SPEAKER INTERVIEW: Cecily Kellogg

This is a series of interviews with the speakers of Digital Family Summit, June 29-July 1.
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Cecily Kellogg is best known for her popular blog Uppercase Woman, her raw tone and humor on Twitter as @CecilyK, and her posts about social media and moms on MomCrunch for Babble. Cecily lives in the Philadelphia area, is happily married, is mom to a fierce and amazing daughter, and has occasionally been called a bad ass. Cecily also currently works with AboutOne doing Social Media Strategy. Cecily was named by Babble as one of the Top 100 Mom Bloggers in 2011 (and Top 50 Twitter Moms in 2010).

How did you get involved with blogging?
I started blogging in 2004 to chronicle my struggles with infertility, and it grew to a blog about my life and my family. In 2008 I went to my first blog conference, and I began to see they way my extensive marketing and writing experience could work with content creation and social media consulting.

What’s your favorite technology to help you blog/write/tweet/edit?
I couldn’t live without my laptop and my iPhone. I use my laptop for work and writing, and my iPhone for keeping up while I’m out and music and photography. You will pry my iPhone out of my cold, dead hands.

What blogs do you read regularly?
I use Google Reader every day to keep up with all the blogs I subscribe to, I love my Facebook groups, Twitter is my very best friend, and I enjoy some time on Webstagram (looking at my friend’s Instagram shots) and Pinterest. I use so many every day – literally dozens – it would hard to say just a few are my favorites!

If you could travel back in time and send yourself a message, what would it be?
Go to rehab. And stop dieting NOW. Your body is fine and dieting will mess it up. I’d also tell myself to never give up on words, that writing is my heart, and to trust yourself in your gifts.

Any advice for young bloggers?
Don’t be afraid. Be courageous. Contrary to what everyone says, the internet is NOT forever. Deleted stuff stays deleted, and there aren’t enough servers in the world to store EVERYTHING forever. Don’t let fear stop you from trying!

What’s the biggest danger facing digital teens & their families today?
Mostly the danger is creating a kind of short-attention-span brain. I don’t really think stranger danger and pedophiles are what we need to worry about, or even that behavior done online today is going to impact employment of tomorrow. I think that the world and culture is evolving with the digital age and we’ll all evolve with it. If anything, the danger is inward; trying to remember that people are mean online because they suck, not because you do.

What are you going to talk about at the conference?
I’ll be speaking with Lynette Young about keeping up with the latest platforms, and how to decide which platforms will work for you!

What’s next for you after the Digital Family Summit?
More conferences, more speaking, and more work.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Adam Gertsacov is the co-founder and co-organizer of Digital Family Summit.  He wears many hats, including those of a professional clown, an author and publisher, an artist/educator, a non-profit administrator, a P.T. Barnum impersonator, a flea circus impresario, and the esteemed hat of the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt, Maryland.