I'm all giddy because I'm hosting my first blog tour for Mother Talk . Welcome! Refreshments are over in the corner. Feel free to spike your coffee with the libations under the table.
So I'm supposed to write about this new site for moms (although I suppose dads could use it, too) - Mamasource. I should give full disclosure before we start that I did receive a stylish orange commuter mug and a small pack of post-it notes in exchange for reviewing this site.*
Here's the official blurb:
(I especially like that last part about it being invitation-only - it sounds like the kind of exclusivity I can never afford. And I think you can consider my link to them as your invitation.)Mamasource is a safe and easy way to connect with other moms in your local area. Find the advice, referrals and insight you need, in a supportive community of moms helping moms. As a Mamasource member, you can:
Ask other local moms any question you need help with.
Read the questions other moms have asked- and see what answers they have received.
Share your own advice and practical referrals with other moms who need your help.
Mamasource is a free service, but to protect our members we are an invitation-only community. We have a strict no-spam policy and your personal information will never be shared with advertisers.
When I first had the A-man, almost 5 years ago, my due date boards were my lifeline. I was a regular on the August 2002 i-village board (although I think I was the very last one to give birth which was kind of annoying) and checked in daily. Those moms covered all the stuff I couldn't find in any of the "What to Expect" book. I learned most of what I knew from those boards. Mamasource is all of this advice in one place - minus the trolls. When a baby question came up, I could quickly explain to G. the pros and cons of almost anything, cementing my repuation as The Expert in the house. (Except the idea for duct-taping A's Easy-Ups when the side seam split. G. came up with that all on his own.)
So Mamasource users can request advice about anything and everything, from simple (when do I turn my baby's car seat around?) to poignant (my kids witnessed domestic violence - how can I help them?). The community seems to be building quickly, so just about every query gets a response, and most of them get enough to spark a genuine discussion. Moms looking for ideas about potty-training or discipline can exchange plenty of ideas here. You can also save discussions that interest you into your "files" for future reference.
My favorite feature, though, is the opportunity to read local business reviews. I'm always looking for kid-friendly restaurants where the meals don't come in bags or a local business that gives good kid haircuts. At the moment, because it's a new site, some of the reviews are posted by the businesses themselves, and I'm looking forward to more parents getting on the site and adding reviews to the listings.
Overall, it's a very attractive, clean site that's easy to navigate and will become a quick reference for advice on any parenting questions.
Thank you all. Please use the recycling bins, and come again soon!
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*I couldn't help but notice that yesterday's stop on the blog tour received a mug and a book and I think some money, but she didn't mention any Post-Its! Ha! Score!
3 comments:
Well look at you, being all official and reviewy and giddy and stuff. What some people won't do for a few post-its and an orange commuter cup.
There's not much I won't do for new post-its.
Plant a Tree, Spam a Friend!
I received an email from Mamasource two weeks ago and stupidly I clicked the link so I could send a tree to one of my girlfriends. I've still been getting email from people in my address book, some have been saying thanks for the tree and others have been pretty mad that they got an email like that from me. I did not get a chance to select the one person I wanted to send the email to, instead every single one of my addresses were harvested from my gmail account. What B.S! This is totally illegal and unethical.
When I went to unsubscribe from the email, there was no way to unsubscribe. The "unsubscribe link" went to an email preferences page, not to an unsubscribe link, another direct violation of the CAN-SPAM act, which regulates commercial email. I wrote to support@mamasource.com and got an auto-generated response saying:
Dear Sucker - This is Anne at Mamasource Member Support. Thanks for your message and we are very sorry for any inconvenience. Contacts from your email address book that are checked and highlighted in bright yellow are only contacted during the registration process if you click the button to "Select Moms and Invite". In this case, those highlighted contacts receive an invitation to join Mamasource. Just so you know, although the invitations have already gone out, from now on your contacts will not receive any additional Mamasource invitation emails from you. Again, we are very sorry for any inconvenience. Please let me know if you need any assistance and I will be happy to help you. Warmly, Anne Mamasource Member Support
What a blatant lie, there were never any highlighted contacts, once I hit send, everyone, and I mean everyone got that stupid invite, even my 10 year old nephew...how embarrasing!
How do I know the reply was auto-generated? Because I've received the same email from them every single time I wrote to them to ask them about this situation, all with different Support names. Try it yourself!
If this is such a great site, how come they are resorting to such unethical practices? A lot of women like Mamasource, and if you are one of them, please email (because there is no phone number) them at support@mamasource.com and tell them to stop this unethical practice immediately!
I highly recommend reporting all emails to the FTC. Simply forward the email, in its entirety to spam@uce.gov
Please get more information and read my story at http://mamasource.blogspot.com/
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