Park City Mountain Resort Vacation Giveaway Winner!

Can you even imagine how hard it must have been to choose a winner from over 100 nominations!

When we asked you to nominate someone who exhibited Mom it Forward's Mission in your lives, we had no idea just how amazing all these entries would be!

Think of a person who has made a big difference in your life. Someone that embraces the Mom It Forward mission. Someone that lifts others, has overcome challenges with a smile, is a positive force for good, or just makes your world a better place.

So many people—you, your own moms and a few extraordinary husbands and dads—nominated people to win in the true spirit of Mom It Forward! It was so fun to watch the nominations come in and to be touched by every single one of them.

We dare you to read through all of the nominations both on the Mom It Forward Site and the Park City Mountain Resort Snow Mamas Site. Could you make that decision?

A panel from Park City Mountain Resort has been given that task, and without further ado, let's announce the winner of:

• Lodging for up to 6 people (3 nights, 4 days) in a 2-bedroom, 5-star condo
  
  
• Dinner vouchers for 3 nights for the entire family
  
  
• Resort Passes good for 3 days, including a wide range of family activities such as a climbing wall, an Alpine Slide, a Human Maze, miniature golfing, a Zip Rider, mountain biking and hiking, and more (valid between May and August 2009)
  

And the Lucky Winner Is...

Congratulations to Jessica Whitt at Go Blog Yourself, Tonya Staab nominated you to win!

Here is her entry:

I'm Tonya Staab
I would love to nominate Jessica Whitt for this trip. She is truly an inspiration. Jess very recently had the most devastating loss any mother could imagine. One of her 2 year old girls lost her battle with neuroblastoma. She has shown nothing but strength and courage and love throughout the days and nights spent in and out of the hospital to saying goodbye to her beautiful little girl. Jess is one of the most wonderful women I know. She's the type of person who is always there when you need a shoulder to cry on, even when she is going through so much herself and she truly is the sweetest person I know and such amazing mother.
I would also like to direct you to a cause that Jess whole-heartedly believes in (aside from raising money for Neuroblastoma and childhood cancer). Prior to her little girl being diagnosed, she started a blog called Will Play For Food http://playforfood.blogspot.com/ . The premise of this blog is to encourage parents to get their children involved in donating to charities. Primarily food banks. Mother's organize play dates in their local areas and each person attending brings food to donate to their local food bank. Such a worthy cause and a wonderful way to get your children involved in helping others. This is the type of person Jess is.
Jess is a dear friend of mine and I know she deserves this. Her family needs this.
Her blog address is: Half12.

Please contact momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com to get details about your upcoming summer luxury vacation at the Park City Mountain Resort.

Thanks PCMR for sponsoring this giveaway!

click to tweet this

What is PR?

Krista Parry guest posts. She was born a communicator, speaking from an early age, but professionally she's been passionate about it for over 10 years. She has learned that PR is not public relations it's personal relationships. Currently she work as the Director of Marketing and Communications for Park City Mountain Resort, a top-five rated ski resort located in Park City, Utah, and is the resident mama of www.snowmamas.com . She is joining the Mama ranks in May when she and her husband welcome their first child.

This post is for bloggers looking to reach out to companies or media that align with their brand. I believe PR = Personal Relationships because that is what it is. You may be saying “but I’ve never done PR, I don’t know what to do.” My response would be “Have you ever engaged someone in a conversation?” That is what PR is. It is about engaging a company/journalist in a conversation.

As a PR professional for over 10 years I have had a lot of experience and I must say, that I have had to evolve with the times. 10 years ago I wasn’t reaching out to bloggers, as they really didn’t exist. Now, I mostly focus on outreach to bloggers because I know that they have a big “Sphere of Influence” (more on this later).

How do I start a conversation? Seek them out in the community’s where you are. Let’s say you love to ski (as I know you all do!) and you would like to reach out to ski resort to see how you can work with them. Use the search.twitter.com tool and search your favorite resort. Say you type in “park city” and find @snowmamas @reply and say how you love Park City. Build up that relationship first, because remember that is what PR is.

Why would a company want to work with you? Because you can help them share their story. I have shared this before, but it’s worth sharing again. David Armano, a genius in my mind, created an “Influence Ripples” chart. Basically, you as a blogger, have a sphere of influence that has a ripple effect. You may have 10,000 followers or you may have 10 followers, either way these people trust you. And if they trust what you are saying, they are going to share it with their “sphere of influence” and so on. The ripple effect keeps going and going.

How do you prove your ripple effect? First, it is true that some companies are not as “educated” on social media and they may just want your #’s like Unique Visitors. Yes, number are nice, but this is your chance to educate them. First, Google Analytics is a must. If you don’t have it, you must get it. It’s free! There is so much great information that you can track with it and it creates really cool graphs/charts. You can get your unique visitors, page views, etc. But you can also drill down into your readers engagement. What’s the Avg time on site? Are people staying for 10 seconds or are they engaged with your content and staying for 10 minutes?

Second, comments on posts show engagement. I heard it tonight, and I’ve heard it before, but please leave comments on someone’s post that you’ve enjoyed. It’s ok to twitter them and say how you loved their post but complete the circle and comment on their post as well. Comments show that your readers are engaged in what you say and that they trust you and your opinions, which is important for our third point.

Use ”corporate” jargon like ROI but don’t use it in the “Return on Investment” sense. Use it in the “Return on Influence” speak. Show your ROI to a company. If a company sees that your readers/listeners are engaged in what you say they will want to work with you.

But what is the most important thing? Be authentic! Work with the brands that are true to you. If you hate dogs (not that you would) don’t agree to do something for Purina Dog Food. Your readers know you, which is why they love you, and they want to see your opinions on brands you really would use!

Have fun and make new friends! PR people are no different than the ladies you meet at #gno every Tuesday night (ok maybe our fangs come out at night)! Start a conversation, you might be surprised what could come of it.

I am happy to answer any questions you might have. DM me at @krista_parry anytime.

Developing PR Relationships to Build Your Blog & Online Business

How Can I Work With PR Professionals to Build My Blog & Business?
All these questions and more answered at Mom It Forward's #GNO Tues.!

• I want to build relationships with PR professionals, but I'm not sure know how to connect. What's the secret?
• What's the difference between traditional and online PR? How does SEO factor in to the mix?
  
• I use social media technologies to get the word out about my business. Why would I need to develop relationships with PR professionals?
• What information do people in PR want to access on my blog or website?
• What tools are available to me for writing PR-related content?

(Photo courtesy of Flickr.)

What's on the GNO Lineup This Week?

What: GNO (What's GNO? Click here to find out!)



Where: Tweet Grid (#gno)



When: From 6 to 10 pm PST (9 pm to 1 am EST)



Who: Guest panelists,
Krista from Park City Mountain Resort @krista_parry),
Nancy Martira from Ketchum (@nancy_martira),
Barbara Jones from one2onenetwork (@barbarajones)
and Rachel Herrscher from Today's Mama (@todaysmama).



Topic: Developing Relationships With PR Professionals!



RSVP: Use Mr. Linky below (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF).

Important: Want to win big? Enter to win our giveaway for a summer vacation to Park City Mountain Resort. Entries due Tues., Mar. 17.

Win a Free Park City Mountain Resort Summer Vacation Package!

The Giveaway Prize
Think of a person who has made a big difference in your life. Someone that embraces the Mom It Forward mission. Someone that lifts others, has overcome challenges with a smile, is a positive force for good, or just makes your world a better place. This person can be an on or offline friend. Perhaps a blogger who has inspired you. Or someone who is always tweeting the nicest things to people. Or a person that makes your day through their posts on your Facebook wall. It could be an IRL friend—someone in your community, a family member, a neighbor, or anyone that deserves a reward and some recognition for being a wonderful person.

Now think of this person enjoying a free summer vacation—on you!—with his or her family in the mountains of Utah at the Park City Mountain Resort. We're not just talking any vacation, we're talking an all-expenses-paid vacation, including the following for a family of up to 6 people:

• Lodging for up to 6 people (3 nights, 4 days) in a 2-bedroom, 5-star condo
  
  
• Dinner vouchers for 3 nights for the entire family
  
  
• Resort Passes good for 3 days, including a wide range of family activities such as a climbing wall, an Alpine Slide, a Human Maze, miniature golfing, a Zip Rider, mountain biking and hiking, and more
  

Now think of how good you'll feel when you win this giveaway FOR this person and get to Mom It Forward to him or her! The giveaway that is meant to be given away.

The Giveaway Entry Requirements
Please follow these rules to enter the giveaway.

1. Leave a comment with your name and an e-mail address where we can reach you.
   
   
2. In your comment, write a short description of the person you feel deserves this free summer vacation and how he or she embraces the Mom It Forward mission. (Click here for more information on Mom It Forward.)
   
   
3. Submit your entry by midnight on Tuesday, March 17.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, March 24 on the SnowMamas blog, the Mom It Forward blog, and during #gno on twitter.









The Fine Print

• You may only enter once. People that enter more than once will be disqualified.
• You may only enter for one person.
• You may not enter for yourself. The purpose of this giveaway is to Mom It Forward!
• Transportation to Utah, to the resort, or at the resort is not included.
• Breakfast and lunch are not included.
• Dinner vouchers and resort passes are good for a family of up to 6 people, including children.
• Vacation giveaway must be used between June 1 to September 30, 2009.
• Vacation giveaway is transferable, but may not be sold.
• All information will be verified and judged by a panel.
• The panel makes the final decision regarding the giveaway's winner.
• Relatives of the panel will not be considered in this giveaway.

For more information regarding this giveaway, please e-mail us at momitforward [at] gmail [dot] com.