily be replicated at home. ``I really try to focus on presenting play activities that demonstrate to parents the importance of children’s play. The play ideas are sorted according to type of play and the collection is searchable, so it is a great resource for parents of young children. Parents can search to find play dough recipes or play activities to encourage outdoor playtime - whatever type of play their child enjoys.’’ Mrs Burnett said new play ideas were being added every two days, with the database already boasting 150-plus activities from around the world. ``I am committed to keeping that growth going, because I’m so passionate about how children learn. I’m frustrated by the current state of our education system and the early years curriculum becoming less and less play-based, even in kindergarten. So I’ll keep pushing the message that yes, children do learn through play.’’ The idea for Playopedia was sparked from a meme called We Play hosted on Childhood 101 for over 12 months, where parents and teachers from around the world who were blogging about play ideas could link up. When one of Christie’s online friends contacted her after she lost a heap of bookmarked play ideas from the meme and dreaded the thought of going back through the thousands of links to find those ideas again, Playopedia became a reality. Christie Burnett lives in Perth and is a mum to three-year-old Immy, successful blogger at Childhood 101 and an early childhood education teacher. She has taught kindergarten, pre primary and the first three grades of primary school. She spent six years in Sydney as the founding director of a high quality child care centre with a play-based program for 2-5 year olds. Christie also works as a presenter and consultant training early childhood educators. Her blog, one of the first by a teacher and parent educator in Australia, won a Nuffnang award for Best Parenting Blog against thousands of Asia Pacific wide blogs. Christie blogs at childhood101.com. You will find Playopedia at childhood101/playopedia # ENDS #