First, a thank you to all the nominees and finalists for the Bloganthropy Awards. The Awards are designed to recognize bloggers who use social media to make a difference in the world by supporting a worthy cause. Some perceive women’s blogs as all about diets and diapers, or in the case of moms, all about getting free products for review. At Dinner’s On Us on August 5, I think we helped show that there is a whole community of women, including moms, who are actively using social media to benefit others. At Child’s Play, we were amazed at what many of these women have accomplished and were thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize and support their efforts, via visibility at Dinner’s On Us and through a monetary award, provided by P&G’s Give Health. Congratulations to all the nominees, to the finalists, and especially to the winner, Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress, for all your good work.

Next, a thank you to our sponsors — we could not have done it without you! In alphabetical order:

• Baby Boom, which chose Dinner’s On Us for the national debut of its Baby Brezza One-Step Baby Food Maker and Clic-It Smart Diaper Bag System
• The California Strawberry Commission, which sampled mouthwatering chocolate-covered strawberries to guests
• Cold Stone Creamery, which offered everyone a taste of its latest flavor, the very popular Kate’s Creation
• Cusinart, which demonstrated fabulous blenders, teakettles, coffeemakers and juice extractors
• Giddy Up, which debuted its Fuzzoodles toy line to social media at Dinner’s On Us and demonstrated its latest Scientific Explorer products
• Hershey’s, which in partnership with Kraft treated guests to everyone’s campfire favorite, classic s’mores
• K’NEX, which displayed a broad assortment of its hit construction toys, including its famous Ferris wheels
• Nickelodeon, which highlighted the wonderful Dora the Explorer collection of toys and DVDs 
• Summit Toy, which showed its Backyard Safari Outfitters toys and chose Dinner’s On Us to launch its Zillionz kids’ money management line 
• Toyota,  which provided bloggers with product information and a very useful vehicle emergency kit
•  e.l.f., which offered moms makeovers and cosmetic gift bags

These sponsors also contributed to an end-of-evening raffle, with prizes ranging in value from $40 to more than $500. Thank you all!

Also, thanks to celebrated violinist David Garrett, for his performance and for providing autographed CDs for guests.

Last, but certainly not least, a huge thank you to all our guests. As I said in my presentation, we know that there were many other BlogHer-related events going on that evening. We want you to know how much we appreciate your spending time at ours. We are truly grateful. It was, as always, wonderful to see those of you with whom we’ve worked over time, and great to meet the rest of you. I sincerely hope that you had a wonderful evening with us and that we will see you again next year!

Most importantly, at Dinner’s On Us we are presenting the first annual Bloganthropy Awards, to recognize those who have used social media to help a worthy cause. The event will also feature drinks on the rooftop at a location convenient to BlogHer as well as a lovely meal.

SPACE IS LIMITED. If you have received an invitation and have not yet RSVPd, please do so now. If you have not received an invitation and would like to be on our waiting list, please send your name, the name of your blog and your contact information to childsplay@childsplaypr.com.

Dinner’s On Us will be a very special event, and we look forward to seeing you there!

As we enter our 22nd year specializing in connecting companies with moms, we look forward to expanding our award-winning programs and continuing to set the bar in innovation.

Our focus in 2009 was on making Child’s Play not only the leader in social media outreach to moms, but also creatively expanding and integrating digital and traditional public relations practices to produce the best possible results for all of our clients.

On example: Child’s Play Communications’ network of mommy bloggers, Team Mom, picked up multiple awards this year, including:

• PRSA-NY Big Apple Award, Winner – Innovation & Technology
• SABRE Award, Certificate of Excellence - PR Agency Initiative 
• Bulldog Awards, Silver – PR Innovation of the Year and Bronze – Best Use of the Internet, Consumer.

Child’s Play Communications was the first agency to launch its own network of mommy bloggers, and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, K’NEX, Elmer’s Products, Universal Motown and the Toy Industry Association are among the companies that took part in our Team Mom programs.

We were delighted to introduce other companies to the world of mommy bloggers through special events such as our recent Co-Op Bloggers Brunch, where top brands including Nickelodeon, Cuisinart, FujiFilm, Good Housekeeping and more had the opportunity to meet leading bloggers face to face, and to learn about the latest trends and issues in the momosphere through our panel presentation, What Does a Mommy Blogger Want?

For other clients, such as Goddard Systems, we created blogs and Twitter accounts, partnered with bloggers for special projects and developed full-scale social media policies while also implementing highly effective traditional media relations.

I had the opportunity to engage with many of you this year when I was invited to speak at a number of industry functions, including Kid Power, the Kids Today Conference, and the Ask the Experts session at BlogHer Business.

We have even more ideas in store to help companies market to moms next year – including a whole new division, to be announced soon. And we’re so pleased and flattered to be joining the Board of Directors of Bloganthropy (www.bloganthropy.com), a new blog designed to bring bloggers and philanthropic companies together to benefit those in need.

Once again, all of us here at Child’s Play would like to express our thanks to all of you and wish you the happiest of holidays and the best of new years.

The Bloggers Brunch, held at a private club in New York City, was designed to enable bloggers to connect in person with our clients and each other — as well as to enjoy a lovely brunch (complete with “momosas”), great giveaways and raffle prizes that could not be beat.

I would like to say a special thanks to a  long list of folks who joined us today:

First, to our panel of leading mom bloggers, who addressed the topic “What Does a Mommy Blogger Want?” offering insights into the issues and trends that affect the momosphere today, as well as advice on how best to interest mom bloggers in your brand. Major kudos to: Debbie of Mamanista,  Kimberly of  Mom in the City, Liz of Cool Mom Picks, Jo-Lynne of Musings of a Housewife, and Melissa of Real Moms Guide. Great job!

Second, to the members of the Child’s Play Communications review network, Team Mom, who joined us for the day. What a pleasure to see everyone in person.

Third, to the folks who traveled from out of the NYC area — New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Boston, Virginia, Maryland and even Florida! We hope you found the journey worthwhile.

And almost last but not at all least, to all the sponsors who helped make this possible. In alphabetical order: Cuisinart, FujiFilm, Goddard Schools, Good Housekeeping, Joy Berry Enterprises, Nickelodeon, the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Toy Industry Association. And, of course, to Lord & Taylor, which arranged for Louis, of Laura Mercier, to provide makeovers for our guests.

Love you all. Can’t wait until next year. Photos and video soon to follow.